Influence of grain size on distribution of temperature and thermal stress in ZnO varistor ceramics

The nonuniformity of temperature distribution within ZnO varistor ceramics would decrease its energy absorption capability. In this paper, the distributions of current, temperature and thermal stress within the microstructures of ZnO varistor ceramics are simulated using Voronoi diagram models. The results show that the current concentrates through a few paths in ZnO varistor due to the nonuniformity of ZnO grain size and the variety of electrical characteristics of grain boundaries, which induces local high temperature and great thermal stress when injecting impulse current into ZnO varistor, and leads to melting puncture or cracking failure. The influence of the ZnO grain size on the distributions of temperature and thermal stress within ZnO varistor ceramics is analyzed in detail. The energy absorption capability of ZnO varistor ceramics can be greatly improved by increasing the uniformity of ZnO grain size or decreasing the average size of ZnO grains.