Electrostatic-discharge (ESD) immunity - levels 2–8 kV contact and 2–15 kV air.
The standard specifies a method for testing the immunity of electrical and electronic equipment to electrostatic discharge (ESD). It simulates discharge from an operator’s body directly to the equipment and from personnel to adjacent objects and through them to the equipment.
In practice, the phenomenon occurs when people and objects become electrostatically charged (friction, walking on floors in dry air) and discharge when touching an enclosure, control panel or connector. The document defines the discharge-current waveform, range of test levels, equipment, setup, procedure, calibration and measurement uncertainty.
The test demonstrates that equipment withstands discharges of specified energy without damage and with defined functional behavior. The result is a repeatable assessment of immunity at a given level; the method number alone is not a declaration of product conformity.
The test level and required performance criterion are selected by the product or generic EMC standard (identified in the method as level x, specified by the product committee).
The ESD generator uses a 150 pF / 330 Ω RC network representing the human body; the first current peak at 4 kV is 15 A with a rise time of 0.7–1.0 ns, current after 30 ns is 8 A and after 60 ns is 4 A. Contact discharge (electrode touching a conductive surface of the equipment under test) and air discharge (electrode approaching an insulating surface) are used.
Indirect discharge is applied to the horizontal coupling plane (HCP 1.6 m × 0.8 m on the table) and vertical coupling plane (VCP positioned 10 cm from the equipment), both connected to the reference plane through two 470 kΩ bleeder resistors.
At least 10 discharges (positive and negative) are applied to each selected point at intervals of at least 1 s. Performance criteria: A – normal operation within specification during and after the test; B – temporary degradation or loss of function with automatic recovery; C – temporary degradation requiring operator intervention; D – irreversible loss of function or damage.
Ed. 3.0 added calibration requirements for generators with air-discharge tips, a normative annex with setups for specific equipment, and guidance for wearable devices.
Check the stated level (kV contact / kV air) and performance criterion (A/B/C); “according to IEC 61000-4-2” without these values does not describe immunity. For rolling stock, required levels and criteria are set by the railway EMC standard (EN 50121 series), which references this test method.
