IEC 60440:2012

IEC 60440 ®
Edition 1.0 2012-07
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Method of measurement of non-linearity in resistors

Méthode de mesure de la non-linéarite des résistances

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IEC 60440 ®
Edition 1.0 2012-07
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Method of measurement of non-linearity in resistors

Méthode de mesure de la non-linéarite des résistances

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
PRICE CODE
INTERNATIONALE
CODE PRIX Q
ICS 31.040 ISBN 978-2-83220-228-9

– 2 – 60440 © IEC:2012
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Terms and definitions . 5
4 Method of measurement . 6
4.1 Measurement principle . 6
4.2 Measuring circuit . 8
4.3 Measurement system requirements . 9
4.3.1 Measuring frequency . 9
4.3.2 Noise level of the measuring system . 9
4.3.3 Third harmonic ratio of the measuring system . 9
4.3.4 Power amplifier . 9
4.3.5 Voltmeter . 10
4.3.6 Filter . 10
4.3.7 Test fixture . 10
4.4 Verification of the measuring system . 10
5 Measurement procedure . 10
5.1 Environmental conditions . 10
5.2 Preparation of specimen . 10
5.3 Measurement conditions . 10
5.4 Procedure . 11
5.5 Precautions . 11
6 Evaluation of measurement results . 11
6.1 Evaluation . 11
6.2 Requirements . 12
7 Information to be given in the relevant component specification. 12
Annex A (informative) Reference to IEC/TR 60440 . 15
Bibliography . 16

Figure 1 – Equivalent circuit at the fundamental frequency . 6
Figure 2 – Equivalent circuit at the third harmonic frequency . 7
Figure 3 – Corrective term Δ . 8
Figure 4 – Block schematic of a suitable measuring system . 9

Table 1 – Recommended measuring conditions (1 of 2) . 13

60440 © IEC:2012 – 3 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
METHOD OF MEASUREMENT OF NON-LINEARITY IN RESISTORS

FOREWORD
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patent rights. IEC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
International Standard IEC 60440 has been prepared by committee 40: Capacitors and
resistors for electronic equipment.
This International Standard cancels and replaces the Technical Report IEC/TR 60440,
published in 1973.
The major changes with regard to the Technical Report are:
– change of the principle parameter’s term from “third harmonic attenuation” to “third
harmonic ratio”;
– addition of advice on the prescription of requirements in a relevant component
specification;
– addition of a set of recommended measuring conditions for a specimen with a rated
dissipation of less than 100 mW;
– a complete editorial revision.

– 4 – 60440 © IEC:2012
The text of this standard is based on the following documents:
FDIS Report on voting
40/2155/FDIS 40/2167/RVD
Full information on the voting for the approval of this standard can be found in the report on
voting indicated in the above table.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
the stability date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data
related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or
• amended.
60440 © IEC:2012 – 5 –
METHOD OF MEASUREMENT OF NON-LINEARITY IN RESISTORS

1 Scope
Non-linearity testing is a method to evaluate the integrity of a resistive element. It may be
applied as an effective inline screening method suitable to detect and eliminate potential
infant mortality failures in passive components. The method is fairly rapid, convenient, and the
associated equipment is relatively inexpensive.
Typical effects causing non-linearity on resistors are e.g. inhomogeneous spots within a
resistive film, traces of film left in the spiraling grooves, or conta
...