Energy partitioning in electrostatic discharge with variable series load resistor

This paper presents an experimental investigation into the energy partitioning of quasi-static electrostatic discharge (ESD) events in air, a scenario in which the discharge occurs across a gap length that can be considered fixed. We systematically characterize the energy transferred to a series victim load across a broad range of resistances (0.1 to 10,000 Ω ) and circuit parameters, including capacitance and gap length. Our results show that the fraction of stored energy delivered to the victim load is largely independent of gap length. We demonstrate that our extension of the classic Rompe-Weizel spark resistance model effectively predicts the scaling of this energy transfer, establishing a clear link between spark resistance and energy partitioning. These findings provide a predictive framework that should be valuable for guiding safety requirements for energetic materials and ignition scenarios and will inform the development of more accurate circuit models that can be applied to a wider range of ESD events such as those found in the electronics industry. • We investigated how initial stored energy divides between spark and a series load. • We validated our modified Rompe-Weizel model across 0 . 1 Ω to 10 k Ω range. • We see that scaled energy ratio delivered to victim load is gap length independent. • We find that ESD resistance is intrinsically linked to the external circuit element. • We demonstrate that there is a gap-length-independent final spark resistance.