Riding the crest-factor wave

摘要

Crest factor is a unitless figure of merit that engineers use to describe a signal. Engineers can use it to describe the purity of voltage, current, or power waveforms. This figure of merit can describe power signals, machine vibration, or half-wave lamp dimmers, to name a few. In these applications, you must know not only the average power, voltage, or current, but also the equipment-design peak-value guidelines to accommodate maximum allowable excursions.