Abstract
Surface breakdown of oil-immersed solids chosen to insulate high-voltage, pulsed-power systems is a problem that can lead to catastrophic failure. Statistical analysis of the breakdown voltages associated with such liquid-solid interfaces can reveal useful information to aid system designers in the selection of solid materials. Described in this paper are the results of a Weibull statistical analysis, applied to breakdown voltage data generated in gaps consisting of five different solid polymers immersed in mineral oil. Values of the location parameter γ provide an estimate of the applied voltage below which breakdown will not occur, and under uniform-field conditions, γ varied from 192 kV (480 kV/cm) for polypropylene to zero for ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (i.e. the data for UHMWPE were better described by a two-parameter distribution). Longer times to breakdown were measured for UHMWPE when compared with the other materials. However, high values of the shape parameter β reported in the present paper suggest greater sensitivity to an increase in applied voltage – that is, the probability of breakdown increases more sharply with increasing applied voltage for UHMWPE compared to the other materials. Only PP consistently reflected a low value of β across the different sets of test conditions.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | IEEE conference record PPC2011 |
Subtitle of host publication | Pulsed power conference 2011 |
Place of Publication | New York |
Publisher | IEEE |
Pages | 218-222 |
Number of pages | 5 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781457706295 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2011 |
Event | 18th IEEE International Pulsed Power Conference - Chicago, United States Duration: 19 Jun 2011 → 23 Jun 2011 |
Conference
Conference | 18th IEEE International Pulsed Power Conference |
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Country | United States |
City | Chicago |
Period | 19/06/11 → 23/06/11 |
Keywords
- impulse driven
- surface breakdown data
- pulsed-power systems
- breakdown voltages
- Weibull statistical analysis
- solid polymers
- mineral oil
- applied voltage