Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title/Conference
IEEE Transactions on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric Phenomena
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Publication Date
10-2017
First Page
1
Last Page
11
Abstract
Increasing application and development of HVDC technologies emphasizes the need for improved characterization of candidate insulating materials. Accurately predicting the lifetime to breakdown of dielectric materials by means of accelerated voltage step-up to breakdown tests can be prohibitively time consuming. Step-up to breakdown tests with sufficiently slow voltage ramp rates that continuously monitor leakage current have detected a distribution of DC partial discharge (DCPD) events occurring prior to breakdown, which increase with increasing field. These DCPD distributions are shown to correlate strongly with the likelihood of breakdown for four common polymers. Given that hundreds of DCPD events are typically observed in a single destructive, low-ramp rate, step-up test, measuring the distribution of the DCPD can potentially accelerate the characterization of the breakdown likelihood in candidate insulators by orders of magnitude in time. This relationship is discussed in the context of a dual-defect model of breakdown and thermally recoverable defects.
Recommended Citation
Allen Andersen and JR Dennison, “Highly Accelerated Test Method for Characterizing Dielectric Materials for HVDC Applications,” submitted to IEEE Transactions on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric Phenomena), 2017.