Effect of Prestressing on the ns Range Electrical Breakdown in Polymeric Insulating Films

Abstract

The electrical impulse breakdown of prestressed polymer films was investigated in the ns range. The effect of prestressing on the breakdown was observed in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polycarbonate (PC), but not in polystyrene (PS) or polypropylene (PP). The amount of space charge estimated from the transient currents was large enough to induce electric field distortion in the bulk for all specimens. The effect in PET and PC is attributed to field distortion due to space charge accumulation near the electrodes, which can be estimated as electrons at the cathode and holes at the anode. The reason why the effect was not observed in PP and PS can be explained as the result of their own high breakdown strength in strong non-uniform fields.