876 G. Mazzanti et al.

: Electrical Aging and Life Models: The Role of Space Charge

Electrical Aging and Life Models: The Role of Space Charge

G. Mazzanti, G.C. Montanari
DIE-LIMAT, University of Bologna,
Viale Risorgimento, 2
Bologna, 40136 Italy

and L. A. Dissado
Dept. of Engineering, University of Leicester,
University Road
Leicester, LE1 7RH U.K.

ABSTRACT
This paper has the aim of providing a view of a lively debated topic which has broad
impact on the design of electrical apparatus and new insulating materials, that is, the
interaction between space charge and aging processes of polymeric insulation. Aging
models developed in recent decades that consider explicitly or implicitly the
contribution of space charge to insulation degradation, under both dc and ac voltage,
are dealt with, with the intention to point out their range of validity. Some conventional
phenomenological models that have been used for much more than two decades without
referring to space charges can be exploited to account for electrical field and activation
energy modification due to space charge. These, together with models conceived
considering space charges as the driving force for aging, are especially examined. In
addition, recent models that disregard the action of space charge as an ageing factor,
but consider space charge as the consequence of degradation processes are also
discussed.

Index Terms —Insulation systems, aging, electrical stress, thermal stress, life models,
electron avalanches, space charge, electrical apparatus, cables.

1 INTRODUCTION
A number of mechanisms have been inferred for the electro-
thermal aging process occurring in insulating polymers with
the aim of deriving usable life expressions. These mechanisms
have followed two prevailing directions: a macroscopic
approach, based on an overall description of degradation
processes, and a microscopic approach, based on the
presumption that the prevailing cause of electrical and
mechanical aging in practical insulation systems is accelerated
localized degradation triggered by microdefects.
The former approach is historically the first, providing
simple life models that have been used mostly as
phenomenological tools to fit life data coming from
accelerated electrical, thermal, and mechanical life tests.
Significant examples are the chemical reaction rate
(Arrhenius) model for thermal aging, proposed also for
electrical aging by Dakin, and the thermodynamic model of
Eyring and Zurkov, applied to electrical and mechanical
ageing [1-8].
Microscopic models are mostly based on the consideration that
Manuscript received on 15 February 2005, in final form on 19 May 2005.
bulk degradation at typical design stresses would require such long
times that in practice life is conditioned by the inescapable
presence of micro or macrodefects in insulation systems.
Therefore, microscopic models attempt to describe the evolution
of damage from insulation defects, such as cavities, conducting
particles, and protrusions, providing expressions for the growth of
damage up to breakdown or the occurrence of a different
mechanism, such as an electrical tree, that will inevitably cause the
insulation to breakdown in a relatively short time.
In principle, microscopic models are designed to provide a
physical explanation of the aging processes, thus seem to
constitute an advance with respect to the phenomenological
models which need a number of fitting parameters that can be
estimated only through life tests and increase in number with the
superposition of stresses (e.g. phenomenological electro-thermal
models with seven parameters [9]).
Microscopic or mesoscopic defects can be associated with
regions of space charge, either injected and trapped at defect
locations or intrinsic to the insulation (due, for example, to by-
products, or contaminants). Examples are the cases of cavities,
where space charge is trapped at the interface with the insulation,
and protrusion/conductive contaminants, which can inject space
charge. In both cases space charge can alter significantly the local

1070-9878/05/$20.00 © 2005 IEEE

IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 12, No. 5; October 2005
field, enhance the ageing reaction rate or even introduce new
modes of degradation. Therefore, it can be speculated that space
charge can play a major role in electrical insulation ageing.
This paper discusses ageing models developed in recent
decades, with the aim of singling out the contribution of space
charge to ageing under dc and ac stress. The evolution of
knowledge in recent years, as a consequence of the possibility to
obtain accurate information on the space charge distribution in
insulation, is discussed referring to both macroscopic and
microscopic models. Focus is placed on dry ageing, and pre-
electrical treeing mechanisms and models, See section 4.
2 BULK MODELS AND SPACE CHARGE
The Dakin and Eyring models do not explicitly take into
account the presence of space charge, since they were
conceived in times when a measurement of space charge was
not available. Space charge theories were however already
developed [10-12].
These models have been widely used up till now, together
with the Inverse Power Model, and will likely be used even in
the future for the design of insulation systems subjected to a
level of electrical stress able to age insulation [13-18]. They
are simple and include a quite small number of parameters,
which can be estimated phenomenologically, that is, through
accelerated life tests.
Just to recall, these well-known models (Dakin, Inverse
Power Model, and Eyring) can be written, respectively, as:
L = CE exp(−nE)/(E-Et) (1)
L = CE E-n (2)
L = CE (h/kT) exp (ǻG/kT) (3)
where L is life (i.e lifetime, or time-to-failure), k and h are
the Boltzmann and Planck constants, CE and n are the model
parameters (the latter called voltage endurance coefficient),
which depend on material and, in most cases, electric field and
temperature (E and T), ǻG is the Gibbs (free) energy of the
electro-thermal degradation process, Et is the threshold field
above which electrical ageing occurs (there is no ageing, thus
infinite electrical stress life, at fields below Et). The Eyring
model (3) was modified by Endicott et al [19] to produce a life
expression that included explicit mention of electrical and
thermal stresses:
L(E,T) = CE T−w exp(−ǻG/kT) exp[−(k1 + k2/T)E] (4)
with w, k1 and k2 being further coefficients (more details
about such coefficients can be found in [20]). A similar re-
working of the Eyring model has allowed the effect of a
mechanical stress [7] and, later on, electrical, thermal, and
mechanical stresses to be included explicitly in the life
expression, both in the framework of space charge models and
to describe ageing in the presence of mechanical strain/fatigue,
see Sections 5 and 7.
877
In general, the above (and other similar phenomenological)
models consider rate constants that depend on electrical field
under the tacit assumption of a geometrical (Laplacian) field
distribution in the insulation. In addition, the Eyring model has
an activation energy that can be affected (generally
diminished) by the presence of space charges [21]. However,
once the space charge distribution in the insulation is known,
the local field can be evaluated and the above-mentioned
models could be applied using local field values instead of the
Laplacian (applied) field. Alternatively the dependence of ǻG
on the Laplacian field E can be explained by considering the
space charge contribution to the local Poissonian field. Since
breakdown under electrical field is associated with the growth
of damage from the weakest point (the extreme value
probability distributions that describe electrical breakdown
come from this concept [22-24]), bulk models could be
applied locally to defective points. This is, indeed, the basis
for the development of the model dealt with in Section 5, i.e.
the space charge ageing model.
3 FIELD LIMITED SPACE CHARGE MODEL
At very high fields (e.g. >100-200 kV/mm) the conductivity
of insulating polymers can be enhanced by several orders of
magnitude, due to the dependence of the activation energy on
electric field. This favors local large current densities that may
cause the formation and growth of local conductive paths,
leading to breakdown once they reach a critical length [25-29].
In practical insulating systems, these phenomena are generally
localized at interfaces between the bulk insulation and defects
(such as protrusions and metallic inclusions), which are able to
magnify the local electric field significantly with respect to the
average design field, or associated with field amplification due
to huge bipolar space charge accumulation, that can happen in
the presence of strongly injecting electrodes and ionic
contaminants [30-32].
Approaches following these premises have been developed
by Zeller [25-27] and Boggs [28, 29] having the common
background of the so-called Field-Limited Space-charge
Current (FLSC) theory. According to FLSC theory, there is a
threshold field, Ec, below which injected charges possess a low
but finite mobility so that over a long period of time the
equilibrium situation predicted by the Space Charge Limited
Current (SCLC) model [11, 12] will result. Above Ec the
strongly non-linear dependence of mobility on electric field
causes space charge clouds (or packets [30, 31]) to penetrate
rapidly into the insulation bulk, thereby reducing the electric
field at the interface between dielectric and electrode/defect in
a very short time. The field-limited space charge current thus
produced may cause dielectric heating (under ac voltage) as
well as Maxwell stresses, which might initiate highly energetic
local damage events, particularly if filamentary currents are
generated [25]. An electric field life-model can be extracted
from this physical description of the damage process with the
form,
L ∝ 1 /[r 2 E l ( E / E c − 1) 2 ] (5)
878
where L is the life time relevant to the mechanism of local
damage (see above), which is assumed to generate the
precursor of an electrical tree, El is the Laplacian field, E is the
local (Poissonian) field, Ec is the Poissonian threshold field for
the onset of the FLSC and r is the radius of the charge
injecting tip. Equation (5) holds for E>Ec, while life becomes
infinite for E≤Ec. Hence, below the threshold field for the
activation of FLSC, any degradation must be due to other
mechanisms that will be discussed later. Depending on the
value of El/Ec, the local damage will either grow
instantaneously into an electrical tree (hence to breakdown), or
it will cause breakdown in longer times, through an incubation
period during which the initial defect forms a cavity of
increasing size, then partial discharges occur together with
electrical tree inception. According to [29], the FLSC
conductivity is equal to the product Ȧİ, being Ȧ angular
frequency and İ dielectric permittivity. When this condition is
reached, the resistive current density is equal to the capacitive
current density and space charge is generated to limit the field
to close to Ec. This has the practical effect of reducing the
Laplacian field at the defect tip to a near constant Poissonian
value of ∼ Ec for a length inside the dielectric that is
established by the extent of the difference between the
Laplacian and FLSC threshold fields: see Figure 1. At a first
approximation, the density of the space charge formed by this
process is [25]
ȡ(r) = 2İ Ec/r (6)
It can be calculated that for İ = 2.3 İ0 (İ0 being the
permittivity of free space), Ec = 250 kV/mm and r = 1 ȝm, the
charge density at the tip of the defect would be ~10000 C/m3.
Under ac a large part of this very large amount of charge will
be injected and extracted each half cycle, causing massive
localized degradation, either through chemical modification
from carrier recombination and photon emission followed by
relevant photo-chemistry, or from kinetic energy transferred to
the polymer by ballistic impact during electron acceleration.
The valence bonds in the polymer will be broken by highly
energetic photons and electrons, thereby extending the damage
at the defect tip [33, 34]. It is claimed in [29, 35] that once
damage penetrates into the polymer through a pit of length
>1.5 ȝm PD can start up and the growth of the degradation
becomes faster. Therefore, the critical length of 1.5 ȝm
becomes a failure criterion for an insulating material at such
high fields as those dealt with by these models. Degradation
can proceed, obviously, also under dc, but in this case it is
speculated that its rate is much slower than under ac. Damage
can penetrate into the polymer from the defect tip through
electron avalanches generated by the very high local field, but
the electrons available for such a process must be extracted
from the defect/polymer interface, with a rate that depends on
defect work function and polymer electron affinity (see
Section 6). Therefore, degradation times much longer than
those involved in a half cycle of ac supply voltage would be
involved.
Summarizing, under both ac and dc fields, space charge
seems to play a predominant role in polymer degradation, due
G. Mazzanti et al.: Electrical Aging and Life Models: The Role of Space Charge
Figure 1. Example of a plot of the Laplacian (without accounting for space
charge) and Poissonian (with space charge) electric field on the axis of
symmetry vs distance from a defect tip when the Laplacian field at the tip is
appreciably above the threshold field for the FLSC mechanism. In this case,
the space charge limited field region extends from the defect tip for
approximately 3 ȝm. After [29].
to massive high-field injection, electron acceleration to gain
high energy and, thus, ability to break polymer bonds, and
penetration of space charge clouds into the polymer bulk. Even
if the mechanism of charge penetration and its dependence on
temperature needs to be better modeled, and the failure
criterion does not correspond to insulation breakdown, but to
the onset of a degradation mechanism based on partial
discharge along the damage pit, this model based on high-field
space charge effects can account for the very fast breakdown
caused by conductive or semiconductive sharp defects which
can be present in insulation systems due to manufacturing
processes.
4 PERCOLATION MODEL
A recent paper [36] presents an interesting insight into the
nature of the critical field for high mobility assumed in the
FLSC model of Section 3. This work is based on an earlier
approach that regarded ageing as being the generation and
extension of conducting regions that caused failure either
through a cross-system connection or via the triggering of a
rapid high-energy degradation mechanism such as electrical
treeing or electro-mechanical fracture [8]. The model starts
with the premise that charges are present in the polymer in
traps with a variable range of trap depths. It is shown that the
energy barriers for charge transit between pairs of traps can be
reduced to zero at a specific value of local electric field
depending upon the inter-trap separation, the shape of the trap
potential surface, and the respective trap depths. By
considering the trap sites to be uniformly distributed in space
with a range of trap depths randomly distributed over a given
interval, a critical field can be deduced above which the
barriers between traps are reduced to zero for a set of sites
forming a 3D percolation cluster. At these fields the charges
exist in extended states within the structure of the percolation
cluster, and consequently possess a high mobility with a large
collision path length, i.e. the critical field for the establishment
of the percolation cluster can be regarded in a similar light to
Ec in the FLSC model. In these circumstances impact
excitation and impact ionization become possible, particularly
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation
since the ionization process can be regarded as a de-trapping
process, from neutral or charged traps, rather than ionization
of the valence states of the polymer molecule. As a result
chemical modifications and damage will take place on the
filamentary paths that form the structure of the percolation
cluster.
In the FLSC model it was assumed that the value of Ec is a
material property with the same value everywhere and that
local stress enhancement was required for it to be exceeded
locally. In [36] it is shown that the value of the critical field for
percolation depends upon the trap density, see Figure 2.
Regions with a high trap density will have a lower critical
field. These are likely also to possess a higher local space
charge density and its consequent field enhancement.
Therefore it can be expected that regions of trapped charge
will be associated with low fields for the establishment of local
percolation clusters. That is, connected paths of high mobility
will be established over local regions of limited size at fields
that are too low to connect the whole insulation. As a result
only local damage will be produced. A slow accumulation and
extension of the damage can be expected to take place, with
eventual failure occurring through one of a number of
possibilities such as: the initiation of a rapid failure mechanism
from the most severely damaged region, the connection of
many regions of a similar level of severity, or a global
deterioration of the insulating quality of the polymer. It can be
seen that this process can act as an ageing mechanism rather
than just an electrical tree initiation mechanism in the way
envisaged in the FLSC model. The concepts developed in [36]
have however also been applied to tree initiation [37]. In this
case enhancement of the electric field is produced by an
electrode protrusion, which also provides charge via injection.
At high enough voltages (Laplacian fields) the injected charges
possess high mobility and the concepts of the FLSC model
essentially hold. At lower ac voltages, however, injected
charges recombine and some of the recombination energy is
utilized to produce new traps. The resulting increase in trap
density lowers the critical field for the formation of a local
percolation cluster around the injecting electrode until it is
eventually exceeded by the local field and filamentary (non-
space filling) damage ensues. Accumulation of the local
damage will eventually result in the formation of a tree tubule
or channel capable of supporting partial discharges and the
procedure is then repeated where the discharges penetrate the
polymer, thereby yielding an electrical tree.
The model described in this Section bears a superficial
resemblance to the free volume breakdown model of Artbauer
[38]. In Artbauer’s work electrons (either intrinsic or injected)
gain kinetic energy by field acceleration in long free volume
regions where the distance between scattering events is long
(see Section 6, too). In a given applied field the electrons
surmount the barriers to their motion in the polymer when the
free volume is long enough, giving a rapid increase in current
density, and an increase in temperature sufficient to damage
the polymer and cause instant failure. Free volume in polymers
fluctuates in location and local size and this allows the
stressing time, t, to enter into this theory. The time t coincides
with the waiting time required for the occurrence of a size
Vol. 12, No. 5; October 2005 879
Eperc ∼ 4x 10 V/m
8
Trap density = 1023 m-3
Trap Density
about 1025 m-3
Critical Field for
Percolation, Eperc ∼ zero
Log{Trap Density}
Figure 2. Schematic representation of the dependence of the critical field
for percolation, Eperc, upon the trap density, for average trap depths around
1 eV. Adapted from Figure 3 of [36]
sufficient to enable electron acceleration and subsequent
damage. The lower the applied stress, the longer the free
volume required, and the longer the waiting time. These
concepts allowed a lifeline, similar in form to that found for
polymers, to be derived. Artbauer’s model therefore predicts a
reduction of life when the field is increased, not due to an
accumulated change in the polymer that can be termed ageing,
but to the statistical probability of the occurrence of a
morphological arrangement under natural fluctuations in an
unchanged polymer. In contrast, the Percolation Model relates
to the elimination of trap-to-trap barriers in a local electric
field and the formation of local conducting paths in which a
small number of electrons can gain sufficient energy to cause
local damage, rather than a gain in the kinetic energy of
electrons sufficient to cause a large scale catastrophic increase
in current and thermal damage.
5 THE SPACE CHARGE DMM MODEL
The DMM (Dissado-Mazzanti-Montanari) model is based
on a thermodynamic approach to the degradation rate of
insulation subjected to electrical and thermal stress. Within
this thermodynamic framework, space charge accumulated
within the polymer under an applied voltage is a cause of
ageing due to the relevant local stress enhancement; indeed, as
pointed out in Section 2 when treating the Eyring model, the
associated electromechanical energy storage has the main
effect of lowering the free energy barrier to be exceeded in
order that degradation can occur [21, 39-41]. The model was
initially developed for the dc voltage regime [21]; a proposal
for its extension to the ac voltage regime was made
subsequently [42]. Both the dc and the ac versions of the
DMM model are briefly reviewed and discussed below.
5.1 THE DC DMM MODEL
The dc DMM model [21] assumes that, from the onset of
voltage application, local concentrations of space-charge
(charge centers) form within tiny voids (of size ranging from a
few nanometers to a few micrometers) thought of as
morphological defects originated at the manufacturing stage.
Of course, the shape, size and density of such microcavities
may vary greatly for different insulating materials and systems,
but in order to simplify the analytical treatment the following
assumptions are made:
880
i) charge accumulated at charge centers is injected
from electrodes and comes into equilibrium in a
time much shorter than the insulation life
ii) close to the charge centers, the external applied
(Laplacian) field, E, is negligible with respect to
the space-charge (Poissonian) field;
iii) charge-centers are spherical, of radius r0, with
G. Mazzanti et al.: Electrical Aging and Life Models: The Role of Space Charge
Thus, the ageing process is essentially a sort of local creep,
and the DMM model provides the time to formation of
critical voids, rather than time-to-breakdown.
By developing such hypotheses analytically, the final
expression of the dc DMM model is obtained, namely:
§ Δ H C ′E 2b · ª §Δ 2 b ·º
−1

uniform charge density, and all have the same h

¨ −
Δ
¸ ª
A eq ( E ) º « ¨ − C ′E ¸»
L( E ,T ) = exp ¨ k 2 − S ¸ ln « » «cosh ¨ k ¸»
amount of charge, qC, which is a function of 2kT ¨ T k ¸ «¬ Aeq ( E ) - A * »¼ « ¨¨ 2T ¸¸»
¨ ¸
applied field E, i.e. qC = CEb; © ¹ ¬ © ¹¼

iv) a number Nm of “moieties” (i.e. of (7)

microstructural units of the polymer that undergo
degradation, e.g. weakening/breaking of inter-
chain cohesion and/or intra-chain bonds, cross-
linking bonds, and so on) are influenced on
average by each microcavity. These reside
within a thin shell of thickness λ on the cavity
wall;
v) the material is homogeneous on a macroscale.
According to this thermodynamic approach insulation
degradation is the consequence of the net progress of local
‘reactions’ that alter the local polymer morphology to one
that can support a rapid failure process such as partial
discharges. The ageing process is described in terms of a
“forward” reaction (carrying reacting moieties from reactant
state 1 to product state 2) and a countering “backwards”
reaction. These alternative states can be transformed into one
another by passing through an intermediate transition state at
a higher free energy. They are therefore connected by a free
energy barrier, and both forward and reverse reactions are
allowed with rates dependent upon the relevant
concentrations of moieties in the two local states and the
appropriate magnitude of the barrier. In the presence of an
electric field (and sometimes even in its absence, for
example physical ageing see [8]) the system is in a global
non-equilibrium state and is driven to change in time until it
either reaches a thermodynamic equilibrium or an amount of
local modification sufficient to initiate a more rapid failure
mechanism. The time-to-failure derived in this way is the
time taken for the system to reach the critical level of
modification required to ‘switch-on’ the rapid failure
process. The effect of trapped space charge is assumed to be
an enhancement of the local electric field, which, as a
consequence of assumption iii) above, rises to a maximum
local value at the boundaries of the space charge regions. As
a result elemental electromechanical stresses and strains are
produced in this region with an equivalent local storage of
electromechanical energy per moiety. The free energy barrier
for the degradation (forward reaction) will be lowered (and
that for the reverse reaction raised) by an amount
proportional to the stored electromechanical energy, and
hence the net transfer into the product state will be
increased. The failure criterion is set assuming that the
fraction of degraded moieties, A, exceeds locally a critical
fraction A*, which corresponds to the formation (starting
from the charge-center) of a cavity large enough for partial
discharges (and, consequently, electrical treeing) to occur.
−1
ª §Δ 2b ·º
« ¨ − C ′E ¸»
Aeq ( E ) = «1 + exp¨ k ¸» (8)
¨ T ¸»
«
«¬ ¨ ¸»
© ¹¼
where Aeq(E) is the value of A at the equilibrium between
forward and backward reactions (note that this value of A is
never reached in the case where the net reaction results in the
onset of failure), T is the absolute temperature, ΔH and ΔS are
the activation enthalpy and entropy per moiety respectively,
and Δ is free energy difference between reactant and product
state. Cƍ is a constant depending essentially on material
properties, i.e.:
Bα E δλC 2
C'= (9)
16πε 2 r02 N m k
where B is the proportionality constant between the stored
electromechanical energy per moiety and its contribution to the
degradation free energy barrier, δ is elemental strain [40, 41],
and αE is the electrostriction coefficient. C together with b
enters the above expression through the relationship between
stored charge per charge-center and applied electric field.
5.2 THE AC DMM MODEL
Under ac voltage, space charge is injected and extracted on
each half cycle, and only a small net residual charge will
accumulate as a function of time (at power frequency), much
smaller than the amount of space charge stored in the same
material under a dc voltage having the same value as the r.m.s
ac voltage. This is illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, after [43]
where a thorough experimental comparison between the space
charge accumulated under dc and ac voltage is reported. It is
clear from these Figures that under ac voltage, even at quite
low frequency and for long poling times, the residual charge is
much smaller than under dc. Figure 3 shows the dependence of
the space charge density of press-molded cross-linked
polyethylene (XLPE) specimens on supply-voltage frequency,
at a poling field of 55 kVrms/mm. From the figure, it can be
argued that a negligible amount of net charge is accumulated
above 10 Hz. In general it can be said that, in agreement with
[44], insulation acts as a low-pass filter from the viewpoint of
space charge accumulation, since negligible amounts of charge
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 12, No. 5; October 2005 881
are accumulated above 10 to 50 Hz, depending on the level of 2.5

applied field. Similar results have been obtained from

electroluminescence (EL) measurements [45]. The time 2.0
dependence of the space charge accumulated at the 0 and 180°
phase angles of the supply voltage for the same specimens is

Charge [C/m ]
3
shown in Figure 4. Figure 4A displays data obtained under 1.5

constant field amplitudes of 55 and 20 kVrms/mm, and Figure

4B data at frequencies of 1 mHz and 0.1 Hz for 55 kV/mm. It 1.0
can be noted that the space charge reaches much smaller
values than under dc fields, both at 0.1 and 0.001 Hz, even
after quite long poling times. In fact, after an initial transient of 0.5

some hundred minutes, the net accumulated charge reached a

quasi-steady value that depends on poling field amplitude and 0.0
frequency, becoming closer to the dc value as the frequency 10-5 10-4 10-3 10-2 10-1 100 101 102

and poling field decreases. frequency [Hz]

Figure 3. Dependence of space charge density on supply-voltage
Despite the low level of space charge, it was shown in [39,
frequency. Sinusoidal voltage, poling field 55 kVrms/mm (after [43]).
42] that expression (7) can also fit ac data well (see Figures 5 4.0
and 6). Therefore, a proposal has been made to extend its A
DC, 55 kV/mm
validity to ac voltages, by accounting for the role of electrical 3.5

fatigue in the presence of a sinusoidal electric field [39, 42]. In 3.0

20 kV/mm, 0°
20 kV/mm, 180°
this respect, a clue was given by the observation that, under ac 55 kV/mm, 0°
voltage, attraction-repulsion forces between space-charge
Charge [C/m ]
2.5 55 kV/mm, 180°

3
1 mHz
centers and electrodes continuously change in intensity and 2.0
direction as the applied voltage changes in time, thus creating
an oscillating motion of the reacting moieties and of the whole 1.5

lattice structure. It was thus assumed that this motion alters the 1.0
energetic levels of both reactant and product states with
DC, 20 kV/mm
respect to the static equilibrium that characterizes the dc 0.5

regime. After a lengthy treatment, the final expression is 0.0

obtained for the ac DMM model, omitted here for the sake of 1 10 100 1000 10000

brevity. Interested readers can find it in [42], together with time [min] A
details about its derivation. This expression is an explicit
function not only of E and T, but also of ω, the angular
4.0
B
frequency of the ac voltage. 3.5 DC, 55 kV/mm

The determination of model parameters for both the dc 3.0 0.1 Hz, 0°
DMM model and the ac DMM model via short-term tests has 0.1 Hz, 180°

been discussed and shown to be feasible in [47]. A further

Charge [C/m ]

2.5 1 mHz, 0°
3

1 mHz, 180°
refinement of the model, emphasizing the role played by local 2.0
55 kV/mm

elemental strain, is also described and applied in [40, 41].

1.5

5.3 MODEL FEATURE DISCUSSION 1.0

The DMM life expressions, particularly the one valid for ac
voltage [42], have been criticized as possessing too many
parameters, thereby arguing that they can fit any sort of
experimental lifeline by adjusting their values appropriately.
This criticism treats the theoretical models as though they were
phenomenological ones where parameters with unknown
physical origins are adjusted to fit data. It should be noted that
though the phenomenological expressions contain fewer
parameters, these invariably have values that change with
temperature and pressure, for example, and thus contain
hidden parameters that are not made explicit. Instead of talking
about numbers of parameters we should ask what parameters
would we expect to find in a physical theory of electrical
aging. All experiments indicate that ageing depends upon the
temperature, so we should expect to find parameters relating
the rate to temperature. The minimum number of such
0.5
0.0
1 10 100 1000 10000
time [min] B
Figure 4. Dependence of space charge density on supply-voltage
frequency. Sinusoidal voltage, poling field 55 kVrms /mm (after [43]). Time
dependence of space charge accumulation at 0 and 180° phase angles of the
supply voltage, different fields (55 and 20 kVrms/mm, 1 mHz, Figure 4A)
and frequencies (1mHz and 0.1Hz, 55 kVrms/mm, Figure 4B). DC results at
20 and 55 kV/mm are also reported (dotted lines) (after [43]).
parameters is one, such as an activation energy, but actually
any linear relation is defined by two parameters. There must
also be a factor that relates the ageing rate to a function of the
electric field, and this feature must contain a proportionality
factor and a power of the field. We must also have an end-
882 G. Mazzanti et al.: Electrical Aging and Life Models: The Role of Space Charge
point defining the point at which life is accepted as terminated. 100
It is not correct to state that life is inversely proportional to an dc test at 110°C
90 dc test at 160°C
ageing rate and then set it to be equal to the inverse of the rate. dc test at 180°C
In these terms the absolute minimum number of parameters for 80 model at 110°C
a mechanistic based life expression is five. Expression (7) does 70 model at 160°C
not fare too badly in this respect containing six parameters, C’ model at 180°C
60

E [kV/mm]
and b defining the field effect, ΔH the temperature effect, ΔS
the frequency factor, A* defining the end point, and the extra 50
parameter Δ that originates with asymmetry in the ground state 40
energies and combines with A* to define a minimum energy 30
required to achieve the end-point. In the ac case the simplest
solution is to assume that the transit of the transition region by 20
the reacting moieties is driven by the oscillating field and to 10
replace the attempt frequency of the ‘aging rate constant’, h/kT 0
in equation (7), by the frequency of the electric field. In these 10-2 10-1 100 101 102 103 104 105 106
terms expression (10) is indeed more complex than would be
L [h]
absolutely necessary Figure 5. Expression (7) fitted to failure times (63.2% probability)
However to talk about numbers of parameters is to miss the obtained from dc life tests at 110, 160, 180 °C on PET specimens (after [41,
point. The expressions are physically based. The parameters 46]).
60
have been related to a physical mechanism. The true critique ac test at 20°C
of the expressions is whether or not values for the various ac test at 50°C
factors can be obtained from direct measurement of the 50
ac test at 70°C
mechanistic processes that agree with experimental data on ac test at 100°C
ageing. So far this has only been done to a limited extent, as it 40 model at 20°C
has proved difficult to find non-breakdown mechanisms to use E [kV/mm]
model at 50°C
in their determination. Our ignorance of the exact form of the 30 model at 70°C
processes and of means to obtain parameter values has meant model at 100°C
that these expressions have most often been fitted to
20
experimental data with the aim of gaining sufficient insight to
pin down the physical/chemical features to the point where
10
they can be investigated directly. The main success of this
procedure has been an ability to describe lifelines at different
temperatures without altering parameter values, thereby 0
indicating that the temperature dependence of the expressions 100 101 102 103

is essentially correct. Direct measurement of the parameters L [h]

required can then be obtained from observation of the growth
in size of nano- to micro-voids up to the size able to trigger
partial discharges during electrical ageing. So far unambiguous
evidence for such growth has not been found, thus making
parameter estimation in this way currently impracticable.
Indeed the lack of evidence of void extension is a far more
severe criticism of the model than that of parameter numbers.
The other criticism relates to the description of ac aging.
Measurements have shown that the steady retention of space
charge during ac aging is quite small, with the damage being
expected to be located close to the electrodes where charge
can be injected and extracted. However it should be noted that
space charge relates to net charge. Indeed, a small measured
value does not mean that the amount of trapped charge is
small, just that the small centers that trap negative charge are
essentially compensated by centers that trap positive charge.
Such a situation occurs during the initiation of electrical trees,
see for example [37] and references within. In addition,
measurements of space charge injected or extracted during
each half cycle of the supply voltage reveal that the flow of
charge is significant also at relatively high frequency [43, 45].
Finally it must be noted that the degradation mechanism
Figure 6. Expression (7) fitted to failure times (63.2% probability)
obtained from 50 Hz ac life tests at 20, 50, 70, 100°C on PET specimens
(after [41, 46]).
described here acts locally at the nano to micro scale and
would still be operative albeit in the region close to the
electrodes where charge is injected and extracted.
6 GROWTH OF DAMAGE DUE TO
ELECTRON AVALANCHES: PARTIAL
DISCHARGES AND AGING
Polymeric insulation systems typically contain micro-voids
(micro-cavities) produced during manufacture. The system
consisting of polymer matrix plus a gas (air)-filled micro-void
(see Figure 7) can therefore be regarded as being in local
breakdown conditions, provided that the void is large enough
(i.e. a few tens of microns at typical service electric fields and
temperatures [48]) to sustain partial discharge processes under
the applied electrical field. Differences in permittivity between
the air and the polymer will enhance the field in the void, but
an initiating electron will be needed to start the discharge. The
most likely source is charge carriers (primarily electrons) that

1070-9878/05/$20.00 © 2005 IEEE

IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 12, No. 5; October 2005 883
have been transported through the insulation due to the E
conduction process and trapped as space charge at the microvoid
polymer-void interface. These charges can be injected into the
void and trigger hot-electron avalanches via impact ionization
of gas molecules. Such avalanches collide with the opposite
P E matrix
void-polymer interface causing damage to the adjacent d
polymer lattice. This process deposits electrons and positive
ions on the cavity walls in the form of space charge. Therefore electrodes
ageing caused by partial discharges, which becomes
particularly severe under ac voltage when discharges in a Figure 7. Schematic for partial discharge Aging Model: a PE-matrix with
cavity may be repeated on each half cycle by taking profit of an embedded cylindrical void (void size enlarged)
electrons deposited on the cavity walls by the preceding
discharge (see also previous Section 3 devoted to FLSC), can thereby forming space charge that is stored at the PE-void
be regarded as involving space charge. Damage accumulates at interface. Subsequently the electrons have the possibility of
the void-polymer interface at a rate depending on the electron being injected into the void through the Schottky effect, since
energy distribution, micro-void size, and applied voltage and the activation energy for electron de-trapping, φ, is lower than
temperature, promoting the growth of a pit that generates the actual charge trap depth, U0, due to both the Laplacian
electrical treeing and (ultimately) breakdown of the whole field and the Poissionian field associated with local charge
dielectric thickness. accumulation that contributes a Coulombic repulsion between
The thorough analysis of these phenomena, carried out in stored charges. A balance between the arrival of electrons on
[48-50] enabled the development of a model construct for the void surface due to the conduction current density, J, and
partial discharge aging of the polymer-void system considered, electrons leaving the surface due to Schottky injection into the
sketched in Figure 7, i.e. a homogeneous polyethylene (PE) void yields the time variation of the number of electrons
matrix, enclosed between plane parallel metallic electrodes, accumulated at the PE-void interface at a given time t, n(t),
with an embedded air-filled cylindrical void of linear that can be expressed as follows [48-50]:
dimension d along the field direction and circular base S, of
radius R. The aging process in this model is divided into three- dn(t ) R J
stages, namely: = ³ (1 − e −φ ( r ,t ) / kT )2πrdr (10)
dt 0 qe
1) charge accumulation at the polymer-void interface and
injection into the void; where r is the radial coordinate over the void circular
2) hot-electron avalanche generation inside the void; surface S, qe is the electron charge, T is the absolute
3) damage accumulation at the void-polymer interface and temperature, k is the Boltzmann constant. By further
growth into the polymer. hypothesizing that:
A life expression can be derived from this model by setting - electrons arriving at the void-PE interface are all trapped;
a failure criterion that, similarly to the FLSC approach, - trapped electrons are uniformly-distributed over S;
corresponds to the formation of a damaged zone large enough - de-trapping rates are much slower than trapping ones;
to trigger an electrical tree. Life (time-to-failure) can then be
estimated as the time to the formation of a damage-zone of the - chemical traps at the interface can be neglected;
critical size. Strictly speaking, this time does not coincide with equation (10) can be recast into the following form:
the failure of whole insulation thickness, but it is fairly close to
it, since tree growth (described by different models) will take ­ ª 1/ 2 2 º½
« U 0 − qe ¨ qeε r E ¸ − 2qe JSt » °
much less time than the prior degradation process at usual ° § ·
dn(t ) JS °° « ¨ 4πε ¸ 4πε 0 R qe » °°
service fields. = © o ¹ (11)
®1 − exp «− »¾
The aging and life model founded on damage inception and dt qe ° « k B T »°
growth from air-filled voids due to electron avalanches is ° « »°
°¯ ¬ ¼ °¿
briefly reviewed below, with each of the three degradation
stages discussed in sequence. where ε0 is the void (air) permittivity, εr is the PE relative
permittivity, E is the local electric field in the PE. By solving
6.1 CHARGE ACCUMULATION AT POLYMER-VOID equation (11) for n(t), the number of injected electrons at time
INTERFACE AND INJECTION INTO THE VOID t, ninj(t), can be derived as:
Electrons, either injected from the electrodes or already
present inside the polymeric insulation, may reach the ninj(t)=JSt/qe – n(t) (12)
polymer-void interface moving for example via a thermally and the time to the injection of the first electron, tinj, can be
activated hopping transport mechanism. There they are trapped obtained as illustrated in [48-50]. From tinj, the injection rate
thanks to the negative electron affinity of some insulating Rinj = 1/tinj can be finally obtained in the form of the following
polymers (particularly polyolefins, among which is PE) [48]), expression:
884
­ ª § 1 / 2 ·º ½
° « ¨ U − q §¨ qeε r E ·¸ ¸» °
2
JS 2qe °° « 2 qe 2 ¨ 0 e ¨ ¸
© 4πε 0 ¹ ¸» °°
Rinj = ®ln «1 + exp¨
qe kT 4πε 0 R ° « 4πε 0 RkT ¨ kT
¨ ¸
° « ¨ ¸» °
°¯ «¬ © ¹»¼ °¿
6.2 HOT-ELECTRON AVALANCHE GENERATION
INSIDE THE VOID
The electric field inside the void, EV = εrE, at typical design
electric fields of insulation systems (under dc or ac voltage),
i.e. E = 5-40 kV/mm, can be well above the critical value for
avalanche triggering. The dielectric strength of dry air at
atmospheric pressure and room temperature is ∼2 kV/mm.
Hence, electrons injected into the void and accelerated by the
field can ionize gas molecules and give rise to electron
avalanches that consist mostly of hot electrons (i.e. electrons
with kinetic energy in excess of 8 eV), at least at usual service
fields [48]. This is a fundamental item, since hot electrons are
those that are actually able to damage the polymer. Therefore,
the ageing process originated by the subsequent collision
between avalanches and the void-polymer interface can be
modeled only if the energy (w) distribution of electrons
generated in the void (at a given time and value of EV),
n(w;EV,t), is determined. In practice, the electron energy
distribution comes to equilibrium in a very short time
(typically ∼10-10 - 10-11 s), after which the energy spectrum of
electrons remains steady, while their total number increases
exponentially; hence n(w;EV,t) can be written as:
n(w;EV,t)=n(w;EV)exp[β(EV)t]
where n(w;EV) is the equilibrium energy distribution
function and β(EV) is the field-dependent multiplication rate.
The calculation of n(w;EV) and β(EV) can be accomplished as
illustrated in [48, 49], where guidelines are also provided for
the determination of the number of electrons produced in the
avalanche across the void starting from one single injected
electron, i.e.
Nel = exp[α(EV)d]
α(EV) being the well-known 1st Townsend coefficient, for
which semi-empirical expressions are available in the
literature, see for example [8]. In the calculations, EV is
assumed as constant inside the void (thus neglecting the
influence of the spatial distribution of electrons).
6.3 DAMAGE ACCUMULATION AT VOID-POLYMER
INTERFACE AND GROWTH INTO THE POLYMER
Hot electron avalanches produced inside the air-filled cavity
collide with the void-polymer interface, and the electrons
G. Mazzanti et al.: Electrical Aging and Life Models: The Role of Space Charge
release their kinetic energy through high-energy scatterings
−1 within polymer slabs adjacent to the void surface. The electric
field within the polymer matrix is generally lower than that in
¸ (13)
»¾ the void and the dielectric breakdown strength much higher.
¸» °
Typical values range from 100 to 500 kV/mm depending on
material properties, i.e. well above average working electric
fields, although such large field values might be encountered
in the proximity of conductive, sharp particles, see the FLSC
theory in Section 3. Hence, while breakdown conditions are
commonly found within the void electrons in the polymer are
far from breakdown conditions. They are therefore subject to a
fast thermalization process. This can occur through two
strongly inelastic scattering processes that take place above ∼8
eV, i.e. impact ionization and Dissociative Electron
Attachment (DEA) of C-H bonds [34]. As can be argued, DEA
is also important since it causes chemical damage (and thus
ageing), which accumulates in the polymer as subsequent
avalanches travel across the void and impact on the void-
polymer interface. In the case of polyolefins, such as PE,
chemical damage can be assumed to consist of the breaking of
a percentage of CH bonds large enough to cause irreversible
ageing [48]. It has been determined from the mean free paths
for electron scatterings in polymers [34, 48] that the whole
hot-electron cooling process occurs in a slab of thickness Ddis
∼400 Å. By solving the electron diffusion equation in the
energy-time domain using experimental scattering rates (those
for PE are available, e.g., in [34]), as given in detail in [48],
the fraction of avalanche hot electrons that are effective in
causing chemical damage through DEA, Feff, can be obtained
as a function of field. The damage growth rate in PE, Rdis, can
then be derived as a function of void size d, electric field E,
(14) and temperature T, as follows:
Rdis = Ddis / t dis (16)
where tdis is the time-to-disruption (i.e. to severe and
irreversible chemical degradation) of the slab affected by the
above ageing process. By roughly estimating tdis as the time
needed to dissociate half of the CH bonds inside the slab, an
analytical expression can be derived:
(15) t dis = N CH /( 2 Rel Feff Fhot ) (17)
Here Fhot is the hot-fraction (energy >8 eV) of electrons
impinging the polymer surface (tending to zero in the absence
of avalanches in the void), NCH is the number of CH bonds in
the slab, and Rel is the rate of electrons colliding with the
polymer surface after being injected into the void and
multiplied by the avalanche mechanism. Equation (17) is
easily derived by combining equations (13) and (15) (see [48]
for further details).
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 12, No. 5; October 2005
An expression for the life L of the system is obtained by
assuming that time-to-failure (life) is the time to the formation
of a damaged zone of critical size dC. This zone, made of
contiguous sequentially-damaged slabs of thickness Ddis
reaches criticality when it is large enough to start an electrical
tree e.g. by enhancing the local field, or, simply, increasing the
volume of damaged polymer. L can be estimated from eqns.
(16) and (17), as follows:
L = d C / Rdis (18)
It can be argued that, with the exception of dC, all the
parameters that characterize the above ageing and life model
have a physical meaning, since they are related to physical and
chemical properties of the polymer and of the air that fills the
void. The only phenomenological parameter of the model is
dC, and this can be obtained either a-priori by means of
theoretical considerations (see e.g. [29, 35]) or a-posteriori by
comparing life estimates obtained from equation (18) with
experimental times-to-failure (through, e.g., tests at fairly high
values of field and, hence, lasting relatively short times). Of
course, a detailed knowledge of chemical degradation
parameters, such as bond-breaking energies and
electron/polymer scattering rates, is needed. In addition, the
model of damage growth still requires improvements taking
into account the progressive growth of the volume of damage;
see [36, 40]. It is interesting to note that the approach
developed by Boggs et al. in the framework of the FLSC
theory [35] can provide an effective failure criterion (growth
of a pit of around 1.5 ȝm of length) for this model, thereby
separating the stage dominated by avalanches in the void from
that relevant to tree growth.
An example of the application of the ageing and life model
described above to the system sketched in Figure 7 is given in
Figure 8. Here, the values of L calculated by means of
equation (18) for a temperature of 350 K (77°C) and two
values of void size d in PE, i.e. 20 μm and 100 μm, are plotted
as a function of electric field. The curves are obtained by using
a proper semi-empirical expression for α(EV) derived from [8],
which includes the effect of an electron attachment process to
electronegative oxygen molecules in the void. The figure
shows that, as expected, life at given values of electric field
and temperature decreases with increasing void size. The
figure also shows that an electrical field threshold below which
life tends to infinity is a characteristic of this life model. Such
a threshold is introduced by the quantities Feff and Fhot, that
appear in equation (17) (and thus enter equation (18) via
relationship (16)), that are inherently “threshold-like”
quantities, being zero for field levels not high enough to
trigger the avalanches in the void that generate the hot
electrons able to cause chemical damage in the polymer.
7 SPACE CHARGE AS CAUSE OR EFFECT
OF AGING: MODELS AND EXPERIMENTAL
EVIDENCE
The matter of the origin of space charges and their effect on
ageing has become a hotly debated topic particularly after
direct observation of space charge in insulation became
885
70
d=20 μm
60 d=100 μm
Electric field [kV/mm]
50
40
30
20
10
0
10-4 10-3 10-2 10-1 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 1010
Life [h]
Figure 8. Values of life L vs field in PE for a temperature of 350 K (77 °C)
and two values of void size d, i.e. 20 μm and 100 μm (from eq. (18)). Semi-
log plot.
possible. Two schools of thought are represented, one
recognizing that space charge can be both cause and effect of
aging [21, 39-41, 51-55], the other neglecting any action of
space charge on electrical aging and considering the
appearance or increase of space charge in insulation as an
effect of ageing [56-60].
The difference between the two approaches is substantial,
for both theoretical and practical reasons. From a theoretical
point of view, if space charge is just a consequence of ageing
the derivation of life models should not take into account any
influence of space charge in insulation. In practice, this would
support designing insulation systems without taking into
account space charge features and considering space charge
only as an ageing marker.
There are two electrical life models, proposed in recent
years, by Lewis [57] and Crine [59], that focus on
electromechanical stress ageing and neglect the action of space
charges as trigger of degradation processes. They are derived
from a common thermo-kinetic background, which in fact, is
shared also with the DMM space charge life model described
in Section 5 [21, 39-41]. These models consider that electrical
ageing is a thermally activated process (in agreement with
Dakin), so that going from the original (unaged) state to the
final (aged) state requires the system to be activated over a
free energy barrier ǻG. In the presence of an electric field the
barrier ǻG is reduced by a square-field term, whose physical
origin lies in an electromechanical modification of the intrinsic
free energy barrier. According to [57, 58], the electrically
induced forces in liquids and solid polymers can be
represented by the Helmholz expression
d (ε E 2 )
F= ȡE – (1/2) E2 ∇İ + (1/2) ∇[ȡm ] (19)
d (ρm )
where ȡ and ȡm are charge density and mass density,
respectively. The first term is the Coulombic interaction
between field and charge; the second is the dielectrophoretic
stress and the third an electrostrictive stress. Actually, the
886
expression of the electrostrictive stress in equation (19) is
valid for liquids. In solid polymers, where a shearing stress can
exist, the electrostrictive term must be replaced by an
expression that can account for the mechanical stress, ım, and
its interaction with chemical and physical bonds. It has been
shown that this stress is orthogonal to the electrical field and of
magnitude
ım = −İE2 (20)
Therefore, ım is a tensile stress that tends to expand the
dielectric against its cohesive forces. It is speculated in [60]
that this action will oppose the van der Waals’ attractions,
straining polymer chains and enlarging nano-cavities. It is the
growth of these nano-cavities that, according to [60], causes
insulation damage up to breakdown.
From the model point of view, a life expression can be
obtained by considering partially reversible reactions (taking
into account direct and reverse reactions). Including the
electromechanical energy reduction, equation (20), in the
activation energy barrier ǻG gives,
L=(h/2kT) exp(ǻG/kT) csch(1/2 İ ǻV E2/kT) (21)
where ǻV is the activation volume (the strained volume).
Equation (21) holds for dc electrical fields, but a similar
equation has been proposed for ac fields, in which the ac
frequency is substituted for (kT/h) as the denominator of the
pre-exponential term of equation (21).
The role of space charge is, in this model, subordinate to the
formation and enlargement of nano-cavities, since more
charges can be injected and trapped as the density of nano-
cavities increases with ageing, as compared to the unaged
material. Hence, one can expect an increase of space charge
density in the insulation with ageing, such as is actually found
in most of the experimental results available in literature [60-
64]. Since the increase of cavity size will most likely allow for
more massive degradation mechanisms, such as those driven
by partial discharges (PD), such a model will hold only until
PD phenomena become active.
The above approach has been adapted successfully to fit
experimental data obtained from life tests (e.g. [56, 60]), but
the substantial number of parameters and the large variation in
estimated life brought about by small variations of some of
these parameters (e.g. the life depends exponentially upon the
free energy, or entropy and enthalpy) substantially favors the
achievement of a good fit to the data. As an example, [57]
shows that variations of ǻG from 0.1 to 0.5 eV modifies the
relaxation time (exponential function of ǻG) by 7 orders of
magnitude, thus small adjustments of ǻV in equation (21)
might induce the good fitting of different data-sets without
necessarily having a genuine physical origin. This also holds
for some parameters in the DMM model dealt with in Section
5.
A more critical test for aging life expressions is to find
parameter sets that reproduce experimental data for a wide
G. Mazzanti et al.: Electrical Aging and Life Models: The Role of Space Charge
range of conditions (temperature, pressure etc) with at the
most minor variations. Therefore support for the validity of the
respective ageing models must be sought mainly in
experiments, forensic observations and field experience. In this
respect research on HVDC polymeric cables indicates that
cable design must in reality take into account the presence of
space charge [65]. Indeed, it has been proved that the
prevailing cause of life reduction for polymeric insulation
subjected to a dc electrical field, particularly in the presence of
voltage polarity inversions (as may happen in transmission dc
cables), is the presence of space charge. Both life tests with
and without voltage polarity inversions and impulse tests with
superimposed dc fields have shown that above a threshold, the
presence of space charge can reduce life considerably or even
dramatically [6, 52]. Extensive experimental work on
polyethylene-based materials has led to an expression able to
describe life under voltage polarity inversion, that relates the
ratio of life without and with polarity inversion, L/Li, to the
maximum field measured in the insulation, EM, the space
charge per unit volume, q, and the exponent s in the time
dependence (q ∝ t−s) of the charge depletion:
ln[(L/Li) -1]=A1+A2 ln(q)+A3 ln(EM)+A4 ln(s)+A5 ln(f) (22)
where f is the polarity inversion frequency. Equation (22)
can be simplified by consideration of the dependence of the
space charge density on the poling (Laplacian) field, E. It has
been found that above the threshold ET (described, e.g. in [66,
67]), the characteristic behavior is that of a power law:
q = A0 Eb (23)
Here b is the power law exponent, i.e. the slope in a log-log
plot, of the high-field part of the field characteristic, see Figure
9, where the threshold for charge accumulation, ET, is
indicated by an arrow. Using equation (23) together with some
other approximations results in the following expression:
ln[(L/Li) -1] = b’ ln(KE) + A5 ln(f) (24)
where K and b’ are functions of the coefficients A0, A1, A2, A3,
A4. Equations (22) and (24) show that the larger the amount of
space charge, the shorter is life under voltage polarity
inversion with respect to life without inversion. Of course,
space charge can also affect significantly the life without
voltage polarity inversions, as has been shown, for example,
by space charge measurements and life testing carried out on
nanostructured materials [68]. Considering non-purified
nanostructured ethylene-vinylacetate, EVA, an evident large
increase of space charge due to the compatibilisation treatment
of nanosilicates was found, see Figure 10, which was
associated with a significant life reduction with respect to pure
EVA and purified nanostructured EVA. Indeed, positive and
negative charge packets crossing a specimen from one
electrode to the other were able, for these materials, to
magnify the local electric field several times with respect to
the Laplacian value. Figure 11 shows an example of the
IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Vol. 12, No. 5; October 2005 887
electric field profile during polarisation where the maximum
field inside the insulation reaches about 120 kV/mm even
though the Laplacian dc field was only 60 kV/mm. This
resulted in a very significant life reduction, from the many 10
years expected at 60 kV/mm on the basis of the extrapolation XLPE, 20°C

of the electrical lifeline of EVA material, to less than 2 h for

the non-purified nanostructured material, a value that is
roughly consistent with that expected for a field of 120 kV/mm

qs0 [C/m3]
in pure EVA. It is noteworthy that after purification (washing)
treatment, the same material accumulated very little space 1
charge (reducing to values of the order of 1 C/m3 at the poling b
field of 60 kV/mm, which almost coincides with the
Poissonian field inside the insulation) and was able to ET

withstand a field of 60 kV/mm for more than two weeks

without showing any breakdown. Space charge clearly has a
strong influence upon the insulation lifetime in dc fields even 0,1
though it is neglected in the approaches of [57] and [59]. On 5 6 7 8 9 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 150

the other hand, the life expressions derived in these E [kV/mm]

approaches, described by equations (19)–(21), can be Figure 9. Example of threshold characteristic, relevant to XLPE, 20 °C.
significantly affected by the presence of space charge. As The threshold for space charge accumulation, ET, is indicated by an arrow
(after [61]).
mentioned in [57, 58], the electrically induced mechanical
stress depends on the square of the field, and thus it is more 30
important in an insulator at places where the field is high, e.g.
at electrode interfaces where space charge is present, and at 20

inclusions, voids, protrusions. 10

Summarizing, it can be concluded that the above results and

Charge [C/m3]

0
experimental observations seem definitely to support an ageing
acceleration effect under dc electrical fields caused by space -10

charge. This might indicate that, as mentioned before, even the -20
simplest phenomenological life models can be applied with the Pure EVA
consideration of the maximum field magnification in an -30 Non-purified nanostructured EVA

insulation, and in such a way can provide life estimations -40

which are based on the extreme value (weakest point)
approach [69]. Under ac fields these considerations have to be -50
-100 0 100 200 300 400 500
revisited since it is now known that the net amount of charge
Thickness [μm]
(i.e. the space charge) trapped under ac fields is much lower Figure 10. Space charge profile during polarisation under a Laplacian dc
than that produced in dc fields and diminishes as the frequency field of 60 kV/mm, 20 °C, for non-purified nanostructured EVA and pure
increases, see Figure 3 [70, 71]. Therefore, mechanical fatigue EVA.
should be considered [42, 47]. Ageing in such a case would be
caused prevailingly by the presence of PD in macro-defects, 20
Pure EVA
which introduce large stresses due to the high repetition rate of 0 Non-purified nanostructured EVA
PD phenomena in ac fields with respect to dc fields, rather
than by the growth of nano- or meso-defects. The latter -20
Electric field [kV/mm]

process would likely take a much longer time than the PD

-40
degradation due to the macro-defects that are unavoidable in
practical insulation systems. However, it should be noted that -60
small values of space charge do not necessarily mean low
values of trapped charge as the space charge is always the net -80

charge density averaged over a given region. Thus for -100

example, models for electrical tree initiation in epoxy resins
[37, 72] under ac fields involve increasing amounts of trapped -120

charge over time, only with the net charge density being much
-140
smaller and changing polarity every half cycle. -100 0 100 200 300 400 500

Thickness [μm]
Figure 11. Electric field profile corresponding to the space charge of
7 CONCLUSION Figure 10.
The role of space charge in insulation ageing has found
incontrovertible support from theories and experimental
888
observations/results developed in the last two decades. The
most recent developments of testing techniques have provided
direct evidence of the presence of space charge in insulation,
due to both electron injection and dissociation of contaminants
into ionic species, which can become massive at high fields.
The relation of space charge to insulation ageing is made
obvious by the experimental results of life tests under dc field,
particularly in the presence of voltage polarity inversion. The
reason is the localized modification of the Laplacian electric
field to a Poissonian value and a consequent acceleration of
the degradation reaction, which can be described either by a
generalized thermodynamic approach or a bond-breaking
process due to highly-energetic electrons and/or photons
(depending on electrical field and theoretical background).
Under ac fields, most of the damage is formed close to
electrodes or defects, where electrons can be accelerated to
gain sufficient energy to break bonds at each half cycle of the
supply voltage, that is, with a very high degradation rate. In
addition, mechanical fatigue mechanisms can locally modify
bond strength and cause microscopic strains, which favor
degradation.
In general, space charge-driven ageing processes can
describe a part of the whole life of an electrical insulation, that
is, the time from energisation to formation of micro-defects
able to initiate partial discharges. It is noteworthy that PD
phenomenology also has to deal with space charge, which is
the cause of the memory effect and contributes to the
determination of the repetition rate and amplitude of PD, but
description of PD mechanisms falls outside the main purpose
of this paper.
Observing the developments in recent decades in insulation
system manufacturing technologies (particularly cables) and
materials (e.g. extra-clean PE), it can be speculated that
considerable increases in design electric field could be
obtained by improving insulation homogeneity, that is, by
reducing the size of the unavoidable defects present in the
insulation. Therefore, modeling should have the purpose of
pointing the way to material or manufacturing technology
improvements leading to a technical-economical optimization
of investments. To be provocative, it can be argued that the
time to failure of present and past insulation has been mainly
conditioned by the presence of macro- and micro-defects. The
trend to remove defects and increase homogeneity would
increase life (or design electric field) perhaps surprisingly.
This would indicate that in future life-models mainly based on
growth of defects from nano- to micro-size (e.g., those
described in Sections 5 and 7) would become increasingly
more important for life prediction compared to those models
that imply strongly energetic phenomena (e.g., those described
in Sections 3 and 6).
Most of the recent modeling developments tend to describe
in more and more depth the mechanisms causing the onset of
ageing. In contrast the growth of the degradation has been
neglected, and thus it is this that requires more attention and
improved explanations. For example, speaking of bond
breakdown does not add too much information to the
description of the ageing growth mechanism. Several questions
still need answering. For example, which bonds need be
G. Mazzanti et al.: Electrical Aging and Life Models: The Role of Space Charge
broken to promote degradation? We recall here for example,
that van der Waals’ bonds are electrostatic interactions, so that
they cannot be broken, strictly speaking, only weakened. What
is the effect of polymer morphology on growth rate and
direction? How much bond breaking is reversible? What is the
physical state of the damaged area and how does it result from
bond breaking? For example, if it is void how is it opened up?
What is the electrical consequence of the damage, i.e. does it
support PD, is it conducting, or both, as a function of time? Do
the damaged regions develop independently so that the most
severe region initiates failure, or do they link up together to
degrade the insulation quality on a global scale? Accurate
answers to these questions are needed in order to succeed in
the task of developing physical models able to describe life for
different insulating materials without adjustable parameters
that can be determined only by (long) life tests. This is the
likely objective that material and apparatus manufacturers will
want to see achieved by researchers in the next two decades.
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Giovanni Mazzanti (M’04) was born in Bologna, Italy,
on 12 July 1962. He received the Master degree in
nuclear engineering in 1986 and the Ph.D. degree in
electrical engineering in 1992 from the University of
Bologna, where he is currently an Assistant Professor of
HV Engineering. His fields of interest are life modeling,
reliability and diagnostics of HV insulation, and human
exposure to electromagnetic fields. He is author or coauthor of more than 100
published papers (more than 30 in IEEE Transactions).
G. Mazzanti et al.: Electrical Aging and Life Models: The Role of Space Charge
Gian Carlo Montanari (M’87-SM’90-F’00) was born
on 8 November 1955. In 1979, he took the Master degree
in electrical engineering at the University of Bologna. He
is currently Full Professor of Electrical Technology at the
Department of Electrical Engineering of the University
of Bologna, and teaches courses of Technology and
Reliability. He has worked since 1979 in the field of
aging and endurance of solid insulating materials and
systems, of diagnostics of electrical systems and innovative electrical
materials (magnetics, electrets, superconductors). He has been also engaged
in the fields of power quality and energy market, power electronics, reliability
and statistics of electrical systems. He is IEEE Fellow and member of AEI
and Institute of Physics. Since 1996 he is the Italian representative in CIGRE
and President of the Italian Chapter of the IEEE DEIS. He is convener of the
Statistics Committee and member of the Space Charge, Multifactor Stress and
Meetings Committees of IEEE DEIS. He is Associate Editor of IEEE
Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation. He is founder and
President of the spin-off TechImp, established on 1999. He is author or
coauthor of about 450 scientific papers.
Leonard A. Dissado (SM’96) was born in St.Helens,
Lancashire, U.K, on 29 August 1942. He graduated from
University College London with a 1st Class degree in
chemistry in 1963 and was awarded the Ph.D. degree in
theoretical chemistry in 1966 and the D.Sc. degree in
1990. After rotating between Australia and England
twice he settled in at Chelsea College in 1977 to carry
out research into dielectrics. His interest in breakdown
and associated topics started with a consultancy with STL begun in 1981.
Since then he has published many papers and one book, together with John
Fothergill, in this area. In 1995 he moved to The University of Leicester, and
was promoted to Professor in 1998. He has been a visiting Professor at The
University Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris, Paul Sabatier University in
Toulouse, and Nagoya University, and has given numerous invited lectures,
the most recent of which was the Whitehead lecture at CEIDP 2002 in
Cancun, Mexico. Currently he is an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions
DEI, co-chair of the Multifactor Aging Committee of DEIS and a member of
DEIS Administrative Committee.