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Breakdown in Solids
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Breakdown in Solids
In gases, conduction is limited to positive and negative charge carriers,
and its rapid growth is due to formation of electron avalanches.
The failure mechanism and breakdown strength changes with the time
of voltage application.
Figure: Mechanism of failure and variation of breakdown strength in solids with time of 4
stressing
Breakdown in Solids
Various breakdown mechanisms in solid dielectrics:
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Intrinsic breakdown
Intrinsic breakdown is very rare to happen.
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Intrinsic breakdown
The dielectric strength when intrinsic breakdown occurs is called intrinsic
electric strength.
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Intrinsic breakdown
In pure dielectric materials, conduction and valence bands are separated
by large energy gap.
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Intrinsic breakdown
In practice, materials contain imperfections in their structures due to
missing atoms and impurities that may act as traps for free electrons.
As the applied field increases, more and more trapped electrons are freed
and therefore conduction increases.
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Intrinsic breakdown
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Electromechanical breakdown
When solid dielectrics are subjected to high electric fields, failure can
occur when the electrostatic compressive forces on the test specimen
exceed its mechanical compressive strength.
The pressure applied on the solid dielectric when the field reaches about
MV/cm may be several kN/m2.
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Electromechanical breakdown
If d0 is the initial thickness of specimen material of Young’s modulus Y,
and is compressed to a thickness d under applied voltage V, then
the electrically developed compressive stress is in equilibrium with
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Electromechanical breakdown
Where,
• ε0 is absolute permittivity or vacuum permittivity (8.854187 x
10−12 F/m)
• εr is the relative permittivity of the material
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Electromechanical breakdown
Hence, the highest apparent strength, Emax before breakdown is:
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Thermal Breakdown
Conduction current due to the application of high field across a solid
dielectric can continuously generate heat within the dielectric and the
temperature rise.
Where,
σ is the dc conductivity of the material
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Thermal Breakdown
Under AC stress, Eac the heat generated, Wac (W/cm3) is given by:
Where,
• f is the dc conductivity of the material
• δ is the loss angle of the dielectric material
• Eac is the rms value
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Thermal Breakdown
The heat dissipated, WT (W/cm3) is given by :
Where,
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Thermal Breakdown
Equilibrium is reached when the heat used to raise the temperature
of the dielectric plus the heat radiated (dissipated heat) becomes
equal to the heat generated.
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Thermal Breakdown
Heat dissipated is represented as straight line and heat generated at
different fields are shown by curves.
For field E1, thermal equilibrium is achieved at T1. Below this value, heat
generated exceeds heat dissipated thus breakdown may occur. Beyond
T1, heat loss is greater than heat generated; thus breakdown will not
occur
For field E2, thermal equilibrium is achieved at T2. Breakdown may occur
both below and beyond this value as heat generated is higher than heat
dissipated
For field E3, thermal equilibrium is not achieved for any temperature
values so this level of field will almost likely cause breakdown due to
thermal
By identifying the thermal breakdown stress for a particular material, a
temperature limit can be set for each operating stress level 20
Electrochemical Deterioration
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Electrochemical Deterioration
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Treeing
Two types:
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Treeing
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Treeing
Consider the following figure :
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Treeing
If the applied voltage at the electrodes is V, then:
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Treeing
Rearrange the equation will give:
Sparking can occur in the gap and charge accumulation takes place at
the surface of solid insulation.
Eventually the conducting path will bridge the electrodes and cause
total failure of insulation
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Tracking
Tracking occurs during surface or creepage discharge on the surface of
solid insulation
Leakage current passes through the solid insulation surface and this
leads to formation of spark.
Heat resulting from the small sparks causes carbonization and form
permanent ‘carbon track’ on the surface
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Tracking
This further increases the electric stress over the rest of the insulating
region
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Internal Discharge
Solid insulating materials often contain cavities or voids within the
dielectric material or on boundaries between the dielectric and
electrodes .
These voids are filled with a medium (gas or liquid) of lower dielectric
breakdown strength and permittivity than that of the solid insulation.
Thus, electric field intensity in the voids is higher than in the solid
dielectric
Under normal working voltages, the voltage across the voids may
exceed the breakdown value and thus breakdown may be initiated in
the void.
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Internal Discharge
Breakdown within the void is a localized breakdown event and called
as internal discharge or partial discharge (PD).
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Internal Discharge
Substituting and rearrange the equations will give:
Prove this..!!
Then, try prove the above equation using the following equation that
we derive previously (section of breakdown due to treeing):
OR
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Internal Discharge
Assuming the cavity is filled with a gas (εc ≈ 1),
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Internal Discharge
Consider the following figure
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Internal Discharge
Under applied voltage Va, Vc also increases until it reaches the
breakdown value V+ of the gap t and discharge occurs .
The dotted curve shows qualitatively the voltage that would appear (i.e.
voltage drop) across the cavity if it did not breakdown
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Internal Discharge
Several discharges may take place during the rising part of the applied
voltage, Va
Similarly, at the decreasing part of the applied voltage, Va, the cavity
discharges also occur as the voltage across it reaches V-.
This process repeats again and again, and give rise to positive and
negative current pulses on raising and decreasing the voltage applied.
The internal discharge will have the same effect as treeing on the
insulation.
When breakdown occurs in the voids, electrons and positive ions are
produced.
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Internal Discharge
They will have sufficient energy to travel from the electric field and
when they reach the void surfaces, they may break the chemical bonds
of the solid material.
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Internal Discharge
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Internal Discharge
One of the most common methods to analyzed partially discharges is
using Phase-resolved Partial Discharge (PRPD) Pattern.
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