A Study of Parameters Influencing Streamer Inception in Silicone Gel

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental study of streamer inception in a silicone gel. Many parameters are able to influence the inception of discharges in a gel: voltage wave shape, electrode geometry, temperature, etc. In this work, streamer inception is studied in various conditions of electrode shapes (from sharp points up to quasi-uniform field), voltage (ac, dc, impulse voltage) and temperature. Streamer inception is detected by the measurement of breakdown voltages in selected conditions. The results obtained show that streamer inception field varies when the electrode shape is changed, in a similar way as in liquids: the inception field decreases when the electrode surface increases. On the other hand, temperature and voltage wave shape have almost no influence on the inception field. Results are discussed in comparison with data already obtained in liquids in similar conditions.