Self-healing of metallized polymer films of different nature

Self-healing is the spontaneous extinction of a local electrical arc due to the destruction of the electrodes during the process. It occurs in capacitors made of metallized films of plastics with a thin layer of metal. A theoretical model of the self-healing phenomenon has been elaborated from a previous investigation of aluminium metallized polypropylene films (PP films). To verify the validity of the model for other polymer films such as PET, PEN, PPS, etc., we have undertaken an experimental investigation of the self-healing phenomenon for different metallized polymer films by using a one-metallized-film cell. These experimental results have been compared with those previously published on PP films.