Large area, high reliability liquid dielectric systems: provisional design criteria and experimental approaches to more realistic projections

Summary form only given, as follows. Safe operating electric fields for large area,liquid dielectric systems are often estimated using the AWE uniform field breakdown criteria as a starting point. Attempts can be made to refine the limits at large area using the point-plane liquid breakdown formulas. Similarly, the levels that correspond to specific reliabilities or numbers of shots between breakdown have often been estimated using the area dependence in the AWE criteria, though this method is far from rigorous. In applications such as the Electra program, projections to criteria that simultaneously address both the large area and very infrequent breakdown must be developed. The use of the AWE criteria to give provisional criteria is discussed. Experiments are described whose objective is to develop better projections to large area and high reliability, and lead also to engineering criteria.