Statistical and fractal characteristics of simulated electrical tree growth

Many aspects of electrical tree growth can be simulated by a model which neglects the microscopic degradation processes involved and models only the overall form of the tree and its interaction with the material and the applied field. The simulated trees generated by the model, like real electrical trees, have a distribution of propagation times to which the Weibull distribution can be applied. The characteristic value varies in a well defined way with the field exponent parameter governing the model. The degree of variation in propagation times in the model enables models in two and three dimensions to be interrelated. The fractal dimension of the tree structures is related to, and can be used to predict, the propagation time. It is also related to the degree of variation of propagation time. There is a possibility of using fractal dimensions of real electrical trees to predict the remanent life of insulation systems