Change injection into a liquid dielectric

As a result of the extensive studies of high-field conduction and flashover in dielectric liquids it is becoming clear that the mechanism of electrical breakdown in such materials is related to the pre-breakdown charge flow. At present it is not known whether the current gives rise to significant heating such that failure occurs due to a thermal run-away¹ or whether space-charge accumulation due to electrode blocking can result in intense localized stress regions in which collision ionization can effect catastrophic current amplification.