DC breakdown strength of polypropylene films: area dependence and statistical behavior

The DC breakdown strengths of 4-15 mum thick capacitor grade polypropylene (PP) films were determined. The measurements were performed with an automatic measurement system using five electrodes with areas between 0.045 and 9.3 cm
²
. Some samples were studied with larger electrodes. Samples were not aged but were measured as received. The measurements were performed in air at room temperature and typically 40-80 breakdowns per sample per electrode area were collected. The Weibull distribution parameters alpha and beta were fitted to the data. Depending on the electrode area and the film grade, the alpha-parameter values obtained were between 450 and 850 V/mum. The breakdown strength values showed decreasing area dependence with decreasing electrode area and the Weibull scaling law was not valid for the smallest electrode areas. The alpha-values for the large sample areas were extrapolated from the small area data by area and Weibull extrapolation. The area extrapolation overestimated the breakdown strength at 4 m
²
by 40-50% whereas the Weibull extrapolation gave an accuracy of plusmn15%. The extrapolated breakdown strengths for the full-scale power capacitors deviated from the capacitor manufacturers test data. This indicated that different defect distributions were responsible for the breakdown strengths in the oil impregnated power capacitors than in the small dry film samples