BP networks for partial discharge analysis and dielectric classification

A neural network (NN) approach is used to tackle the problem of discriminating different dielectric materials from the analysis of electrical data recorded during high voltage tests. While the general approach to the problem (partial discharge analysis) is well consolidated, there is neither agreement to the network architecture that best fits the problem nor to the inputs of such a NN. In this work we demonstrate that the MLP structure can help to select a reduced set of the input features and to successfully classify between two similar materials.