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Du and Yamano: Effects of Atmospheric Pressure on dc Resistance to Tracking of Polymer Insulating Materials

Effects of Atmospheric Pressure on dc Resistance to Tracking of Polymer Insulating Materials

B. X. Du
College of Electrical Engineering and Automation Tianjin University 92 Weijin Road, Tianjin, 300072 China

Y. Yamano
Faculty of Education, Chiba University, Japan

ABSTRACT
Polymer insulating materials are required for use in high altitude regions. For the use of polymer insulating materials in such regions, it must be confirmed whether the resistance to tracking at high altitudes is different from that at altitudes near the sea level. In this paper, an artificial atmospheric chamber was set up to investigate the resistance to tracking on a polymer insulating surface at dc voltage application under a reduced pressure. The tests were carried out in accordance with IEC 60112. The test results showed that the dependences of the resistance to tracking for polymer insulating materials upon the decrease in ambient pressure could be classified into three types. One type is for paper-based phenolic laminate and polycarbonate, where the resistance increases with the decreasing ambient pressure; the second is for polybutylene terephthalate where the resistance decreases with the decreasing ambient pressure; the last type is for epoxy resin where the resistance is almost independent of the decrease in the pressure. A Gaussian wavelet analysis was applied to discharge currents to discuss correlations among the resistance to tracking, the discharge energy level and the ambient pressure. It was found that the data of resistance to tracking with some of the materials obtained at altitudes near sea level are inadequate for use in a high-altitude environment. Problems may occur with respect to the safety and reliability of polymer insulating materials when the dc resistance to tracking decreases under low-pressure conditions. Index Terms Polymer insulating materials, IEC60112, dc resistance to tracking, high altitude, tracking failure, erosion depth, discharge energy.

INTRODUCTION

OLYMER materials with superior properties have been widely utilized for the electric insulation. Most of the polymer materials used for electric insulation may be damaged by tracking, because they contain carbon atoms in their molecular structures w1x. Tracking failure is defined as a dielectric breakdown on the surface of polymer materials. Research on resistance to tracking is very important for the safety and reliability of electrical insulation w2x. Electrical equipment, power components and power lines are increasingly used in high-altitude regions where the atmospheric pressure is low w3x. Some papers
Manuscript receied on 23 No ember 2004, in final form 2 May 2005.

dealing with electrical insulation at high altitude lowpressure . conditions have been published w5, 6x. In these papers, arc characteristics and flashover voltage under different pressures were discussed. However, a very limited number of studies have been carried out to investigate the effects of atmospheric pressure on the resistance to tracking of the insulating materials for the equipments using low voltages -600V. w4x. For the safe use of polymeric insulating materials for the equipment at high altitudes, it must be confirmed whether the resistance to tracking of the materials at high altitudes is different from that at altitudes near the sea level. Almost twenty years ago, a working group was set up to carry out arc resistance tests on Mt. Fuji, Japan 2305 m

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above sea level., and it was found that the arc resistance is changed by the decrease in pressure atmospheric pressure s 76 kPa. w7x. Simultaneously, a preliminary study of the resistance to tracking for polycarbonate under ac voltage application -600V. was carried out in accordance with IEC 60112 w8, 9x, and it was again found that the ac resistance to tracking was changed by the decrease in the pressure. Furthermore, both dc and ac resistances to tracking of polyethylene were investigated applying the voltages lower than 600V under a low pressure w4x, where it was found that the ac resistance to tracking was higher than that of the dc resistance, and the dc resistance was decreased with decreasing pressure. We have also reported that the ac resistance to tracking for polymer insulating materials under the reduced pressure was classified into a few types w10, 11x. However, very few studies have been conducted on the mechanisms of the dc resistance to tracking for polymer insulating materials in the voltage application lower than 600V w12x. From the viewpoint described above, it is necessary to precisely investigate the characteristics of the resistance to tracking under dc voltage application lower than 600V. The present investigation was addressed primarily to the evaluation of dc resistance to tracking under a low pressure in accordance with IEC60112 w8, 9x. Accordingly, an artificial atmospheric chamber was set up to investigate

the dc tracking characteristics at low pressure. The experimental results showed that the dependence of dc resistance to tracking upon the reduced pressure is classified into three types by the kind of polymer insulating material. Problems will occur with respect to the safety and reliability, when the materials that their dc resistance to tracking are decreased by the reduced pressure, are used in the equipment for -600V in regions of high altitudes. Careful attention must be paid when polymer insulating materials are used in equipment in high-altitude regions. This is because CTI comparative tracking index. of some insulating materials obtained at sea level is not applicable in high-altitude regions.

2
2.1

EXPERIMENTS
TEST SAMPLE

The experiments were carried out with four kinds of polymer insulating materials. The structure formula, UL grade and oxygen index are given in Table 1. The test samples were paper-based phenolic laminate PL., polybutylene terephthalate PBT., polycarbonate PC. and glass-cloth-based epoxy resin EX.. Their thickness and dimensions were 3 mm and 20 mm=20 mm, respectively. The surfaces of the samples were cleaned with ethylalcohol and dried in a desiccator at room temperature for 24 h or more before the test.

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Du and Yamano: Effects of Atmospheric Pressure on dc Resistance to Tracking of Polymer Insulating Materials

able value and the circuit resistance was adjusted so that the current was limited to 1 A in the short circuit. The tracking failure was determined when a persistent flame occurred on the surface of the sample or the discharge current rose to 0.5 A and has persisted for 2 s. The test solution was to use electrolyte with 0.1% ammonium chloride NH 4Cl in deionized water, giving a resistivity of approximately 4 m at 23C. A droplet was applied at an interval of 30 s to maintain the discharge between the two electrodes on the surface of the sample. The mass of the sequence of 50 drops lies between 0.977 and 1.147 g. The decompression chamber was made from a glass cylinder with two sheets of acrylic board for the cover and the bottom. The dropping device and test equipment were placed in the chamber, and the pressure was reduced using a rotary pump. The maximum voltage, at which five test specimens withstand the test period for 50 drops without tracking failure and without a persistent flame occurring, is used as an index for the susceptibility of the material to tracking; it is called the CTI w8, 9x. CTI is generally used in the meaning of comparative tracking index. For erosion type materials, the largest erosion depth and weight loss were measured after adding 100 drops. The samples were dried in a desiccator with silica gel for 24 h or more after the tracking test, and the weight loss was measured w4x.

2.3

DISCHARGE CURRENT AND WAVELET TRANSFORM

Tracking deterioration is caused by decomposed carbon on the sample surface due to heat from scintillation discharges, which starts locally across a dry band formed on the surface of a sample by Joule heat, after several drops are applied between the electrodes. Therefore, the total amount of discharge energy on the sample surface is one of the fundamental factors for studying the tracking characteristics on the materials. The high-speed AD converter module was connected to the circuit in order to measure the scintillation discharge currents w13x. For a given set of dc voltage conditions, the waveform of the scintillation discharge current was measured during 5 drops from the time when the scintillation discharge was generated. The measurement was repeated 5 times to determine the discharge current. The sampling time of the AD converter used was 10y5 s.
Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the experiment setup.

2.2

APPARATUS AND TEST PROCEDURE

Figure 1 shows the experimental setup. The experiment was constructed according to the specifications given in IEC 60112 w8, 9x. In this study, we applied dc instead of ac voltage to the electrodes, and low-pressure conditions were employed in a chamber. The dc voltage was set to a suit-

Wavelet theory has been provided as a unified framework for a number of techniques in various signal applications w14x. Wavelet transform has been recently recognized as different views of a single theory w15x. A graphic option in variable-frequency-component wavelet analysis is a wavelet transform of the discharge current, which utilizes a practical scale for obtaining information about the time and frequency of discharge energy w16x. In this study, the wavelet transform is used for the analysis of the current due to the scintillation discharge. The author adopted

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Figure 2. Relation between number of drops to tracking failure and applied dc voltages with sample of PBT.

Figure 3. Relation between number of drops to tracking failure and applied dc voltages with sample of PL.

the Morlet wavelet of complex conjugate functions as the mother wavelet g t . w17x.

g t . s exp

t2 2 1

exp w j t x exp

2 2 dt

W a, b. s

I t . 'a H

/
a

tb

where, gU t . denotes the complex conjugate of g t . and the constant is set at 2 . The amplitude W a,b . of the wavelet transform of discharge current I t . corresponds to the amount of discharge energy in the cycle a vicinity in time b.

3
3.1

RESULTS

dc RESISTANCE TO TRACKING

Figure 4. Relation between number of drops to tracking failure and applied dc voltages with sample of EX.

Figure 2 shows the changes in the resistance to tracking for PBT caused by a decrease in the ambient pressure from 100 kPa to 50 kPa. The changes in the number of drops to the tracking failure depend upon the ambient pressure. The number of drops to the tracking failure decreases with the decreasing pressure. The number of drops to tracking failure decreases with the increasing applied dc voltage. Figure 3 shows the changes in the resistance to tracking for PL caused by the decrease in the ambient pressure from 100 kPa to 50 kPa. As shown in the Figure, the number of drops to the tracking failure increases with the decreasing pressure. The number of drops to the tracking failure decreases with increasing the applied dc voltages. Figure 4 shows the changes in the resistance to tracking for EX caused by the decrease in the ambient pressure from 100 kPa to 50 kPa. The number of drops to the tracking failure increases with decreasing pressure under the applied voltages from 375 to 475 Vdc . However,

the increase in the number of drops is smaller than that for PL. Figure 5 shows the changes in erosion depth and weight loss for PC sample caused by the decrease in the ambient pressure from 100 to 50 kPa under an applied voltage from 350 to 500 Vdc . In the case of PC, the damage on the surface by the test is not of the tracking type but of the erosion type even at the highest test voltage; the repeated discharges gradually erode the sample surface between the two electrodes. As shown in the Figure, both erosion depth and weight loss decrease with decreasing pressure. As the applied voltage increases, both erosion depth and weight loss increase. Figure 6 shows the relationship between CTI and ambient pressure with the materials for PBT, PL and EX. CTIs are obtained from the results in Figures 2-4. As shown in

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Du and Yamano: Effects of Atmospheric Pressure on dc Resistance to Tracking of Polymer Insulating Materials

Figure 6. Relation between CTI and ambient pressure.

the Figure, the dependence of CTI on the pressure varies according to the kind of the material: CTI for PBT decreases with decreasing pressure; on the other hand, CTI for PL increases with decreasing pressure; CTI for EX is not significantly changed by the decrease in ambient pressure compared with those for PBT and PL. Figure 7 shows photographs of sample surfaces after the tracking test at 400 Vdc under 100 kPa. As shown in the Figure, the features of the damage are clearly different among the four materials. In the case of PL, the failure occurred at the 30 th dropping and a large amount of car-

Figure 5. Relation between erosion depth, weight loss and applied dc voltages with sample of PC.

Figure 7. Photograph of sample surface after tracking failure by the test. a, PL, the failure occurred after the 30 th drop; b, PBT; the failure occurred after the 5 th drop; c, EX, the failure was occurred after the 60 th drop; d, PC, Erosion type.

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bon is accumulated on the surface. The burning period was about 4.3 s and intermittent ignition frequently occurred before tracking failure. In the case of PBT, the tracking failure occurred at the 5 th dropping and the quantity of accumulated carbon gradually increased over the wide area on the surface. The burning period for PBT was about 2.9 s before tracking failure, which was shorter than the case for PL. In the case of EX, the tracking failure occurred at the 60 th dropping and the area of the deposited carbon was less than the cases for PBT and PL. The burning period was about 3.8 s before tracking failure, which was longer than that in the case for PBT. In the case of PC, the surface was eroded and no burning occurred during the test.

3.2

DISCHARGE ENERGY

Figure 8 shows the waveforms of the discharge current for the samples. It seems that the discharge amplitude and frequency of the waveforms are dependent upon the kind of material. In general, the tracking failure is deeply concerned with the carbonization of material due to the discharges. It is important to clarify the amplitude and frequency of the current in order to study the tracking deterioration of the material. In this paper, discharge currents over 1 s are analyzed using the wavelet transform. We

Figure 9. Wavelet transform of discharge currents with sample of PBT.

previously studied the power spectrum distribution of the discharge currents w18x. However, it was found that the difference in the discharge energy levels of polymer materials under reduced pressure could not be clarified from the power spectrum results. Figures 9 to 12 show the relationships among the frequency, time and amplitude transformed by the wavelet transform, which correspond to the discharge currents. The amplitude is indicated by contour lines in the Figures w16x, which correspond to the discharge energy in the domain of the wavelet transform. Figure 9 shows the wavelet transform of discharge current for PBT at 300 V. The transformed results show that the discharge energy at 50 kPa is greater than that at 100 kPa: The concentration of the contour lines at 50 kPa is higher than that at 100 kPa. As the ambient pressure decreases, the frequencies of the discharges shift to higher regions, the discharge energy levels increase. These results for PBT correspond with the dependence of CTI upon the pressure: CTI for PBT decreases with decreasing pressure as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 8. Discharge current waveforms.

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Du and Yamano: Effects of Atmospheric Pressure on dc Resistance to Tracking of Polymer Insulating Materials

Figure 10. Wavelet transform of discharge currents with sample of PL.

Figure 11. Wavelet transform of discharge currents with sample of EX.

Figure 10 shows the wavelet transform of the discharge current for PL at 400V dc. The transformed results show that the discharge energy for PL at 50 kPa is lower than that at 100 kPa. As the ambient pressure decreased, the frequencies of the discharges shift to higher regions, the discharge energy levels decrease. These results for PL correspond with the dependence of CTI upon the pressure: CTI for PL increases with decreasing pressure as shown in Figure 6. Figure 11 shows the wavelet transform of the discharge current for EX at 400 V. In the figure, the discharge energy for the EX at 50 kPa is less than that at 100 kPa, and the discharge energy at 76 kPa is higher than that at 50 kPa. This result corresponds with the dependence of CTI upon the pressure. However, as shown in Figure 6, the increase in CTI caused by the reduction in the pressure for EX is smaller than that for PL. Figure 12 shows the wavelet transform of the discharge current for PC at 400 V. The discharge energy for PC at 50 kPa is less than that at 76 kPa; and the discharge energy at 100 kPa is greater than that at 76 kPa. As shown in Figure 5, erosion depth and the weight loss decreased with decreas-

ing the pressure, which are in agreement with the transformed results in Figure 12. This suggests that the dc resistance to tracking for PC increases with decreasing the pressure.

3.3

NOTICEABLE FEATURES WITH THE DETERIORATION PROCESSES OBSERVED DURING THE TEST

At first, we describe the difference in the location of the dry band on the surface between ac and dc tracking test. The test solution was evaporated by Joule heating caused by the leakage current conducted between the two electrodes across the sample surface. A discharge appeared at the dry band located on the surface between the electrodes. Further application of the test solution is followed by the tracking failure or erosion of the sample surface. It was observed in the dc voltage application that the dry band is located at the cathode side of the gap between electrodes. When ac voltage is applied, however, the dry band is located at the center of the gap between

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mation of the carbonized conduction path on PBT surface. In the case of EX, the ignition occurs only just before the tracking failure, and the quantity of accumulated carbon gradually increases only in the limited narrow area on the sample surface. It was visually observed that the damage of PC surface was of the erosion type even when the ambient pressure was decreased. We previously reported that under ac voltage application, the damage of PC surface was of the tracking type w10x. However, under the dc application, the failure did not occur even at the highest dc voltage application in this study.

DISCUSSION

4.1 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FORMATION OF CARBONIZED PATH AND DISCHARGE ENERGY UNDER REDUCED PRESSURE
The test results for dc tracking show that the dependence of tracking failure upon the ambient pressure is changed with the kind of material. The type of the deterioration is also changed with the kind of material. PBT, EX and PL undergo the tracking-type deterioration, and PC undergoes the erosion-type deterioration. In the case of a polymer material that does not produce a carbonized track, the surface is eroded gradually by the gaseous discharge, and finally dielectric breakdown occurs; this deterioration is of the erosion type. Yoshimura, Kumagaya and Du previously proposed models of tracking and erosion process w2x: tracking phenomena result from the formation of a conductive carbon path; the heat energy and low oxygen supply need to be met for surface carbonization, which is the first step in conductive carbon path formation; once carbonization begins, scintillation discharge occurs, and conductive carbonized compounds accumulate on the surface, which results in the formation of a conductive carbon path; in the erosion processes, on the other hand, sufficient heat energy from the discharge and sufficient amount of oxygen are required for the induction of the surface erosion. It has been reported that the discharge energy obtained from the wavelet transform corresponds to the formation of a conductive carbonized path and the resistance to tracking w1x. The formation processes of the conductive carbonized path determine the discharge energy. As indicated in section 3.2, the results of wavelet transform in this study indicate that the dependence of discharge energy upon pressure almost corresponds with the dependence of dc resistance to tracking upon pressure. The correspondence was observed in all of the materials tested in this study. This indicates that the decrease in the pressure strictly influences the formation processes of conductive carbonized path.

Figure 12. Wavelet transform of discharge currents with sample of PC.

electrodes w12x. The location of the dry band is clearly different between dc and ac applications. Second, we describe the noticeable changes in the carbonization processes of the sample surface observed in the test. In the PL sample, a carbonized conduction path was formed gradually with the repetitive ignition events. However, the number of ignition events decreased with decreasing pressure. Furthermore, when the pressure is decreased, the dry band becomes wide; this may be because the evaporation of the electrolyte from the surface is accelerated by the decrease in the pressure. The widened dry band leads to a decrease in the number of ignition events. Accordingly, the decrease in ambient pressure delays the formation of the carbonized conduction path on PL surface, which increases CTI for PL in the low-pressure region. In the case of PBT, it was clearly observed that a large amount of carbon due to the decomposition by the discharge is accumulated on the surface. However, the ignition of PBT occurs only just before the tracking failure. The ignition itself does not seem to affect the for-

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Du and Yamano: Effects of Atmospheric Pressure on dc Resistance to Tracking of Polymer Insulating Materials

4.2 DEPENDENCE OF FORMATION PROCESSES OF CARBONIZED CONDUCTIVE PATH UNDER REDUCED PRESSURE UPON MATERIALS
Oxygen index represents the minimum oxygen content in an oxygen-nitrogen mixture for the burning of polymeric material w19x. The oxygen index of PBT is 20, which is easy to burn in the air under the pressure at sea level. This is because the aliphatic chain occupies a considerable proportion of PBT molecular structure. The aliphatic chain polymer perfectly tends to gasify under the pressure at sea level w19x. When carbonized compounds are formed from PBT by the heat of the discharge under atmospheric pressure, the compounds tend to combine with aerial oxygen, and become flammable gas which evolves from the surface. However, it was clearly observed in the test under reduced pressure that amount of the carbon due to the decomposition by the discharge is accumulated on the surface, and ignition occurs only just before tracking failure. Carbonized compounds involving carbon radicals are easily formed by the heat of the discharge even under decreased pressure because the oxygen index of PBT is low. However, carbonized compounds cannot easily be decomposed to flammable gaseous molecules by combining with aerial oxygen under decreased pressure because of insufficient oxygen. Then, conductive carbon remains on the surface and grows into the conductive path. This is the reason why the tracking of PBT is accelerated under low ambient pressure. The oxygen index of PL is 30, which is hard to burn in air. There is much proportion of aromatic rings in the unit of the constitutional formula of PL. Therefore, carbonized compounds are easily formed from PL by dehydrogenation due to the heat of the discharges under atmospheric pressure. It was observed in the test that the number of ignition events decreased with decreasing ambient pressure. The formation of the carbonized compound by dehydrogenation is restrained under a low pressure because of insufficient oxygen. Then, the occurrence of ignition decreases with decreasing pressure and delays the formation of a carbonized path. Therefore, CTI for PL increases with the decrease in the ambient pressure. In the case of EX, the oxygen index is 19.8, there is much proportion of aromatic rings in the unit of the constitutional formula. It was observed in the test that carbonized compounds gradually accumulate as the test proceeds. The carbonized area on the surface of EX sample is narrower than those for PBT and PL samples, but the density of the accumulation for EX is higher than those for PBT and PL. It is considered that the rate of accumulation of carbonized compounds is higher than that of the volatilization of gas produced by the decomposition of compounds by combining with aerial oxygen. The tracking failure in this case is almost independent of the volatilization of gas but depends on the high accumulation of car-

bonized compounds even under low pressure. This may be the reason why CTI of EX is not significantly changed by the decrease in pressure. In the case of PC, the damage is of the erosion type. However, under ac voltage application, the damage is of the tracking type w12x. This may result from the difference in the discharge energy between the ac and dc voltage applications: the discharge energy under the dc application is higher than that under the ac application. The reasons for these are considered from the following factors: 1. It was reported w4x that the discharge energy in the case where the dry band is formed in the center of the gap between the electrodes is smaller than that in the case where the dry band is formed on the cathode side; 2. It was observed in this study that the dry band at dc voltage application is located at the cathode side of the electrode and the band at the ac voltage is located at the center of the gap. From the above factors, it is considered that there is a threshold in the volatilization rate of gas according to the discharge energy. When dc voltage is applied, the gas volatilization may exceed the threshold resulting from the high discharge energy, and then the erosion-type deterioration occurs. When ac voltage is applied, on the other hand, the carbon radical remains on the surface resulting from the smaller discharge energy, and accumulation of carbon retards the gas volatilization, which leads to the tracking-type deterioration. The deteriorations of both types, tracking type and erosion type, proceed under the mutual influence of multifactors for chemical reactions, such as oxidation, dehydrogenation and decomposition to evolved gas, which are directly connected with the molecular structure of the insulating materials. The activities of all these factors are influenced by the heat of the discharges and oxygen contents in the surrounding air. The dependence of the resistance to dc tracking upon the reduction in pressure differs with the type of material, because the activity of these factors depends upon the molecular structure.

CONCLUSIONS

dc resistance to tracking of polymer insulating materials under decreased pressure was investigated using the procedure of IEC 60112. The test results showed that the changes in the resistance depend upon the type of the material. Wavelet transform was applied to the discharge current to obtain the discharge energy levels. The obtained discharge energy levels were presented in relation to discharge frequency and time. The energy levels for the different pressures were compared with each other. Furthermore, the relationship between the resistance and energy level was demonstrated. The following are conclusions of our study. 1. dc resistance to tracking for PBT decreases with the decrease in the ambient pressure, and discharge energy

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increases with decreasing pressures. We found that PBT is not suitable for use in a high-altitude environment. 2. dc resistances to tracking for PL and PC increase with decreasing pressure, and the discharge energy decreases with decreasing pressure. We found that both PC and PL are suitable for use in a high-altitude environment. 3. dc resistance to tracking and the discharge energy for EX are almost unchanged with decreasing pressure. 4. The dependence of CTI upon the decrease in pressure for every material used corresponds to that of the discharge energy level upon pressure. 5. The dependence of resistance to tracking upon the decrease in pressure for the tested materials can be explained considering the activities of carbonization and their decomposition into evolved gas at a low pressure. Each of the activities also depends upon the molecular structure of the materials. For the use of insulating materials in high-altitude regions, it is required that improvements in safety and reliability of the equipments using voltages - 600V are met by focusing attention on polymer insulating materials of which resistance to tracking decreases with decreasing pressure. It is expected that the test of the dc resistance to tracking under a low pressure be carried out with more types of polymer material.

w11x B. X. Du, A. Suzuki, and S. Kobayashi, Effects of Gamma-rays Irradiation and Atmospheric Pressure on Resistance to Tracking of Polyethylene, Trans. IEE Japan, Vol. 116-A, pp. 170 176, 1996 wIn Japanese x. w12x B. X. Du, A. Suzuki and S. Kobayashi, DC Resistance to Tracking of Organic Insulating Materials, Jour. Japan Institute of Electrical Circuit Packaging, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 41 47, 1996 wIn Japanese x. w13x B. X. Du, K. Kato, F. Kaneko and S. Kobayashi, Discharge Characteristic of Printed Wiring Board under Decreased Pressure, Jour. Japan Inst. Electronic Packaging, Vol. 5, No. 6, pp. 604 608, 2002 wIn Japanese x. w14x Randy K. Young, Wavelet Theory and Its Applications,Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1993. w15x B. X. Du and S. Kobayashi, Wavelet Analysis of Scintillation Discharge Current in Tracking Test, Trans. IEE Japan, Vol. 117-A, No. 4, pp. 440 441, 1997 wIn Japanese x. w16x B. X. Du and S. Kobayashi, Wavelet Analysis of Scintillation Discharge Current on DC Resistance to Tracking of Gamma-ray Irradiated Polyethylene and Polycarbonate, Radioisotopes, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 1 11, 2001. w17x B. X. Du and S. Kobayashi, Wavelet Analysis of Scintillation Discharge Current in DC Resistance to Tracking of Gamma-rays Irradiated Organic Insulating Materials, Trans. IEE Japan, Vol. 118-A, pp. 780 784, 1998 wIn Japanese x. w18x B. X. Du and S. Kobayashi, dc Tracking Resistance of Organic Insulating Materials under Decreased Pressure, IEEE Conf. Electr. Insul. Dielectric Phenomena CEIDP., Victoria, BC, Canada, pp. 207 210, 2000. w19x G. C. Ives, J. A. Mead and M. M. Riley, Handbook of Plastics Test Method, CRC Press, Chapter 11, 1971.

REFERENCES
w1x B. X. Du, Discharge Energy and dc Resistance to Tracking of Organic Insulating Material, IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul., Vol. 8, pp. 897 901, 2001. w2x N. Yoshimura, S. Kumagai and B. X. Du, Research in Japan on the Tracking Phenomenon of Electrical Insulating Materials, IEEE Electr. Insul. Magazine, Vol. 13, No. 5, pp. 8 19, 1997. w3x B. X. Du, Effects of Atmospheric Pressure on Discharge Chara cte ristics o f G a m m a -ra y Irra d ia te d P o lyb u tyle n e Terephthalate, Radioisotopes, Vol. 51, No. 5, pp. 197 203, 2002 wIn Japanese x. w4x B. X. Du and S. Kobayashi, Environmental Factors Affecting dc Resistance to Tracking of Polyethylene, IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul., Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 271 277, 2003. w5x G. G. Karady, M. D. Sirkis, and J. R. Oliva, Degrading Effect of High-Altitude Corona on Electronic Circuit Boards, IEEE Trans. Electr. Insul., Vol. 26, pp. 1216 1219, 1991. w6x T. Kawamura, M. Ishii, and M. Akbar, Pressure Dependence of dc Breakdown of Contaminated Insulators, IEEE Trans. Electr. Insul., Vol. 17, pp. 39 45, 1982. w7x T. Suzuki, F. Noto and S. Kobayashi, Arc Resistance of Insulating Materials on the High Ground, Trans. IEE Japan, Vol. 109-A, No. 6, p. 275, 1989 wIn Japanese x. w8x IEC Publ. 60112, Recommended Method for Determining the Comparative Tracking Index of Solid Insulating Materials under Moist Conditions, 2 nd edition 1971.. w9x IEC Publ. 60112, Method for the Determination of the Proof and the Comparative Tracking Indices of Solid Insulating Materials, 4th edition 2003.. w10x B. X. Du, A. Suzuki, K. Kishi and S. Kobayashi, Effects of Atmospheric Pressure on Tracking Failure of Organic Insulating Materials, Trans. IEE Japan, Vol. 115-A, No. 12, pp. 1284 1293, 1995 wIn Japanese x.