The behavior of individual conducting particles in electric fields

The dielectric strength of liquids, particularly with power frequency voltage, has for a long time been recognized as quite variable and greatly influenced by contaminants. The statistical distribution of the breakdown values was elucidated by Weber and Endicott,¹ who showed that the distribution of breakdown values fitted the minimum-value statistics. This result implies that the largest defect in the insulating liquid, which contains a distribution of defect sizes, causes the breakdown. There has not, however, been a clear and generally accepted explanation of the nature of the breakdown initiation by these defects, or even of the defects themselves, except to refer to them generally as “particles,” or electrode surface imperfections.