what is dielectric breakdown?

Answer 1

A dielectric is a medium that does not usually conduct electricity well. If the voltage across such a dielectric medium is sufficiently large, dielectric breakdown can occur. The structure of the dielectric medium is changed such that the current can flow and, consequently, the dielectric medium ceases to be 'dielectric'. The medium becomes permanently damaged.

Answer 2

Most of the materials used in electrical or electronics as insulators have a dielectric strength or a dielectric constant value.

The higher the dielectric stregnth of a material the greater the chance that it will survive a higher voltage and current level in operation. If this breakdown occurs then it poses an electrical hazard to the operator and a subsequent failure of the product.

All consumer electronic / electrical products must pass a dielectric strength brekdown test to ensure that they will not pose any electrical hazard to the operator due to dielectric breakdown. The same applies to industrial elctrical as well as electronics apparatus used in the instrumentation and automation industry.

The primary organizations dealing with such safet are:

CSA - in Canada
UL and FM in USA
VDE - in Europe
JIS - in Japan etc.

To counteract this situation industry uses Hi-Pot testers or di-electric stregnth testers that utilize a relatively high voltage ( few hunded to a few thousand volts ) at low current values for AC or DC testing in accordance with product testing requirements.

Answer 3

What is a Dielectric Breakdown?
High-voltage transformers contain oil as their insulating dielectric. When a critical electric field is exceeded, conduction paths grow at microsecond speeds through the oil, in the form of branched trees, called streamers. These can lead to destructive breakdown.

Why is Dielectric Breakdown Important?

The intense ionization occurring at the branch tips is high-speed and sub-microscopic in size, so that it connot be observed directly. Overall shape, growth pattern, and timing of the streamer trees can be recorded. We simulate these features by a detailed probability model, which provides three-dimensional graphical output suitable for comparison against high-speed shadow photographs obtained in experiment.
Why Visualize Dielectric Breakdown?
The multifractal, self-avoiding character of the streamer trees is easily seen in visualizations. The adequacy of the growth rules and size scaling are tested by comparing the visualizations against experimental data that is also visual.

How is the Visualization Realized?

Display is carried out in 3-D. Timing of the growth is shown by color banding and by frame-animation of the results.

Answer 4

Electrical breakdown or dielectric breakdown is a long reduction in the resistance of an electrical insulator when the voltage applied across it exceeds the breakdown voltage. This results in the insulator becoming electrically conductive.

https://www.electrikals.com/

Answer 5

Breakdown which occurs in an alkali halide crystal at field strengths on the order of 106 volts per centimeter..

Answer 6

to be eletroceted