| The effects of varying electrode geometry (ball and ring) and size (radius), dielectric media (castor oil and Diala® oil), specimen thickness, and concentration of defects on the dielectric breakdown strength of commercial-grade alumina and high-purity fine-grained (HPFG) alumina were investigated. The breakdown strength was expressed in terms of the maximum electric field in the ceramic at the breakdown voltage calculated by finite element analysis (FEA). The breakdown strength decreased systematically with increasing electrode radius and specimen thickness. The breakdown strength increased with decreasing concentration of defects. The breakdown strength was higher in the Diala ® oil (dielectric constant, ϵr = 2.3 ± 0.12) as compared to the castor oil (ϵr = 4.59 ± 0.06). The breakdown strength was higher for the HPFG alumina as compared to the commercial- grade alumina. These effects of the electrode geometry, specimen thickness, concentration of defects, and of the dielectric media were analyzed with a weakest-link failure model employing the Laplace and Weibull distributions for a population of defects in the material. The measured size or scaling effects of the electrodes, specimen thickness, concentration of defects, and of the liquid media on breakdown strength were in better agreement with the Laplace distribution for the population. The measured concentration of surface defects was in good agreement with the concentration of surface defects estimated from the surface area scaling of the breakdown field with the Laplace distribution. |
