Study of high temperature polymer films for outdoor equipments

In this research work, the effect of area on dielectric strength was investigated for different polymer films. Four electrodes of different diameters were used in the range of 12.5–50 mm. Materials of various thickness used for these investigations were aramid paper (Nomex®), polyimide film (Kapton®), Mylar® polyester film, PTFE, Nomex-Mica, and Nomex-polyester-Nomex composites. The breakdown strength of these high temperature dielectric materials was investigated by using the two-parameter Weibull distribution. It was noticed that the lower thickness films are more susceptible to the mechanical damage during handling process, thus increasing the chances of having lower breakdown strength.