Measurements of Endurance Time for Electrostatic Discharge of Spacecraft Materials: A Defect-Driven Dynamic Model

An enhanced operational definition of dielectric breakdown for DC voltage step-up tests

“…While postbreakdown observation of visual damage or repetition of the test on a particular sample can sometimes clarify a questionable or missed breakdown event, information about the breakdown voltage or time is often lost. Because voltage stress history can affect the breakdown potential, previous stress applied to an unbroken sample in an initial test attempt may invalidate subsequent test attempts [2].…”

“…The USU Material Physics Group (MPG) ESD system continuously monitors the leakage current during HVDC breakdown tests [2]. Even at breakdown, observed currents in this system are generally well below 50 µA, precluding the use of even the smallest commonly available fuses rated down to ~2 mA [8].…”

“…Such measurements are critical for applications including high voltage direct current (HVDC) power, high voltage switching and control, microelectronics, spacecraft charging induced electrostatic discharge (ESD) mitigation, and advancing the understanding of breakdown physics in disordered dielectrics [2][3][4]. NASA handbooks recommend using the ASTM D3755 test method for dielectric breakdown testing of spacecraft dielectrics [5][6][7].…”

Voltage ramp-rate dependence of DC breakdown in polymeric insulators: Physical models versus data

“…The data from these and past tests for the polymeric materials polyimide (PI) and biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) are compared to a microscopic mean field theory for dielectric breakdown in highly disordered insulating materials [5]. The broader range of measured ramp rates (~0.1 V/s to ~500 V/s) provides a test of the signature curves predicted by approximate and more complete theoretical models.…”

“…Electrostatic discharge (ESD) can cause serious upsets or failures to space assets and continues to pose a challenge to spacecraft designers and modellers [1,2]. For many real spacecraft charging situations, standard tests [3][4] with rapidly increasing applied fields do not provide an appropriate measure of the likelihood of failures or a precise or accurate determination of FESD under spacelike conditions [5]. ESD is a permanent, catastrophic failure of a dielectric material.…”