Surface Potential vs. Electric Field Measurements as Means to Characterize the Charging State of Non-Woven Fabrics

Surface potential and electric field measurement techniques are widely used for the investigation of the corona charging of dielectric surfaces in a wide range of industry applications. The aim of the present paper is to estimate which of these techniques are the most appropriate for characterizing the charging state of non-woven fibrous dielectrics, and point out the "noise factors" that might distort the results of the measurements. The experiments were performed on samples of non-woven poly-propylene (PP) sheets, in contact with or at a well-defined distance from a grounded plane. The effect of the variability of the position of the probes with respect to the samples was also investigated. Several recommendations have been formulated regarding the use of these techniques for monitoring the charging state of non-woven fabrics in industry applications.