Importance of unraveling memory propagation effects in interpreting data on partial discharge statistics

The significance of memory propagation in controlling the stochastic behavior of partial-discharge phenomena is demonstrated by determination of various conditional amplitude and phase-of-occurrence distributions for both measured and simulated discharge pulses. A system that can be used to measure directly a set of both conditional and unconditional pulse amplitude and phase distributions needed to reveal memory effects and quantify the phase-resolved stochastic properties of partial-discharge pulses, is briefly described. It is argued that not only is an unraveling of memory effects essential in any attempt to understand the physical basis for the observed stochastic behavior of partial-discharge phenomena, but also that the data on conditional distributions provide additional statistical information that may be needed to optimize the reliability of partial-discharge pattern recognition schemes now being considered for use in insulation testing