Fast pulse-like conduction in XLPE based materials detected through charging current measurements

Recent papers have shown small, but repetitive, charge pulses of both polarities, travelling very fast in polyethylene and nanostructured epoxy resin specimens at moderate electric fields. This paper shows that such charge pulses can be detected also by means of charging current measurements, once the measuring system is properly modified in order to acquire small signals with high dynamics, through attenuation of the low-frequency content of the polarization current. These measurements are shown to be sometimes even more sensitive in detecting charge pulses than space charge measurements, thus they can be used successfully to evaluate pulse repetition frequency and amplitude at such fields where these conduction mechanisms are incepted.