On the short-term electric strength of polyethylene film

In order to examine the effect on electric strength of morphological variables such as spherulite size, degree of order within the spherulite and the presence of non-spherulitic morphologies, it was decided to measure the alternating voltage electric strength of thin sheets of polyethylene. The morphology of polyethylene may be revealed by permanganic acid etching and by chlorosulphonic acid staining. Both these techniques have been successfully applied to cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cable insulation and to LDPE moulded in the laboratory. The author describes a number of techniques which have been used to produce thin sheets of polyethylene and compares their electric strength