TY - CONF A1 - Mieller, Björn T1 - Influence of testing conditions on dielectric strength of alumina N2 - Dielectric strength testing of ceramics is simple and yet challenging. The execution of a breakthrough voltage measurement of a given sample is fast and straightforward. ASTM D149 describes the standardized procedure. But, there are versatile effects of test conditions and sample properties that affect the result of such a measurement. As one example, ASTM D149 allows different sizes of test electrodes and does not unambiguously prescribe the condition of the electrodes. Thus, different electrode configurations are used in the field. We conducted several test series on alumina samples to comprehensively quantify the effect of test conditions and sample properties on dielectric strength results. In our study, testing of alumina substrates using different electrode configurations resulted in differences of mean values of up to 20%. Further test series on alumina focused on the effect of voltage ramp rate. The results are complemented by calculations of failure probability at different voltage levels and corresponding withstand voltage tests. We conclude that a communication and comparison of single dielectric strength values is insufficient and may be misleading. A meaningful comparison of dielectric strength studies from different sources requires a thorough consideration of test conditions. T2 - 93rd DKG Annual Meeting CY - Munich, Germany DA - 10.04.2018 KW - Alumina KW - Dielectric strength KW - Withstand voltage tests PY - 2018 AN - OPUS4-44692 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -