Influence of temperature on low-density polyethylene films through conduction measurement

This paper presents a physico-chemical and an electrical study of a low-density polyethylene used in cable insulation. The first part deals with the effect of temperature on morphology and the consequences on the conduction properties. Next, the influence of cross-linking by-products and antioxidant is studied. The analysis of the current measurements had led us to retain the Nath and Perlman model for the conduction mechanism in our films. The good agreement between theory and experiment in the high-field region allows us to evaluate a parameter related to the trap site separation distance whose variation with temperature and morphology is analysed.