When electric fields of about 10 6 v cm -1 are applied to solid dielectrics the mechanical pressures developed between the electrodes are considerable. The manner in which this mechanical pressure may have influenced the measurements must be considered when interpreting experimental investigations of intrinsic electric strength. With many potassium chloride crystals it is shown that deformation of the crystal structure may be caused by application of the voltage before electrical breakdown takes place. The result of this is to increase appreciably the electric strengths relative to the values obtained from undeformed specimens. Information is given in the paper about the magnitude of the electric field in which structural deformation first takes place and about the subsequent behaviour of specimens in which structural defects have been introduced by the application of electric fields.
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Cooper et al. (1956) studied this question.