Bipolar charge transport model to estimate charging and degradation processes in electron-beam-irradiated LDPE films

Improvement of the performances of dielectric materials subjected to electrical stresses is one of the challenging objectives in a large number of domains of industrial applications. Achieving this goal requires a better understanding of the physical processes governing the behavior of dielectrics and their long-term degradation. The present paper proposes the coupling of a fluid-type charge transport model to reproduce the space-charge behavior and original experimental data using electron beam irradiation to try to unravel the contributions of charging processes from material degradation in the dielectric response. The charge transport model has been developed using Comsol Multiphysics© and adapted to electron-beam irradiation. Hence, it takes into account the physical processes linked to e-beam irradiation. The model globally reproduces most of the experimental characteristics measured experimentally. It seems that the specific behavior observed experimentally comes from space charge, although conclusions on the model parameterization show that chemical modification could also take place.