An attempt to appraise the progress of methyl polymethacrylate degradation induced by a strong electric field on the grounds of analysis of acoustic signal emission

The paper presents the research of methyl polymethacrylate treeing in a strong electric field. The treeing rate and the signals of acoustic emission have been subject to the research. The counting rate of the acoustic emission, the rate of acoustic emission events, and rms signal have been used as parameters of acoustic emission signals. It was found that high increase in the rate of methyl polymethacrylate treeing is accompanied by the growth of counting and events rates of emitted acoustic signals. On the other hand, no correlation between the values of the above mentioned descriptors and the rms signal values has been observed in measured acoustic signals.