Charge transferred in brush discharges

Abstract

Electrostatic discharges from surfaces of plastic materials can be a source of ignition, when appear in explosive atmospheres. Incendivity of electrostatic discharges can be estimated using the transferred charge test. In the case of brush discharges not all the energy stored at the tested sample is released and the effective surface charge density (or surface potential) crater is observed after the discharge. Simplified model, enabling calculation of a charge transferred during electrostatic brush discharge, was presented. Comparison of the results obtained from the simplified model and from direct measurements of transferred charge are presented in the paper.