Treeing in solid dielectrics:

Whenever a solid material has some impurities in terms of some gas pockets or liquid pockets
in it the dielectric strength of the solid will be more or less equal to the strength of the weakest
impurities. If some gas pockets are trapped in the solid material during manufacture, the gas
has a relative permittivity of unity and the solid material Er, the electric field in gas will be Er
times the field in solid material. As a result, the gas breaks down at relatively low voltage. The
charge concentration here in void will make the field more uniform. These charge
concentrations at the voids within the dielectric lead to breakdown step by step and finally lead
to complete rapture of dielectric. As the breakdown is not caused by single discharge channel
and assumes a tree like structure is known as breakdown due to treeing. This phenomenon can
be readily demonstrated in a laboratory by applying an impulse voltage between point plane
electrodes.

Tracking in solid dielectrics:

If we have two electrodes separated by an insulating material it is placed in an outdoor
environment. Some containment in the form of moisture or dust particles will get deposited on
the surface of the insulation and leakage current starts between the electrodes through the
containments such as moisture. The current heats the moisture and causes breaks in the
moisture films. These small films then act as electrodes and sparks are drawn between the
films. The sparks cause carbonization and volatilization of insulation and lead to formation of
permanent carbon tracks on the surface of insulation. Tracking is a formation of permanent
conduction path usually carbon across the surface of insulator.
HV breakdown test:
Control Panel

Input Supply : 1ph, 230V AC, 50Hz

Meter : Variable Input voltage (Analog)

AC Charging Voltage (Analog)

Leakage Current (Analog)

Variac rating : 3A

HV Transformer

Input Voltage : 0-230V AC

Output Voltage : 0-30kV

AC Leakage Current : 30mA

Results and graphs:
Conclusion:
The graphs 1 and 2 lead us to conclude that the breakdown voltage of solid insulating materials
are much higher under the influence of non-uniform electric field and lower in case of uniform
fields (sphere gap unit).

References:
http://www.faadooengineers.com/online-study/post/eee/high-voltage-
engineering/125/breakdown-due-to-treeing-and-tracking-in-solid-dielectrics

https://www.irjet.net/archives/V5/i4/IRJET-V5I4611.pdf