Time dependences of conduction and self‐heating in acetylene carbon black‐filled high‐density polyethylene composites

The time dependences of electrical conduction and self‐heating behaviors in high‐density polyethylene filled with acetylene carbon black of 0.082 in volume fraction are studied in relation to voltage and ambient temperature. The characteristic decay current constant τ_i, and the exponential growth time constant for self‐heating τ_g are determined for the samples under voltages U above the critical value U_c for the onset of self‐heating. The influences of voltage and ambient temperature on τ_i and τ_g as well as the amplitude of the low‐resistance to high‐resistance switching are discussed on the basis of the random resistor network (RRN) model and the relationship between U_c and the intrinsic resistivity. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 99: 1124–1131, 2006