Continuum field charging of dielectric spheroids

Abstract

Classical continuum theory for field charging is applied in an analysis of the ionic charging of spheroidal dielectrics. Assuming that the particle orientation is fixed during the charging process, the saturation charge and charging rate are determined as functions of the orientation and aspect ratio of spheroids. For spheroids of small dielectric constants the saturation charge becomes the largest when the electric field is directed perpendicular to the major axis of the spheroid. For an ensemble of randomly oriented spheroids the average saturation charge can be approximated as the arithmetic average of the saturation charges for the spheroid with the electric field directed along the three principal axes of the spheroid. In addition, the ensemble average of the dimensionless charging rate of randomly oriented spheroids of moderate axial ratio approximates the dimensionless charging rate of a sphere. (C) 2000 Academic Press.