Electrostatic characterization of antistatic floors using an equivalent circuit model

We present an equivalent circuit model to obtain the leakage resistance and the charge relaxation of floors. The distributions of the surface potentia l on square floors were numerically calculated when voltage was applied at the center of top surface and the bottom surface was bounded by a grounded conductor. A dimensionless equation for the surface potential was obtained. The equation showed that the surface potential is determined by the value of chi = rho L-s(2)/(rho (v)delta) where rho (s) is the surface resistivity , rho (v) the volume resistivity, delta the thickness and L the side length of the floor. Calculated leakage resistance and charge relaxation, which a re the functions of material physical quantities and dimensions of floors, will be useful for designing and installing floors in industry. (C) 2001 El sevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.