Abstract
An experimental study on spreading flame over electrical wire, which was insulated by Polyethylene(PE) and had different diameters, was conducted with applied AC electric field. The result showed that the flame spread rate decreased in increase of the diameter of insulator at a fixed electric field. The flame spread rate exhibited increase or decrease tendency with applied AC electric field, having three distinct regimes depending on applied voltage and frequency. In each regime, the flame spread rate was characterized by physical parameters of applied electric fields and wire dimensions, and the behaviors could be explained by a thermal balance mechanism.