Meaning and consequences of high voltage edge effect?

[kkkwj]

I have recently heard about the Biefeld-Brown effect, the electrostatic effect, and the electrokinetic effect. (I think he played with all of them.) Anyhow, all of them involve high voltages, charges, and capacitors of various shapes. Apparently, it is important to avoid "edge effects" (whatever they mean) for some reasons (unwanted consequences). I can see why sharp edges at high voltages are more likely to generate corona effects and corresponding power losses from unwanted currents. But, I haven't been able to find out much on why "edge effects" are bad if sufficient anti-corona protection is in place so that obvious arcing and sparking and current does not flow. I'm working with 10-50Kv at less than a milliamp (eg. 100 or 200 microamps), on small devices about 6 inches in size, where all electrodes are encased in epoxy and have no contact with the air.

Could anyone here shed some more light on this topic, or point me to some good web links on the topic? Thank you.

[coppercone2]

I think that the discharges mean that a stronger field is present, so you can be putting stress on the dielectric (better to design not to have stress) and it also might lead to dust accumulation thats non uniform and effected by a field, so you can have like, little dendrites/etc of dust form in these regions even if protected, which can do things like accumulate moisture and short out faster then uniform dust distribution.

If a dielectric is under stress it might effect its properties (i.e. plasticizers or other plastics). The breakdown voltage might be lower in these areas too, so they are weaker when transients occur. There might be increased chances of crack formation in the material as well.

also arcing is going to produce ozone and UV which like to destroy things. and slowly vaporize metal to possibly make conductive paths or change in surrounding materials which metrologically effect your circuit.