Effect of surface deviation of solid insulation on impulsive flashover voltages under varying environmental conditions

Macpherson, R. W. and Wilson, M. P. and Timoshkin, I. V. and MacGregor, S. J. and Given, M. J. (2020) Effect of surface deviation of solid insulation on impulsive flashover voltages under varying environmental conditions. In: Annual Conference on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric Phenomena (2020) : CEIDP 2020, 2020-10-18 - 2020-10-30, Online.

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Abstract

In pulsed power engineering, the modification of dielectric surfaces is a potential method in order to increase the flashover strength of solid insulation. In this work, dielectric materials are subjected to a knurled finish, where small indentations are machined on to the surface resulting in quick consistent modification. These flashover voltages from the knurled dielectric spacers have been compared to spacers with a ‘smooth’ machined finish. The three materials which have been tested are HDPE (High Density Polyethylene), Delrin (Polyoxymethylene) and Ultem (Polyetherimide). The materials were tested under a 100/700 ns impulse voltage. Cylindrical spacers made of these materials were located in the center of a parallel-plane electrode setup in air, which provided a quasi-uniform field distribution. Breakdown tests published in this work were performed in a sealed container at air pressures of −0.5, 0 and 0.5 bar gauge, with relative humidity levels of <10% RH and >90% RH.

Persistent Identifier

https://doi.org/10.17868/strath.00082177