Electric Field Analysis of High Voltage Insulators

This paper involves designing and applying electric field analysis on multiple long rod insulators. Quality HV insulators are an integral part of power systems because they separate the Transmission lines carrying high voltages from the grounded poles. They must have the ability to withstand both high electrical and mechanical stress. So for this purpose modeling of long rod insulator was done with multiple materials such as ceramic, porcelain, and fiber glass and silicon rubber. Electric field analysis can be used to determine voltage profile of each material which in turn can be used to determine how much electrical stress the material can undertake. An attempt was made to model existing long rod insulator designs using software like Solidworks. Subsequently modifications were made to the design by changing parameters such as diameter of the insulator body, angle made by insulator cups etc. These models were then subjected to electric field analysis using finite element analysis software such as Elecnet or Comsol Multiphysics in order to identify the points where maximum electric field stress exists. Further modifications were made on order to reduce and equalize the electric field over the insulator surface.