IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 37, NO.
1, FEBRUARY 2022
AC Breakdown Characteristics of Polluted 10-kV
Post Insulator With Concentric Externally
Gapped Line Arrester
Xinhan Qiao , Zhijin Zhang , Raji Sundararajan, Xingliang Jiang , Jianping Hu, and Zhen Fang
Abstract—Lightning strikes and pollution could cause short cir-
cuits and tripping of the overhead distribution lines. To alleviate
this, a 10-kV post insulator with concentric externally gapped line
arrester (EGLA) has been proposed and its performance is studied
in service. However, its pollution performance has to be established.
This paper studies the AC pollution breakdown characteristics of
the EGLA and broaden current knowledge of pollution flashover.
Compared with the flashover of the normal insulator, three kinds of
specificity of the EGLA were found. Firstly, the pollution flashover
process can be divided into three categories. Secondly, the wet
flashover voltage, Uf_wet , of the novel insulator is higher than the
dry flashover voltage, Uf_dry . Thirdly, the piecewise fitting methods
with a × ESDD^−b + d and a × ESDD^−b + c × ESDD^−d
are more suitable for fitting the empirical formula of flashover
voltage. Furthermore, to explain specificity, the electric potential
and electric field distribution are calculated based on the finite
element method. Calculated results indicate that when the EGLA
is covered with a 0.5mm water film, the maximum electric field
intensity decreased from 2.17 kV/cm to 1.99 kV/cm. Also, U_arrester
(the withstand voltage of the insulation section) was obtained from
the tests and it presents a discontinuous and random increasing
trend until flashover occurs, which is considered to be one of
the important reasons for the specificity. Besides, based on the
Obenaus’ model and Hampton’s criterion, we further analyzed the
arc development process by a simplified plate model.
Index Terms—AC breakdown, arresters, lightning protection
insulator, electric field calculation, Obenaus’ model and Hampton’s
criterion.
Manuscript received August 12, 2020; revised November 23, 2020; accepted
January 14, 2021. Date of publication January 21, 2021; date of current version
January 24, 2022. This work was supported by the State Key Laboratory of Dis-
aster Prevention and Reduction for Power Grid Transmission and Distribution
Equipment and China Scholarship Council. Paper no. TPWRD-01236-2020.
(Corresponding author: Zhijin Zhang.)
Xinhan Qiao is with the State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission
Equipment and System Security and New Technology, Chongqing University,
Chongqing 400044, China, and also with Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
47907 USA (e-mail: qiaoxinhan@cqu.edu.cn).
Zhijin Zhang and Xingliang Jiang are with the State Key Laboratory of Power
Transmission Equipment and System Security and New Technology, Chongqing
University, Chongqing 400044, China (e-mail: zhangzhijing@cqu.edu.cn;
xljiang@cqu.edu.cn).
Raji Sundararajan is with the Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907
USA (e-mail: raji@purdue.edu).
Jianping Hu and Zhen Fang are with the State Key Laboratory of Dis-
aster Prevention and Reduction for Power Grid Transmission and Distribu-
tion Equipment State Grid, Disaster Prevention and Reduction Center, State
Grid Hunan Electric Power Company Ltd., Changsha 401205, China (e-mail:
hujianping81016@sina.com; policy@139.com).
Color versions of one or more figures in this article are available at https:
//doi.org/10.1109/TPWRD.2021.3053281.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPWRD.2021.3053281
0885-8977 © 2021 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See https://www.ieee.org/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
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59
I. INTRODUCTION
IGHTNING strikes and pollution could cause short cir-
L cuits and tripping of the overhead distribution lines [1].
To improve their performance, a 10-kV post insulator with
concentric externally gapped line arrester (EGLA) was recently
developed for distribution lines [2], [3]. The developed insula-
tor can manage lightning accidents. Its length and installation
method are the same as normal insulators, with the advantages
of low cost and convenient installation. However, concerns have
arisen over its pollution performance [4], [5]. Pollution-induced
flashover accidents could result in large-scale power outages,
and negatively affect the development of the social economy
[6], [9].
Pollution flashover performance and of normal insulator has
been intensively investigated extensively [10], [17]. Identical
conclusions were obtained in those studies that pollution levels
have a great impact on the flashover characteristics of insulators,
and with the increase of pollution levels, the flashover voltage
of insulators will decrease. There is a negative power function
between pollution flashover voltage Uf and ESDD [18], [19].
The power function refers to (1) [15].
Uf = a · ESDD−n (1)
where n is the characteristic index of pollution on the insulators,
a is constant which is up to insulator materials and structure, and
so on. But it is not yet known if the negative power function is
suitable for the EGLA. So the pollution issue of the EGLA has
received considerable critical attention.
Also, literature [16] points out that composite insulators with
accidents in operating power lines have no defect when they are
tested in the laboratory. Therefore, there is a certain divergence
between the test results in the laboratory and the operating
transmission lines. As a result, the studies carried out in the
natural environment is of great importance.
Based on the above, studied in this research is the AC pollution
flashover of the EGLA. These pollution flashover tests were
conducted at Xuefeng Mountain Natural Icing Test Base. Three
kinds of specificity of the EGLA were found. The specificity of
the AC pollution flashover was explained both by finite element
calculation and experimental method.
60
Fig. 1. The 10-kV post insulator with concentric externally gapped line
arrester.
TABLE I
GEOMETRIC PARAMETERS OF THE SAMPLE
II. SAMPLES AND METHODS
A. 10-kV Post Insulator with Concentric Externally Gapped
Line Arrester
The test samples are 10-kV post insulator with concentric
externally gapped line arrester referring to IEC 60099-8 [20],
combining an arrester and an insulator (Fig. 1). Fig. 1(a) shows
the external view, and Fig. 1(b) shows the sectional view. Here,
1 is a disk-shaped metal electrode,  2 is a pin electrode with
a spherical end,  3 and  4 are silicone rubber sheds.  5 is zinc
oxide resistor, and  6 is an acid and high-temperature resistant
insulating rod. Metal electrode  1 and insulating rod  6 are
connected by a steel flange. Similarly, electrode root  2 and
zinc oxide resistor  5 are also connected by a steel flange. The
top part of the insulating rod  6 and electrode root  2 is tightly
wrapped with sheds  3 . However, the epoxy resin winding layer
is filled between the lower part of the insulating rod  6 and sheds
4 .
Due to the novel placement method of the hollow MOV blocks
around an insulating rod, the insulator has the functions of
lightning protection, insulation, and mechanical support. Also, it
can replace the insulator and arrester of the distribution line at the
same time. When the insulator is hit by lightning or over-voltage,
the zinc oxide resistor of the arrester section can release lightning
current. Besides, the air gap can guide the arc development,
which can prevent the silicone rubber shed from being burned
by the arc. Table I shows their geometrical parameters, in which,
H is the height, d1 is the big-shed diameter of the arrester
section, d2 is the big-shed diameter of the insulation section,
l is whole leakage distance, l1 is leakage distances of the upper
weathersheds(above electrode  2 ), l2 is leakage distances of the
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 37, NO. 1, FEBRUARY 2022
Fig. 2. Pollution flashover test set-up at Xuefeng Mountain Natural Icing Test
Base.
lower weathersheds(below electrode 
2 ), and D is metal gap
distance.
B. Test Methods
The pollution flashover tests of the EGLA were conducted
at Xuefeng Mountain Natural Icing Test Base. The test set-up is
shown in Fig. 2. The experimental site and test device parameters
have been reported in detail in a previous paper [16]. The power
supply meets the requirement recommended by IEC 60060 [21].
The insulators were artificially polluted and the test procedure
follows the method presented in [16]. The only difference in the
procedure is that this research adopts the uniform rise-voltage
method. When the tests were carried out, the temperature was
0.4 to 1.6 °C. The wind speed range was higher (1.4–12.3 m/s),
the average wind speed was 5.1 m/s. Besides, the range of air
pressure during the tests is 86.5 to 86.7 kPa.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A. AC Pollution Breakdown Characteristics of the EGLA
1) The Flashover Process: The flashover process recorded at
different pollution levels is shown in Fig. 3. The time interval of
the consecutive images of Fig. 3 is 1/60 s. The test results show
that low, medium, and heavy pollutions caused different types
of arcs. The pollution flashover process under AC voltage can be
divided into three categories. We define them as C1 (Fig. 3(a)),
C2 (Fig. 3(b)), and C3 (Fig. 3(c)) flashover process.
Fig. 3(a) shows the C1 flashover process, C1 indicates that
the flashover arc path is the air gap, and both the air gap and the
arrester operates normally. C1 occurs when the pollution level is
low. Fig. 3(b) shows the C2 flashover process, C2 indicates that
the arc path is along the housing of the insulator (flashover of
insulator), the arrester housings and arrester operates normally.
But the C2 flashover process means the failure of air gap protec-
tion. Fig. 3(c) shows the C3 flashover process, C3 indicates that
the arc path is along the surface of housings of both insulator and
arrester. Flashover occurs through an arc developing along the
housing of the arrester, which means that the Zinc oxide resistor
of the arrester section does not operate normally.
2) The Flashover Voltage: The AC flashover voltages of the
EGLA along with the flashover categories is shown in Fig. 4,
for various pollution levels of ESDD = 0.01, 0.03, 0.05, 0.07,
QIAO et al.: AC BREAKDOWN CHARACTERISTICS OF POLLUTED 10-KV POST INSULATOR
Fig. 3. Pollution flashover process at different pollution levels. (a) Low
pollution levels (ESDD = 0.01 mg/cm2 ). (b) Medium pollution levels
(ESDD = 0.07 mg/cm2 ). (c) Heavy pollution levels (ESDD = 0.15 mg/cm2 ).
0.09, 0.11, 0.13, 0.15, 0.20, and 0.25 mg/cm2 respectively,
where Uf_pol is the pollution flashover voltage, Uf_dry is the
dry flashover voltage, and Uf_wet is the wet flashover voltage.
The maximum σ% (relative error) for all test results is less than
8% which shows that the dispersion degree of Uf is small and
reasonable. The following conclusions can be drawn from Fig. 4.
1) C1 occurs when the pollution level is low (0.01, 0.03,
0.05 mg/cm2 ). Also, the dry and wet pollution processes
are C1 . C2 occurs when the pollution level is medium
(0.07, 0.09, 0.11 mg/cm2 ). C3 occurs when the pollution
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61
Fig. 4. Flashover voltage at different pollution levels.
level is heavy (0.15, 0.20, 0.25 mg/cm2 ). From the above
analysis, the pollution level that the EGLA can work
normally should be less than 0.07 mg/cm2 according to
the flashover process in the natural environment (Low
temperature and dense fog). It is worthwhile mentioning
that the flashover process C1 and C2 could be altered to
each other under the action of wind velocity.
2) The Uf varies greatly in different environments and pollu-
tion levels. The value for Uf_wet ranks the highest, standing
at 50.2 kV. On the contrary, Uf_pol (ESDD = 0.25 mg/cm2 )
is the lowest with nearly 14.3 kV. The maximum flashover
voltage is 3.51 times more than the minimum. What is
more, Uf shows a downward trend with the increase of
pollution levels.
B. The Specificity of Breakdown Characteristics
According to the results in Section III-A, compared with the
flashover of the normal insulator, three kinds of specificity of
the EGLA were found.
Firstly, we find that the flashover process of the EGLA is dif-
ferent from the single flashover arc path of the normal insulator.
Therefore, for the study of EGLA, the flashover process needs
to be divided into three categories.
Secondly, the Uf_wet of the EGLA is higher than Uf_dry. It is
ordinarily known that the water layer on the insulator surface will
be formed under foggy conditions, which obviously increases
insulator surface conductivity and thus damages insulation prop-
erties. i.e., Uf_wet of the normal insulator is lower than Uf_dry.
Therefore, the findings that Uf_wet is higher than Uf_dry is still
poorly understood. It will be further discussed below.
Thirdly, as mentioned above, previous researches show that
there is a negative power function between pollution flashover
voltage and ESDD. The fitting function in this paper refers to
(2).
Uf = 11.70 × ESDD−0.3091 (2)
As can be in Fig. 5, compared with the fitting results in the
literature [15] and [16], the fitting result in this paper is not ideal.
It is found that the R2 in literature 15 and 16 is close to 1. But R2
of (2) in this paper is 0.83, which shows that the power function
is not ideal for fitting and calculated Uf of the EGLA.
62
Fig. 5. Fitting results of pollution flashover voltage.
Fig. 6. Piecewise fitting results of pollution flashover voltage.
Furthermore, according to the type of arc, the experimental
results are fitted by three segments. In addition, due to the large
difference of structure between the insulation section and the
arrester section, the fitting function of each section is not a
single negative power function. Specifically, for the C1 flashover
process, the fitting function consists of a power function and a
constant term, refers to (3). The constant term represents the
breakdown characteristics of the gap of fixed length and the
power function term represents the influence of ESDD on the
flashover of the arrester section.
Uf = a × ESDD−b + d
Uf = a × ESDD−b + c × ESDD−d
For C2 and C3 flashover process, a new fitting function,
which is a double power function, is proposed, refer to (4).
The two power function terms represent the influence of ESDD
on the flashover of the arrester section and insulation section
respectively. The piecewise fitting results are shown in Fig. 6.
As shown in Fig. 6, compared with the fitting results in Fig. 5,
the goodness of fit by piecewise fitting is higher. R2 of the first,
second, and third segmented curves are 1, 0.9743, and 0.9781
respectively. Therefore, the piecewise fitting method is more
suitable for fitting the empirical formula of flashover voltage.
C. Explanation of the Specific Breakdown Characteristics
In order to analyze the specificity of flashover voltage, we
built 1:1 two-dimensional models of a clean insulator, as well
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 37, NO. 1, FEBRUARY 2022
Fig. 7. Calculated results of electric potential distribution. (a) Dry condition.
(b) The wet condition with 0.5 mm water layer on the surface.
as the insulator with a water layer on the surface. Furthermore,
the electric potential and electric field distribution are calcu-
lated based on the finite element method. In this model, the
computational domain is divided into refined triangular meshes
by auto-generation algorithm. The electric field computations
[22] are quasistatic and relative dielectric constants of 1, 3.5,
81, and 600 were used for the air, the weathershed, water film
of pollution layer, and the MOV blocks.
∇ · D = ρ, E = −∇U, D = ε0 ε1 E (5)
where, D is the electric flux density, in C/m2 ; ρ is charge
density, in C/m3 ; E is the electric field strength, in V/m; U is the
potential, in V; and the ε0 is the absolute dielectric constant of the
vacuum, 8.85 × 10−12 F/m; ε1 is the relative dielectric constant
(3) of the medium. The calculated electric potential and electric field
distributions are shown in Figs. 7 and 8 respectively.
(4) As is shown in Fig. 7, the overall potential distribution trend
(the left part of Fig. 7) of the dry and wet conditions is al-
most the same. The withstand voltage of the insulation section
(U_insulation ) is far greater than that of the arrester section
(U_arrester ). To facilitate the comparison of voltage distribution
in dry and wet conditions, we adjust the voltage display range
to get the right part of Fig. 7. It is observed that U_arrester
(the potential of pin electrode with a spherical end) in wet
conditions is higher than U_arrester in dry conditions, which
means that U_insulation in wet conditions is lower than that in
the dry condition when applied with the same voltage. Besides,
the Uf of the C1 flashover process is determined by U_insulation .
Therefore, the breakdown voltage of the air gap requires a higher
Uf when the surface is wet.
The calculated electric field distributions in Fig. 8 further
illustrates the specificity of flashover voltage. As is shown in
QIAO et al.: AC BREAKDOWN CHARACTERISTICS OF POLLUTED 10-KV POST INSULATOR
Fig. 8. Calculated results of electric field distribution. (a) Dry condition.
(b) The wet condition with 0.5 mm water layer.
Fig. 8, the electric field of the insulation section is greater
than that of the arrester section. When the EGLA is covered
with a 0.5 mm water film, the maximum electric field intensity
decreased from 2.17 kV/cm to 1.99 kV/cm. Besides, compared
with the average electric field for dry condition (0.75 kV/cm),
that for the wet condition is slightly lower at 0.46 kV/cm. As
is well-known, an insulator with a large surface electric field is
more likely to cause discharge, so Uf_wet is higher than Uf_dry .
The decrease of the electric field caused by water film is the
main reason for the increase of wet flashover voltage than dry
flashover voltage.
The above calculation can only explain the specificity of dry
and wet flashover voltages. When the surface is covered with
pollution, the arc will be generated with voltage rise; so the above
model is not applicable. To explore the reason why pollution
flashover voltage is different from that of the normal insulator,
the U_arrester based on DAQ of NI and voltage divider was also
tested. In this test, the overall voltage on the EGLA increases
uniformly to the flashover voltage Uf . Fig. 9 shows the variation
of the U_arrester and leakage current.
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63
Fig. 9. U_arrester and leakage current in the process of voltage rise.
Fig. 10. Plate model of the EGLA.
Another interesting finding is that U_arrester is no longer
increasing uniformly. U_arrester presents a discontinuous and
random increasing trend until flashover occurs. Therefore, it
can be inferred that U_insulation is also no longer uniformly
rising, but presents a fluctuating upward trend. The voltage of
both the insulation section and the arrester section of the EGLA
is a random distribution, which is different from the normal
insulator. The random U_arrester and U_insulation are considered
to be one of the important reasons for the flashover difference
between the EGLA and the normal insulator. To further optimize
the design of the EGLA, it is necessary to further study the
flashover mechanism in future research.
D. Arc Development Model
In order to further analyze the arc development process and
explain the cause of the multi-path arc, the insulator is simplified
as a plate model as shown in Fig. 10, where  1 is high voltage
metal electrode,  2 is a pin electrode connected to the zinc oxide
resistor. 3 is silicone rubber layer in the insulation section. 
4 is
silicone rubber layer in arrester section.  5 is zinc oxide resistor,
6 is Grounding Electrode.
The development of the arc, based on this model is shown in
Fig. 11. When the ESDD is 0 or close to 0, the arc will not be
generated along with the silicone rubber layer in the process of
voltage rise, as is shown in Fig. 11(a). When the applied voltage
meets (6) and (7), the air gap is bridged by the arc. At this time,
the flashover process is C1 , as is shown in Fig. 11(b).
In this work, it is found that if (6) is tenable, then (7) will
also be tenable when the surface is not arcing. Here, Egap is
critical flashover voltage gradient of the air gap, Uf_arrester is
the action voltage of the ZnO resistor (Uf_arrester is 13 kV). Egap
varies with different pollution levels (Egap = 0.8 kV/mm in dry
64 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 37, NO. 1, FEBRUARY 2022

as
U = Ax1 I −n + I × Rp_insulation
Rp_arrester × R_arrester
+I × (8)
Rp_arrester + R_arrester
where, Rp_insulation and Rp_arrester are the resistance of residual
pollution layer in the insulation section and arrester section
respectively; R_arrester is the resistance of zinc oxide resistor;
I represent the peak values of leakage current. A and n are
constants reflecting arc characteristics.
According to Hampton’s criterion[24] of arc development and
F.A.M. Rizk model [25], if (9) and ac reignition criterion is met
with, the arc will continue to develop. It is worth noting that
once the (10) and (7) are satisfied, the arc will propagate to the
pin electrode, as is shown in Fig. 11(d). Else the arc will develop
until the insulation section is bridged, as shown in Fig. 11(e).
Then, the flashover process is C2 if (7) is tenable.

Earc < Ep_insulation
(9)
dI/dx1 > 0
U_insulation − AxI −n
≥ Egap (10)
Dmin
Where Earc is the potential gradient of the arc, Ep_insulation
is the potential gradient of the residual pollution layer in the
insulation section, Ep_arrester is the potential gradient of the
residual pollution layer in the arrester section.
Otherwise, when (11) is satisfied, the arc will develop until
the whole insulator is bridged, as is shown in Fig. 11(g). Then,
the flashover process is C3 .

Earc < Ep_arrester
(11)
dI/dx2 > 0

IV. CONCLUSION
AC Breakdown Characteristics of Polluted 10-kV Post In-
sulator with Concentric Externally Gapped Line Arrester is
investigated. From the findings, the following conclusion can
be drawn.
1) Compared with the flashover of the normal insulator,
three kinds of specificity of the EGLA were found.
Firstly, the pollution flashover process can be divided
into three categories. Secondly, Uf_wet of the EGLA
is higher than Uf_dry . Thirdly, as for the EGLA, the
piecewise fitting methods with a × ESDD^−b + d and
Fig. 11. Arc development at various stages.
a × ESDD^−b + c × ESDD^−d are more suitable for
fitting the empirical formula of flashover voltage.
2) To analyze the specificity of flashover voltage, we build
condition).
1:1 two-dimensional models of the clean insulator, as well
U_insulation as the insulator with a water layer on the surface. The elec-
≥ Egap (6) tric potential and electric field distribution are calculated
D1
based on the finite element method. The calculated results
U_arrester > Uf _arrester (7) indicate that when the EGLA is covered with a 0.5 mm
water film, the maximum electric field intensity decreased
With the increase of the ESDD, the arc will be generated in from 2.17 kV/cm to 1.99 kV/cm. Besides, compared with
the process of voltage rise, as is shown in Fig. 11(c). According the average electric field for dry condition (0.75 kV/cm),
to the Obenaus model [23], the applied voltage U was expressed that for the wet condition is slightly lower at 0.46 kV/cm.

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QIAO et al.: AC BREAKDOWN CHARACTERISTICS OF POLLUTED 10-KV POST INSULATOR
The decrease of the electric field caused by water film is
the main reason for the increase of wet flashover voltage
than dry flashover voltage.
3) U_arrester was obtained from the tests and it presents a dis-
continuous and random increasing trend until flashover oc-
curs. In this paper, the random U_arrester and U_insulation
are considered to be one of the important reasons for the
flashover difference between the EGLA and the normal
insulator.
4) Based on the Obenaus model and Hampton’s criterion,
we further analyzed the arc development process by a
simplified plate model.
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Xinhan Qiao was born in Jiangsu Province, China.
He is currently working toward the M.Sc-Ph.D degree
from the School of Electric Engineering, Chongqing
University, Chongqing, China. His main research
interests include high voltage engineering, external
insulation, the failure mechanism of silicone rubber
composites, and lightning protection. From 2020 to
the present, he was the Ph.D. Visiting Scholar with
Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA.
Zhijin Zhang was born in Fujian Province, China, in
1976. He received the B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees
from Chongqing University, Chongqing, China, in
1999, 2002, and 2007, respectively. He is currently
a Professor with the College of Electrical Engineer-
ing, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China. He
has the authored or coauthored of several techni-
cal papers. His main research interests include high
voltage, external insulation, numerical modeling, and
simulation.
Raji Sundararajan was born in Salem, Tamil Nadu,
India. She received the B.S.E.E. (Hons.) degree in
electrical and electronics engineering from the Uni-
versity of Madras, India, in 1981, the M.S.E.E. degree
in high voltage engineering from the Indian Institute
of Science, India, in 1988, and the Ph.D. degree in
electrical engineering from Arizona State University,
Tempe, AZ, in 1993. She is currently an Associate
Editor of IEEE Access and IEEE TRANS ON DI-
ELECTRICS AND ELECTRICAL INSULATION (DEI). Her
research interests include high voltage engineering
and its applications, long term aging and degradation study of polymeric
insulators, and pollution performance of insulators. She was the Chair and first
author of two IEEE Stds on Insulators and was active in various Task Forces and
insulator study groups of IEEE. She was also an Associate Editor of IEEE PES
and PES letters.
66 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, VOL. 37, NO. 1, FEBRUARY 2022

Xingliang Jiang was born in Hunan province, China, Jianping Hu was born in Jiangxi province, China, in
on 31 July 1961. He received the B.Sc. degree from 1987. He received the master’s degree in high voltage
Hunan University, in 1982, and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. engineering from Wuhan University. He is currently
degrees from Chongqing University, in 1988 and with the State Key Laboratory of Disaster Prevention
1997, respectively. His employment experience in- and Reduction for Power Grid Transmission and Dis-
cludes the Shaoyang Glass Plant, Shaoyang, Hunan tribution Equipment, Changsha, China.
Province, Wuhan High Voltage Research Institute,
Wuhan, Hubei province, and College of Electrical En-
gineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing China.
His research interests include high voltage external in-
sulation and transmission line’s icing and protection.
He published his first monograph–Transmission Line’s Icing and Protection
in 2001, and has authored or coauthored more than 120 papers about his
professional work. He received the First-class reward of National Technology
Zhen Fang was born in Hunan province, China,
Improvements, in 2013, the Second-class Reward for Science and Technology
in 1973. He received the bachelor’s degree in high
Advancement from Ministry of Power, in 1995, Beijing Government, in 1998,
voltage engineering form Hunan University. He is
Ministry of Education, in 1991 and 2001, respectively, the First-class Reward
for Science and Technology Advancement from Ministry of Power, in 2004, the currently with the State Key Laboratory of Disaster
Prevention and Reduction for Power Grid Transmis-
Third-class Reward for Science and Technology Advancement from Ministry of
sion and Distribution Equipment, Changsha, China.
Power, in 2005, the Second-class Reward for Science and Technology Advance-
ment from Ministry of Technology, in 2005, the First-class Reward for Science
and Technology Advancement from Ministry of Education, in 2007, and the
First-class Reward for Science and Technology Advancement from Chongqing
City, in 2007.

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