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Modeling of Partial Discharge Activity in Spherical Cavities Within a Dielectric

Material

Article in IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine · January 2011

DOI: 10.1109/MEI.2011.5699446 · Source: OAI

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Hazlee Azil Illias George Chen

University of Malaya University of Southampton
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Paul Lewin
University of Southampton
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Modeling of Partial Discharge Activity in Spherical Cavities Within a Dielectric
Material

H. Illias, G. Chen, and P. L. Lewin

Introduction
The partial discharge (PD) activity in a cavity within a solid
dielectric insulation material is known to be dependent on
the size, shape, and location of the cavity. These factors have
a strong influence on the local electric field distribution, which
directly affects PD activity and its characteristic behavior.
Forssen [1] made an experimental study of PD activity in
cylindrical cavities within a dielectric material and found that
there were fewer PD events per cycle for smaller cavity sizes,
and when a cavity was bounded by an electrode rather than being
entirely surrounded by insulation. In the case of a cavity
bounded by an electrode, the measured phase-resolved PD patterns
showed an asymmetry between positive and negative discharges.
However, the total apparent charge per cycle increased
as the cavity diameter increased; this may be associated with the
size of avalanche developed during a discharge event [2]. Other
researchers have shown that differently shaped cavities in a dielectric
material influence the PD phase and charge amplitude
distributions in different ways [3]. Spherical, ellipsoidal, cylindrical,
and cuboid cavities have been studied.
In this work, a model for a spherical cavity within a homogeneous
dielectric material was developed using finite element
analysis (FEA) software. The model was used to study the influence
of different cavity conditions on local electric field distribution
and consequent PD activity. The study involved variation
of cavity diameter and cavity location within the dielectric material.
In addition, experimental measurements were undertaken
using epoxy samples containing single spherical cavities of different
diameters.
The results verify that PD activity is influenced by the size
of the cavity within the dielectric material, and the results will
enable users to evaluate key PD parameters that are directly related
to the electric field distribution and the physical properties
of the cavity. These parameters include the PD repetition rate,
maximum PD charge amplitude, and the PD inception voltage
level. This study, involving comparison of experimental and simulation data, may therefore give insight into
measured PD
characteristics.

Experimental Measurements
Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of the experimental setup
used in this work to measure PD activity. The setup consisted
of a high voltage supply, a coupling capacitor Ck, a test object, a
coupling device, a PD detector, and a USB controller connected
to a PC. The coupling device and the IEC 60270 PD detector
were used to detect and measure the apparent charge magnitude
of the discharge signal from the test object. The output from
the PD detector was connected to the USB controller via fiberoptic
cables, and the data were sent to the PC, which displayed,
stored, and analyzed measured PD events.
Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of the test object, which
consisted of a solid cylindrical block of dielectric material, 3 mm

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the partial discharge (PD) experimental

setup. Ck = coupling capacitor.
thick and 40 mm in diameter, with a spherical cavity of variable
diameter. The dielectric material used for all experiments was an
Araldite Rapid (Huntsman, TX, USA) epoxy resin mixed with
 equal amounts of hardener. The spherical cavity was prepared
by injecting an air bubble into a small amount of the epoxy resin
and hardener before it cured. After curing, the block containing
the cavity was cast into a larger block of epoxy and left to cure
for 24 hours at room temperature. A four-hour postcure at 80°C
followed. The whole test object was immersed in mineral oil to
prevent surface discharges around the edge of the stainless steel
electrodes and the material. To create PD, a 50-Hz, 18-kV ac
sinusoidal voltage was applied to the test object. Data were collected
only after the voltage had been applied for two hours, to
ensure that they were representative of quasi-static conditions.

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