F2

Conference Proceedings of ISEIM 2014

Study of Electric Field Distribution on 22kV

Insulator under Three Phase Energisation
Mu Liang1, and K. L. Wong 1*
1

RMIT University

*E-mail: alan.wong@rmit.edu.au

AbstractSimulation of the electric field and potential

distribution is widely performed in the design of high voltage
composite insulators. This paper introduces and analysis of
electric field distribution around the insulator under a 22kV
high voltage AC (HVAC) transmission line. A two-dimensional
model is built to calculate the electric field distribution in single
phase system and another 2-D model is used to calculate the
distribution under a three-phase HVAC transmission line. The
effects of the metal ground pin are considered in the model and
a comparison of the single phase system and three-phase system
is given in the conclusion. The results show that electric field
strength in a three-phase system is significant larger than a
single phase system. The electric field fluxes are also affected by
the ground pin and other two phases in a three-phase system.
Keywords: Electric field calculation, finite element method,
composite insulators, three-phase system.

I.

INTRODUCTION

Insulators are extensively used in power transmission

system. First porcelain insulators were born in 1850s for
telephone lines. At the end of 19th century, porcelain
insulators were first used at a 15-kV voltage level in Germany
[1]. These days, porcelain insulators are being replaced more
by those composite insulators. The first composite insulators
were installed in Germany in 1967[2]. With more than 40
years of development history in manufacturing and using
composite insulators, the material of composite insulators is
continuously improving and now became various and
reliable. Comparing with old ceramic insulators, newly
composite insulators have light weight, high mechanical
strength and convenient maintenance. Indeed, the
development of composite insulators is providing us a
relatively reliable insulation system with favorable electrical
and mechanical properties[3]. No matter how the insulators
develop, aging problems are still one of the main issues in the
utilizing of composite insulator. The role of corona from
water drops on transmission line conductors is well known.
Even in the clean and dry circumstance, the corona discharge
of the composite insulator surface is also an important cause
of the aging of composite insulators.

energisation. With the simulation results of single phase

system and three phase system, the effect of three phase
energisation on the electric field can be studied.
II.

NUMERICAL MODEL OF INSULATOR

With the analysis software COMSOL based on the FEM,

the 2-D model of a composite insulator and its ground pin is
created. As shown in Fig. 1, the composite insulator is made
of epoxy and designed for a 22kV transmission system. It has
5 sheds and 27cm in height with a 24cm length metal ground
pin in the bottom. About 7cm metal ground pin is insert into
the insulator. Three larger sheds have a diameter of 15cm and
two smaller sheds have a diameter of 12cm. A single-phase
model with one insulator and a three-phase model with three
insulators are built to study the electric field changes in
different systems. The insulator is assumed to be located in a
clean and dry condition. The air has an electrical conductivity
of 1 x 10-11 S/m. Refers to other studies, the relative
permittivity of epoxy is between 4 and 5 [9]. In this model,
the relative permittivity of the epoxy insulator is set to 4.
For a 22kV transmission system, the line voltage is

Vl = 22000 / 3 = 12.7kV . For transient analysis, the voltage

at the zero phase transmission line is expressed as a function
of time:

Vl = 12700 2 sin(50 2t ) V

(1)

For a three phase system, the other two phases have a 120
phase angle between each other. The voltage expressions at
the other two phases are (2) and (3):
Vl = 12700 2 sin(50 2t +

2
)V
3

(2)

Vl = 12700 2 sin(50 2t +

4
)V
3

(3)

In the three-phase transmission system model, each

The calculation of electric field distribution on composite

insulators is helpful to the study of partial discharge occurs on
the surface of composite insulators and relating surface aging
problems and is also helpful for the insulation design,
operation and maintenance of composite insulators. Many
researches have been taken on the electric field analysis of
composite insulators[4-8]. In modern days, the distribution on
composite insulators can be studied by numerical techniques.
Finite Element Method (FEM) is one of the numerical
techniques which solve the governing differential equations
directly. It is commonly used in modern simulation tools.
The purpose of this paper is to study the electric field
distribution of a 22kV insulator under three phase

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Figure 1. 22kV epoxy insulator sample.

Conference Proceedings of ISEIM 2014

insulator is located 1m away from each other. The middle one
has a zero phase shift, the left one has a delay angle of 120
and the right one has a delay angle of 240. In both models,
the insulators are considered to be clean and defect-free.
III.

COMPUTATION RESULTS

Computer software COMSOL based on the finite-element

method was used for computation of electric field strength
and potential distribution. The simulation uses transient
analysis to get the electric field variation over time. All of the
simulations in this study run for 2 power-frequency cycles.
A. Effect of Metal Ground Pin
To study the effect of ground pin of the pin-type
insualtors to the electric field distribution of insulators, two
models with different configuration were calculated: (1)
without a ground pin, (2) with a ground pin and grounded.
Both models are built under a single phase system.
Fig. 2 shows the electric field strength along the top
surface of insulator for the two models. Arc length is the
horizontal distance from the tip of the top surface. The
position of measuring point is closer to the center when the
arc length is larger. The metal ground pin has a large effect on
the electric field intensity around the insulators. At the time t
= 0.005s, with a grounded metal pin, the values of electric
field mainly varied from 0.6 x 105 V/m to 0.8 x 105 V/m and
sharply went up when approaching to the center of insulator.
Compare with the values around 0.5 x 105 V/m without a
ground pin, the metal ground pin significant raise the electric
field intensity around the insulator. The closer to the center,

the larger the influence will be.

B. Electric Field Distribution in Single Phase System
Fig. 3 shows the electric field distribution around the
insulator with a metal ground pin in a single phase system.
Apparently, the influence of ground pin cannot be ignored.
Without taking into account of the effect of the metal ground
pin leads to grossly inaccurate estimates of electric field
distribution for the insulators. Although the metal ground pin
significant raise the electric field strength around the insulator,
its still necessary to support the insulator in industry. In the
model of three phase system, the effect metal ground pins are
also considered.
C. Electric Field Distribution in Three Phase System
Fig. 4 shows the electric field distribution at a particular
time t = 0.0064s. It can be observed that at t = 0.0064s, the
electric field around the insulator in the middle slants to the
left side, which is caused by the high voltage magnitude at the
transmission line in the left. The whole distribution became
asymmetric. This kind of asymmetric electric field is easier to
lead to corona discharge on the surface of insulator.
Especially in bad climate situation like rainy or sand-dust
whether, the electric field strength on some parts of the
insulator may be extremely high and the corona discharge
will easily and frequently occur at these areas.

Figure 3. Electric field distribution around the insulator with a

metal ground pin in single phase system.

(a)

(b)
Figure 2. Electric field intensity along the surface without a
ground pin (a), electric field intensity along the surface with a
ground pin and grounded (b).

Figure 4. Electric field distribution around the insulator in three

phase system.

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Conference Proceedings of ISEIM 2014

D. Electric Field Variation in Three Phase System
Fig. 5 shows the electric field variation from t = 0s to t =
0.02s, the time interval between each graph is 0.002s. The
graphs clearly show the changes of electric field distribution
in one cycle. The contour stands for electric field strength. In
Fig. 5, the electric field strength of each insulator reaches its
maximum value every half cycle (0.01 second). For the
insulator in the middle, that is time t = 0.005 + 0.01(n) where
n = 1,2,3. The calculation also shows that the electric field
strength around the insulator in the middle is slightly larger
than the electric field strength around the insulators aside.
IV.

TABLE I.

ELECTRIC FIELD INTENSITY AT FOUR MEASURING POINTS

Electric Field Intensity (V/m)

Measuring
points

Single phase system

Three phase system

190,000

197,000

75,000

84,000

45,000

59,000

80,000

120,000

ANALYSIS

In the three phase system, the electric field around

different phases interacted with each other. The effects of
other two phases would not only warp the distribution of
electric field but also enhance it.
Electric Field Enhancement in Three Phase System
Fig. 6 shows the electric field distribution around the
insulator in the middle at time t = 0.064s and the position of
four measuring points in the model. The electric field
intensity reaches the maximum value at time t=0.5. The
maximum electric field intensity at four measuring points is
calculated and shown in Table 1. Point A, top of the insulator,
has an increase from 1.9 x 105 V/m to 1.97 x 105 V/m which
is a percentage of 3.6%. Point B, on the first large plate near
the middle, has an increase from 7.5 x 105 V/m to 8.4 x 105
V/m, a percentage of 12%. Point C, at the tips of the shed, has
an increase from 4.5 x 105 V/m to 5.9 x 105 V/m, a
percentage of 31%. Point D, at the tip of the top surface, has
an increase from 0.8 x x105 V/m to 1.2 x 105 V/m, a
percentage of 50%.
From the calculation above, the electric field intensity of
middle phase is obviously enhanced by the other two phases.
The electric field in some parts of surface on the middle phase
insulator in three-phase system can increase up to 50%
comparing with the situation of single-phase system. The
surfaces near the tips of the sheds are commonly suffering a
larger enhancement of electric field in three-phase system.

Figure 6: Three measuring points in the model (A: top of insulator,

B:curvature on top sheds, C: tip of shed, D: tip of the top surface )

V.

CONCLUSION

Using a two-dimensional model of composite insulator in

22kV AC transmission lines, the electric field distribution
were calculated with finite element method in this paper. In
order to demonstrate the influences of metal ground pin on
the electric field along the insulators. Modeling of the
insulator alone, without taking into account the effect of
ground pin, the whole electric field intensity significantly
decreased. The metal ground pin raises the electric field
around the insulator significantly at the same time. In
horizontal direction, the closer to the center of insulator, the
larger the influence will be. In vertical direction, the ground
pin can not only affect the electric field at the lower side of
the insulator but also influence the electric field at the
conductor side.
The electric field distribution of insulator in three-phase
system is asymmetric. The other two phases warps the
distribution of middle phase, the electric field intensity is
enhanced in some area, which is easier to lead to corona
discharge on the surface of insulator.

Figure 5. Electric field variation from time t = 0 to t = 0.018s in a

step of 0.002s.

On the surface of the insulator, the electric field intensity

at the tips of the sheds is higher than the electric field
intensity on the curvature surface of the sheds. For the aging
problems, the dangerous places are at the tips of the sheds and
the surface near the transmission line. Comparing with singlephase system, at some parts of the surface of the insulator in
three-phase system, the electric field intensity has an increase
of up to 50%. The surfaces near the edge of the insulator are
com monly suffering a larger enhancement of electric field
intensity in three-phase system.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

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Conference Proceedings of ISEIM 2014

First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor A/Prof.
Alan K.L. Wong for his guidance and encouragement during
the research project. I am also grateful to my fellows in RMIT
University and old schoolmates at Xian Jiaotong University,
thanks for their friendship and help throughout this work.
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