UPEC 2011 ∙ 46th International Universities' Power Engineering Conference ∙ 5-8th September 2011 ∙ Soest ∙ Germany

Insulator String Flashover Modeling with the aid of

an ATPDraw Object
Zacharias G. Datsios1, Pantelis N. Mikropoulos2 and Thomas E. Tsovilis3,
High Voltage Laboratory, School of Electrical & Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 541 24, Greece
1
zdatsios@auth.gr, 2pnm@eng.auth.gr, 3tsovilis@ee.auth.gr

computed overvoltages vary notably among insulator string

Abstract- Accurate modeling of line insulation flashover is
very important in evaluating the fast-front surges arising at
overhead transmission lines and impinging on the connected
substations. A new ATPDraw object, called ISF, has been
developed with the aid of which insulator string flashover is
modeled on the basis of several flashover models from literature.
The ISF object was employed in ATP-EMTP simulations of a
150 kV GIS substation. The computed backflashover surges
impinging on the substation vary considerably among the
insulator string flashover models employed in simulations. The
ISF object is a useful tool within the ATP-EMTP environment
for insulation co-ordination studies. The effects of insulator
string flashover modeling on backflashover surges arising at
overhead transmission lines and impinging on the connected
substations can be easily quantified.
Index Terms-- ATP-EMTP, ATPDraw, GIS substation,
insulation coordination, insulator string flashover, lightning
surges, overhead transmission lines.
I. INTRODUCTION
Lightning is a major cause of transmission system outages
flashover models employed in simulations; this variation has
been easily quantified with the aid of the new ATPDraw
object.
II. INSULATOR STRING FLASHOVER MODELS
According to [15], transmission line insulator strings are
represented in simulations by voltage-dependent flashover
switches in parallel with capacitors which simulate the
coupling effects of conductors to the tower. Line insulator
string flashover can be modeled by employing either volt-
time curves [2], [3] or the integration method [4]-[6] or by
employing leader development models [1], [7]-[10].
Based on the volt-time characteristics of line insulation,
flashover occurs when the potential difference across the
insulator strings becomes equal to or higher than the
flashover strength under standard lightning impulse voltages,
VFO (kV); the latter is estimated as a function of insulator
string length as [2], [3]
resulting in power interruptions, thus, also, in economic VFO  400  710 tc0.75  D (1)
losses. Overvoltages due to lightning strokes to shield wires
or phase conductors of transmission lines may exceed the line
where D (m) is the insulator string length and tc (ȝs) is the
insulation strength resulting in flashover. Modeling of
time to flashover.
transmission line insulator string flashover is very important
According to the integration method [4]-[6], flashover
for insulation coordination studies of overhead transmission
process of line insulation begins after a minimum voltage, U0,
lines and of the connected substations. It allows for the
has been exceeded and depends on the magnitude of the
accurate computation of the fast-front surges arising at
applied voltage and on the time during which the voltage is
transmission lines and impinging on substations due to either
applied. The general expression of the integration method is
backflashover or shielding failure of the lines. According to
[1], flashover of transmission line insulator strings can be t

modeled by using either volt-time curves [2], [3] or the
integration method [4]-[6] or by employing leader
development models [1], [7]-[10].
In this study, a new ATPDraw [11] object is presented with
the aid of which the flashover of a transmission line insulator
string can be represented on the basis of several insulator
string flashover models reported in literature. The new object,
called ISF, has been developed by using MODELS language
[12], [13]. The ISF object has been applied to simulate the
flashover of a typical insulator string of the 150 kV lines of
the Hellenic transmission system and to evaluate the
computed backflashover surges impinging on a connected
GIS substation with respect to the flashover model adopted; a
preliminary account of this has been given in [14]. The
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³ U t   U 0 
k
DE dt (2)
t0
where DE (kVk·ȝs) is the disruptive effect of the surge, U(t)
(kV) is the applied voltage, U0 (kV) is the minimum voltage,
t0 (ȝs) is the instant when the applied voltage exceeds U0,
t (ȝs) is the elapsed time after the lightning stroke and k is a
constant. Flashover occurs when the integral becomes equal
to or higher than the critical disruptive effect, DE*, which is a
characteristic of the insulation configuration under study. The
critical disruptive effect DE*, the minimum voltage U0 and
the constant k are determined based on experimental results
under standard impulses so as to provide the best fit between
the experimental and computed voltage-time characteristics.
 UPEC 2011 ∙ 46th International Universities' Power Engineering Conference ∙ 5-8th September 2011 ∙ Soest ∙ Germany

Leader development models [1], [7]-[10] are based on the the critical electric field strength E0 used in leader
physical breakdown process of long air gaps which consists development models of CIGRE [1], Pigini et al. [8] and
of three phases: corona inception, streamer propagation and Motoyama [9], [10] and finally the critical disruptive effect
leader propagation. Thus, the time to flashover, tc, is DE, minimum voltage U0 and constant K used in the
determined by the expression integration method [4]-[6]. The user also selects the insulator
string flashover model to be used in simulations, by assigning
tc ti  ts  tl (3) a value to the parameter model selection MS, ranging from
1 to 6 as provided, together with the description of the input
parameters, in the help viewer window of the object. Values
where ti is the corona inception time commonly assumed
for the input parameters required to use the leader
equal to zero, ts is the streamer propagation time and tl is the
development models (Table I) can be estimated from
leader propagation time.
Appendix A.
When the average gradient in the gap becomes equal to a
The ISF object was applied to simulate the flashover of a
critical value, E0, the streamers are considered to bridge the
typical insulator string of the 150 kV lines of the Hellenic
gap and the streamer propagation phase is completed.
transmission system with standard lightning impulse
Subsequently, the leader starts propagating and flashover
withstand voltage level of 750 kV and length of 1.86 m.
occurs when the leader bridges the gap. However, if the
average electric field strength in the unbridged part of the gap
becomes lower than the critical value E0 the leader stops
developing and flashover does not occur. Several expressions,
derived from experimental investigations, have been
proposed yielding leader velocity as a function of the applied
voltage and length of the unbridged part of the gap. Such
expressions referring to insulator strings [1], [8] and rod-rod
gaps [7], [9], [10], are given in Table I.
III. ISF OBJECT
A new ATPDraw [11] object, called Insulator String
Flashover (ISF), has been developed by using MODELS
language [12], [13] within the ATP-EMTP [16] environment.
The ISF object implements the insulator string flashover
models detailed above by incorporating a MODEL that
controls a TACS Type 13 switch.
Fig. 1 shows the ATPDraw dialog box of the ISF object;
the user enters the input data, namely values for the insulator
string/gap length (D), the constants K1 and K2 used in Fig. 1. ATPDraw input dialog box of the developed ISF object.
Shindo and Suzuki leader development model [7], the
constant K3 used in CIGRE leader development model [1],
TABLE I
LEADER DEVELOPMENT MODELS

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 UPEC 2011 ∙ 46th International Universities' Power Engineering Conference ∙ 5-8th September 2011 ∙ Soest ∙ Germany

Fig. 2 shows the volt-time curves under standard lightning

impulse voltages obtained by employing several insulator
string flashover models. It is obvious that the voltage-time
characteristic of the insulator string varies considerably
among flashover models. This, influencing the flashover
Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of the evaluated 150 kV GIS substation.
voltage and time, may affect considerably the computed
backflashover surges arising at the overhead transmission
lines, thus also impinging on the connected substations. The
latter is demonstrated in what follows.

Fig. 4. Tower of typical 150 kV double circuit overhead lines of the Hellenic
transmission system and lightning stroke location considered in simulations.

Fig. 2. Volt-time characteristics of a 150 kV insulator string under standard parameters calculated at 500 kHz. Surge arresters were
lightning impulse voltages (1.2/50 ȝs) according to several insulator string represented by the Pinceti and Giannettoni frequency-
flashover models; standard lightning impulse withstand voltage level 750 kV, dependent model [19] as shown in Fig. 5, with parameters
insulator string length 1.86 m.
calculated based on the surge arrester characteristics given in
IV. APPLICATION OF THE ISF OBJECT FOR THE EVALUATION Table II. GIS bays were represented as lossless stub lines
OF BACKFLASHOVER SURGES IMPINGING ON SUBSTATIONS with a surge impedance of 75 ȍ [15]. The step-up transformer
The ISF object was employed in ATP-EMTP [16] was represented by a capacitance pi-circuit together with a
simulations for the evaluation of the backflashover surges BCTRAN model. Cable connections and the surge arrester
impinging on a 150 kV GIS substation, with configuration lead lengths shorter than 3 m were modeled by a lumped
shown in Fig. 3. Simulations were performed for the parameter inductance of 1 ȝH/m [15].
following worst case scenario: negative lightning is assumed Finally, simulations were performed with and without
to strike to the top of the first tower (Fig. 4) close to the surge arresters operating at the line-cable junction so as to
substation, at the time instant of positive power-frequency evaluate the protection offered against impinging surges with
voltage peak of the upper phase of the overhead transmission respect to the basic insulation level, BIL, of the GIS system
line. (750 kV), considering also a safety factor of 1.15 [20].
Lightning stroke was represented by a current source
producing a current with an amplitude of 200 kA and a
waveshape 8/77.5 ȝs with front upwardly concave and
maximum steepness calculated according to [1]. The last
section of the incoming overhead transmission line, 1.75 km
in length, was represented by a sequence of J.Marti
frequency-dependent models, considering the line span (350
m) and tower geometry (Fig. 4). Towers were modeled as
vertical lossless single-phase frequency-independent
Fig. 5. Frequency-dependent surge arrester model [19]; parameters
distributed parameter lines with a surge impedance of 167 ȍ calculated based on the surge arrester characteristics given in Table II.
calculated according to [3], [17]. Towers were terminated by
a constant grounding resistance of 10 ȍ [18]. Transmission TABLE II
SURGE ARRESTER CHARACTERISTICS
line insulator strings, with standard lightning impulse
withstand voltage level of 750 kV and length of 1.86 m, were
represented by the ISF object. The underground XLPE power
cables were represented by the Bergeron model with

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 UPEC 2011 ∙ 46th International Universities' Power Engineering Conference ∙ 5-8th September 2011 ∙ Soest ∙ Germany

The overvoltages across the 150 kV transmission line

insulator string for several insulator string flashover models
are shown in Fig. 6; there is a pronounced effect of model
selection on both flashover time and voltage of line
insulation. Fig. 7(a) shows the computed overvoltages arising
at the 150 kV GIS entrance, associated with the insulator
string flashover models used in the ISF object, without surge
arresters operating at the line-cable junction. The computed
overvoltage varies notably in terms of both peak and
waveshape, among flashover models. However, it is obvious
from Fig. 7(b) that this is less pronounced when surge
arresters are operating at the line-cable junction.
The computed peak overvoltages arising at the entrance of
the 150 kV GIS substation vary up to 17% among insulator
string flashover models, especially when surge arresters are
not installed at the substation entrance (Fig. 8). However, all
models agree that surge arresters should be installed at the
substation entrance so as to reduce the arising overvoltages to
values lower than BIL/1.15. These findings are in accordance
with common practice [21], and consistent to IEC [20]
suggestion for the installation of surge arresters at the line-
cable junction when substations are connected through
underground cables to the transmission system.
Fig. 6. Overvoltage across 150 kV transmission line insulator string.
Fig. 8. Computed peak overvoltages at the entrance of the 150 kV GIS
substation due to backflashover of the incoming line, with and without surge
arresters operating at the line-cable junction; dashed line depicts the safety
margin of BIL/1.15.
V. CONCLUSIONS
A new ATPDraw object, called ISF, has been developed by
using MODELS language. The ISF object represents the
flashover of overhead transmission line insulator strings by
implementing several flashover models reported in literature.
The ISF object enables the easy quantification of the effects
of insulator string flashover models on the fast-front surges
arising at overhead transmission lines and impinging on the
connected substations.
The ISF object was employed in ATP-EMTP simulations
of a 150 kV GIS substation. The computed backflashover
surges impinging on the substation vary significantly in terms
of both amplitude and waveshape among the selected
insulator string flashover models; such variation, which also
depends on substation layout, may affect the selection of the
required protection measures and standard insulation level of
the substation equipment.
The ISF object is a useful tool within the ATP-EMTP
environment for utilities in assessing the fast-front surges
arising at overhead transmission lines and impinging on the
connected substations, as well as in selecting the necessary
protection measures. It can also be used for educational
purposes and is available at http://www.eng.auth.gr/hvl/.
APPENDIX A
The input parameters required for the leader development
models implemented in the ISF ATPDraw object are given as
follows:
I. Shindo and Suzuki [7]
TABLE 1
CONSTANTS k1 AND k2 [7]

Fig. 7. Overvoltage at the entrance of the 150 kV GIS substation due to

backflashover of the incoming line; dashed line depicts the safety margin of
BIL/1.15, (a) and (b) without and with surge arresters operating at the line-
cable junction, respectively.

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 UPEC 2011 ∙ 46th International Universities' Power Engineering Conference ∙ 5-8th September 2011 ∙ Soest ∙ Germany

II. CIGRE [1] IV. Motoyama [9]

TABLE 2 E0 = 750 kV/m.
CONSTANT k3 AND PARAMETER E0; ADAPTED FROM [1]
REFERENCES
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TABLE 3
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Fig. A. Rod-plane configuration. Average gradient at U50 as a function of the [12] L. Dubé, “MODELS in ATP, language manual,” Feb. 1996.
gap clearance; adapted from [8]. [13] L. Dubé, “Users’ guide to MODELS in ATP,” Apr. 1996.
[14] P. N. Mikropoulos, T. E. Tsovilis, Z. G. Datsios, and N. C. Mavrikakis,
“Effects of simulation models of overhead transmission line basic
components on backflashover surges impinging on GIS substations,” in
Proc. 45th UPEC, Cardiff, Wales, 2010, paper no. 72.
[15] IEEE Task Force, “Modeling guidelines for fast front transients,” IEEE
Trans. Power Del., vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 493–506, Jan. 1996.
[16] Canadian-American EMTP Users Group, “ATP Rule Book,” 1997.
[17] M. A. Sargent and M. Darveniza, “Tower surge impedance,” IEEE
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[19] P. Pinceti and M. Giannettoni, “A simplified model for zinc oxide surge
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[20] IEC 60071-2, Insulation co-ordination – Part 2: Application guide,
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[21] Joint Working Group 33/23.12, “Insulation co-ordination of GIS:
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Fig. B. Other configurations. Average gradient in the gap at U50 as a function
of the gap factor. Gradients given in p.u. of the values relevant to rod-plane
with the same gap length; adapted from [8].

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