ISBN: 978-1-4799-8903-4 2015 IEEE 11th International Conference on the Properties and Applications of Dielectric Materials (ICPADM)
Voltage and E-field Distribution of UHV Composite
Insulator with Connection of Porcelain Insulators
Jialong Wang*, Yannan Chen, Jintao Liao, Zongren Peng
State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment
Xi’an Jiaotong University
Xi’an, P.R.China
*E-mail: 492800705@qq.com
Abstract—Composite insulator has advantages in antifouling
property, light weight, easy installation and transportation. It has
been widely used in 1000kV UHV transmission lines. As the
increase of operating voltage, the nonuniformity of potential and
electric field distribution on the high voltage end of composite
insulator is more serious due to its geometry configure, and the
aging problem is easier to occur. Porcelain insulator has higher
permittivity and better electrical erosion resistance when
compared with composite insulator. Therefore, in order to
improve the voltage-sharing and anti-aging performance, this
paper proposed a novel configuration scheme of composite
insulator with series connection of several porcelain disc
insulators for 1000kV AC transmission line. One type of 1000kV
suspension composite insulator string was taken as an example.
Porcelain disc insulators of different number were installed to the
high voltage end respectively, while the length of composite
insulator string was decreased in order to guarantee the same
total insulation length. The three-dimensional (3D) finite-element
method (FEM) models of combined insulator strings were built
with software ANSYS. The potential and electric field
distributions on the whole insulator string were calculated, and
the influence of the number of porcelain disc insulators was
analyzed. The grading ring configuration for the whole insulator
string was also put forward in order to decrease the surface
electric field strength on sheds and fittings of insulators. The
analysis result shows that the composite insulator with series
connection of several porcelain disc insulators could improve the
uniformity of potential and electric field distribution effectively.
This research could provide valuable references for application
of combined insulator string in the 1000kV UHV AC
transmission line.
Keywords—UHV AC; composite insulator; porcelain disc
insulator; electric field distribution; finite element method (FEM)
I. INTRODUCTION
Since the adoption of higher transmission voltages for long
distance transmission, line insulator used in outdoor
transmission is a critical factor which governs the reliability of
power delivery systems [1]. Composite insulator has
advantage in strong hydrophobicity, antifouling property, light
weight, high mechanical strength, easy installation and
transportation. It has been widely used in 1000kV ultra-high
voltage (UHV) AC transmission lines. Due to the influence of
distributed capacitance between the grounded tower and high-
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voltage conductors, serious electrical field distortion occurs at
the line side and the tower side of the composite long rod
insulator. Electrical tracking and erosion problem may be
caused by the high electric-field strength (E-field strength) on
silicone rubber (SIR) housing and ending fittings, especially in
heavy pollution and moist heat area. Usually, grading rings of
different sizes were used to reduce the electric field
concentration near the triple junction formed by housing,
hardware and air surfaces [1-2].
Porcelain insulator has higher permittivity and better
electrical erosion resistance when compared with composite
insulator. Porcelain insulators connected in series with the
composite insulator at line side could improve the uniformity
of the potential distribution of the whole string. This kind of
combined insulator string could make full use of corona
resistance and erosion resistance of porcelain insulators and
pollution tolerance of composite insulators [3]. In some
previous researches on 500kV and lower voltage transmission
line, the suspension insulator string composed of composite
and ceramic insulators (porcelain and toughened glass) was
proposed [3-4], and numerical simulation was applied to
calculate the potential and electric field distribution on the
combined insulator string.
In this paper, a configuration scheme of composite
insulator with series connection of several porcelain disc
insulators was proposed for 1000kV AC transmission line.
Porcelain disc insulators of different number were installed to
the high voltage end respectively. With software ANSYS, the
three-dimensional (3-D) FEM models of the combined
insulator strings were built. The potential and electric field
distributions on the whole insulator string were calculated, and
the influence of the total number of porcelain disc insulators
was analyzed. The grading ring configuration for the whole
insulator string was put forward. After optimization, the
porcelain-composite combined structure could improve the
uniformity of potential and E-field distribution, and prevent
corona and erosion of composite insulators more effectively.
II. CALCULATION MODEL
A. Model of Combined Insulator String
In this paper, the research on combined insulator was
based on one type of 1000kV 300kN suspension composite
 ISBN: 978-1-4799-8903-4 2015 IEEE 11th International Conference on the Properties and Applications of Dielectric Materials (ICPADM)
insulator string. The total length of the composite insulator
(including crimped end-fittings) was 9750mm. When
operating the double insulator strings were installed on the
tower and the distance between the strings was 600mm.
Individual grading rings were fixed on the fittings near the
tower side and corona rings near the line side. A common
grading ring (raceway type) was installed on the yoke plate of
double insulator strings. The brackets of rings were ignored.
The model of the composite insulator string and the structure
parameter of the rings are shown in Fig. 1.
In this paper, several pieces of porcelain disc insulators
were connected in series to the high voltage end of the original
composite insulator. The structure height of each porcelain
disc insulator was 195mm. The total number of porcelain disc
insulators (N) was varied from 3 to 10. At the same time the
composite string was shortened in order to keep the total
length was 9750mm, as shown in Fig. 2. The corona rings and
grading rings of original composite insulator were retained.
According to our previous research of ceramic insulators [5],
it is recommended to install the grading ring between the
second and third disc insulators in vertical direction. So the
mounting height of the common grading ring was readjusted
in this combined insulator string, from 600mm to 660mm.
Fig.3 shows the 3-D model of the combined insulator string
with a common grading ring.
B. Whole 3-D FEM Model
The capacitance effect of the earth, tower and conductors
(a) (b)
Fig. 1. Model of the original 1000kV AC composite insulator string. (a) 3-D
model (b) structure parameter and mounting height of the rings
Fig. 2. Configuration scheme of composite-porcelain combined insulator.
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Fig. 3. 3-D model of the combined insulator (line side).
is significant on the potential distribution. In this paper, based
on one tower configuration of 1000kV UHV AC double-
circuit transmission line, the whole 3-D calculation model was
established using software ANSYS, including the tower, eight-
bundle conductors, insulators and other fittings. The whole
calculation model is shown in Fig. 4(a).
According to the previous research on line composite
insulator [2], the electric field distortion on the middle phase
was more serious than that on the side phase. Therefore, in the
calculation model, the combined insulator string in the middle
phase was chosen for potential and electric field distribution
research.
In the FEM analysis, discretization is applied to the
prototype and then elements and nodes are propagated.
Elements are coupled jointly by the nodes to form the whole
prototype [3]. Both 20-node triangular and hexahedral
elements were used for the FEM meshing of the model. After
the finite element mesh, the whole model has got about
5.8 × 106 nodes and 3.8 × 106 elements. Part of the meshing
condition is shown in Fig. 4(b)
When the concerned phase withstands the peak
instantaneous voltage and the other two phases withstand the
negative half peak value, the interaction between three phases
is the greatest and the electric field distribution of the
concerned phase is the most uneven [5]. Therefore, the peak
instantaneous value of the operating voltage in 1000kV AC
system, i.e. 1000 × 1.1 × 2 / 3 = 898.15kV was loaded as
(a) (b)
Fig. 4. The whole FEM model for calculation. (a) 3-D model of 1000kV
transimission line (b) meshing condition of the line side of insulator
 ISBN: 978-1-4799-8903-4 2015 IEEE 11th International Conference on the Properties and Applications of Dielectric Materials (ICPADM)
boundary condition on the concerned middle phase, and the
negative half peak value -449.07kV was applied on the other
two phases. The voltages of the nodes on equipotential metal
fittings were coupled into a set in order to calculate their float
potential. The zero potential was set on the earth, tower and
the outer boundary of the domain.
III. RESULTS AND OPTIMIZATION
A. Effect of Porcelain Disc Insulator Number
A series of combined insulator models with different total
number N of porcelain disc insulators were established on the
middle phase of the tower. The N was varied from 3 to 10.
The potential and electric field distributions of each
configuration were calculated using software ANSYS. The
calculation was carried out on a workstation with Xeon
16×2.0GHz processors and 96 GB RAM and the solution
process of each model cost about 1 hours. Fig. 5 shows the
potential and electric field distribution contour of the line side
of the combined insulator when N=9 for example.
Fig. 6 shows the percentage of the voltage that the whole
porcelain part withstands with different total number N of
porcelain disc insulator. And Fig. 7 shows the potential
distribution of porcelain disc insulator string, from the line end
to the joint with composite insulator. The values in Fig. 7 have
been converted to that under RMS voltage. It is inferred that
as the total number of porcelain insulator increasing, the
whole porcelain part withstands higher operating voltage,
while the maximum distributed voltage of a single insulator is
reduced. According to the previous analysis on 1000kV
porcelain disc insulator string [5], it is recommended that the
maximum distribution RMS voltage of a single insulator
(a) (b)
Fig. 5. Potential and electric field distribution of the combined insulator
string. (a) potential distribution (b) electric field distribution
Fig. 6. Voltage percentage of the whole porcelain part withstands with N
pieces of disc insulators connected.
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Fig. 7. Potential distribution of porcelain part when N pieces of porcelain
disc insulators connected.
should be lower than 30kV. When the total number N of
porcelain disc insulator is over 7, the maximum distribution
voltage of a single insulator is lower than 29.6kV, which
meets the project requirement. Moreover, it is shown that the
decreasing rate of the maximum distribution voltage is
reduced significantly when the total number N is over 7.
With comprehensive consideration of the distribution
voltage and the total creepage distance of the combined
insulator string, the number N of porcelain disc insulator is set
to 9 in this paper. In this scheme the maximum distribution
voltage of a single porcelain insulator was 28.8kV (RMS
value). The corona ring optimization was then carried out
under this configuration.
B. Optimization of Corona Ring
With 9 pieces of porcelain disc insulators connected in
series to composite insulator, the electric field distribution of
the common grading ring and corona ring are shown in Fig. 8.
Under the original ring configuration in Fig. 3, the maximum
surface E-field strength of the common grading ring near the
line side is 2052V/mm, while that of the corona ring at the
high voltage end of composite part is 2803V/mm, relatively
high and prone to corona discharge. It is necessary to optimize
the corona ring configuration of the composite insulator.
In this paper, after a number of optimization, the use of
double ring structure was brought out, as shown in Fig. 9(a).
The large ring was 74mm upper to the original corona ring.
The structural parameter of the large ring was the same as the
tower side corona. Fig. 9(b) shows the calculation result under
this configuration. The maximum surface E-field strength of
the corona ring was reduced to 1367V/mm. At the same time,
Fig. 10 shows the electric field distribution along the SIR
housing. The maximum E-field strength on the SIR housing is
(a) (b)
Fig. 8. Electric field distribution of the common grading ring and corona
ring. (a) the common grading ring (b) the corona ring
 ISBN: 978-1-4799-8903-4 2015 IEEE 11th International Conference on the Properties and Applications of Dielectric Materials (ICPADM)
(a) (b)
Fig. 9 Model and electric field distribution of double ring configuration. (a)
the 3-D model (b) electric field distrbution
Fig. 10. Electric field distribution along the SIR housing with different ring
configuration.
329V/mm. It could be inferred that the electric field
distribution of the composite part of combined insulator string
is more uniform with double rings at the high voltage end.
The potential and electric field distribution of the original
composite insulator string was also calculated and compared
with that of the porcelain-composite combined insulator string.
Fig. 11 shows the potential distribution along the center axis
of the whole insulator string. It is inferred that the potential
distribution of the combined insulator string was more
uniform when compared to that of the original composite
insulator, due to the higher permittivity of ceramic materials.
Table I shows the maximum surface E-field strength of
several concerned positions, including grading rings, corona
rings and SIR housings. The maximum E-field strength on the
grading ring of each insulator is basically the same, while the
maximum E-field strength on the corona rings and SIR
housing of composite part in the combined insulator string is
respectively 13% and 24% lower than that of the original
Fig. 11 Potential distribution curves of composite and combined insulator
strings.
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composite insulator. Hence, it could be predicted that the
combined insulator configuration would prevent corona and
erosion of composite part more effectively.
TABLE I. MAXIMUM SURFACE E-FIELD STRENGTH OF SEVERAL
CONCERNED POSITIONS ON DIFFERENT INSULATOR TYPES
Maximum surface E-field strength (V/mm)
Insulator Type Common High voltage side SIR
grading ring corona ring housing
Combined insulator 2052 1367 329
Original composite
2013 1571 423
insulator
IV. CONCLUSIONS
1) As the total number N of porcelain disc insulator
increasing from 3 to 10, the voltage on the whole porcelain
part increases, while the maximum distributed voltage of a
single insulator decreases, and the decreasing rate is reduced
significantly when the total number N is over 7.
2) Using the double ring configuration at the joint of the
composite part and the porcelain part could improve the
uniformity of electric field distribution on composite insulator.
The maximum E-field strength on the corona ring is also
reduced significantly.
3) The combined insulator configuration with 9 pieces of
porcelain disc insulators connected in series and the double
corona ring structure is proposed. In this scheme, the
maximum distribution voltage of a single porcelain disc
insulator is 28.8kV (RMS value), and the maximum E-field
strengths on the grading ring, corona ring and SIR housing are
respectively 2052V/mm, 1367V/mm and 329V/mm. All these
values could meet the project requirement.
4) This configuration scheme of combined insulator string
could improve the uniformity of potential distribution more
effectively and reduce the maximum E-field strength on the
corona ring and SIR housing, compared with the original only
composite insulator. This research may provide valuable
references for the manufacture and application of combined
insulator string in the 1000kV UHV AC transmission line.
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