Electrical field and potential distribution of polymer insulators under the influence of a three phase supply

Abstract

Power distribution and transmission networks widely adopt composite insulators for the overhead power line applications. The premature failure of these insulators due to the high electric field induced in them has become a major disappointment in the recent years. In this paper, an 11kV composite insulator is modelled in a three phase high voltage environment, and the induced electrical field is studied using finite element analysis. To reduce the computational time and resources, a simplified geometry for the insulator is also proposed. The electric field calculations are used to understand the importance of using a three phase supply in computational and experimental analysis of insulators, which we determine is more accurate than using a single phase supply.