Study On The Effectiveness Of Steep-front Impulse Test Of Composite Insulator

In order to verify the effectiveness of steep-front impulse voltage test in finding the internal faults of composite insulator, some insulators with faults, including conductive channel, semi-conductive channels, airy channel, partial little air bubble that occur separately at different place, are modeled. Steep-front wave impulse voltage test is made for these faulty insulator and normal insulator. At the same time the internal electric field intensity and its distribution of the insulator are calculated by making use of infinite element analysis software in order to testify whether breakdown has occurred in it. The result is consistent with the experimental one. The final result shows that steep-front wave impulse voltage test plays a very effective part in finding serious faults of the insulator, however, tiny faults are not easy to be found through this method. The lightning impulse breakdown and steep-front impulse breakdown test of silicone rubber are also performed, which give a reference for other solid materials. The result of this research also will give a reference to revises the standard of steep-front wave impulse voltage test.