Electric field analysis along pin-plane electrodes near the contaminated dielectric surface using FEM

SiR and EPDM are blended together forming composite material that combined their superior properties. Nanofillers is added in order to further develop the insulating material. The formation of the dry band influences the electric field distribution along the insulator and can result to partial arc and flashover. Thus, the objective of this work is to analyse the relationship of electrical field distribution against dry band length of different concentration of nanofiller. The electric field along pin-plane electrodes near the contaminated dielectric surface is simulated and analysed using finite element analysis software, Comsol Multiphysics. IEC 60587 standard is used in modelling process. Dry band length is varied to 5 mm, 15 mm, 30 mm and 40 mm. The severity of the contamination is presented by the conductivity of the material and is varied from 0.0175 S/m, 0.0500 S/m, 0.0850 S/m and 0.1500 S/m to represent light, medium, heavy and very heavy contamination, respectively. All of the model is then simulated with different volume percent of nanofiller, which are 1%, 2% and 5%. The work may contributes to the understanding and provide an fundamental knowledge on the relationship between dry band length and electric field distribution for outdoor insulation design purposes.