Evaluation of polluted insulators flashover voltage for different waveforms using an equivalent electrical network model

This paper deals with the evaluation of flashover voltage of polluted insulators submitted to different wave voltages namely biexponential waves (i.e., lightning and switching impulses of different characteristics) and AC waves of various frequencies using an equivalent electrical network model. It shows that, for a given pollution layer resistivity, the shorter the impulse voltage, the higher the flashover voltage and the shorter the time delay to flashover. For AC voltages, the flashover voltage increases with the frequency. On the other hand, for a given wave voltage, the flashover voltage depends on the available energy dispensed in the propagation of the discharge.