Application of the modified surface charge simulation method for solving axial symmetric electrostatic problems with floating electrodes

This paper is concerned with the calculation of electrostatic potentials for axial symmetric problems with the presence of floating electrodes and multi-dielectrics, such as high voltage capacitor cable termination, capacitor bushing and so on. The finite element method and surface charge simulation method are compared. It is determined that the surface charge simulation method has several advantages over the finite element method for solving such problems. Based on the application of surface charge simulation, a modified approach combining capacitor charges with surface charges as simulation charges on floating electrodes proves to be more efficient to reduce the number of surface charges than to reduce the computation time. As an example, potential distribution of capacitor cable termination is solved and numerical results are given. Moreover, for examining the accuracy of the modified method proposed in this paper, measurements of potential distribution by using the conducting sheet analogue technique have been performed. It is shown that both the numerical and test results are consistent.<>