Investigation of Low-Pressure Condition Impact on Partial Discharge in Micro-Voids using Finite-Element Analysis

The aviation industry, as one of the major CO2 producers, anticipates a reduction in its carbon emission. While big manufacturers and governmental agencies are betting on the more- (and soon all-) electrified aircraft to reduce the dependency of this industry on fossil fuels, there are major milestones to be reached in the next three decades. Among those, enhancing the specific power of systems, that are expected to substitute the fuel-based engines, is one of the primary targets. An enabling technology to achieve this goal is the wide bandgap (WBG)-based power converting, a promising technology toward increasing the efficiency of electrical systems. However, not only the partial discharges (PDs) -induced by the high voltage, high-frequency, fast-rise square voltages generated by these systems- endanger the insulation system, but also the operation at higher altitudes can be another game-changing factor in the design of power converters. This study puts forth the investigation of the pressure impact in tandem with the impact of short rise-times on various PD characteristics including but not limited to PD true charge magnitude and duration. The results show how the incorporation of harsh environmental conditions and short rise times lead to more intense and prolonged discharges. Moreover, it shows that micro-voids that have negligible PD activities at sea level can turn into serious threats at higher altitudes. In this project, COMSOL Multiphysics interfaced with MATLAB is used to simulate the PD identification process based on the experimental data found in the literature.