Discharge characteristics for various discharge patterns under negative lightning impulse voltage in vacuum

In order to develop higher voltage vacuum interrupters (VIs), electrical insulation performances in vacuum should be improved. The discharge in VI has various and complex patterns, such as breakdown in vacuum gap and surface flashover on a solid insulator. In this paper, we investigated three discharge patterns: the discharge in vacuum gap, the discharge in vacuum gap via shield, and the surface flashover on solid insulator, respectively. By measuring shield potential and insulator surface potential, we analyzed the discharge characteristics for various patterns, and clarified the relevant discharge development process. We found that the breakdown development process in vacuum gap depends on the gap length and the surface flashover development process on a solid insulator depends on the applied voltage and surface distance.