Risk Assessment in High Voltage Design Concerning Gaseous Breakdown

Numerical methods are frequently employed for high voltage designs. The results usually determine the size of parts with safety factors. In some cases validation tests could be expensive due to time and man power needed for manufacturing a part and test set-ups. A decrease in the number of sample variations would be appreciated for quick success in the engineering design. In this contribution we will present a numerical model for determining how high voltage parts can be designed for best performance in air (or gaseous medium) for reliable performance. The numerical method is based on the finite elements method and utilizes a straight forward electric field solver using a concept called `stressed-volume'. The results from the simulations are compared to data from the literature on SF
₆
breakdown. The results indicate that numerical simulations should be adopted at an early step to modify high voltage designs using the stressed-volume method.