ELEC4611

Power System Equipment

system, a number of factors must be taken into account to

achieve a viable design of the insulation system that will
prevent breakdown under normal conditions and under
typical anticipated abnormal overvoltages and operating
conditions. The factors that must be considered include the
electrical, mechanical and environmental requirements:
these requirements are listed and discussed below.

ELECTRIC STRESS
IN HIGH VOLTAGE EQUIPMENT
1. DESIGN CONSTRAINTS
All electrical equipment requires insulation to prevent the
possibility of dielectric breakdown and unwanted fault
current flow. Insulation is also required to provide for the
safety of personnel who may be in the vicinity of the
equipment. The insulation is needed whether the equipment
is a 500kV high voltage transmission line, a 230V
appliance or an integrated circuit with voltage of only a few
volts DC applied. It is not the total voltage over the
insulation that is important in the equipment design, but the
electric field (or stress) applied to the insulation at
particular parts where the stress may be concentrated. When
the electric field is considered the field magnitudes may be
similar in equipment of greatly varying voltages. For
example, modern integrated circuits, with ever-decreasing
gaps between conducting tracks, are now having problems
with dielectric breakdown across the substrate surface. If
the gaps are of micron level, even a few volts can give an
electric field of a few kV per mm, similar to those that
occur in high voltage equipment insulation.

1.1 Electrical requirements

These include both operational aspects and also the asset
management aspects of maintenance, testing and condition
monitoring requirements. The various considerations that
must be taken into account are:
Operational:
(1) Whether AC or DC voltage
(2) Frequency and magnitude of impulse voltages
(3) EMC and EMI requirements
(4) Operating temperature and ambient conditions
(5) Environment: e.g. indoor or outdoor
(6) Insulation coordination with other equipment
(7) Expected lifetime of the insulation
(8) Load duty cycles

In designing the insulation system for an item of electrical

equipment or a number of items making up an electrical

Testing:
(1) Continuous over-voltage: AC or DC
(2) Insulation resistance
(3) Temperature rise
(4) Impulse tests: lightning and switching impulses

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p. 2

(5) Dielectric dissipation factor (DDF, tan)

(6) Partial discharge testing
(7) Continuous on-line monitoring requirements

1.2 Mechanical requirements

These requirements vary considerably from one item of
equipment to another. The range of possible considerations
includes any of the following:
Compression and tension capacity of insulators for
overhead lines, transformer winding spacers etc.

1.3 Environmental aspects

The insulation must be compatible with the prospective
environment in which it is to operate. This will include
(possibly) the following aspects:
Pollution of the air: humidity, salt spray, industrial
pollution
The ambient temperature (this will affect the thermal
ratings)
Possible presence of moisture on insulators, cables etc

Tensile strength of electrical conductor insulation.

Effect of radiation (UV): this can cause polymeric

insulation degradation.

Vibration response of insulation in transformer coils

and circuit breakers.

Wind conditions and impact on overhead lines

Lightning strike frequency (keraunic level)

Bending stresses on underground cable insulation.

Flora and Fauna interaction: e.g. trees and power lines

and birds etc

Electro-dynamic forces on insulation of rotating

machine end windings, transformer windings, cables
and insulated busbars.

Effect of extreme temperatures: e.g. in sub-arctic

regions or in cryogenic equipment

Expansion of insulated electrical contacts and similar

joints.
Pressure rise effects on insulation of sealed items with
internal arcing.

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p. 3

1.4 Operational Fields

When the insulation material type and general configuration
has been determined within the above constraints, it is then
necessary to know the operational impact of the electric
stresses (fields) that will be imposed on the insulation
during normal and abnormal operation. There will also be a
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p. 4

need to know how the insulation will deteriorate under

typical operational conditions. This will then define the
appropriate tests and monitoring procedures necessary to
achieve a required insulation life.
It is thus necessary to calculate the electric fields under
such normal and abnormal conditions. In early equipment
designs the electric field determination in complex
equipment such as transformers was very difficult and it
was necessary to use electrolytic tanks to plot fields in scale
models of the equipment. Even this was not ideal because
of problems of achieving 3-D results in an essentially 2-D
test tank configuration. As a result a large degree of
redundancy was generally incorporated in the insulation
design. However modern high speed computer capabilities,
the development of finite element analysis methods of field
calculation for 3-D configurations and better knowledge of
material properties allow much more accurate modeling of
the insulation operation and this has allowed much better
design of insulation and more economic use of materials.
However the trend to operation of insulation at or close to
its limits with the minimum material requirements means
that insulation life may be reduced and this will require
better methods of condition monitoring and assessment to
be developed and applied.

2.

ASPECTS OF THE ELECTRIC FIELD IN HV

INSULATION

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p. 5

In many cases the electric field distribution in the insulation

of electrical equipment is quite non-linear and modern
design methods require the application of finite element
analysis packages to solve Laplaces equation to calculate
electric field levels and distributions. However there are
also many applications where the electric fields are
reasonably well-defined and amenable to simple calculation
using standard formulae. The following section discusses
some of the simpler field structures in equipment and uses
them to illustrate typical insulation requirements and
constraints.

2.1 Bare parallel conductors

We consider two bare electrical conductors of radius a,

separated by distance d, with a voltage V between them,
typical of a single phase overhead line (the three phase line
is a simple extension of the following). The electric field in
the air between the lines is:
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E r

V
d a
2r ln

typical values of d and a are (for 11 kV for example) about

100 cm and about 1 cm respectively.

V/m

The maximum field occurs at the conductor surface r = a

and is:
E a

V
d a
2a ln

V
d
2a ln
a

2.2 Coaxial Cables

V/m

Note that E is independent of the dielectric permittivity ( =

ro) and depends only on the voltage on the insulation and
the geometry. The above equation holds for both AC and
DC voltage. This independence of permittivity is the case
whenever the insulation is homogeneous. However when
the insulation has different materials, the permittivity will
be involved for AC fields only. For DC fields with mixed
insulation the insulation resistivity will be involved.
The insulation of such lines is (almost) always air and if the
maximum electric field level is high enough it may cause
ionization of air molecules at the conductor surface, with
the result that corona discharge is caused. This will
generally occur when the electric field level in the air at
normal pressure is 30kV/cm or higher. The insulation
design must thus determine the peak operating electric field
and keep it below that level during normal operation.
Typical operating peak field values may be 15-20 kV/cm at
the conductor. Either the radius a or the separation d can be
increased to reduce the electric field. For overhead lines,
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For a coaxial cable with inner (HV) conductor radius a,

outer metal sheath inner radius b and with a voltage V
across the cable insulation, the electric field distribution
over the insulation is:
E (r )

V
b
r ln
a

V/m

and the peak field occurs at the inner conductor:

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E (a)

V
b
a ln
a

insulation between the plates is uniform and constant and is

given by:

V/m

E
Thus to reduce E(a) in the insulation we must increase
either b or a. Increase of a is obviously the most effective
method. It should be noted that the insulation must be used
to withstand the peak field at the inner conductor, but this
means that the outer insulation is then very under stressed
and thus inefficient in terms of its economic utilization.
Note that the field E is independent of the permittivity (
of the insulation if the voltage is AC. The field E depends
only on the voltage V and the geometry, providing that the
insulation is homogenous. For DC voltage the field E is
determined by the electrical resistivity () but is given by
the same equation and so is independent of resistivity if the
material is homogeneous with constant .
Typical maximum operating values of E in modern crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) cables are about 200 kV/cm
(20 kV/mm). This is about ten times the maximum
operating electric field level able to be used in air.

V
d

V/m

This equation is applicable to power capacitors where,

although they are made up of very large areas and lengths
of flexible dielectric with metal foil layers on either side,
they are nevertheless simple parallel plate geometries and
the above equation can be used for electric field
determination. Such power capacitors (used extensively in
power systems for power factor correction applications)
have arguably the highest operating electric field levels of
any item of HV power equipment. Typical electric fields in
such capacitors are up to 50 kV/mm, with plate (foil)
separations of about 10 microns (10 x 10-6 metres).
The same parallel plate geometry is also used for heating of
non-conducting dielectric materials with high voltage
application at high frequency to generate dielectric heating
in the insulating materials. The power density p and total
power P generated by an AC field is:

p r o E 2tan

W/m3

cf P CV 2tan W

2.3 Parallel plate capacitor

For a voltage V across the two plates of a parallel plate
arrangement, with plate separation d, the electric field in the

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p. 9

where p is power density, P is total power, = 2f (where

f is the application frequency), r is the relative permittivity
of the material, and o is the vacuum permittivity.
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p. 10

2.4 HV Bushings

E (a)

When high voltage conductors have to be taken into earthed

chambers such as the tank of a transformer, an insulating
bushing is needed to insulate the HV conductor from the
earthed metal of the tank to prevent breakdown. The
bushing consists simply of a layer of insulation between the
conductor and the flanges of the tank wall opening. It is
usually the case that high voltage bushings are coaxial in
their structural geometry and thus the electric field will be
determined from the same equation as given for the electric
field in the coaxial cable above.

E (r )

V
b
r ln
a

ELEC4611: Electric Stress in High Voltage Equipment

V
b
a ln
a

V/m

E(a) is the peak value of the electric field.

As noted previously for cables the 1/r variation of the
electric field with radius means that the outer regions of the
insulation are under-stressed and are not utilized effectively
in terms of material economy. While it is difficult to change
the field distribution in cables because of their long length
and consequent manufacturing difficulties, it is possible to
design and manufacture HV bushings so as to make the
electric field level more uniform and thus to reduce the
material dimensions required.
Bushings, particularly those used for very high voltages of
66 kV and above are often capacitively graded by
subdividing them into a number of insulated coaxial layers
each separated by a very thin layer of metal foil. The result
is that the bushing is effectively a number of series
capacitors connected between the HV conductor and earth
(they are called capacitor or condenser type bushings). By
varying the axial length of the individual foil layers it is
possible to specify (grade) the separate layer capacitances
in such a way that the voltage across each layer is
controlled and thus the electric field in each layer can be
controlled to make better overall use of the insulation
thickness. The capacitance of each isolated layer will
determine the voltage across, and hence the electric field in,

V/m

p. 11

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p. 12

each layer. This design method will be outlined in detail

later.

2.5 Electric Field Distribution in AC and DC High

Voltage Equipment
When a single homogenous insulation material is used for
HV equipment, the manner in which the voltage is
distributed over the insulation volume is determined by the
capacitance distribution for AC voltage application and by
the electrical resistance variation in the case of DC voltage
application.
As is well-known for any dielectric material which is
subject to an electric field, the resistance and capacitance of
the insulation configuration are related by the equation:

RC =
or R 1/C

and, because we have V = Q/C for a capacitor and V = IR

for a resistor, we have:
dV d(1/C) for a capacitor
and

The required condition is that the values of and are

constant over the whole insulation and do not vary during
operation. While this is true of the permittivty of an
insulator, it is certainly not true for the resistivity of an
insulation material. In particular, the resistivity of an
insulator material is very dependent on material
temperature and exhibits an exponential variation with
temperature because of the effect of temperature on
electrical conduction in dielectrics. Increased temperature
will generate higher energies on the structure and thus free
more electrons and allow an increase in leakage current
flow and thus decrease in resistance of the material.
Ileakage exp(aT)
Rleakage exp(aT)
The end result is that while the AC field distribution is
constant and invariable in operating insulation subject to
AC voltage, when insulation is subject to DC voltage, any
non-uniform temperature gradient produced by operation
will cause changes in the resistivity distribution and thus

dV dR for a resistance

ELEC4611: Electric Stress in High Voltage Equipment

Thus, because of the constancy of the RC product and the

above proportionalities, it would be expected that AC and
DC electric fields would have identical distributions for AC
and DC excitation for the same insulation material and
dimensions. This equality is, in fact, the case but only under
a certain condition. In practice, this required condition is
not met by the insulation in operating equipment and thus
the AC and DC field distributions can vary significantly.

p. 13

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p. 14

the electric field distribution will change substantially with

temperature gradient and will be different to the AC
distribution.
Thus, in the case of a coaxial bushing with a radial
temperature gradient, under AC excitation the field will
have its standard 1/r variation as above, but for DC
excitation with a temperature gradient (high T at the
conductor, low T at the earth flange) the electric field
distribution may be inverted, with almost a linear variation
with r.

3. MULTI-DIELECTRIC STRUCTURES
In many high voltage insulation systems multi-dielectric
structures are used with dielectric materials with different
relative permittivities in order to provide better use of
insulation by reducing the overall insulation thickness and
making the field more uniform within the overall layer
structure.

electric field in the material to be heated and thus the power

density of the heating in the material
In both of these cases the relative permittivities (r) (and
hence the total permittivities, ) are important because the
voltage across the different dielectric layers is determined
by the capacitances of the different dielectric layers and the
capacitance is dependent on the total permittivity of the
layer material. The electric field is thus determined by the
permittivity also.
[Note that this will only be true for AC voltage application:
when DC voltage is used across multi-dielectric structures,
the voltage across each layer will be determined by the
electrical resistance of the various dielectric layers and the
voltage distribution may be different to that when AC is
used as the resistivity and permittivity variation will be
different for different materials].

3.1 Parallel plates with two dielectrics

In other cases the use of multi-dielectric structures is

unavoidable, such as in the case of a parallel plate gap with
a slab of insulation material inserted for dielectric heating
purposes as described previously. An air gap must be left to
allow access for insertion and removal of the object to be
heated and the electric field in the air gap and the dielectric
breakdown properties of the air at the application frequency
will determine, to great extent, the maximum allowable

In the above, two different dielectrics are used with

different total permittivities 1 and 2.

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p. 15

p. 16

We have
and also

V = V1 + V2

and

d = d1 + d2
E2

V V1 V2 E1d1 E2 d2

The field properties of dielectrics require that the electric

displacement D (the total charge in this case) is constant in
each material:
i.e.

V
d2

2
d
1 1

d2
V
V2
d 2 d
2 1

[Using the method of capacitance voltage division to

determine the voltages, we get, for example:

D D1 D2 1 E1 2 E2 = constant

wherer1andr2

C2
d2
V1
V
V =
C
C

2
1
1
2
A
d
d
2
1

d1
V
=
d 1 d
1 2
2

Using these relationships we get:

V E1d1

2 A

1 E1
d2
2

d1 1 d 2 E1
2

That is, the same result as was obtained above.]

and
E1

V
d1

1
d
2 2

The result can be generalized for any number of dielectric

layers. The electric field and voltage in the kth layer is
given by:

d1
V
V1
d 1 d
1 2

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p. 18

Ek

Because the void is gas-filled, with relative permittivity r =

1.0, we have

d1 k d 2 k d3 ------1
2
3

Vk Ek d k

dk

d1 k d 2 k d3 ------1
2
3

Evoid r ( solid ) Esolid

.V

and since r(solid) is typically about 2-4, the electric field in

the gas-filled void is typically 2-4 times the electric field in
the surrounding solid dielectric material.

For a flat gas-filled void in a slab of solid dielectric, the

electric field in the void can be elevated to a level which is
higher than the breakdown field strength of the gas.
Consider the simple case of the gas void shown below:

The electric displacement (D) is not a medium dependent

property and is thus the same value in both the void and the
solid insulation, so that we have:

D constant = void Evoid solid Esolid

Evoid

r ( solid )
solid
Esolid
Esolid
void
r ( void )

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p. 19

The designed operating field Esolid in solid dielectrics is

normally up to 10 times that possible in air, because of the
much higher breakdown strength of solids as opposed to
air. Thus the result is that the electric field in the void will
almost certainly be high enough to initiate a gas discharge
(a partial discharge) in the air void. The temperature of the
ionized gas in the discharge is very high and this will cause
some chemical change (e.g. carbonization) in the insulation
material and degrade it, and thus start deterioration of the
solid insulation material at the walls of the void.
For example, in the most commonly used power cable
insulation material, cross linked polyethylene (XLPE), the
relative permittivity is 2.3 and the breakdown field strength
is 50 kV/mm. The normal maximum designed operating
electric field in XLPE is typically about 20 kV/mm. Thus if
an XLPE slab operating at 20 kV/mm has an air void
contained within it, the electric field in the air in the void
will be 2.3 x 20 = 46 kV/mm or 460 kV/cm. The
breakdown field strength in air at normal pressure is 3
kV/mm or 30 kV/cm. Thus breakdown (or partial discharge
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p. 20

breakdown) will certainly occur in the air in the void under

these conditions. Eventually the damage will increase the
void size until full breakdown of the whole insulation
thickness may occur with catastrophic results.

3.2 Coaxial geometry

In this case of two coaxial layers with different
permittivities 1 and 2, the peak electric field in each layer
(at the inner radii of the respective layers) is given by:
E r

Emax(1)

Emax(2)

V
1

r x ln r2 x ln r3
1 r1 2 r2

Example

If r1 = 20mm, r2 = 25 mm and r3 = 31 mm, and the two

layers are composed of:
(1) Paper (r1 r2):
with r = 3.2 and electrical resistivity = 1014 m
(2) Oil (r2 r3):
with r = 2.2 and electrical resistivity = 1013 m
Determine the peak electric fields in each layer of
insulation if the total applied voltage is 210 kV(peak).

For AC application

Application of the previous formulae for coaxial geometry

gives:

V
r
r
r1 ln 2 1 ln 3
r1 2 r2

E1m = 19.6 kV/mm [V1 = 87.4 kV]

E2m = 22.8 kV/mm [V2 = 122.6 kV]

r
r
r2 2 ln 2 ln 3
r2
1 r1

For DC application

For the same voltage level, but DC, where the electrical
resistivity controls the voltage distribution the two field
levels are,

V = V1 + V2
E1m = 42.9 kV/mm [V1 = 192 kV]
E2m = 3.4 kV/mm [V2 = 18 kV]
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p. 22

If there is a temperature variation in the materials, the

resistivity will change and hence the electric field
distributions will change from the above.

3.3 Improvement of the insulation use

The example sketched below shows the effect of using

different permittivity layers for the insulation. The different
permittivities of the layers change the capacitances and this
changes the voltage distribution and thus the electric field
distribution in the overall insulation structure.
The use of different dielectrics with different permittivities
to make better use of the insulation allows either of two
results to be achieved:
(i) An increase in the allowable total voltage across the
insulation [e.g. in the example below, the 200 kV AC
is able to be increased to 264 kV]

b
VT Em .a ln
a
For VT = 200 kV, a = 20 mm, b = 40 mm:
Em = 14.4 kV/mm

(ii) A decrease in the insulation overall thickness [e.g. in

the example below, the outer radius b=40mm decreases
to b=35.2 mm]
[Note that for DC voltage where voltage is distributed
according to resistance, the resistivities are temperature
dependent so that the distribution of the electric field
distribution is load dependent. It is possible for the
maximum DC electric field to occur near the outer edge of
the coaxial layers because of the temperature effects.]
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p. 24

Multiple dielectric structures are difficult to manufacture so

that they are used only in special applications such as
insulating bushings. Layered bushings, however, are
relatively easy to make and are commonly used to grade
voltage distribution. They do not use different insulation
materials but use capacitive grading of the insulation layers.
The capacitance is graded by using different lengths of the
foil layer sections to alter capacitance. When the voltage
distribution is changed, the electric field is also changed
(graded).

3.4 Capacitively-graded (condenser) bushings

The general construction of a capacitance-graded bushing is

shown below. The layers are normally of the same
thickness and are separated by thin metal foil layers to act
as the capacitance electrodes. The axial length of the foil (l)
determines the capacitance and hence the voltage and
electric field. The electric field and capacitance in each
layer are given by:
V
E r
V/m
b
r ln
a
and
2 l
C
F
b
ln
a

V1 = Em a ln(b1/a)
(b a)/4 = 5mm
b1 = 25 mm
For Em = 14.4 kV/mm
V1 = 64.3 kV etc
VT = 64.3 + 65.6 + 66.6 + 67.3 = 264 kV
[ or for VT = 200 kV,
V1 = 50 kV, gives b1 = 23.8 mm
and new b = 20 + 4x3.8 = 35.2 mm ]

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p. 25

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p. 26

Capacitor bushing in a porcelain housing and the electric field distribution.

General structure of the layers for the calculation of

required foil lengths ln

For the various layers in the above structure, we can write:

Cn

Comparison of equipotentials of (a) a non-graded bushing and (b) a

capacitor bushing. Note the relative distribution of the voltage in the
insulation within the flange area.
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p. 27

2 .ln
a
ln n 1
an

En r

Vn
a
rn ln n 1
an

En a

Vn
a
an ln n 1
an

ELEC4611: Electric Stress in High Voltage Equipment

V/m

V/m

p. 28

The total capacitance is:

(ii) Designing to have En(max) (= En(a)) = a constant for

each layer.

Ctotal

1
Having decided which method is to be used, it is then
necessary to find the various values of foil lengths ln needed
to achieve the result for either condition (i) or (ii).

1
n C
n

and the layer voltages are:

Vn

It is normal to have the thickness of each insulation layer

identical.

Ctotal
V
Cn

Example:

The other condition that holds for the layers is that the
charge (also the electric displacement D in this case) on
each capacitance much be the same: i.e
Q = constant = C1V1 = C2V2 = C3V3 = = Cn Vn

We have Q = Cn Vn = constant.
Thus we have:
CnVn

3.5 Bushing design

There are two approaches to implementing the design of the

capacitively graded bushing insulation to improve
efficiency of insulation use:
(i) Designing to have Vn = constant for each layer
V
i.e. Vn total
n

ELEC4611: Electric Stress in High Voltage Equipment

(ii) To have the same peak electric field in each layer.

2 ln
Vn constant
an1
ln

an

Also we require:
En max En a

p. 29

(1)

Vn
constant
an 1
an ln

an

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(2)

p. 30

We divide equation (1) by equation (2) to get:

Q
En max

4. EFFECTS OF LEAKAGE CAPACITANCE ON

VOLTAGE DISTRIBUTION

a
an ln n1
2 .ln .Vn
an
.

Vn
a
ln n1
an

In graded bushings the leakage capacitance to earth is

broken up into several different series capacitances which
are adjusted in their values to achieve better and more
efficient voltage distribution over the insulation of the
bushing.

2 .ln .an
a constant

Thus we have lnan = a constant as the requirement for this

design.
If we define the length l1 of the first (foil) layer and also
specify the radii an then this will define the other l values to
achieve the required result.
Note that it is the length of the foil conductor (capacitor
electrode) that determines the capacitance, NOT the length
of the dielectric layer. In some cases the outer foil layer on
a section may be the same length as the (inner) dielectric
layer, but in other cases the outer foil layer of a section may
be the same length of the outer dielectric layer that it is part
of.

However in many cases the leakage capacitance to earth of

any metal components at elevated voltages will also affect,
in an undesirable manner, the voltage distribution in some
particular insulation design configurations that involve the
metal components. This effect of earth-leakage capacitance
must be taken account of in the design and if necessary
some counteractive changes may be necessary to restore a
more uniform voltage distribution.
The two most commonly-encountered insulation
configurations that are affected by leakage capacitance are:
(i) the insulator string used to support overhead line
conductors
(ii) the windings in transformers or the stator windings
in rotating machines
In both of these configurations the primary insulation
between the live line and the neutral has an equivalent
circuit that contains a number of separate capacitance
sections and the problem that arises is one of a non-linear

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p. 32

voltage distribution, caused by leakage capacitance to earth,

over these capacitance sections. The non-linear distribution
means that some insulation may be more highly stressed by
voltage: this may need to be corrected by design.
In the two examples above the non-uniformity effect occurs
at different conditions. In the insulator string the effect is
present at power frequency voltage at all times. In the
windings, the non-linearity only occurs for high frequency
transient overvoltages.

4.1 String insulators on overhead lines

Insulator strings on overhead lines are connected to the

steel towers or to the wood or concrete poles, all of which
are effectively at earth potential. The strings support the
HV conductors and thus have the full phase voltage applied
over them. The strings are actually composed of a number
of series connected cap and pin insulator units. Each
individual cap and pin unit is an insulator with a rated
voltage of about 10-12 kV. For higher voltage lines, the
number of cap and pin units in the string is increased
accordingly. An 11 kV line may have just one unit while a
330 kV line (197 kV phase voltage) may have 20 or more
units in a string.

with the same voltage across each unit. However this does
not happen because each cap and pin unit will also have
some leakage capacitance from the cap to earth
(represented by the steel tower or pole) and this will distort
the string voltage distribution and make it non-uniform. As
a result the HV line end units have a higher voltage across
them than the tower (earth) end units.
The cap and pin insulators have a steel cap and pin which
are designed to slot together and attach to each other. They
also represent the two electrodes of the equivalent capacitor
unit. The insulator material is either porcelain or glass and
this is cemented to the cap and pin sections. There is a long
surface path with the various skirt sections underneath to
prevent surface breakdown due to any surface
contamination, such as water and/or dust and salt.
There is a trend now to use polymeric insulation to replace
these porcelain units. The polymeric or composite
insulators comprise a fibre-glass core embedded within a
polymer outer cover. In contrast to the cap and pin units,
composite insulators are formed in one single extended
section. The polymer is generally either a silicone material
or EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer). Silicone
has the better characteristics.

Each cap and pin unit represents a single identical capacitor

(of about 30-40 picofarads) and thus each string is a system
of series capacitances of equal value. The string should
ideally have a uniform voltage distribution along its length
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ELEC4611: Electric Stress in High Voltage Equipment

p. 34

Cap and Pin insulator detail.

Equivalent capacitance circuit for a line support with four cap and pin
units.

C is the self-capacitance of each cap and pin insulator unit.

Typically, for porcelain units, C is about 30 40 pF and Co
is leakage capacitance to the tower or pole earth.
In the diagram, Co is the leakage capacitance to earth for
each unit. It is taken as constant because the distance to the
main frame of the tower or the pole is similar for each unit
in the string.
Typically, Co is about 0.1 0.2 C or about 3 6 pF
Two strings of 28 cap and pin units for a 400kV quad-conductor
transmission line.
ELEC4611: Electric Stress in High Voltage Equipment

p. 35

A ratio of C/Co = 10 is about the highest possible for an

overhead line: more typically the ratio might be about 5.
ELEC4611: Electric Stress in High Voltage Equipment

p. 36

The higher the ratio of self-capacitance to leakage

capacitance the smaller is the effect on the uniformity of
voltage distribution along the string. A higher ratio to
reduce non-uniformity requires a lower value of leakage
capacitance Co and this can only be achieved by increasing
the separation of the string units from the earthed structure
of the tower or pole. This can be done by increasing the
cross-arm length for example, but such measures obviously
increase the tower structure costs.

We use the fact that Ic = CVc for a capacitance and from

this we then use the following dependencies:
Ic C and
Vc Ic for any capacitance.
The calculation then proceeds to determine the various In
values and hence the individual Vnm of each unit and the
various Vn levels at each module.

4.2 Voltage distribution calculation

While it is possible to develop a rigorous mathematical

analysis to determine the voltage distribution for any
number of units in a string, for a small number of units it is
easier and more instructive to determine the voltage
distribution from a simple circuit analysis method.
For example, we derive below the voltage distribution for
the five insulator string with the equivalent capacitance
circuit shown in the diagram below, where we take Co to be
equal to 0.1C.
We assume that there is a voltage V across the tower end
unit (#1) and we assume that there is capacitive current I1
through the self-capacitance of unit #1 flowing directly to
the tower. We then proceed to work through the various
units in sequence by determining capacitive current in each
unit to determine the voltage across each of them in terms
of the tower end unit voltage V.
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ELEC4611: Electric Stress in High Voltage Equipment

p. 38

The final result is the total voltage VT Vn in terms of

the voltage V across the tower end unit. Then, when the
total voltage VT is specified from the rated voltage, the
value of V is then determined and the other voltages are
then determined from V.

I41 = 0.5061 I1
I5 = 1.651 I1 + 0.5061 I1 = 2.157 I1
V45 = 2.157 V

For unit #1: Voltage = V = V1

This is Unit #5 voltage

and V5 = V4 + V45 = 7.218 V

I11 = 0.1 I1

Thus, the relative voltages for the five units are:

I2 = 1.1 I1
V12 = 1.1 V

and V4 = V3 + V34 = 5.061 V

This is the Unit #2 voltage

and V2 = V1 + V12 = 2.1 V

I21 = 0.21 I1

V23 = 1.31 V

and

V3 = V2 + V23 = 3.41 V

1.0 V
1.1 V
1.31 V
1.65 V
2.16 V

or a total of 7.218 V for the string.

and I3 = 1.1 I1 + 0.21 I1 = 1.31 I1

thus

#1
#2
#3
#4
#5

This is Unit #3 voltage

The string efficiency is defined as:

String Efficiency =

Total string voltage

x100
no. of units x voltage on line end unit

I31 = 0.341 I1
and I4 = 1.31 I1 + 0.341 I1 = 1.651 I1
thus V34 = 1.651 V

ELEC4611: Electric Stress in High Voltage Equipment

This is Unit #4 voltage

p. 39

For example, if the string is for use on a 66 kV overhead

line, then the total voltage over the string is Vtotal = 66/3 =
38.1 kV.

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p. 40

Thus V = 38.1/ 7.218 = 5.28 kV and the actual voltages on

the five units are:
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5

5.28 kV
5.81 kV
6.92 kV
8.71 kV
11.40 kV

The string efficiency is:

The string efficiency is:

38.1
100 86.8%
3 14.6

Grading rings are often attached to the line end insulator

unit to give an increased effective capacitance of the line
end unit and also the next unit along. This will decrease the
voltages across them and increase the string efficiency. [See
tutorial example]. A typical grading ring attached to an
insulator string is shown below.

38.1
100 66.8%
5 11.4

If only four units are used for the same line voltage, the
tower end unit voltage is V = 38.1/5.06 = 7.53 kV and the
voltages are:
#1
#2
#3
#4

7.53 kV
8.28 kV
9.86 kV
12.43 kV

The string efficiency is:

38.1
100 76.6%
4 12.43

If only three units are used for the same voltage, the tower
end unit voltage is V = 38.1/3.41 = 11.2 kV and the
voltages are:
#1
#2
#3

11.2 kV
12.3 kV
14.6 kV

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ELEC4611: Electric Stress in High Voltage Equipment

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An analytical investigation of the voltage distribution can

be performed by modeling the string as a distributed
capacitance system. The analysis then gives the following
expression for the voltage on the nth cap and pin unit in a
string of no units:
Vn V0

where:

sinh n

(series) capacitance and turn-to-earth (shunt) leakage

capacitance as shown in the following equivalent circuit.
The result of this leakage capacitance is to cause such surge
voltages to have their voltage distributed non-linearly along
the winding, with the line-end turns having a higher voltage
across them than the earth-end turns of the winding.

sinh n0

Co
C

Vo total voltage on the string

4.3 Impulse voltage distribution on windings

At power frequencies (50 or 60 Hz), the voltage distribution

along a transformer winding or a stator winding is
determined by the distributed series inductance of the
winding. The result of this is a uniform (linear) distribution
of voltage along the length of the winding from the live end
to the neutral end.
However when there are high frequency (some 100s of
kHz) transient voltage surges incident on such windings the
voltage distribution of this surge along the winding is
determined by the capacitance distribution of the winding.
This capacitance distribution consists of both turn-to-turn
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p. 43

In the diagram, Cg is the total leakage capacitance to earth

and C g l is the leakage capacitance per unit length. Cs is
the total series capacitance of the winding of length l and
thus Cs.l is the turn-to-turn capacitance per unit length.
Analysis of the initial voltage distribution over the winding
when a steep fronted pulse of amplitude Vo arrives at the
live end of the winding is similar to that for a standard
transmission line. Solving the wave equation gives the
following expression for the voltage distribution along the
axial length of the winding, when the neutral end is earthed.

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p. 44

x
sinh

V x Vo
sinh
where:

Cg
Cs

x distance from the neutral end

For an isolated neutral, the voltage distribution is:

x
cosh

l
V x Vo
cosh

There are two possible solutions to improving the voltage

distribution:

These (initial) voltage distributions are shown below for

various values of and for an earthed neutral and
unearthed neutral at the far end of the winding.
The input turns can be seen to be highly stressed
electrically. For example when = 10, 60% of the initial
surge voltage appears across the first 10% of the winding
turns. Reinforcement of the insulation at the top end of the
winding makes the problem worse because the additional
insulation will reduce the turn-to-turn capacitance and make
the distribution more non-uniform because will then be
increased.

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p. 45

(i) Interleaving of the windings

The manner of winding the turns of the winding can be

changed so as to interleave the turns of the winding, as
shown below. The effect of this change in winding
configuration is to change the distribution of turn-to turn
capacitance and thus to increase the total series capacitance
(Cs) while leaving the leakage capacitance Cg unchanged.
The result is a decrease of and a more uniform voltage
distribution.
Typically, a reduction of from about 10-12 typically to a
value of about 3-4 can be achieved by this method. It is, of
ELEC4611: Electric Stress in High Voltage Equipment

p. 46

course, somewhat more difficult to manufacture but it is a

commonly-used and very effective practice.
(ii) Use of stress grading rings

In a generally similar approach to the use of capacitance

grading rings on line insulators, such effective extensions of
the windings can be used to change the winding capacitance
distributions and hence the voltage distribution.

Examples of transformer windings and methods of grading voltage

distribution.
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ELEC4611: Electric Stress in High Voltage Equipment

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