A PDE-based partial discharge simulator

Abstract

Partial discharges are the main ageing and failure mechanism of solid insulating materials subjected to alternated current stresses. This phenomenon, from a simulation point of view, has been almost always tackled using semi-empirical schemes. In this work, a fully physically-based model, based on a set of conservation partial differential equations, is introduced. A numerical algorithm, specifically designed to solve this particular problem, is developed and its validation is discussed considering some experimental data acquired in a simple geometry containing an isolated void.