Contamination flashover, performance of hydrophobic polymer insulators with different core diameters

Abstract

This paper presents the investigation results of contamination flashover performance of hydrophobic polymer insulators with different core diameters under heavy fog and rain conditions. Similar effect of core diameter of a hydrophobic polymer insulator on contamination flashover voltage was confirmed under heavy fog conditions as is the case of porcelain insulators. On the other hand, any significant effect was not observed under rain conditions. So, larger diameter polymer insulators need to be evaluated not under rain but only under heavy fog conditions.