Influences of wind velocities on the contamination behavior of two outer-rib type and under-rib type outdoor insulators

Abstract

It's hard to quantify the relationship between the external environment and the surface contamination level of outdoor insulators since they are exposed to different types of voltages and environmental conditions during operation. Therefore, in this paper artificial contamination test was carried out to focus on the influence of airflow on the surface contamination distribution of outdoor insulators because of its great performance on controllability, thus the interference of the voltage, the rain and the temperature could be avoided. The test results show that normal component of the wind which is perpendicular to the surface of the insulator is the main reason for the deposition of the contamination on the surface; while the tangential component which is parallel to the surface of the insulator plays a role in cleaning the insulator surface.