Microscopic simulation and characteristics analysis of surface discharge based on PIC-MCC method

Abstract

Partial Discharge (PD) is a localized dielectric breakdown of electric insulation system, the detection of such phenomenon plays an important role in insulator maintenance. Among various kinds of PD, surface discharge is a typical one that must be studied to obtain its characteristics information and then be further distinguished from different types of PD. The microscopic process of particle movement is simulated in this paper by combing particle in cell (PIC) method with Monte Carlo collision (MCC) method, which possesses great significance for researching the practical mechanism of partial discharge. The principle of PIC-MCC method is described in this paper and the simulations are carried out to show detailed microscopic process and obtain PD current for macro characteristics analysis. PD current pulse waveform of surface discharge is analyzed and compared with the waveforms of point discharge and void discharge. The effects of voltage difference and physical model shape on PD characteristics are also discussed in this paper.