For access to this article, please select a purchase option:
IET members benefit from discounts to all IET publications and free access to E&T Magazine. If you are an IET member, log in to your account and the discounts will automatically be applied.
Your recommendation has been sent to your librarian.
To understand the breakdown process of combined air gap, experiments of rod-plane gap with floating conductors under positive and negative lightning impulse voltage were conducted. During the test, the diameter and position of the conductor were changed. From the experiment, the 50% sparkover probability voltages were obtained. The discharge processes and breakdown paths were recorded by the optical observation system composed of a high-speed camera and a mirror. The test results show that the floating conductor's function is strongly related to the voltage polarity. Under positive voltage, large diameter floating conductor inserted into the gap could lead to bypassing phenomenon and increase breakdown voltage. However, under negative impulse voltage, the discharge channels all pass through the floating conductor and the breakdown voltage is significantly reduced. Based on the electric field simulation, the above experimental phenomena are preliminary analysed.
Inspec keywords: discharges (electric); air gaps; conductors (electric); lightning
Subjects: Dielectric breakdown and discharges; Conductors