Calculation of Electric Field Characteristics of Insulator Under Sandstorm Condition

Sandstorm has an effect on the electric field characteristics of outdoor insulator, and may result in flashover. The analysis of the electric field characteristic of insulator under sandstorm condition is very important. The electrostatic field finite element method (FEM) is used to calculate the electric field distribution along long rod insulator under sandstorm condition with FEM software. The results of calculation show that the sand deposition decreases the electric field strength of insulator surface covered with sand. The electric field strength of the non-sand region will be higher than that of the nearby sand layer, when the non-sand region appears in the sand layer on insulator. Suspended sand particles in the ambient air can distort the electric field distribution along insulator, and the distortion is significantly affected by the size, the quantity, the charge-to-mass ratio and the charge polarity of sand particles.