Topic of Research Seminar: Improved flashover characteristics of insulation materials for DC applications via surface functionally graded (SFG) modification

Abstract: Aiming at the problem that epoxy resin insulation in DC systems is easy to accumulate charges on its surface, which may cause surface flashover and pose a serious threat to the safe operation of these systems, this research studies the effect of surface modification technology on the DC surface flashover voltage of epoxy resin. Surface modification technologies such as ion beam treatment and sandpaper roughening are used to control the surface conductivity and surface roughness. Moreover, the concepts of surface conductivity-graded epoxy (SCGE) using ion beam treatment and surface roughness-graded epoxy (SRGE) using sandpaper treatment are introduced to homogenize the electric field distribution along the insulation surface. In addition, finite element simulations using COMSOL Multiphysics are performed to study the mechanism of proposed surface modification technologies on flashover voltage improvement. Finally, the effects of the two surface modification technologies on the surface performance parameters and flashover voltages are compared and studied. This research proves that the proposed surface modification methods for epoxy are reliable and can be used as references to improve the insulation strength of DC systems are their related applications.

Subject Field of Topic: Dielectric and insulation materials for DC applications

Name of Speaker: Dr. Inzamam Ul Haq

Professorial Rank of Speaker: Postdoctoral Research Fellow

University Email of Speaker: [email protected]

Affiliation of Speaker: Department of Electrical Engineering and Control Science, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China

Date and Venue: October 25, 2023, USPCAS-E Seminar Hall, NUST Islamabad Campus