Mechanisms and Influence Factors of Dynamic Behavior of Water Droplets on the Composite Insulator Surface under AC Electric Field

Abstract

The deformation behaviors of a droplet on surface of composite insulator can strengthen local electric field, which could finally lead to flashover. Both experiments and numerical simulations for dynamic behaviors of a droplet on the surface of a composite insulator under applied AC voltage are investigated in this paper. Experiments are performed to study the influences of water droplet’s volume and conductivity on dynamic behaviors. Two critical parameters are proposed to describe the morphological change process of water droplet, and it is shown that the process can be divided into three stages. Moreover, these motion laws are explained by establishing theoretical factors and physical influence models. In addition, we perform computer simulation to study the dynamic behaviors of a water droplet under AC field, and the findings are in good consistency with our experimental results, proving the rationality of the theoretical physical model. It is found that the vibration frequency of droplet changes regularly with at different stages under the AC electric field.