Electrostatic Fields

Lecture 2
E8409 High Voltage Engineering
HIGH VOLTAGE ENGINEERING THE ART OF INSULATION DESIGN

An insulator, also called a dielectric, is a material that resists the

flow of electric current.
An insulating material has atoms with tightly bonded valence electrons (outermost
electrons of an atom). The valence band containing the highest energy electrons is
full, and a large energy gap separates this band from the conduction band above it.
n=3

There is always some voltage (breakdown voltage) that will n=2

give the electrons enough energy to be excited into the n=1
conduction band. Once this voltage is exceeded, the material ∆E = hv
+Ze
ceases being an insulator, and charge begin to pass through it.

During electrical breakdown, any free These freed electrons and ions are in turn Rapidly the insulator becomes
charge carrier being accelerated by the accelerated and strike other atoms, filled with mobile carriers,
strong electric field has sufficient velocity creating more charge carriers, in a chain and its resistance drops to a
to ionize any atom it strikes (liberate reaction (electron avalanche). low level.
electrons).
 INSULATORS vs. DIELECTRICS

A dielectric is electrical
insulation that can be polarized
by an applied electric field. The term "insulator"
refers to a low degree of
• When a dielectric is placed in an
electric field, electric charges do not electrical conduction.
flow through the material, as in a
conductor, but only slightly shift from The term "dielectric" is
their average equilibrium positions typically used to describe
causing dielectric polarization.
materials with high
• Positive charges are displaced along the
field and negative charges shift in the polarizability.
opposite direction. (expressed by the dielectric
This creates an internal electric field constant εr)
that partly compensates the external
field inside the dielectric.
 Insulators are NOT IDEAL – Leakage Current

Conductivity typically Allows for STATIC

very small ELECTRIC FIELD
(neglected in field calculations) analysis

Further requirements for static field conditions:

Homogeneous Characteristics are constant Φ
Isotropic Electric flux and electric field E
are in the same direction un
Susceptibility cannot depend on electric
field strength. Measure of
how easily a dielectric
Q
polarizes in response to an Φ = ò E × un dA =
electric field A
e
 ELECTRIC FIELD

0.9 U
A charged particle will feel a
force in an electric field U
0.7 U

Electric field, force and charge

are related by the equation: 0.5 U

dF
E= 0.3 U

dQ U=0 Electric
field
0.1 U lines

Electric field distribution can be visualized using electric

field lines and equipotential lines
• Surface of conductor is an equipotential line
• Electric field lines are perpendicular to equipotential lines (density of field
lines proportional to field strength)
 ELECTRIC FIELD
In a homogeneous and isotropic medium, Permittivity of vacuum ε0
electric flux density D is proportional to
electric field strength E e0 =
1
» 8. 854 ´ 10 -12
4p ´ 10 -7 c 2
D = ɛE
where permittivity ε = εr ε0 Insulating Relative
Material Permittivity
Air 1.0006
D and E describe the interaction between
charged objects: Transformer Oil 2.2 – 2.5

Polypropylene 2.2
→ D is relate to charge densities
→ E is related to forces and potential differences Paper (dry) 2–3

→ ε is related to the material’s ability to transmit an Oil-Impregnated Paper 2–4

electric field Epoxy 3–6

Porcelain 5 – 6.5
(Increased permittivity allows a given charge to be stored
with a smaller electric field (a smaller voltage), thereby Mica 5–7
increasing capacitance)
 • Neglect leakage
current Electric flux is constant: D1 = D2 =e E
Series
• Free charges cannot
Insulation accumulate between Electric field is not: E1/E2 = ɛ2/ɛ1
insulating layers

Voltage U Electric Field E Electric Flux Density D

HV

ɛ1 E1 = 2E2
D1
=
D2
ɛ2 = 2ɛ1 E2

GND

Voltage over entire insulator: U = U 1 + U 2 = E1d1 + E2 d 2

U ɛ1 ɛ2 ɛ1 ɛ2
E1 = + – + –
æe ö
U1 ɛ1 E1 d1 d1 + d 2 çç 1 ÷÷ + – + –
è e2 ø
U d + – + –
U E1 E2 D1 =D1
ɛ2 E2 d2 E2 = + – + –
U2 æe ö
d 2 + d1 çç 2 ÷÷ + – + –
è e1 ø
 + – + –
+ – + –
+ ɛ2 – + ɛ2 –
+ – + –
Parallel •Electric field is constant: E = U/d + – + –
+ – + –
Insulation •Electric flux density D is not + ɛ1 – + ɛ1 –
+ – + –
+ – + –
E-field Flux lines

Voltage U Electric Field E Flux density D

HV

E1 = E2 D1 D2 = 2D1

ε1 ε2 = 2ε1
ε1 ε2 = 2ε1 ε1 ε2 = 2ε1

GND

U=0
Boundary between the
insulation is critical
U = 100 %
 ELECTRIC FIELD

When electric flux meets the boundary

100 %
between two insulators with different 80 %

permittivity (ε) at an angle other than 90°: 40 % ɛr1 = 1 ɛr2 = 4

60 %

40 %

ð Electric flux vector changes direction 20 %

0

ð Electric field changes direction (isotropic)

Electric
Dielectric Refraction E2 field line
En2
• Tangential field (Et) on the interface α2
must be same on both materials
En1 E1 Et2 ɛ2
tan a1 Et1 E n1 E n 2 Dn 2 e 2 e1
= = = =
tan a 2 Et 2 E n 2 E n1 Dn1 e1 e 2 Et1 ɛ1
α1
(ɛ2 < ɛ1)
HOMOGENEOUS vs. INHOMOGENEOUS FIELDS

Homogenous Electric Field

• Distance between the equipotential lines is constant along the field line

U
E=
d 100 %
U
100 % E=
d
0%

0%

The field between two electrode plates is homogenous in the middle

but not at the edges (concentration of electric field at sharp edges)
 HOMOGENEOUS ELECTRODE PROFILES

Plane Linear section with

profile semicircular termination

Bruce Linear section followed by a

sinusoidal section with
profile circular termination

Designed so that maximum

Rogowski
profile electric field in the middle is
not exceeded anywhere else
 “Shwaigering
DEGREE OF UNIFORMITY hyötysuhde”

η = Ehomogenous(average) / Emax
0£η£ 1
(η = 1 ð homogeneous field)

Field Weakly Non- Extremely Non-

Uniform
Classification Uniform Uniform
Parallel Plates Concentric Spheres Needle-Plane

Electrode ri
Configuration
ro

ri = 0.25 ro

η 1 0.25 << 0.01

Analyzing Electric Fields

Analytical Solutions
Graphical Representation
Analogy Model
Numerical Methods
 ANALYTIC SOLUTION

1. PLANE ɛ

• Electric flux direction is always from positive

charge towards negative charge A

Q Q +Q -Q
F E = EA = E= d
e Ae
Q Q Ae
U = Ed = d C= =
Ae U d
U:
Capacitance C increases with permittivity ε

A U
Multiple
C= n Ei =
di n dj
layers: åi =1 e i
ei å E:
j =1 e j
 2. CYLINDER

• Charge can be viewed as a line charge at the center axis

with a charge density per distance of q
Total charge Q = ql
• The line charge causes an electric flux through its r
surrounding cylinder Er
Q ql
F E = AE = 2prlE = =
e e l
• Electric field decreases when travelling from the inner
radius ri to outer radius ro
• as radius r increases, surface area increases through which the
electric flux travels
ri
q Q ro
Er = =
2 π e r 2 π el r
The potential difference between cylinders can be derived as:
ro ro
q q ro Q ro
U = ò E r dr = ò dr = ln = ln
ri ri
2π e r 2 π e r i 2 π el r i

Electric field at any distance r can be expressed as:

U
Er = [r ³ ri]
r ln(ro ri )

U
U Maximum value at inner radius ri : Emax =
ri ln(ro ri )
E

2πe l
Capacitance can be expressed as C =
ln (r o r i )
 Assume:
• ɛ3 < ɛ2 < ɛ1
• εi ri = constant
r4
E
r3
Emax
r2 ε ∙ rinner
r1 r (i = inner ≠ subindex)

ɛ1 Emax =
U
ɛ2 ri ln(ro ri )
ɛ3
r1 r2 r3 r4 r
When the maximum electric field Emax at the inner radius exceeds
the dielectric strength Eb of the insulator, breakdown or
partial discharge may occur.
The voltage at which breakdown may 1,2

occur in a cylinder construction can

be given as, 1

U b = Eb ri ln (ro ri ) 0,8

Ub/Ubmax
0,6

The cylinder insulator is optimized to

withstand the maximum breakdown 0,4

voltage Ubmax when the inner radius 0,2

ri = ro/e
1/e
U b max = Eb ri 0
0 0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1
ri / ro
 3. Sphere/Point

• A sphere (surface area S = 4πr2) contains a charge Q

• The electric field surrounding the sphere is the same
regardless if the charge is spread equally along the
sphere’s surface or if it is concentrated in the center of
the sphere.

E E r

r ro ri U
Q Er =
Er =
4π e r 2 ri ro - ri r
2

Q
ro U
E E
 ANALYTIC SOLUTION
COMPARISON

• Insulation = Air (εr = 1, Eb = 3.0 kV/mm)

• Distance between electrodes = 100 mm (ri = 50 mm, ro = 150 mm)
• Voltage = 100 kV

CYLINDER
U U ro
Emax = Emax = Emax = U
d ri ln (ro ri ) ri (ro - ri )
PLANE SPHERE

1 kV/mm 1.8 kV/mm 3 kV/mm

 GRAPHICAL SOLUTION

Draw the equipotential lines ΔU (constant)

Draw flux Ψ lines perpendicularly

Start from the homogenous area and iterate

100 %
75 %
Right
50 %
Wrong
25 %

0
 ANALOGY MODEL

Original field is replaced with an analogy model to

study field distribution
Example
• use an insulating basin filled with conducting fluid
• put electrodes into the fluid
• feed current to the electrodes
• measure potentials at different positions in the
basin using sensitive probes

ð Static electric field can be modeled by studying the current

field produced by direct current
 NUMERICAL METHOD

Solving Differential Solving Poisson’s

Maxwell’s Equations Equations

Ñ × eE = r Ñ × mH = 0 r
¶H ¶E Ñ F=-
2

Ñ ´ E = -m Ñ´H = J +e e0
¶t ¶t

Finite Element Method Charge Simulation Method

FEM CSM
1. Create the geometry 1. Create boundary conditions
2. Create boundary conditions 2. Add point charges (source of electric field)
3. Create mesh 3. Calculate the field
4. Calculate an approximation of the field 4. Check with boundary conditions
5. Repeat as many time as needed
Dielectrics in Electric Fields

Polarization
Dielectric Losses
EFFECT OF ELECTRIC FIELD ON INSULATORS

An atom consists of a positive core (nucleus)

surrounded by negative electrons forming an
electron shell

In an insulator, In a conductor,
the outermost the outer electron
electron shell is shell usually has
full vacancies
• Lots of energy • Very low energy
required to release a (weak external
free electron from electric field)
this shell to transport required to release
current charge carriers
 EFFECT OF ELECTRIC FIELD ON INSULATORS

• Positive and negative components • Electron Polarization

of the atoms and molecules in a • Atomic Polarization
ELECTRIC dielectric experience opposing
POLARIZATION • Orientation
forces
FIELD Polarization (Dipolar)
• These component displace from • Ionic Polarization
their original position (Interfacial/Space Charge)

Electric susceptibility χe = the degree of polarization of a dielectric material

in response to an applied electric field.
ð The greater the electric susceptibility, the greater the ability of a material to polarize and
thereby reduce the total electric field inside the material (and store energy).
Material Relative Permittivity ɛr Polarization
Vacuum 1 No Polarization
Air 1.0006 Extremely Low (negligible) Polarization
Susceptibility
Polymers P = ɛ0χeE
χe = ɛ r – 1 (PE, PI, PP, PS, PC, Epoxy)
2–4 Relatively High
= ɛ0(ɛr – 1)E
Water 80 High
Barium Titanate BaTiO3 1 250 – 10 000 Extremely High
 Electron Polarization

• Occurs in neutral atoms when an electric field displaces the

nucleus with respect to the electrons that surround it.
E=0 E

+ +
–
–

Atomic Polarization

• Atomic oscillations or rotations in molecules

• Occurs when neighboring positive and negative ions
"stretch" under an applied electric field
Both electronic and atomic polarization create induced moments
depending on the polarizability of the atoms or molecules.
 Orientation (Dipolar) Polarization

• Molecules shift so that their dipole moment is in the –

direction of the field E
• In an absence of an external electric field, permantent dipole
+
moments are oriented in a random order such that no net +
polarization is present.

E-field
• Under an external electric field, the dipoles rotate to align with – + – + –
the electric field (distance between charges remains constant + + + +
but orientation changes).
–
Ionic (Interfacial/Space Charge) Polarization
• Caused by the relative displacements between positive and negative ions
• Occurs when more than one material component is present and charge carriers become trapped at the
interfaces.
• The electric field distortion caused by the accumulation of these charges increases the overall capacitance
of a material E
E=0
Cl- E=0 E
NaCl ð -Na+ Cl- Cl-

dipoles Na+ Na+

d0 d d0
+ – + –
(Dipoles cannot rotate,
fixed direction)
 Polarization improves the insulator’s ability
to store charge

• Polarized molecules in the insulator shift in the direction of

the field
• Charges are cancelled out in the middle of the insulator so
that the field in the insulator is the same as the external
electric field E
• The electrode gathers addition charges from the polarization
mechanisms in the insulator

E=0
+ + + + ++++++++

–+
E –+
E

–+
– – – – ––––––––
Vacuum (ɛr = 1) Dielectric (ɛr > 1) Dielectric (ɛr > 1)
 DIELECTRIC LOSSES
In general, permittivity is not a constant, as it can Equivalent circuit of a
insulator for AC voltage
vary with the position in the medium, the frequency
of the applied field, humidity, temperature, and other Ra
parameters.
ð Permittivity as a function of frequency can take on Ca
real or complex values:
e = e ¢ - je ¢¢ = eÐ - d
ε´ is related to the stored
δ ɛ´ energy within the medium:

ɛ´´ ɛ Capacitance Ca

ε´´ is related to the

Loss Angle δ defines how non-ideal Dissipation dissipation of energy
Factor (ohmic and dielectric losses):
the insulator is
ð Typically the conductivity of insulators is very e ¢¢ e ¢¢
tan d = » Resistance Ra
small (ε´´<< ε´), so that ε ≈ ε´ e ¢ e
Permittivity decreases
as frequency is
increased
• Polarization
mechanisms are too
slow to notice the
changes of direction in
the electric field
 DIELECTRIC LOSSES
Total Admittance Y
jB Y
-1 1
Y =Z = = G + jB
R + jX
Ci Gi Susceptance B = wCi
δ G
tan d =
B Conductance G = tan d × B = wCi tan d
G
Y = wCi tan d i + jwCi

Apparent Power S = UI* = U2Y* = P + jQ

Pd Dielectric Losses
Dissipation Factor tan d =
Qc Capacitive Reactive Power
 SUMMARY
Electric Fields:
• Series/parallel
• Homogeneous/inhomogeneous
Quantification of Electric Fields:
• Analytical solutions
• Graphical solutions
• Analogy model
• Numerical methods
Dielectrics in Electric Fields:
• Polarization
• Dielectric losses