23

CHAPTER 2

v-t CHARACTERISTICS FOR STANDARD IMPULSE

VOLTAGES

2.1 INTRODUCTION

For reliable design of power system, proper insulation coordination

among the power system equipment is necessary. Insulation of any power
system equipment is stressed by internal and external overvoltages of various
origins. Usually, behavior of insulating materials for standard lightning and
switching impulses are studied for the design of insulation. In addition to
standard lightning and switching impulses, the effect of Very Fast Transient
Overvoltages (VFTO) need to be considered with increasing number of Gas
insulated substations (GIS). As the equipment are stressed with overvoltages of
varying waveshapes of tf from tens of nanoseconds to few microseconds and tt
from tens of microseconds to few milliseconds in practice, a study on the
behavior of insulating materials under impulses of varying tf and tt becomes
necessary. In general, the breakdown characteristics of any insulation under
transient overvoltages are analyzed using v-t characteristics.

In transformers more than 19% of failures occur in windings and the

failures are mainly due to mechanical deformation and insulation failure (Bhide
RS et al 2010). Oil Impregnated Paper (OIP) is the commonly used insulation
in windings and hence a study on breakdown characteristics of OIP is essential
 24

for winding design. The effect of impulse waveshape, polarity, electrode

configurations on OIP are already reported in literature. The v-t characteristics
of oil and OIP for different thicknesses are analyzed under standard lightning
impulse of both positive and negative polarity (Venkatesan S & Usa S 2007).
The v-t characteristics of air and oil under both uniform and non-uniform fields
are analyzed and is predicted using Hyperbolic Model (Sharath B & Usa S
2009). The effect of tail time is found to be not critical in determining the
breakdown voltage (Vandermaar AJ 1994).

An attempt is made to analyze the breakdown characteristics of air

and OIP for impulse voltage waveforms from lightning to VFTO of t f 90 ns
to1.2 s and model the characteristics using Hyperbolic model.

2.2 INSULATION COORDINATION

2.2.1 Definitions as per IEC 60071-1

Insulation coordination is the selection of dielectric strength of

equipment in relation to the voltages that can appear on the system for which
the system is intended and taking into account the service environment and
characteristics of the available protective devices (IEC-60071-1 1993).

Proper insulation coordination ensures the effective protection of the

power system equipment from overvoltages. The correlation between the
insulation levels of protecting equipment and the equipment to be protected
with the safety margin is shown in Figure 2.1. Generally, insulation strength is
tested with standard lightning impulse at Basic Lightning Impulse Insulation
Level (BIL) and standard switching impulse at Basic Switching Impulse
Insulation Level (BSL) where BIL and BSL are defined as,
 25

BIL: The electrical strength of insulation is expressed in terms of the crest

value of a standard lightning impulse under standard atmospheric conditions

BSL: The electrical strength of insulation is expressed in terms of the crest

value of a standard switching impulse

The equipment are subjected continuously to operating voltages and

occasionally to overvoltages. The operating voltage decides on the working
voltage stress and overvoltage decides on the maximum withstand stress on the
equipment insulation. All transformer insulations are designed with a safety
margin between the electric field strength and electric field stress that is
expected to be minimum to reduce unnecessary increase in insulation cost
(CIGRE 2013).

Figure 2.1 Insulation coordination (Wadhwa CL 2007)

The maintenance of the insulation system of major equipment like

transformer is critical as it leads to outages of the power system for a longer
duration. Hence, the transformer insulation is required to pass the long duration
(one hour) induced overvoltage test without partial discharges and also the
impulse voltage withstand test (Kulkarni SV 2005). The permissible working
 26

stress is fixed based on static, voltage-time and statistical characteristics of

insulations (Ushakov VY 2004).

2.2.2 Voltage-Time Characteristics

Characterization of any insulating material based on the applied

voltage is the basis for insulation coordination. If an overvoltage of particular
waveshape with different magnitudes (above the maximum withstand level) are
applied on the insulation, the time to breakdown changes. The characterizing
curve drawn with the maximum voltage withstood by the insulation and the
time to breakdown (tb) is called the v-t characteristics of the insulation. The
typical v-t characteristic is shown in Figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2 Typical v-t characteristics (Kuffel E 2000)

2.3 STANDARD OVERVOLTAGES AS PER IEC-60071-1

Generally, high voltage power transformers are subjected to standard

lightning and switching impulse tests, as one of the important criteria after
manufacture. However, in practice transformers are stressed with transient
overvoltages of wide varieties of waveshapes. Among the steep wavefronts the
 27

most severe one is the Very Fast Transient Overvoltage (VFTO) which occurs
in the Gas Insulated Substations (GIS) due to switching operation or earth
faults. VFTO also occurs due to switching of vacuum circuit breakers and at
certain conditions due to lightning. The VFTO has a rise time of about 3-10 ns
with a peak magnitude of about 2.8 p.u (approximately 1000 kV for a 420 kV
substation) (Mohana Rao 2007).

To consider the different types of possible overvoltages, IEC-60071-

1 has defined the waveshapes under standard overvoltages as given in Table
2.1. In the present study, fast and very fast front transients are considered for
characterizing the insulation.

Table 2.1 Standard Overvoltages as per IEC-60071-1

Waveshape Specification Occurrence

Slow Front Transient

Switching
5000 µs tf > 20 µs or fault
tt 20000 µs

Fast Front Transient

Lightning
20 µs tf > 0.1 µs
tt 300 µs
 28

Very Fast Front

Transient
GIS
100 ns T1 > 3 ns switching
0.3 MHz < f1 <100 MHz
30 kHz < f2 <300 kHz

2.4 GENERATION OF OVERVOLTAGES

A 140 kV, 980 J MWB (Mess Wandler-Bau, Germany) single stage

Marx circuit in the High Voltage Laboratory of Anna University is suitably
modified to generate the fast and very fast front transients overvoltages (Figure
2.3). Capacitive divider is used for measuring fast front transients and resistive
divider is used for very fast front transients.

Where, C1 – Charging capacitor; Chv, Clv – Potential divider;

R1 – Front resistor; R2 – Tail resistor;
G – Sphere gap; D1, D2 - Diodes
Figure 2.3 (a) Circuit diagram of the impulse voltage generator
 29

Figure 2.3 (b) Photograph of impulse generator setup

As the effect of the tail time is not appreciable on the breakdown

voltage of insulation, the effect of front time alone is considered. To
characterize the insulation under standard overvoltages as per IEC-60071-1,
1.2/50 µs and 0.58/50 µs under fast front transients and 0.09/50 µs under very
fast transients are generated and are shown in Figures 2.4 (a) & (b).

1.2/50 µs 0.58/50 µs

Figure 2.4 (a) Fast front transients (generated)

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0.09/50 µs
Figure 2.4 (b) Very fast transient (generated)

2.5 TEST CELLS AND SAMPLES UNDER STUDY

In oil filled transformer windings, OIP is used as the inter-turn and

inter-disc insulations. As the thickness of OIP between turns is around 0.2 to
1.5 mm and between the discs is around 4 to 12 mm (Karsai K 1987), 0.25mm
(0.05mm thick x 5 layers) thickness of OIP is considered for the analysis.
Before impregnating with oil, the paper is heated at 60 C for 72 hours to
reduce the moisture content. To ensure proper impregnation, the paper is
impregnated in oil for a minimum duration of 240 hours.

Brass electrodes as per the standard ASTM D149-97a (2004) are

designed without any sharp edges to avoid corona. The diameter of high
voltage electrode is 25 mm and ground electrode is 75 mm. Figure 2.5 shows
the electrode designed for the experimental study on solid insulations. To avoid
surface flashover the electrode arrangement is placed inside the oil cell and the
test cell is shown in Figure 2.5.
 31

Figure 2.5 Electrode arrangement and Test cell for Solid insulation as per
ASTM D149-97a

The presence of voids in any insulation reduces the electrical strength

of the power equipment as the void (air) has lesser dielectric strength compared
to other insulation materials. The ionization of air during the normal operating
condition leads to serious effects on the transformer performance like partial
discharges. The electrode arrangement in the test cell for testing gaseous and
liquid insulation is shown in Figure 2.6.

Figure 2.6 Electrode arrangement and Test cell for gaseous and liquid
insulations as per IEC-60156

The stainless steel hemispherical electrodes are designed as per IEC-

60156 (1995) (Figure 2.6). The test cell is made of Methyle Methacrylate
 32

(Acrylic) having effective volume between 300 to 500 ml with adjustable and
removable electrodes.

2.6 v-t CHARACTERISTICS OF AIR AND OIP

2.6.1 Test Procedure

The effect of transient overvoltages on the insulation can be analyzed

using the v-t characteristics. The v-t characteristics are experimentally obtained
as per IEC 60060-1 & 2. The impulse generator is calibrated with the test
specimen using the standard sphere gap arrangement and appropriate
atmospheric correction factors are incorporated. The impulses are recorded
using 1.0 GHz, 5.0 GS/s Digital Storage Oscilloscope of Lecroy make.

The minimum voltage at which the insulation breaks down with a

single impulse is considered as minimum breakdown voltage (VBD). The test
voltage is increased above VBD in steps and the corresponding time taken to
breakdown (tb) is noted. The test voltage is increased till the breakdown occurs
in the wave front. At each voltage level, a minimum of six samples are used.
For each case, the maximum withstood voltage and the corresponding time to
breakdown are noted. In case of OIP, sample is changed after each breakdown
and ensured that there is no air gap between the layers and oil in the test cell is
changed frequently.

2.6.2 v-t Characteristics of Air for 1.2/50 s Impulse

To analyze the v-t characteristics of air, an air gap of 1.0 cm is

maintained between the hemispherical electrodes of the test cell. Using the
procedure mentioned in section 2.6.1, the minimum breakdown voltage
(35.03kV) and the corresponding time to breakdown of air for 1.2/50 s for
different voltage levels are experimentally obtained and shown in Figure 2.7.
 33

Figure 2.7 Breakdown time dispersion of air for 1.2/50 s impulse

The experimentally obtained data are highly statistical due to the

impact of formative time lag of insulation breakdown. The mean curve of the
data is obtained by statistical analysis. The mean and standard deviations are
obtained using Equations 2.4 and 2.5 respectively.

Let ‘ni’ be the number of impulses resulting in breakdown at each

voltage level and ‘tbi’ be the corresponding breakdown times (at ith instant).

Mean breakdown time ( ) = (2.4)

1
Standard deviation ( (tb)) = ( ) (2.5)
1
 34

As the breakdown time is Normal Distributed, the probability of a

voltage to breakdown at time tb can be expressed as

1 ( )
( )= – (2.6)
2 2

Equation 2.6 gives the relation between the probability of breakdown

and tb. Using this equation the 5% and 95% probability of breakdown curves
are calculated to provide the confidence interval. The fitness of the curve is
verified by the confidence interval, where for all the curves more than 95% of
the data are ensured to lie within a confidence interval of 5%.

Figure 2.8 v-t characteristics of air for 1.2/50 s impulse

From Figure 2.8, it is observed for tb less than 2 s, the characteristic

is very steep which may attribute to a minimum time delay required for
initiation of breakdown process.
 35

2.6.3 v-t Characteristics of Air for Varying Front Times

The minimum breakdown voltage (VBD) of air for 0.58/50 s and

0.09/50 s are measured to be 29.12 kV and 21.20 kV respectively. The
maximum withstand voltage of air decreases as the tf of the impulses decreases
(Li Z 1986). The breakdown strength of air decreases by 16.67% and 40% for
0.58/50 s and 0.09/50 s respectively.

The v-t characteristics for 0.58/50 s and 0.09/50 s are

experimentally obtained and the same are plotted and shown in Figure 2.9.

Figure 2.9 v-t characteristics of air for impulse voltages with varying tf

The v-t characteristics for all tf follow the same pattern and the
characteristics are steeper for tb less than 2 µs.

The percentage shift (down) with reference to 1.2/50 µs is not uniform for
the entire region and increases with decreasing tb, (for tb less than 2 µs).
 36

Table 2.2 Comparison of v-t characteristics of air for different tf

% tb=1.0 s tb =8.0 s
VBD
Waveshape decrease
(kV) V % V %
in VBD
(kV) decrease (kV) decrease

1.2/50 s 35.03 - 59.36 - 35.76 -

0.58/50 s 29.12 16.87 43.07 27.44 29.48 17.56

0.09/50 s 21.02 39.99 30.10 49.29 21.50 39.88

From Table 2.2, it is observed that, the percentage shift is almost equal
for VBD and after 2 s (17% and 40% for 0.58/50 s and 0.09/50 s
respectively) and is more (30% and 49% for 0.58/50 s and 0.09/50 s
respectively) around the knee point of the characteristics (here for less
than 2 s).

From the above discussion, it is evident that the VBD is 40% lesser
and withstand capability over the entire region of tb is almost 40-50% lesser for
air under VFTO than the standard lightning impulse voltage.

2.6.4 v-t Characteristics of OIP for Varying Front Times

The v-t characteristics of OIP of 0.25 mm thickness under considered

overvoltages are experimentally obtained. The maximum withstand voltages of
OIP are 31.02 kV, 26.25 kV and 20.78 kV for tf of 1.2 s, 0.58 s and 90 ns
respectively. Since uniform field configuration is used for the analysis on OIP,
the electrical breakdown strength (EBD) is calculated from the maximum
withstand voltage. The EBD for OIP under varying tf are calculated (Table 2.3)
and EBD is lesser by 15.4% and 33.0% for 0.58/50 s and 0.09/50 s when
compared to 1.2/50 s.
 37

Table 2.3 Impulse Breakdown strength of OIP

Waveshape EBD (kV/cm)

1.2/50 s 1241

0.58/50 s 1050

0.09/50 s 831

The v-t characteristics of OIP for varying tf are experimentally

obtained and shown in Figure 2.10.

Figure 2.10 v-t characteristics of OIP for impulse voltages with varying tf

The v-t characteristics for OIP under standard overvoltages of varying tf

follow the same pattern as that of air.

The lower time regions (for tb less than 2 µs) of v-t characteristics are
steeper and the steepness increases with decreasing tf.
 38

Table 2.4 gives the percentage shift in VBD and v-t characteristics of
OIP for decreasing tf.

Table 2.4 Comparison of v-t characteristics of OIP for different tf

tb=1.0 s tb =8.0 s
%
VBD
Waveshape decrease
(kV)
in VBD V % %
V (kV)
(kV) decrease decrease

1.2/50 s 31.02 - 46.07 - 31.44 -

0.58/50 s 26.25 15.38 35.68 22.55 26.50 15.71

0.09/50 s 20.78 33.01 22.95 50.18 20.84 33.71

It is observed from the table, that, the percentage shift is almost equal
for VBD and after 2 s (15% and 33% for 0.58/50 s and 0.09/50 s
respectively) and is more around the knee point of the characteristics as in the
case of air (here for less than 2 s).

From the above results, it is found that the VBD is 33% lesser and
withstand capability is almost 33-50% lesser for OIP under VFTO than the
standard lightning impulse voltage.

2.7 HYPERBOLIC MODEL

Regression analysis is a statistical approach to obtain relation among

variables and is used to model the v-t characteristics. Any insulation requires a
minimum voltage to start the process of breakdown. The voltage varies with
electrode configuration, thickness of insulation, electrode configurations like
dimension, material etc.
 39

The relation between maximum voltage withstood by the insulation

and the corresponding time to breakdown (tb) is given by the Hyperbolic model
and is shown in Equation 2.7 (Venkatesan S & Usa S 2010).

= + (2.7)

where, A – constant proportional to the applied voltage (kV)

B –constant proportional to both applied voltage and tb (kV- s)

2.7.1 Hyperbolic Model for Air

The Hyperbolic model parameters (A and B) are extracted from the

mean v-t characteristics of air under standard impulse voltages of varying tf and
are given in Table 2.5.

Table 2.5 Hyperbolic model parameters for air

Waveform VBD (kV) A (kV) B (kV- s)

1.2/50 s 35.03 32.389 26.968

0.58/50 s 29.12 27.534 15.533

0.09/50 s 21.20 20.273 9.824

The VBD and the Hyperbolic parameters for air are plotted against tf
and are shown in Figure 2.11.
 40

Figure 2.11 Hyperbolic model parameters for air with tf

The Table 2.5 and Figure 2.11 show that the Hyperbolic model
parameters which are proportional to maximum voltage withstood by the
insulation and are increasing with increasing tf. With reference to 1.2/50 s, A
reduces by 15% and 37% and B reduces by 42% and 64% for 0.58/50 s and
0.09/50 s respectively.

2.7.2 Hyperbolic Model for OIP

Similarly, the model parameters are extracted from the v-t

characteristics of OIP under varying tf (Figure 2.10) and are tabulated.

Table 2.6 Hyperbolic model parameters for OIP

Waveform VBD (kV) A (kV) B (kV- s)

1.2/50 s 31.02 29.355 16.719

0.58/50 s 26.25 25.188 10.488

0.09/50 s 20.78 20.54 2.415

The values of VBD and the Hyperbolic model parameters for OIP are
plotted with respect to tf and are shown in Figure 2.12.
 41

Figure 2.12 Hyperbolic model parameters for OIP with tf

Similar increasing trend of Hyperbolic model parameters is observed

for OIP with respect to tf. With reference to 1.2/50 s, A reduces by 14% and
30% and B reduces by 37% and 86% for 0.58/50 s and 0.09/50 s
respectively.

2.7.3 Prediction

The efficacy of the Hyperbolic model is checked by predicting the

Hyperbolic model parameters and tb with two test waveforms. The test
waveforms considered are,

Waveform without oscillations (0.8/50 µs)

Waveform with oscillations (tf = 0.46 µs)

2.7.3.1 Waveform without oscillations

In order to validate the Hyperbolic model for both the insulations (air
and OIP), a non-oscillatory test waveform of 0.8/50 µs is considered. The
parameters are taken (predicted) for tf of 0.8 µs from Figures 2.11 and 2.12 for
air and OIP respectively.
 42

The test waveform of 0.8/50 µs is generated using modified Marx

circuit and shown in Figure 2.13.

Figure 2.13 Test Waveform without oscillation (tf = 0.8 µs)

The v-t characteristics are experimentally obtained for air with an air
gap of 1.0 cm and OIP of thickness 0.25 mm with the same electrode
configurations and the hyperbolic model parameters are extracted. Thus
extracted parameters are compared with the predicted parameters (obtained
from Figure 2.11 and Figure 2.12) and the percentage errors are shown in Table
2.7.
Table 2.7 Hyperbolic model parameters for 0.8/50µs impulse

Hyperbolic
Insulation model Predicted Experimental % Error
parameters

A (kV) 29.5 28.954 1.85

Air
B (kV- µs) 19.3 18.747 2.86

A (kV) 26.75 25.91 3.24

OIP
B (kV- µs) 12.90 12.96 0.46

The Table 2.7 shows that the percentage errors between the predicted
and experimental parameters are less than 4%. This shows that the prediction of
 43

v-t characteristics for the given insulation under standard overvoltages (without
oscillation) is possible with Hyperbolic model.

2.7.3.2 Waveform with oscillations

A non-standard impulse voltage of 0.46 µs tf with oscillations around

the front is considered. The time taken to attain first peak is considered as tf
which is 0.46 µs. The frequency of oscillation in the front is 1.56 MHz and the
ratio of second peak to first peak is 1.07.

The Hyperbolic model parameters are taken for tf of 0.46 µs for air
(A=26 kV & B=14 kV- µs) and OIP (A=24.1 kV & B=8.8 kV-µs) from Figures
2.11 and 2.12 respectively. Using these parameters, tb is predicted for a set of
voltage magnitudes. The generated overvoltage as shown in Figure 2.14 is
applied on air and OIP for the same set of voltage magnitudes and the
corresponding tb are experimentally obtained.

Figure 2.14 Test Waveform with oscillations (tf = 0.46 µs)

The predicted and experimental values of t b for the same set of

voltage magnitudes are compared and the error in percentage is given in Table
2.8.
 44

Table 2.8 tb for waveform with oscillations

tb ( s)
Insulation V (kV) % Error
Predicted Experimental

25.30 13.50 7.80 73.07

28.95 4.69 3.30 42.12

Air 37.63 1.18 1.33 11.28

40.06 0.97 1.04 6.70

39.87 0.986 0.985 0.10

22.92 7.08 6.27 12.90

26.80 3.32 3.09 7.44

29.72 1.58 2.37 33.30

31.89 1.14 1.73 34.10

OIP
32.42 1.06 1.37 22.63

33.86 0.905 1.00 9.50

36.50 0.72 0.71 1.40

37.32 0.66 0.63 4.76

The percentage error between experimental and predicted VBD for

both air and OIP are very high because of the presence of oscillations in the
front. The error varies a lot depending on the instant of breakdown (trough or
crest). This shows that the prediction of v-t characteristics for waveform with
oscillations is not successful with the Hyperbolic model.
 45

2.8 CONCLUSION

Study on the effect of standard overvoltages of varying tf on air and

OIP are carried out. Based on the standard overvoltages categorized in IEC-
60071-1, transients of fast front (1.2/50 s and 0.58/50 s) and very fast front
(0.09/50 s) are considered for analysis. The v-t characteristics are
experimentally obtained for air and OIP under all the considered waveforms
and are modelled using Hyperbolic model.

The following conclusions are derived from the above mentioned analysis:

VBD decreases with decreasing tf and the decrease of VBD is not linear with
respect to tf.

The v-t characteristics shift down with decreasing tf and the shift is
maximum for tb less than 2 s and almost same for tb greater than 2 s.

VBD is decreased by 40% and withstand capability is almost 40-50% lesser

for air under VFTO compared to the standard lightning impulse voltage

VBD is decreased by 33% and withstand capability is almost 33-50% lesser

for OIP under VFTO compared to the standard lightning impulse voltage

Hyperbolic Model

v-t characteristics are modeled using Hyperbolic model. From the model
parameters, the v-t characteristic for any intermediate tf can be predicted
and verified experimentally.

The model is not successful for standard impulses with oscillations.

To predict the v-t characteristics for waveshapes with oscillations,

already existing Disruptive Energy approach is discussed in detail in the
forthcoming chapter.