High Voltage Testing Techniques

Dr Subba Reddy B
Principal Research Scientist

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE
Bangalore, INDIA – 560 012

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

 Introduction

• The reliability and safe operation of any electrical equipment depend on the
integrity of its insulation.

• HV tests - is the deliberate application of slightly higher voltage to

equipment than its normal working voltage for a specific period of time
- to discover if insulation withstands or breaks down under that voltage.

• Purpose of HV tests is to demonstrate that apparatus has met the

guaranteed specifications of dielectric strength.

• The tests also provide a check on design, a determination of strength of the

materials and also provide a guide to the development of better equipment

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

 Basic philosophy of High Voltage Testing

A high voltage test is expected to provide:

A reasonably simple laboratory (field) test procedure - involving reasonable

time & gives reasonable assurance to manufacturers/utilities that the apparatus
will give expected satisfactory performance.

It may simulate one or both of the following:

(i) Worst-case situation/s in the field

(ii) Imaginary but sensibly severe conditions that could ensure long-life in
service

Quality of Laboratory testing can be assessed by:

Repeatability: (ability of test to produce same (reasonable) results every time in a lab)
Reproducibility: (ability to produce same (reasonable) results every time in any lab)
Representivity: (ability of laboratory test to duplicate service or field conditions)

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

Failure of Electrical Apparatus
Almost & always due to failure of electrical insulation system.

Parameters that influence performance/life of insulation:

Electrical Stresses: Normal Stress, Working Stress, Over-voltages

Temperature : Normal Working conditions, Temperature of Ambient,

Overload conditions (Hot spot)
Ambient Conditions : (other than temperature)
Moisture/humidity, Pollution – dust, chemical vapors etc; Solar/other radiation/s
Mechanical Stresses:
• during transport/receipt & storage of raw materials
• during manufacture
• during quality control tests (movements).
• during packing, loading and transportation
• during unloading, movement to final location and commissioning
• Electromechanical forces due to short circuits during service

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

 Power Systems Over voltages

Temporary Over-voltages Switching Over-voltages Over-voltages due to lightning.

• Typically due to faults • Due to system switching • Due to ‘direct’ or ‘indirect’
lightning strokes.
• < 1.2 pu operations
• known to contribute to 
• A few ms to tens of • 1.5 pu – 5 pu, depends on 50% of system outages in
seconds or even minutes system voltage EHV & UHV systems
• Not dangerous to • mostly damped • few hundred kV to several
insulation by themselves asymmetric sinusoids tens of MV.
• Decides arrester selection • front time of first peak – • Few kA to 200 kA
tens of s to about a ms. • very short duration : times
• decides external insulation to front : 1 to a few s
in EHV/UHV systems • times to tail : few tens to
hundreds of s.
• decides arrester duty by • Decides line insulation(BIL)
way of ‘long duration class’
• Severely influences
Transformer insulation.

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

High Voltage Testing Techniques

1. Non-Destructive Testing of Materials & Electrical Apparatus

 Insulating/Dielectric materials are used to provide insulation for various

Electrical apparatus

 Insulating materials may be Solid, Liquid, gas or even a combination of

these.

 These materials should possess good insulating properties over a wide

range of operating parameters viz. temperature, frequency range etc.

 The quality of insulation in HV apparatus is assessed by measuring the

electrical properties like: Resistivity, dielectric constant, loss factor and
partial discharge tests to detect any deterioration or faults.

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

Parameters affecting Insulation Resistance

 Nature of materials

 Temperature

 Contaminants

 Voltage stress

 Humidity

 Frequency

 Time of application of Voltage

Many Insulating materials have dielectric constant > unity & have dielectric
loss when subjected to ac voltages.

These two quantities depend on magnitude of the voltage stress & frequency
of the applied voltage.

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

Measurement of Capacitance and tan 
(a) Transformer ratio arm bridge

For higher resolution, accuracy, stability

in capacitance measurement a bridge
constructed with transformer ratio arms
will provide very high accuracy.

The primary winding is wound on a

torroidal core of high permeability also
secondary winding is wound on the core.

Amplifier, filter and null detector are connected across the the bridge.
The condition of null balance is given as Cx/Cn =Vn/Vx= Nn/Nx ,
W1,W2, W3 are windgs of differential transformer. Null detector is connected with W3

mmf in winding W1 & W2 oppose each other. If current in W1 & W2 are same no voltage will
be induced in W3. Magnitude balance is obtained by varying W1 & W2, Phase balance is
obtained by Varying R’ & C’

Test Capacitance Cx = Cn * Factor * Dial reading

Tan  = Factor * reading

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India
(b) Measurement of Cap and tan  using Schering bridge

Initially all the connections are checked including the battery-

 Energize the transformer using Variac in steps

 Adjust W1 factor to least value and achieve null balance
 When Capacitance balance is obtained then adjust tan value.
 Try to achieve minimum null deflection with the null detector
 The values of Cap and tan  are recorded for various samples

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

Partial Discharge Measurements

It was observed the dissipation factor tan  is dependent on voltage, it became a

criterion for monitoring of high voltage insulation.

Partial discharges are localised electrical discharges within an insulation system

restricted to part of the dielectric material. Partial discharges are classified as :

(a) Internal discharges (b) Surface discharges and (c) Corona discharges.

Internal discharges: Occur in voids or cavities within solid or liquid dielectrics

Surface discharges: appear at the boundary of different insulating materials
Corona discharges: are related to discharges in gaseous dielectrics.

The detection of discharges is based on energy exchanges which takes place

during the discharge viz: Impulse currents, dielectric loss, EM radiations, sound,
increased gas pressure, chemical reactions etc.

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

Electrical insulation with imperfections or voids leading to partial discharges
can be represented by an electrical equivalent circuit shown in Figure below:

When voltage across the capacitor is raised, a critical value is reached across
Ca and discharge occurs (short ckt) through the capacitor.

generally Ca Cb  Cc. A charge  qa which was present in Ca flows thro Cb &
Cc giving rise to a voltage pulse across the Cc.

A measure of voltage pulse across Cc gives amount of discharge quantity but

this measurement is difficult in practice and an apparent charge measurement
across detecting impedance is usually made.

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

P D Measurement using Straight Detectors

Fig. shows simplified circuit for detecting PD. The H V Transformer is to be free
from internal discharges. A resonant filter prevents any pulses generating from
the capacitance of the windings & bushings of transformer. The signal
developed across the impedance is passed through a band pass filter &
amplifier then displayed on a DSO or a pulse counter multi channel analyzer.

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

B. High Voltage testing of Electrical Apparatus

In service, an insulation has to withstand in addition to continuous normal working

voltage, higher voltages or ‘Over voltages’ for relatively short durations.

Over voltages of major significance are invariably caused of either lightning (few tens
of S - higher in magnitude & seasonal) & switching operations of the system(few tens
to few hundred milliseconds).

In addition power systems experience power frequency over voltages marginally

above normal maximum voltages-these are temporary,dynamic & are usually not
dangerous for long run.

Also because of deterioration in the insulation systems with time (ageing)even at

normal working stresses would degrade the insulation (PD, treeing/tracking etc)
leading to failure.

From the above it is clear that design of any insulation system must be:
(a) Preceded by a critical assessment of likely over voltages it has to face in service.
(b) Confirmed by ‘proof testing’ a prototype/ full scale model in a HV lab under
simulated worst conditions especially for over voltages.

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

 High Voltage Tests

1) Tests to simulate conditions more severe than

‘Temporary Overvoltages’
 Generation of High AC voltages & Measurement.

2) Tests to simulate ‘Switching Overvoltages’

 Standard waveshape ???
 Unidirectional double exponential waveshape
(250s/2500s, nominal)
(Oscillatory Waveshape – not yet standardised)
- use of Marx
- Measurement

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

3) Tests to simulate over-voltages due to Lightning

- Standard Waveshape:
Time to front – 1.2 s
Time to tail - 50 s

- Use of Marx Generators

4) HV DC

- Half-wave Rectifier type of HV DC set

- Voltage Doubler – two types
- Voltage multiplier circuit

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

Types of High Voltage Tests

1) Voltage withstand Tests - AC, DC, Impulse (both Lightning &

Switching)
- Dry
- Wet.
- Combined Voltage Tests AC + Impulse
- Dry
- Wet

2) Flashover Voltage (Disruptive Discharge Determination)

- AC
- Impulse – very Important
- Lightning – Dry
- Switching – Dry & Wet
3) Mounting of object under test, clearances.

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

 Object Typical range of capacitance –pF

Insulators 10pF – 100pF

Isolators 100pF – 500pF
Condenser bushings 100pF – 500 pF
CTs & PTs 100pF – 1000pF
Cables 100pF/m – 1000pF/m
Coupling capacitors ~ 1000pF – 10000pF
Transformers 500pF – 5000pF
Power factor correction
capacitors 0.1F - tens of F

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

 Some additional points to note
To get consistent results, capacitance across the source on HV side
must be 1000pF or more. (This includes capacitances of test object, HV
bus measuring capacitance, transformer)

Minimum prospective short circuit current at test voltage should be

1A(rms)

The high voltage bus (leads)should be corona free at the test voltage
- Thumb rule : Conductor diameter to be ~ 25mm per 100 kV (rms)
- If diameter of single conductor becomes too large (say 10cm or
more), bundle can be used – example; two conductors of 32mm
diameter, spaced about 450mm apart.
- the conductors must be smooth (buffed).

To avoid unexpected higher voltages across test object, a protective gap

can be connected in shunt with the test objects.

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

Classification of High Voltage Tests
Tests - Type, Sample (or Acceptance), Routine tests and Other Special tests

Type tests
• Performed to verify the main design characteristics
- on a small number of samples normally only once for a new design
Tests: Electro-mechanical failing load tests, mechanical failing load test,
thermal-mechanical test, dry lightning impulse tests, wet power frequency
withstand tests, visible discharge tests, verification of dimensions etc.

Sample Tests
• to verify characteristics of insulator that can vary with manufacturing
process.
- insulators taken at random from a lot.

Tests: Puncture withstand tests, porosity tests, galvanizing test, thermal

shock tests, temperature cycle test, verification of displacements,
verification of locking systems, verification of dimensions etc.

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

Routine Tests
• Tests performed on each and every insulator.
• performed to eliminate defective insulators during manufacturing process prior to
crating and shipment.

Tests:
Mechanical tests, electrical tests, visual inspection etc

Other Special Tests

(Recent trends in testing - for service performance)

Demand for power is increasing - the transmission voltages are correspondingly

increasing  increase in cost

Present day design demand -

• factor of safety
• minimization of risks of failures
• improved quality & reliability in service - primary concern
To achieve service reliability manufacturers/utilities carryout the following tests:
Tests: Long term reliability tests, Accelerated ageing tests, Pollution, Power arc, RIV,
Corona, Voltage distribution, Switching surge, PF, Fatigue tests etc.
Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India
1. Thermal Mechanical performance test
• Performed to ensure that there is no movement of hardware(cap & pin) as H/W
coated with bituminous layer to prevent corrosion when in contact with cement.
• is an accelerated test to determine capacity of insulator to withstand service
conditions over a period of time.

Procedure: insulators are tensioned at 60 – 65% of the specified Ele-Mech load,

subjected to temperature variations between 35- 45 degrees for about 96 hours.

2. Residual strength tests

• When insulator sheds are broken either due to vandalism etc..it is essential that
sufficient mechanical strength is retained so that power line does not come down

Procedure: To check for performance - insulator sheds are intentionally broken &
then mechanical tensile load is applied.

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

3. Pollution Tests

• Pollution induced flashovers occur under normal working voltages and hence
extremely serious
• A major impediment to uninterrupted supply of electric power
• Influencing parameters: wetting rate, type of pollution (Marine, Industrial,
Agricultural, Fog/Ice etc), wind and its direction, type of insulator etc
• is a complex phenomena theoretically difficult to comprehend and relatively
slow electro-thermal process – Experimentation difficulties

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

It’s been a subject of research with standard organizations, viz.
IEC,IEEE,ANSI and CIGRE working groups for more than 50 years.

 recommended laboratory procedures

Two test methods (IEC-507)

1. Salt fog
2. Clean fog (Solid layer method)
(Both tests are performed within closed chambers)

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

 Schematic of experimental arrangement for artificial pollution studies

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India
Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India
Tests on Insulators/ Insulator strings

1. Power frequency tests

• PF Dry and Wet withstand & flashover tests

• RIV test
• Corona test
• PF Voltage distribution tests etc

2. Impulse tests

• Impulse withstand voltage test

• Impulse flashover tests
• Switching surge withstand test

3. Pollution tests

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

Tests on Isolators and Circuit breakers

The electrical tests conducted for Isolators and circuit breakers are:

• Dielectric or over voltage tests (PF & impulse tests)

• Temperature rise tests
• Short circuit tests
• RIV tests
• Corona tests etc

Tests on Transformers

• Lightning Impulse tests

• Switching Impulse tests
• Partial discharge tests
• Short circuit tests etc

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

 SF6 Circuit Breaker Isolator Switch

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India
Tests on Cables
• Power frequency withstand tests
• Dielectric power factor tests
• Impulse withstand tests
• Partial discharge tests
• Life expectancy tests

Tests on Surge diverters/ Lightning Arresters

(a) For Gapped type arresters (b) For gapless type arresters
• Power frequency spark-over test Residual voltage tests
• Impulse spark-over test Reference voltage measurements
• Front of wave spark-over test High current tests
• Residual voltage tests Long duration tests
• High current impulse tests Operating duty tests
• Long duration tests Thermal Equivalency tests
• Operating duty cycle test Pollution tests etc
• Switching surge flashover tests
• Pollution tests
Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India
Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India
Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India
Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India
Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India
Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India
Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India
Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India
Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India
 Tests on Insulator Strings

RIV/Corona Measuring circuit as per IEC

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

H V Transformer
• The HV transformer must be capable of supplying current required by the
test object and the coupling capacitor. Further the transformer is expected
to be noise free or the filter must limit the noise transmitted to the
measuring circuit.

Low pass filter

• The RIV measurements are conducted between frequency 0.5MHz to
2.5MHz. Thus, filter must be capable of being tuned to resonance at the
frequency of measurement.
• HV transformers have capacitance of up to several hundred pf, if the filter
were absent, some of the noise currents from the test object will flow to the
transformer presence of filter avoids this.

High voltage Bus/conductor & Terminators (T)

• The conductors should be smooth and ends terminated to be free from
corona

Coupling Capacitor
• Coupling capacitor should be having a capacitance above 1000pf (normally
5 to 6 times of test object). CC apart from presenting low impedance path to
high frequency noise currents has to present high impedance at PF (50Hz).
Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India
Measuring Impedance
• Standards recommend value of measuring resistance should be about 300
or resistance between 30 to 300 can be used but a suitable correction
has to be applied for making the resistance to be equivalent to 300.

Radio noise meter (CISPR- Std)

• The selective micro voltmeter (RI measuring instrument), model SMV 11, is a
single range measuring receiver for the frequency range 9kHz to 30MHz.
• It’s designed for selective measurement of sinusoidal radio frequency
voltages, and measurement of pulse-type interference voltages.
• The model SMV 11 can be used for the general selective voltage
measurement in the range of –20dbV to +125 dbV.
• It has three RF bandwidths, several measuring outputs, particularly the
modes of indication quasi-peak value (QP), peak value (P), root mean
square value (RMS) & average value (AV) etc, provided for measurement of
pulse type interference voltages

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

6. Voltage distribution Tests
Test Procedure
• The PF voltage appearing across each disc in the insulator string is
measured using a 2 cm diameter sphere-gap with 4 mm gap spacing.
• The sphere-gap is connected across first disc of insulator string - voltage
across insulator string is gradually increased till it is just sufficient to
cause a sustained spark-over of sphere-gap – values are recorded.
• Procedure repeated for each disc in the insulator string.
• The percentage ratio of mean voltage that appears across an individual
insulator unit, say n, is given by

Vs
Vn   100
En
where, Vs =nominal spark-over voltage sphere-gap under laboratory
conditions
En =mean voltage across insulator string, with sphere-gap
connected across insulator disc n.

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India
Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India
7. Steep front flashover test
• It is observed in field, steep front voltages can cause puncture of disc insulators
• In normal case, insulators should not puncture only external flashover shall occur
Experimentations/discussions, to prove service reliability – a wave of 2500kV/S
for both ± polarity is employed for the test.

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

8. Fatigue test
• The most severe site conditions the insulator, conductor and tower have
to endure is the fatigue stress due to vibrations.
• The vibrations may be due to aeolian, earthquakes, ice & wind induced
etc.

Testing: String with complete hardware is erected with an appropriate span,

with predetermined frequency/amplitude and is vibrated.

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

 9. Power arc test
• Several types of over voltages occur in service which results in flashover
across the insulator strings.
• A power follow current which succeeds flashover could reach dangerous
limits especially in the event of malfunctioning or delayed tripping of
breakers etc.
• The high currents during such power arcs cause enormous heating and
consequent damage to tower, line hardware, conductors, insulators etc.

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India
10. Lightning Impulse/Switching impulse withstand tests

Tests: performed to see insulators w/s BIL (Basic Insulation level) which is
dependent on arcing/striking distance - intent to see no flashover – ±10
impulses

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

11. PF Withstand/Flashover tests

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

 Tests Type of tests
(T=Type, A=Acceptance, R=Routine tests)
Visual examination T, R
Verification of dimensions T
Visible discharge tests T
Impulse withstand tests T
Wet P F withstand test T
Temperature cycle test T, A
Mechanical withstand tests T, A
24 hour Mechanical test T, A
Puncture test T, A
Porosity test T, A, R
Galvanizing test T, A
Thermal- Mech performance test T, A
Mechanical test on full string T
Vibration/Dynamic test on string T

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India

 Summary and Conclusions

• In brief Non-Destructive Testing of Materials & Electrical Apparatus

is presented

• Necessity of high voltage testing & various types of H V tests have

been highlighted.
• The standards provide a comprehensive coverage of many aspects
that would affect performance of the insulators in service
• Routinely insulators are tested for electrical and mechanical tests as
per standards are much higher than normal operating voltages

Note: none of the tests specified in standards give any indication of

the expected life of the insulator

*****

Department of Electrical Engg, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore - India