Characteristics of Creeping Discharge along Aerial Insulated Wire under Impulse Voltages with Various Durations of Wave Front

When the lightning occurs at the neighborhood of outdoor high voltage distribution lines, the creeping discharges propagate along the wire surface from the binding wire tip just after the flashover of insulator. These discharges give rise to the various disasters at distribution lines, for instance, disconnection and melting of wire, punch-through breakdown etc. We must clarify the creeping discharge characteristics under various inductive lightning surges from a viewpoint of a safety in high voltage distribution systems. In our previous paper, it was reported that the lengths and aspects of the negative creeping discharges were influenced by the duration of wave front of impulse voltage applied to the central line under the grounded binding wire. The present study was accomplished in order to obtain more information on such creeping discharges.

This paper describes the distinctive characteristics of creeping discharge along the insulated wire surface when the impulse voltages with various durations of wave front are applied to the binding wire.