Electro-thermal-mechanical computations in ZnO arrester elements

ZnO nonlinear dielectric is a complex composite of power dissipating grain boundaries, conducting ZnO grains, cavities, and nonconducting grain boundaries. Optimization of the material requires sophisticated approaches to modeling the various electro-thermal-mechanical phenomena in the macroscopic approximation of a homogeneous nonlinear material, the microscopic approximation of grains and grain boundaries, and in statistical approximations to determine the effects of statistically distributed phenomena such as nonconducting grains. In this contribution, we have provided examples of each of these approaches. Through application of studies such as these, substantial improvements have been achieved in ZnO element characteristics