Flashover of a coaxial insulator with anode and cathode triple point electric field reduction

Summary form only given. Manipulation of the electric field at triple points for vacuum insulators is commonly done to increase flashover voltage. Triple point shielding techniques for vacuum insulator barriers have been shown to increase flashover voltage, but the role of cathode vs. anode shielding is still not fully understood. A test of triple point effects on coaxial flashover was conducted at the Missouri-University terawatt test stand. The testing included effects from shielding triple points on zero degree and 45 degree insulators. Shielding was tested at the cathode triple point outside of the dielectric and at the anode triple point inside the dielectric. The effect of shielding on flashover for a coaxial geometrv is presented. Also, the role of the tangential, normal and electric field magnitude for a coaxial geometry is examined. Understanding the how triple point shielding effects flashover can shed light on the relative effect of processes that initiate flashover. This can help in the design of triple point shielding to increase the performance of insulator barriers.