Study of electric field distribution in the high

voltage stator bar insulation in presence

of different shapes, locations and sizes of
cavities
Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 2173, 020012 (2019); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5133927
Published Online: 11 November 2019

Daphne Tay Ye Chee, Hadi Nabipour-Afrouzi, Zulkurnain Abdul Malek, et al.

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© 2019 Author(s).
 Study of Electric Field Distribution in the High Voltage
Stator Bar Insulation in Presence of Different Shapesˈˈ
Locations and Sizes of Cavities
Daphne Tay Ye Chee1, Hadi Nabipour-Afrouzi1, a), Zulkurnain Abdul Malek2,
Kamyar Mehranzamir3, Jubaer Ahmed1
1
Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak, 93350
Kuching, Malaysia
2
Institute of High Voltage & High Current Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
(UTM), 81310 Johor Bahru, Malaysia
3
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Nottingham
Malaysia Campus, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia
a)
Correspondence: [email protected]

Abstract. The insulation system represents one of the most critical elements in any high voltage equipment, inclusive
of any cabling and machineries. 60% of the faults and errors occurred in the insulation system are due to partial
discharge occurrence which damage the high voltage machines and equipment, leading to an incurrence of huge
expenses to replace them. The focus of this research is on the electric field distribution inside stator bar insulation
system machine related to partial discharge phenomena. This research is manifested through the study of high voltage
stator bar insulation’s electric field and potential distribution, coupled with follow up investigations into the
ramifications of cavities of different distinctive shapes and the impact of the different positioning and sizes of cavities
on the insulation system. The Finite element method (FEM) is the method that will be utilized in analyzing such
simulation of the high voltage stator bar with the COMSOL software. A 2D modelling of stator bar insulation is
conducted for this research to enhance an advanced understanding into the response of electric field distribution
corresponding to distinctive shapes, positions and sizes of cavities within the insulation of high voltage stator bar. This
outcome of this research will contribute majorly to the electrical power industry through acknowledging the presence
of cavities and high electric field distribution relational to partial discharge activities while minimizing or preventing
any faulty breakdown in stator bar machine that causes costly power failure in generation, distribution and transmission
of electricity. The results from this research shows that the shapes, locations and sizes of cavities have a major influence
on the electric field distribution inside the stator bar insulation whereby the presence of ellipsoidal shapes cavities give
rise of electric field intensity twice the original (when no cavity is present), followed by the unknown shapes cavities
which contributes 72.31% increment and spherical cavity which brings about 54% rise in the electric field strength. In
terms of locations of cavities, the nearer the cavities located to the conductor region (at the inner insulation surface) as
well as the edgy parts of the geometry, the higher the electric field is established inside the cavities. Apart from that,
as the sizes of cavities increases from 0.22mm to 1.10mm, the electric field stresses inside spherical, ellipsoidal and
unknown cavities sustain a drop of 19.08%, 12.09% and 28.57% respectively. This result deduces that highest
inhomogeneous electric field stress is detected inside unknown shape cavity which increases the risk of electrical
breakdown in this shape of cavity

INTRODUCTION
High voltage insulator in high voltage equipment operation often requires enduring operational stress that
befalls the insulator which is inclusive of thermal, mechanical and electrical stress that alters the chemical and
physical properties of insulations and these can be very destructive to the equipment itself [1, 2, 3]. These
operating stresses, mainly electrical stresses are often the main contributor to partial discharge activities in a high
voltage stator bar which in turn induce the formation of cavities of different shapes at different locations. In
scientific definition, partial discharges are small electrical discharges that results from local enhancement of the
electrical stress subjected to the conditions around the fault sites in the insulation system [4, 5] and strong and
inhomogeneous electric fields along with the presence of cavities, is the main reason for internal discharge [6, 7].

Advances in Electrical and Electronic Engineering: From Theory to Applications (Series 2)

AIP Conf. Proc. 2173, 020012-1–020012-14; https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5133927
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1920-9/$30.00

020012-1
The research done in the past that has been identified to be the most related to my study is the research done by
[8] which focuses on modelling of PDs activity in different spherical cavity sizes and locations within a dielectric
insulation material with experimental measurements being conducted.
According to [9], partial discharge occurs at the defective part of the insulation system inside a solid dielectric
material and is affected by surrounding conditions of the faults site. The sizes and locations of faults are the main
cause of disruption on the electric field distribution inside the dielectric system which influences the PD
occurrence patterns [10, 11, 12]. For their study, a model for spherical cavities at different sizes and locations has
been developed inside the homogenous insulation system using FEM method. Their model aims to investigate the
relationship between the varying conditions of the cavity and the resultant electric field distribution of the cavities
along with PD activity. In [13], study had been conducted on different types of insulation defects which produces
distinct partial discharge patterns. The digital patterns of the partial discharge attained based on their study has
been documented inside partial discharge dictionary to ease the future detection and recognition of partial
discharge patterns in real electrical machines.

METHODOLOGY
The dimensions of the high voltage stator model bar are taken from an 10kV stator bar machine. A simplified
2D stator bar with the geometry of 27mm width and 24mm height are designed as shown in the figure above.
Three fundamental layers of stator bar layer are modelled such as the copper conductor layer (3mm × 8mm), the
turn insulation layer made up of mica glass filled (5mm × 10mm) surrounded by impregnated epoxy resin as the
ground wall insulation layer to avert partial discharges occurrence at these regions. The air gap between the
conductor is designed to be 0.05mm whereas the gap between the two pairs of conductors (each comprises four
conductors) is 2mm. In studying the electric field distribution inside the stator bar insulation impregnated with
cavities, three cases have been constructed with three different shapes of cavities; the spherical, ellipsoid and the
unknown shapes designed in the stator bar insulation system at different locations such as the center of the turn
insulation, the surface of the copper conductor and the surface of the inner and outer insulation layer.

Electric Field Distribution in Stator Bar Machine

The mathematical equations of electric field distribution as illustrated below will be applied to the modelling
of the electric field in the high voltage stator bar. Equation 1 shows the relationship between electric field intensity
(E) and electric potential (V).
‫ = ܧ‬െߘܸ (1)

where E is equal to the negative divergence of V, this negative sign indicate that the direction of E is in opposite
direction of increasing V. Equation 2 is showing that the flux density, D is in relation to the electric field, E.

D= ɂE = ɂoɂrE (2)

where İR is the permittivity of free space which has a value of 8.854 187 817 × 10í12 Fmí1. Moreover, electric
displacement, D is also related volume charge density, ȡY where Gauss’ Law stated that the divergence of D is
equivalent to the ȡY (Equation 3).
డொ
ߘ. ‫ݒߩ = = ܦ‬ (3)
డ௏

Follow on; the equation can be further derived by relating the electric charge, Q to the current density, J which
is as shown in Equation 6.
‫ܧߪ = ܬ‬ (4)

where ı is conductivity of conductor.

ఘ௩
ߘ. ‫= ܧ‬ (5)
ఌ௢
By taking the divergence of equation 4) and substituting equation 3 and 5 will arrive at equation 6 which is as
shown below.
డఘ
ߘ. ‫ߘ = ܬ‬. ‫ = ߪܧ‬െ (6)
డ௧

020012-2
 By comparing equations 3 and 6 will give equation 7.

߲‫ܦ‬
ߘ ቀ‫ ܬ‬+ ቁ =0 (7)
߲‫ݐ‬

Substituting equations 2 and 1 into equation 7 will arrive at equation 8.

ߘ. ‫ ܬ‬+ ߘ. ‫ = ܦ‬0
பக
െߘ ቀߪ + ቁ ߘܸ = 0 (8)
ப୲

The electric field, E and charge density, ߩ‫ ݒ‬are then calculated using the equations above which is done using
finite element method supportive software, COMSOL.

FIGURE 1. The geometry of stator bar in 2D with the inserted spherical cavities.

The type of materials filled for different regions in the stator bar model are at the locations such as the epoxy
resins filled at the outer insulated region of stator bar, mica at the inner insulation, copper for the conductor region
and air for the inserted cavities. Since the materials applied to the different regions of the models are from built-
in selection, the electrical specifications are generated automatically by the system. The electrical specifications
employed in this modelling to fit in the electrical characteristic of a real stator bar insulation system are the
electrical conductivity, relative permittivity and resistivity, which are lay out in Table 1 [14, 15].

TABLE 1. The electrical specifications for each type of materials used.

Materials &RQGXFWLYLW\6Pı 5HODWLYH3HUPLWWLYLW\İU 5HVLVWLYLW\ȍPȡ

Copper 5.96x 107 1.0005898 1.68x10-8
Mica 2.01 x10-15 6 9x 102
Epoxy Resin 3x10-12 5 3.3x1016
Air 8x10-15 1 1.3x1016

To model a 2D, the process starts by first designing the models of the stator bar follow by setting parameters
and variables used within a model i.e. the frequency and voltage applied, adding the physics and material
properties, creating a fine size mesh for finite elements as in the Fig. 2 and lastly applying the relevant physics
and study [16]. The overall geometry mesh used is fine size, however, extra fine mesh can be applied on the
cavities since the inserted cavities is very small so that the mesh will be smaller than the size of the cavity to be
able to cover the area of inserted cavities. This is to ensure FEM analysis can be done thoroughly for numerical
analysis of electric field.

020012-3
 Legend

Fine Size
Mesh

FIGURE 2. Applied mesh on the designed stator bar in Comsol.

AC/DC module is applied for this simulation which provides relevant physics to be solved. Electric currents
physics is used where the copper conductor region is supplied with a 10kV and the outer boundaries layer are
grounded. The region to be supplied with voltage and to be grounded is performed in accordance to the
experimental works done by previous researchers [17, 18]. The reason of using this physics is because the Electric
Currents Interface provides appropriate physics to assist the solving of the conservation of current for electric
potential, V and electric field, E for the 2D stator bar model by considering of the electrical conductivities and
relative permittivity of the material used. Subsequently, time dependent study is selected for transient simulation
in computing the electric field distribution and electric potential inside the stator bar model over one cycle (0.2s),
with a frequency of 50Hz chosen. Through selecting the relevant settings in the results column such as the surface
and contour, the simulation work is then being computed whereby the surface and contour of electric field
distribution as well as potential distribution are observed with the measurement of electric potential and magnitude
of electric field in one cycle is evaluated. The following step is to initiate the 1D line graph plot along with defining
the position of the cut lines to investigate the behaviour of electric field at different arc lengths. The flexibility of
the COMSOL Multiphysics graphical user interface is an ease to the modelling, defining, problem solving and
post processing identifying the sizes of cavities and their corresponding output potential and electric field
distribution.

SIMULATION RESULTS
Figure 3 shows the distribution of electric field in the stator bar insulation with the presence of cavities when
VXSSOLHGZLWKWKHPD[LPXP$&YROWDJHRIN9GXULQJWKHSHDNWLPHRIVZLWKș ƒ%\UHIHUULQJWRWKLV
Fig. 3, high electric field is being observed at the surrounding of the conductor while zero electric field is being
noticed inside the conductor region. The behavior of electric field distribution inside the stator bar can be deduced
to be sustaining a gradual decrease in magnitude with distances increase, meaning to say, high electric field around
the conductor region are continuously decreasing until it reaches the grounded region. Besides that, it is noticed
that extremely high electric field presents at the edgy corners of the stator bar since these sharp edges contributes
to the production of highly inhomogeneous electric field form around that area.

FIGURE 3. 7KHHOHFWULFILHOGGLVWULEXWLRQLQVLGHWKHVWDWRUEDUZLWKLQVHUWHGFDYLWLHVDWW V

020012-4
 The electric field distribution is altered when there is presence of cavities as in fig 3. It is observed that the
electric field inside the cavities is higher than the surrounding insulation layer due to the inhomogeneous electric
stresses across the cavities. This simulation also caters to the study of different shapes of cavity inside stator bar
insulation and its resulting electric field distribution with the results presented as in Fig. 4, 5 and 6.
Figures 4, 5 and 6 is showing the electric field distributions in the insulated region of the stator bar for three
different cases containing cavities of different shapes; the spherical, ellipsoids and unknown shapes. For all these
three cases, the AC voltage of 10kV has been applied at the conductor region with results taken at the peak time
of 0.005s during which maximum electric potential is being applied. The radius of the respective inserted cavities
is 0.25mm (for spherical), 0.2mm (major semi-axis) & 0.1mm (minor semi-axis) for the ellipsoid and an estimated
of 0.2mm confinement of a sphere for the unknown shapes.

(a) (b)
FIGURE 4. The electric field distribution inside the stator bar with spherical cavities (4a - top left corner)
& 4b - top right corner).

Figure 4 shows the electric field distribution inside the stator bar with spherical cavities, measuring from the
center of the cavity, a maximum electric field of 6.90kV/mm and minimum electric field of 3.74kV/mm are found
at location A and E respectively.

(a) (b)
FIGURE 5. The electric field distribution inside the stator bar with ellipsoidal cavities (5a - top left corner) &
㸦5b - top right corner).

Figure 5 shows the electric field distribution inside the stator bar with ellipsoidal cavities, measuring from the
center of the cavity, with a maximum electric field of 10.11kV/mm and minimum electric field of 5.32kV/mm
found at location A and E respectively.

020012-5
 (a) (b)
FIGURE 6. The electric field distribution inside the stator bar with unknown cavities (6a - top left corner) &
(6b - top right corner).

Figure 6 shows the electric field distribution inside the stator bar with unknown shape cavities, measuring
from the center of the cavity, with a maximum electric field of 8.53kV/mm and minimum electric field of
4.17kV/mm found at location A and E respectively.
The complete measurements of electric field at the top, center and bottom of different shapes of cavities at
distinct locations are as tabulated in the Table 2.

TABLE 2. The electric field for different shapes of cavities with measurements taken at the top, center and bottom of the
cavities.

Electric field for Different shapes of Cavities at Different Locations (kV/mm)

Shapes Sphere Ellipsoid Unknown
Inner Top Centre Bottom Top Centre Bottom Top Centre Bottom

Copper surface (A) 6.90 6.44 14.56 10.11 9.98 13.59 8.53 10.32
8.05
Middle (B) 5.42 5.06 8.08 7.92 7.57 5.12 6.49 6.04
5.85
Insulation surface
5.11 5.02 5.13 7.51 7.46 7.45 5.36 5.41 6.14
(C)
Outer Top Centre Bottom Top Centre Bottom Top Centre Bottom
Inner surface (D) 4.10 4.21 4.38 5.26 5.54 5.91 5.31 5.10 7.01
Middle (E) 3.59 3.74 3.88 5.17 5.32 5.48 3.45 4.17 4.10
Insulation surface
3.49 4.56 4.98 5.65 6.16 6.41 3.50 4.79 5.94
(F)

(a) (b) (c)

FIGURE 7. Indications of the top, centre and bottom of the Spherical cavity (7a), Ellipsoidal Cavity (7b) and
Unknown Shape Cavity (7c).

Figure 7 shows the complete indications of the top, centre and bottom regions of cavities of different shapes.

020012-6
 Electric Field for Dfifferent Shapes of Cavities (Inner Insulation)
[kV/mm] against Different Locations of Cavities
16.00
Sphere Top
14.00

Electric Field (kV/mm)

Sphere Centre
12.00
Sphere Bottom
10.00
Ellipsoid Top
8.00
Ellipsoid Centre
6.00
Ellipsoid Bottom
4.00
2.00
Unknown Top

0.00 Unknown Centre

Copper surface Middle Insulation surface Unknown Bottom

FIGURE 8. The line graph on the electric field for different shapes of cavities in the inner insulation [kV/mm] against
different locations of cavities measuring at the top, center and bottom of each cavity.

Figure 8 shows that the electric field of the ellipsoids in the inner insulation layer is having the maximum
electric field stress when it is inserted near the copper conductor region as compared to the unknown shapes and
spherical cavities. The highest electric field is detected for the ellipsoids compared to other shapes of cavities
when measured at the middle section of inner insulation as well as near the insulation surface.

Electric Field for Dfifferent Shapes of Cavities (Outer Insulation)

[kV/mm] against Different Locations of Cavities
8.00
Sphere Top
7.00
Sphere Centre
Electric Field (kV/mm)

6.00
Sphere Bottom
5.00
Ellipsoid Top
4.00
Ellipsoid Centre
3.00
Ellipsoid Bottom
2.00
Unknown Top
1.00
Unknown Centre
0.00
Unknown Bottom
Inner surface Middle Insulation surface

FIGURE 9. The line graph on the electric field for different shapes of cavities in the outer insulation [kV/mm] against
different locations of cavities measuring at the top, center and bottom of each cavity.

In terms of the electric field measured for different shapes of cavities in the outer insulation, the unknown
shape located at the inner surface (D) measured at the bottom of cavity has a comparatively highest non-uniform
electric field strength as compared to the electric field strength measured at the bottom of ellipsoidal cavity,
5.92kV/mm and spherical cavity, 4.38kV/mm. This may be due to the curvature at the bottom of the unknown
shape cavity creating stronger inhomogeneous magnitude of electric field at this region [17, 18]. On the other
hand, in the middle section of the insulation layer and near the outer insulation layer, highest electric field is again
detected for ellipsoids follow by the unknown shapes and the spherical cavities.
As can be seen from the Table 2 as well as the line graphs constructed, it is assured that the ellipsoid is having
higher electric field as compared to the spherical and unknown cavities. This is due to the shapes of the ellipsoid
which is constructed to have more prominent edges as compared to the spherical and unknown shapes, which then
results in the interference of the originally uniform electric field, causing the establishment of high inhomogeneous
electric field inside the cavities. The cavity that undertakes the high electrical stresses has a higher chance of

020012-7
inducing electrical breakdown, also known as the partial discharge process, which might indirectly lead to the
insulation failure inside the stator bar insulation system [19, 22].
Besides, the location of cavity is one of the crucial factors affecting the degree of electric stresses inside the
cavity. In reference to the Table 2, the electric field stress inside the spherical cavity is 5.42kV/mm when it is
located at the middle section of inner insulation while the electric field is measured to be 3.74kV/mm when it is
inserted at the middle section of outer insulation. Apart from that, the behavior of the factor, the location of cavities
is affecting the electric field distribution since the direction of electric field is initiated from the high voltage area,
the surrounding conductor region directing from the inner insulation to the outer insulation layer, from increasing
electric field to decreasing electric field.
Overall the simulation results have affirmed the theory whereby high electric field is present inside the stator
bar insulation containing cavities due to their lower relative permittivity as compared to its surrounded insulated
regions [20, 23, 24]. Further definitions of cutline for different shapes of cavities and its corresponding line graph
generated on the electric field distribution inside the cavities are shown as below.

(a) (b) (c)

FIGURE 10. shows the line graph plotted for the electric field distribution inside spherical cavity (10a), ellipsoidal cavity
(10b) and unknown shape cavity (10c) (Arc length is shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6 as a radial line passing through cavities).

Figure 10 shows the electric field in corresponding to the arc length of the cavities taking the different shapes
of cavities located at the same location which is at the center of the outer insulation filled with epoxy resin. Since
the cutline is defined in the vertical direction initiated from the top to the bottom, it is observed that the electric
field at this location is highest at the center of the cavities. Besides, in reference to the shapes of the generated, it
is evident that the electric field gradually rises reaching its maximum magnitude at the center of cavities and
further rapidly decreases near the end of the cutline. The fluctuation of electric field strength is influenced by the
dispersed field of electric potential surrounded the cavities directed from the copper conductor region of the stator
bar [21, 25].
Apart from that, the shapes of the cavities will also have a major effect over the magnitude of electric field.
By referring to Table 2, the shape ellipsoid with the smallest radius as compared to other designed shapes seems
to withstand the highest electric field inside, for instance, 14.56 kV/mm for cavities at the copper surface. Table
3 shows the electric field inside the cavities of different sizes for different shapes; the spherical, ellipsoidal and
the unknown shapes measured at the top, centre and bottom of the cavities.

TABLE 3. Electric field inside the cavities of different sizes for different shapes; the spherical, ellipsoidal and the
unknown shapes measured at the top, centre and bottom of the cavities.

Electric field for Different shapes and Sizes of Cavities (kV/mm)

Shapes Sphere Ellipsoid Unknown
Sizes Top Centre Bottom Top Centre Bottom Top Centre Bottom
0.22mm 3.81 3.93 4.05 5.06 5.21 5.34 3.57 4.34 4.22
0.56mm 3.56 3.71 3.86 4.94 5.05 5.22 3.42 3.82 4.58
1.10mm 3.19 3.18 3.31 4.50 4.58 4.76 2.94 3.10 4.48

020012-8
 (c)
FIGURE 11. The electric field distribution inside the stator bar with spherical cavity (11a), ellipsoidal cavity㸦11b) and
unknown shape cavity (11c) of size of 0.22mm with maximum electric field measured at the centre of the cavity

Figure 11 shows the electric field distribution inside the stator bar with spherical, ellipsoidal and unknown
cavities of size 0.22mm. By measuring from the center of the cavity, a maximum electric field of 3.93kV/mm,
5.21kV/mm and 4.34kV/mm are detected respectively for the sphere, ellipsoid and unknown cavity of 0.22mm.

(a) (b)

FIGURE 12. The electric field distribution inside the stator bar with spherical cavity (12a), ellipsoidal cavity㸦12b) and
unknown shape cavity (12c) of size of 0.56mm with maximum electric field measured at the centre of the cavity.

020012-9
 (c)

FIGURE 12. (comtinued)

Figure 12 shows the electric field distribution inside the stator bar with spherical, ellipsoidal and unknown
cavities of size 0.56mm. By measuring from the center of the cavity, a maximum electric field of 3.71kV/mm,
5.05kV/mm and 4.82kV/mm are detected respectively for the sphere, ellipsoid and unknown cavity of 0.56mm.

FIGURE 13. The electric field distribution inside the stator bar with spherical cavity (13a), ellipsoidal cavity㸦13b) and
unknown shape cavity (13c) of size of 1.10mm with maximum electric field measured at the centre of the cavity.

020012-10
 Figure 13 shows the electric field distribution inside the stator bar with spherical, ellipsoidal and unknown
cavities of size 1.10mm. By measuring from the center of the cavity, a maximum electric field of 3.18kV/mm,
4.58kV/mm and 3.10kV/mm are detected respectively for the sphere, ellipsoid and unknown cavity of 1.10mm.

Electric field for Different Shapes (kV/mm) Against Different Sizes of

6.00 Cavities
Sphere Top
Electric field for Different Shapes

5.00 Sphere Centre

Sphere Bottom
4.00
(kV/mm)

Ellipsoid Top
3.00
Ellipsoid Centre

2.00 Ellipsoid Bottom

Unknown Top
1.00
Unknown Centre
0.00 Unknown Bottom
0.22mm 0.56mm 1.10mm Sizes

FIGURE 14. The line graph on the electric field for different shapes of cavities [kV/mm] against different sizes of cavities
measuring at the top, center and bottom of each cavity.
Based on Fig. 14, electric field decreases in an almost linear manner when the size of the cavities increases.
This is because, the bigger the cavities, the greater the dispersal of electric field strength inside the cavities which
weakens the congregation of electric field inside the cavities [26]. Apart from that, the bottom of each different
shapes of cavities are detected to have the highest electric field strength due to the influence distribution of electric
field directed from the conductor region where high voltage area is applied as well as the sharp points of the
geometry causing larger spread of electric field first reached out to the bottom curvature of the cavity. On the
other hand, the electric field measured at the bottom of the unknown shape are noticed to be rising with the
increasing sizes of the cavities follow by a slight drop, from 4.22kV/mm (0.22mm) rises to 4.58kv/mm (0.56mm)
follow by a small drop to 4.48kV/mm (1.10mm) in contrary to the electric field measured at the bottom of the
spherical and ellipsoidal cavity which sustain a continuous drop in electric field strength. This is deduced to be
influenced by irregular curvature at the bottom of the unknown shape cavity establishing greater congregation of
inhomogeneous electric field stresses at this region.

(a) (b) (c)

FIGURE 15. shows the line graph plotted for the electric field distribution inside spherical cavities of size 0.22mm (15a),
0.56mm (15b) and 1.10mm (15c) (Arc length is shown in Fig. 11, 12 and 13 as a radial line passing through cavities).

020012-11
 (a) (b) (c)
FIGURE 16. shows the line graph plotted for the electric field distribution inside ellipsoidal cavities of size 0.22mm
(16a), 0.56mm (16b) and 1.10mm (16c) (Arc length is shown in Fig. 11, 12 and 13 as a radial line passing through
cavities).

(a) (b) (c)

FIGURE 17. shows the line graph plotted for the electric field distribution inside unknown shape cavities of size 0.22mm
(17a), 0.56mm (17b) and 1.10mm (17c) (Arc length is shown in Fig. 11, 12 and 13 as a radial line passing through
cavities).
Figures 15, 16 and 17 show the electric field distribution with its corresponding arc length defined for different
sizes of cavities at its respective shapes, measuring repetitively at the centre of the cavities located at the middle
section of the outer insulation filled with epoxy resin. The characteristic of the line graph is similar to Fig. 10
cutline since the direction of cutline initiated the same (from the top to the bottom).
The sudden increase of electric field strength with the increasing arc length of the cavities seems to prolong
with the increasing sizes of the cavities follow by the same decreasing pattern. The rise of the electric field strength
as portrayed in the graph happens at the centre curvature of the cavities which means that the higher electric field
is detected at the region which is situated nearer to the inner insulation and lower when it is further from the inner
insulation where voltage applied is directed outwards [27]. And since the cutline defined are all started at the
centre of the cavities and therefore the electric field distribution line graph at respective ascending sizes are noticed
to be quite similar. Apart from that, the graph of unknown shapes at different sizes seems to be the most uneven
as compared to the graph of spherical shapes and ellipsoidal shapes which may be due to its unevenly constructed
surface area resulting inhomogeneous electric field to form. In contrary, the spherical and ellipsoidal graph seems
to have a more even rise in its electric field distribution when it is at 0.22 mm whereas a rapid increase at arc
length around 3mm, at size 1.10mm where their curvature is nearer to the conductor region. The high electric field
at the surrounding of the cavity will then affect the electric field distribution inside the cavity due to the cavities
having lower relative permittivity which will then cause the formation of the resultant higher inhomogeneous
electric field inside the cavities than its surrounding region. Therefore, the concept on the occurrence of partial
discharges is once again reassured in the event of present cavities inside the stator bar insulation system along
with high electric field stresses across them.

CONCLUSION
The research on the electric field and potential distribution within the 2-Dimensional stator bar insulation using
the finite element method (FEM) with COSMOL simulation supportive software has been successfully
implemented. The effects of the shapes and position of the cavities inside 2D stator bar insulation and their
corresponding electric field response has been acknowledged and analyzed. In terms of shapes, the ellipsoidal
shape cavities sustain the highest electric field stress of 10.11kV/mm as compared to the spherical cavity and
unknown shape cavity which are withstanding only 6.90 kV/mm and 8.53kV/mm respectively. Considering the
location factor of the cavities, the increasing distances between the cavities and the conductor contributes to lower
the electric field detected however the position of the cavities nearer to the sharp edges of the geometry are also

020012-12
causing a rise in electric field strength inside the cavities. In terms of the sizes of cavities, electric field intensity
decreases as the size of the cavities increases due to the dispersal of electric field. This is portrayed by the spherical
cavities which decreases from 3.91kV/mm to 3.18kV/mm when the size increases from 0.22mm to 1.10mm. The
outcome of this research improves the comprehension on partial discharge phenomena which further aids in
minimizing faults in future work on partial discharge modelling.

REFERENCES
[1] F. T. Emery, “Partial discharge, dissipation factor, and corona aspects for high voltage electric generator
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