Wire Particle Motion Behavior and Breakdown Characteristics around Different Shaped Spacers within Diverging Air Gap

Free wire particle motion behavior and particle triggered breakdown characteristics around different shaped spacers between diverging conducting plane electrodes are studied experimentally in the laboratory air under DC and 60Hz AC voltages. Wire particle motion behavior was observed experimentally and is discussed on the basis of the results of field calculations. Consequently, it was found that a particle around spacer tends to move toward or away from the spacer depending on the field strength around the spacer, under both DC or AC voltages. Moreover, it was observed that a particle can hardly adheres to the spacer in case of corona discharge at wire particle ends under DC voltage and/or an oscillating wire particle in case of AC voltage and vicevcrsa. Also, the wire particle adhesion phenomenon and the characteristics of surface flashover triggered by free conducting wire particle around a simple shaped spacer in quasi uniform field is briefly discussed.