Assessing charge accumulation and flashover phenomena on silicone rubber surface exposed to salt-containing droplets under direct current voltage

In damp and salt-fog environments, silicone rubber composite insulators are prone to forming dispersed droplets that absorb airborne salt nuclei, leading to charge accumulation and potentially causing flashovers that threaten transmission line stability. Regrettably, these concerns have not yet received sufficient attention from relevant researchers. This study examines the surface charge accumulation and flashover characteristics of silicone rubber insulators with droplets of varying electrical conductivity. The droplets can fix charges, as the conductivity of droplets on insulator surfaces increases, the migration rate of surface charges accelerates, causing distortion of the electric field and a significant increase the area of high-density charge regions on the sample surface. Compared with dry surfaces, increasing the equivalent salt density of salt-containing droplets attached to the surface from mild to severe (with conductivity increasing from 800 μS/cm to 2800 μS/cm) leads to a 25%-40% increase in the average surface charge density. After adsorbing charges, the salt droplets shorten the discharge development path, making it easier to trigger interface discharge. Compared with dry surfaces, the average flashover voltage of the salt droplets is reduced by at least 30%. This study offers valuable analysis on charge accumulation and flashover for silicone rubber insulators in salt-fog environments.