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INSULATION BREAKDOWN AND PIEZOELECTRIC MATERIALS

FLOW OF LECTURE
Causes

of Insulation breakdown Flashover and Puncture Types of Insulators What is Electrostriction and Piezoelectricity? Piezoelectricity effect Structure of piezoelectric materials Key properties of piezoelectric materials Applications of piezoelectric materials

Flashover, Puncture and breakdown of Insulators


Insulators are required to withstand mechanical and electrical stresses. Electrical stresses are due to line voltages and surges which may cause breakdown. The electric breakdown of an insulator can be identified by Flashover or Puncture phenomena.

Insulators:

Figure of insulator

Figure of insulator

FLASHOVER:

In flashover, an arc occurs between line conductor and insulator pin (earth) and discharge (Leakage current) takes place across the air gap following shortest distance. The insulator is generally dry and its surface have proper insulating properties therefore arc can only occur through air gap between conductor and insulator pin. Arcing distance is shown in figure. In case of flashover, the insulator will continue to act in its proper capacity unless heat produced by arc destroys the insulator. Flashover creates arc through the air surrounding medium causes the short-circuit of insulator, it creates insulator failure. Switching and lighting surges are also responsible for flashover.

FLASHOVER (Cont.)

Pollution, raindrop, dust, mist etc. may cause the deposition of materials on insulator. This reduces the dielectric strength of insulator unit and increases the surface leakage current. This increases the flashover of an insulator.

PUNCTURE:

In case of puncture, the discharge occurs from conductor to pin through the body of insulator. When such breakdown is involved, the insulator permanently destroyed due to extensive heat. In practice, sufficient thickness of porcelain is provided in insulator to avoid puncture by line voltage. The ratio of puncture strength to flashover voltage is known as safety factor. Safety factor = Puncture strength Flashover voltage It is desirable that the voltage of safety factor is high so that flashover takes place before insulator gets punctured. Safety factor is generally 10 for low voltage line.

Causes of FAILURE of INSULATOR

Cracking of insulator: Due to unequal expansion of steel, porcelain and cement during varying conditions of cold, heat, and dry. Develop the high stress in porcelain bear the joint and result in tension failure. Porosity of material: This gives rise to leakage current flowing through porcelain, resulting gradual rise in temperature untill porcelain is punctured. Avoiding by glazing the insulator, to some extent. Flashover, puncture Mechanical stress Short circuits: In insulator, the bridage is very common, bridage means the short circuit of conductor to the earth through large birds or similar effects. Can be avoided by providing the bird gurds near the insulator on cross arm, by increasing the clearance of conductor. Depositions of dust

Voltage insulator:

ceramic insulator

Suspension Insulator

HV Transmission Insulator

Puncture:

Puncture in porcelain:

Video of Flashover:

Electrostriction

What is Electrostriction? How the dimensions of specimen changes? In most materials dielectric polarization develops mechanical distortion but viceversa does not produce polarization. This effect is called as Electrostriction

Dielectric polarization causing mechanical distortion


As a result of electrical force, the molecules of the material reorient themselves, thus changing the shape of the material; this is called electrostriction.

Non-polarized material

Polarized material

Electrostriction
Property of pure electrostrictive materials Mechanical deformation caused by polarization in a given direction remains the same as polarization in opposite direction. What are piezoelectric materials?

Piezoelectricity effect
The

piezoelectric effect describes the relation between a mechanical stress and an electrical voltage in solids. It is reversible: an applied mechanical stress will generate a voltage and an applied voltage will change the shape of the solid by an amount equivalent to applied voltage.

Mechanical deformation on application of electric field

Voltage generation on application of mechanical stress

Example of piezoelectricity

If mechanical force is exerted on the material to change its shape, an electrical field is produced; this is called piezoelectric effect.

Necessary structure requirement for piezoelectric effect

The

necessary condition for the piezoelectric effect is the absence of a center of symmetry in the crystal structure. Of the 32 crystal classes, 21 lack a center of symmetry, and with the exception of one class, all of these are piezoelectric.

Necessary structure requirement for piezoelectric effect

Necessary structure requirement for piezoelectric effect

Piezoelectric materials
NATURAL Quartz Bernellite Cane Sugar Rochelle salt Topaz Tourmaline MANMADE Gallium orthophosphate Langasite Barium Titanate Lead Titanate Lithium niobate

Applications
Gas

ignitors Crystal oscillators Piezoelectric sensor Piezoelectric transformer Piezoelectric transducer Delay lines in communication devices Medical ultrasound applications Actuators, motors, clocks, loudspeakers

Crystal oscillator

Used

in stabilizing frequencies communication transmitters and receivers Used to keep track of time in digital clocks Provide stable clock signal for digital ICs

in

Crystal oscillator
The

crystal oscillator circuit sustains oscillation by taking a voltage signal from the quartz resonator, amplifying it, and feeding it back to the resonator. The rate of expansion and contraction of the quartz is the resonant frequency, and is determined by the cut and size of the crystal. When the energy of the generated output frequencies matches the losses in the circuit, an oscillation can be sustained.

Gas ignitors
The

best-known application is the electric cigarette lighter: pressing the button causes a spring-loaded hammer to hit a piezoelectric crystal, producing a sufficiently high voltage electric current that flows across a small spark gap, thus heating and igniting the gas. The portable sparkers used to light gas grills or stoves work the same way, and many types of gas burners now have built-in piezo-based ignition systems

Piezoelectric transformers

A piezoelectric transformer is a type of AC voltage multiplier. Unlike a conventional transformer, which uses magnetic coupling between input and output, the piezoelectric transformer uses acoustic coupling. An input voltage is applied across a short length of a bar of piezoceramic material , creating an alternating stress in the bar by the inverse piezoelectric effect and causing the whole bar to vibrate. The vibration frequency is chosen to be the resonant frequency of the block, typically in the 100 kHz to 1 MHz range.

Piezoelectric transformers (contd)

A higher output voltage is then generated across another section of the bar by the piezoelectric effect. Step-up ratios of more than 1000:1 have been demonstrated. An extra feature of this transformer is that, by operating it above its resonant frequency, it can be made to appear as an inductive load, which is useful in circuits that require a controlled soft start. These devices can be used in DC-AC inverters to drive cold cathode fluorescent lamps. Piezo transformers are some of the most compact high voltage sources.

Delay lines in communication circuits


When

an electric signal passed through Piezoelectric material electrode, it is converted into acoustic wave and will travel with appropriate sound velocity. On reaching other end of the rod, acoustic wave may be picked up as an electric signal.

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