Flow field distribution around insulator and contamination uneven characteristic of insulator.

The accumulation of insulator surface contamination is closely related to the distribution of flow field around the insulator. In order to study the unevenness of the insulator surface contamination, a three‐unit lxy‐160 insulator is selected. Based on the principle of fluid mechanics, the fluid movement state on the insulator surface is determined by the calculation of Reynolds number and boundary layer, then the flow field distribution around the insulator is obtained. On this basis, the artificial contamination test and numerical simulation are carried out to study the characteristics of contamination uneven distribution on the insulator surface. The results show that when the wind speed is 3–7 m/s and the particle diameter is 1–60 µm, there is obvious boundary layer separation phenomenon, and the flow state before the separation point is laminar, while the flow state behind the separation point is turbulent. From top to bottom, the degree of accumulation on each insulator is different, and the contamination on the windward and leeward sides are unevenly distributed in a fan shape. The increment of wind speed as well as particle diameter will aggravate the unevenness of the contamination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]