The 19th International Symposium on High Voltage Engineering, Pilsen, Czech Republic, August, 23 28, 2015

COMPOSITE INSULATORS PROFILE OPTIMIZATION USING

PARTICLE SWARM ALGORITHM AND FINITE ELEMENT METHOD
E. M. El-Refaie, M. K. Abd Elrahman and M. Kh. Mohamed
Faculty of Engineering, Helwan University Cairo, Egypt
Email: mustafa_ali03@h-eng.helwan.edu.eg
Abstract: Insulators are very important element in electric power systems. Composite
insulators such as silicone rubber provide an excellent alternative to porcelain and glass
in the field of high voltage applications. It has been widely used by power utilities since
1980s owing to their superior contaminant performances. Electric field stress along the
insulators profile is one of the most important factors governing the electrical performance
of composite insulator. The main objective of this paper is to improve the electric field
distribution of composite insulators by reducing the value of maximum electric field
strength, in order to enhance its long term performance. This will be done by modifying
the dimensions of already exist practical insulators through an efficient optimization
technique. This technique combined Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm and
Finite Element Method (FEM). PSO algorithm has been implemented using MATLAB
program, on the other hand, the electric field strength was calculated by using
commercial software package COMSOL Multiphysics that is able to calculate the electric
field strength in two and three dimensional problems based on the finite element method.
Four insulators of 11 kV with different profiles are used as samples for this study. Several
parameters such as shed diameter, shed spacing, shed inclination angle, number of
sheds, shed arrangement type and end fitting diameter can be used in order to optimize
insulator profiles. Attention was paid to optimize some effective parameters in insulators
design including shed diameter, shed spacing and metal end fitting diameter. The
insulators profile parameters have been checked after optimization according to IEC/TS
60815-3. The obtained results indicated that the maximum value of the electric field
strength can be reduced significantly by using the proposed technique. This work is able
to provide theoretical support to design and select the profile of composite insulators in
order to obtain a better performance.
1

INTRODUCTION

Electrical insulators are essential components in

the electric power systems. In the early days,
insulators were made of ceramic and glass
materials. But in 1963, composite insulators were
developed. Spectacular Improvements in design
and manufacturing in the recent years have made
them attractive to utilities. Composite insulators
have many advantages over the ceramic and
glass insulators such as good performance in
contaminated
environments
because
of
hydrophobic nature. Also, the lighter weight,
considerably lower cost, easy handling and
maintenance free make composite insulator more
competitive [1].
The performance of composite insulator depends
upon the operating conditions such as electrical,
mechanical, thermal and environmental stresses.
In this study, the focus was on the electrical
stresses represented in the study by the
distribution of the electric field strength on the
surface of the insulator and which in turn depends
on the geometry of the insulator and the materials
used in its manufacture.
The structure of composite insulators can be
divided into the following four major parts: (i) Rod

of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP); (ii) polymer

sheath on the rod; (iii) weather sheds of
composite materials; (iv) metal end fittings. For
most transmission line applications, the dominant
direction of the electric field is along the axis of
the insulator [2]. High electric field strength at the
metallic end fitting will initiate corona and surface
electrical discharge that can lead to early
degradation, In order to prevent, minimize or at
least reduce the discharge activity near the
surface of the insulator, it is necessary to control
the electric field. Literatures suggest some limits
of electric field to avoid the corona discharges;
these values were proposed for dry and clean
composite insulators, according to [2] as follow:
on the shed material and surrounding the end
fittings: 4.5 kV/cm (rms), measured 0.5 mm
above the surface of the sheath;
internal to the fiberglass rod and the rubber
shed material: 30 kV/cm (rms);
at the surface of the metallic end fittings and
corona rings: 21 kV/cm (rms).
In [3] the paper shows that by using two different
configurations of end fittings, the electric field
strength near the two ends of the composite
insulator will decreases for the configuration of
large end fitting radius with round edges.

In [4] the paper proposed a new compound mode

composed of a composite insulator in series with
several units of glass insulators at the conductor
side to improve the electrical field distribution of
composite insulators. The electrical field and
potential distribution are calculated by using FEM
for different numbers of glass insulator.
Manufacturers can design and produce varied
composite insulators with different leakage
distances according to the requirement of users
by altering the shed array mode or the shed
spacing and the shed radius. If the design of
insulator profile is unreasonable, it is easy to lead
to bridge down between two sheds or even
flashover of the whole insulator [5]. Thus from the
above mentioned different design of insulators, it
is necessary to research for the optimal design of
composite insulator in order to guarantee the
safety and the reliability of the power grid.
2

(2)

The new position of the particle is obtained by:

1

(3)

Where: "#$%&' = The best position that particle i

has ever found
(#$%&' = The groups best position that
the neighborhood particles of
the ith particle have ever found
k = The number of the optimized
parameters
) = The constriction factor
)+ and ), = Acceleration coefficients
-+ and -, = Two random parameters chosen
uniformly within interval [0, 1]
. = The particle inertia coefficient
'&$- = The current iteration
'&$-/01 = The maximum No. of iterations

THE PROPOSED ALGORITHM

Start

In this paper electrical field distribution along

composite insulator was calculated by using Finite
Element Method (FEM) with the aid of commercial
software package COMSOL Multiphysics [6]. The
PSO algorithm has been implemented using
MATLAB program. Finally, the FEM and PSO are
combined to conduct optimization process for the
insulator profile structure. The flowchart of the
optimization process is shown in Figure 1.
2.1

Particle swarm optimization

PSO, proposed by James Kennedy and Russ

Eberhart in USA (1995), was basically developed
through simulation of bird flocking in twodimensional space [7]. The optimized variables
are shed diameter, shed spacing and end fitting
diameter, particle is a candidate solution i.e. each
particle is considered to be a solution for the
problem. Each particle has two components of xi
(current position) and vi (current velocity). The
particle position is defined as the value of the
variable in the solution space, while the particle
velocity is defined as the change in this value
every iteration. These variables are updated until
the optimum value of electric field stress is
obtained. To discover the optimal solution, each
particle changes its searching direction according
to two factors, its own best previous experience
and the best experience of all other members.
Thus, a new generation of community comes into
being, which has moved closer towards the best
solution, ultimately converging onto the optimal
solution. Therefore, the new velocity was obtained
as follows:
1
(1)

Initialize swarm optimization

algorithm with random
particles

Evaluate the objective

function (Emax) for the
particles using FEM in
COMSOL Multiphysics

Check
the stopping
criteria

Calculate the velocity

and update particle
positions and check the
constraints in
MATLAB

No

Yes

Output the best value of

(Emax) and the corresponding
optimized parameters

Stop

Figure 1: Flowchart of proposed technique for

composite insulator profile design
After several parameter setting attempts for this
particular optimal problem, it has been found that
the suitable value of ) is set to be 1, )+ to 0.6, ),
to 0.6, '&$-/01 to 30 iterations, population size to
10. The main objective of PSO algorithm is
obtaining the minimum value of the maximum

electric field strength on the surface of the

insulator by changing the insulator parameters.
2.2

Electric field calculation

Generally the electric field values are very high

near to the energized and grounded ends of the
composite insulators [3]. The electric field
distribution of a composite insulator is more
nonlinear when compared to ceramic insulators
due to the absence of intermediate metal parts
which provides a certain degree of stress grading
[2,3]. The field distribution can be evaluated using
numerical techniques, such as, Finite Difference
Method (FDM), Finite Element Method (FEM),
Boundary Element Method (BEM) and Charge
Simulation Method (CSM) or combination of these
methods [8]. In contrast to other methods, FEM
takes into accounts for the no homogeneity of the
solution region. Also, the systematic generality of
the method makes it a versatile tool for a wide
range of problems [9-11].

Table 1: Relative permittivity of each domain for

insulator modeling
Material

Relative permittivity r

Air background
Silicone Rubber
FRP Core
Forged steel

(a)

1
4.3
7.2
106

(b)

(b)

(a)

Model 1

Model 2

Input parameters for the COMSOL Multiphysics

program are the dimensions of insulators,
permittivity of the materials and the boundary
conditions (potential of metal parts). In this study
four different composite insulator profiles of 11 kV
were selected to investigate the ability of the
proposed technique. The relative permittivity of
each domain is listed in Table 1.
2.3

Models parameters

Structural parameters of composite insulator

profile are generally including three variables,
namely shed diameter, shed spacing and end
fitting diameter, and all of them can be defined as
optimization variables. The structure of four
models before and after optimization are shown in
Figure 2, and the values of insulators structure
parameters are indicated in Table 2.
The initial dimensions of insulator for model 1
have been taken from ref. [3], while the
dimensions of model 2 have been taken from ref.
[12]. The initial dimensions of models 3 and 4
have been taken from practical insulators used in
the Egyptian electrical grid. The initial values of
design parameters, the range of permissible
variation of each parameter and the resultant
optimum values, calculated by the proposed
algorithm, are presented in Table 3.
3

CHECKING OF PROFILE PARAMETERS

The insulators profile parameters should be

checked after optimization to ensure a good
performance of insulators such as avoiding the
rain bridging, preventing local short circuiting
between sheds, aiding self-cleaning, avoiding
pollution traps and controlling local electric field
strength. These parameters are checked
according to IEC/TS 60815-3 [13].

(b)

(a)
Model 3

(a)

(b)
Model 4

Figure 2: Insulators profile (a) before optimization

and (b) after optimization.
Spacing versus shed overhang (s/p) is the ratio of
the vertical distance between two similar points of
sheds of the same diameter and the maximum
shed overhang. This factor is important for the
avoidance of shorting out creepage distance
bridged by a shed-to-shed arc. Minimum distance
between sheds (c) is the minimum distance
between adjacent sheds of the same diameter,
measured by drawing a perpendicular line from
the lowest point of rim of the upper shed to the
next shed below of the same diameter. It is very
important characteristics for insulator profile
evaluation for avoiding shed-to-shed arcing.
Creepage distance versus clearance (l/d) where d
is the straight air distance between two points on
the insulating part or between a point on the
insulating part and another on a metal part, and l
is the part of the creepage distance measured
between the above two points. (l/d) is the highest
ratio found in any section. Creepage factor (CF) is
the ratio of the total creepage distance to the
arcing distance of the insulator. Creepage factor is
a global check of the overall density of creepage
distance. These design parameters have been
calculated and checked as shown in Table 4.

Table 2: Structure parameters of four models of composite insulators

Structure parameters

Model 1

Model 2

Model 3

Model 4

Creepage distance (mm)

Arcing distance (mm)
Sectional length (mm)
Core thickness (mm)
Shed type
No. of sheds

430
180
360
18
Uniform
4

325
190
276
18
Uniform
3

525
188
318
16
Alternating
5

495
188
318
16
Alternating
5

Table 3: Optimization values of design parameters

Models
Model 1
Model 2
Model 3
Model 4

Optimization parameters
Spacing (mm)

shed diameter (mm)

Min.

Max.

Init.

Optim.

Min.

Max.

Init.

Optim.

80
80
80/50
80/50

110
130
160/130
160/130

85
90
134/105
134/105

94.4
110
106/76
105/75

26
25
35
70

55
60
50
100

43
58
50
100

26.7
37.5
36.5
70

End fitting diameter

(mm)
Min. Max. Init. Optim.
60
60
60
60

34
34
40
40

40
40
46
46

58
58
54
54

Table 4: Calculation of factors of insulator profile design according to IEC/TS 60815-3

Factors
Minimum distance
between sheds (c) (mm)
Difference of shed
overhang (P1-P2) (mm)
Spacing versus shed
overhang (s/p)
Creepage distance versus
clearance (l/d)
Creepage Factor (CF)

Recommended
range

Model 1

Model 2

Model 3

Model 4

Uniform
shed

Alternate
shed

Init.

Optim.

Init.

Optim.

Init.

Optim.

Init.

Optim.

25

35

42

26.1

56.5

36.5

46.8

35

93.6

65.5

---

15

---

---

---

---

15

15

15

15

0.8

0.8

1.56

0.83

1.9

0.95

0.93

0.96

1.87

1.83

< 4.5

< 4.5

2.21

3.56

1.98

3.07

3.67

3.7

3.67

3.19

< 4.5

2.39

1.88

1.7

1.72

2.79

2.84

2.63

2.38

< 4.5

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The maximum value of electric field strength is

reduced for all the models after optimization
process and the percentage of reduction is
approximately ranging from 10% to 17% as
indicated in Table 5.

when the end fitting increased the maximum value

of electric field is decreased; however the
increasing of end fitting diameter is restricted by
other considerations.
Table 5: Values of maximum electric field strength
Model
No.
Model 1
Model 2
Model 3
Model 4

Emax (kV/cm)
Init.
Optim.
2.285
2.473
1.77
1.678

1.925
2.053
1.524
1.528

Percentage
reduction in Emax
15.77 %
17 %
13.9 %
9.8 %

Based on the results, in order to improve the

electric field distribution on the insulator surface,
the optimal shed diameter for models 1 and 2 are
94.4 mm and 110 mm respectively, while models
3 and 4 large per small shed diameter are 106/76
mm and 105/75 mm respectively, these results
indicated that the shed diameter of uniform shed
models has been increased after optimization
process, while the alternating shed models larger
and smaller diameters have been decreased after
optimization.

The distribution of electric field strength on the

insulator surface for all models before and after
optimization is shown in Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6
respectively, from these figures it is noted that the
electric field magnitudes are larger close to the
energized and grounded ends of a composite
insulator.

The optimal shed spacing for models 1, 2, 3 and 4

are 26.7 mm, 37.5 mm, 36.5 mm and 70 mm
respectively. These results indicated that the shed
spacing for all models has been decreased after
optimization. The optimal end fitting diameter for
models 1 and 2 is 58 mm and for models 3 and 4
is 54 mm. These results show that for all models

The electric field distributions along the creepage

distance of insulator for all models before and
after optimization are shown in Figures 7, 8, 9 and
10 respectively. The energized end is subjected to
the highest field magnitudes. The maximum
electric field strength is reduced after optimization
for all models.

(a)

(b)

Figure 3: Electric field distribution of model 1

(a) before optimization and (b) after optimization

(a)

(b)

Figure 4: Electric field distribution of model 2

(a) before optimization and (b) after optimization

(a)

Figure 8: E-field distribution along creepage

distance of model 2 before and after optimization.

(b)

Figure 5: Electric field distribution of model 3

(a) before optimization and (b) after optimization

(a)

Figure 7: E-field distribution along creepage

distance of model 1 before and after optimization.

Figure 9: E-field distribution along creepage

distance of model 3 before and after optimization.

(b)

Figure 6: Electric field distribution of model 4

(a) before optimization and (b) after optimization

Figure 10: E-field distribution along creepage

distance of model 4 before and after optimization.

CONCLUSION

In this paper, the optimal design of the insulator

shed diameter, spacing and metal end fitting
diameter has been studied, in order to reduce the
maximum value of the electric field strength inside
and outside the composite insulator.
The values of the above mentioned optimized
insulator parameters have been checked
according to IEC/TS 60815-3 and their values are
within the recommended ranges.
Four different models of composite insulator
profiles of 11 kV were selected to be optimized by
using FEM combined with PSO algorithm. The
electric field distribution for all models has been
improved and the maximum reduction percentage
in the electric field strength was around 17%.
The numerical results show that increasing of
metal end fitting diameter and decreasing of the
spacing between sheds can improve the electric
field distribution. With respect to the shed
diameter, increasing it for uniform shed models
and decreasing it for alternating shed models
leads to improving the electric field distribution.
This contradiction may be due to the original
dimensions of insulators before optimization.
Generally the relation between shed diameter and
electric field distribution depends on insulator
structure and shed arrangement type.
The electric field distribution of models 3 and 4 is
better than that of models 1 and 2; this may be
due to the shape of end fitting, the large value of
creepage distance as well as the number and
arrangement of alternating sheds. According to
the research results, it has been found that
combined method of FEM and PSO could be
effective in optimization of insulator structure.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks and appreciations are due to Dr.
Mohamed Abdellah and UMR Industries staff
(factory of composite insulators in Industrial zone
Badr City, Cairo, Egypt) for the supporting and
providing the details of practical composite
insulators data.
REFERENCES
[1] R. Hackam, "Outdoor HV composite
polymeric insulators", IEEE Trans. Dielectr.
Electr. Insul, Vol. 6, pp. 557- 585, 1999.
[2] A. J. Phillips, J. Kuffel, A. Baker, Burnham et
al. "Electric fields on AC composite
transmission line insulators," IEEE Trans.
Power Delivery, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 823-830,
2008.

[3] N. Murugan, G. Sharmila, and G.

Kannayeram. "Design optimization of high
voltage composite insulator using Electric field
computations,"
In
2013
International
Conference
on
Circuits,
Power
and
Computing Technologies (ICCPCT), pp. 315320. IEEE, 2013.
[4] Q. Yang, R. Wang, W. Sima, T. Yuan and L.
Liao," Improvement of the electric field
distribution around the ends of composite
insulator with series connection of glass
insulator,"
Przegld
Elektrotechniczny
Journal, Poland, Vol. 89, pp. 248252, 2013.
[5] Z. Chu-yan, W. Li-ming, J. Zhi-dong and G.
Zhi-cheng, "Research on the optimization of
UHV AC composite insulators' shed." 2010
International Conference on High Voltage
Engineering and Application (ICHVE), pp.
345- 348, IEEE, 2010.
[6] COMSOL Multiphysics, "User's Manual",
Version 4.3.
[7] M.R. Aghaebrahimi, M. Ghayedi, R.
Shariatinasab and R. Gholami," A More
Uniform Electric Field Distribution on Surge
Arresters through the Optimal Design of
Spacer and Fiber Glass Layer," Research
Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and
Technology, Vol. 5, No. 13, pp. 3604- 3609,
2013.
[8] I. Sebestyen, Electric-field calculation for HV
insulators using domain decomposition
method, IEEE Trans. Magnetics, Vol. 38, pp.
1213- 1216, 2002.
[9] D. Nie, H. Zhang, Z. Chen, X. Shen and Z.
Du, "Optimization design of grading ring and
electrical field analysis of 800 kV UHVDC wall
bushing," IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul,
Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 1361- 1368, 2013.
[10] U. Schmann, F. Barcikowski, M. Schreiber,
H. C. Krner and J. M. Seifert, "FEM
calculation and measurement of the electrical
field distribution of HV composite insulator
th
arrangements," 39 Cigre Session, 2002.
[11] Ch. V. Siva kumar and Dr. B. Banakara,
"Design and evaluation of different types of
insulators using PDE tool box". 2012
International Conference on Computing,
Electronics and Electrical Technologies
[ICCEET], pp. 332- 337, IEEE, 2012.
[12] C. Muniraj and S. Chandrasekar. "Finite
element modeling for electric field and voltage
distribution along the Polluted Polymeric
Insulator," World Journal of Modeling and
Simulation, England, UK, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp.
310-320, 2012.
[13] IEC/TS 60815-3, 2008, Selection and
dimensioning of high-voltage insulators
intended for use in polluted conditions Part
3: Polymer insulators for a.c.