Experimental study of rotating wind turbine breakdown characteristics in large scale air gaps

When a wind turbine is struck by lightning,its blades are usually rotating.The effect of blade rotation on a turbine＇s ability to trigger a lightning strike is unclear.Therefore,an arching electrode was used in a wind turbine lightning discharge test to investigate the difference in lightning triggering ability when blades are rotating and stationary.A negative polarity switching waveform of 250/2500 μs was applied to the arching electrode and the up-and-down method was used to calculate the 50%discharge voltage.Lightning discharge tests of a 1：30 scale wind turbine model with 2,4,and 6 m air gaps were performed and the discharge process was observed.The experimental results demonstrated that when a 2 m air gap was used,the breakdown voltage increased as the blade speed was increased,but when the gap length was 4 m or longer,the trend was reversed and the breakdown voltage decreased.The analysis revealed that the rotation of the blades changes the charge distribution in the blade-tip region,promotes upward leader development on the blade tip,and decreases the breakdown voltage.Thus,the blade rotation of a wind turbine increases its ability to trigger lightning strikes.

Transmission properties of frequency selective structures with air gaps

The transmission properties of compound frequency selective structures with dielectric slab and air gaps were investigated by computation and experimentation. Mechanism analyses were also carried out. Results show that the air gaps have a distinct influence on the transmission properties. Resonant frequency of the structure would increase rapidly when the air gap appears. After the gap gets larger to a specific value, generally 1/5 wavelength corresponding to the resonant frequency, the transmission properties would change periodically with the gap thickness. The change of transmission properties in one period has a close relationship with the dielectric thickness. These results provide a new method for designing a bandpass radome of large incidence angle and low loss with the concept of stealth shield radome.

Dynamic propagation velocity of a positive streamer in a 3 m air gap under lightning impulse voltage

Streamers represent an important stage in the initiation of gap discharge. In this work, we used an eight-frame intensified charge-coupled device camera to capture the streamer development process when a lightning impulse voltage of 95%–100% U50% was applied in a 3 m rod–plate gap and the streamer velocity was analyzed. Analysis of the observations shows that streamer velocity can be defined by three stages: rapid velocity decline(stage 1), rapid velocity rise(stage 2)and slow velocity decline(stage 3). The effects of electrode shape, applied voltage and gap breakdown or withstanding on streamer velocity were analyzed. The electrode with a larger radius of curvature will result in a higher initial velocity, and a higher voltage amplitude will cause the streamer to propagate faster at stage 3. Gap withstanding or breakdown has no obvious effect on streamer velocity. In addition, the experimental results are compared with previous results and the statistical characteristics of the primary streamer discharge are discussed.

Experiment on Leader Propagation Characteristics of Air Gaps in UHVDC Transmission Towers Under Positive Switching Impulse Voltages

Rapid developments in EHV/UHV transmission systems require a deeper understanding of the mechanism of long air gap discharge.Leader propagation is one of the main processes in long gap breakdown.In this paper,the leader propagation characteristics of real size±800 kV UHVDC transmission tower gaps under positive switching impulse voltages(185/2290μs)are investigated.An integrated observation platform consisting of an impulse voltage divider,a coaxial shunt,a high-speed video camera,and a set of integrated optical electric field sensors(IOES),is established.The waveforms of impulse voltage,discharge current,electric field variation at specific positions,and time-resolved photographs of discharge morphology are recorded.Axial leader velocity and the relationship between leader advancements and injected charge are obtained.The typical value of leader stable propagation velocity is 1.7–2.2 cm/μs,which varies slightly with the gap length and applied voltage amplitude.The leader velocity in the re-illumination process is much higher,and is seen as varying from 5 cm/μs to 30 cm/μs,with an average value around 10 cm/μs.The charge in leader channel per unit length is 20–40μC/m,which illustrates a near-direct proportion relationship between discharge current and leader velocity.The observed parameters are important for further simulation of the tower gap breakdown processes.

Sensitivity Analysis of Air Gap Motion with Respect to Wind Load and Mooring System for Semi-Submersible Platform Design

A design of semi-submersible platform is mainly based on the extreme response analysis due to the forces experienced by the components during lifetime. The external loads can induce the extreme air gap response and potential deck impact to the semi-submersible platform. It is important to predict air gap response of platforms accurately in order to check the strength of local structures which withstand the wave slamming due to negative air gap. The wind load cannot be simulated easily by model test in towing tank whereas it can be simulated accurately in wind tunnel test. Furthermore, full scale simulation of the mooring system in model test is still a tuffwork especially the stiffness of the mooring system. Owing to the above mentioned problem, the model test results are not accurate enough for air gap evaluation. The aim of this paper is to present sensitivity analysis results of air gap motion with respect to the mooring system and wind load for the design of semi-submersible platform. Though the model test results are not suitable for the direct evaluation of air gap, they can be used as a good basis for tuning the radiation damping and viscous drag in numerical simulation. In the presented design example, a numerical model is tuned and validated by ANSYS AQWA based on the model test results with a simple 4 line symmetrical horizontal soft mooring system. According to the tuned numerical model, sensitivity analysis studies of air gap motion with respect to the mooring system and wind load are performed in time domain. Three mooring systems and five simulation cases about the presented platform are simulated based on the results of wind tunnel tests and sea-keeping tests. The sensitivity analysis results are valuable for the floating platform design.

Impact Analysis of Air Gap Motion with Respect to Parameters of Mooring System for Floating Platform

In this paper, the impact analysis of air gap concerning the parameters of mooring system for the semi-submersible platform is conducted. It is challenging to simulate the wave, current and wind loads of a platform based on a model test simultaneously. Furthermore, the dynamic equivalence between the truncated and full-depth mooring system is still a tuff work. However, the wind and current loads can be tested accurately in wind tunnel model. Furthermore, the wave can be simulated accurately in wave tank test. The full-scale mooring system and the all environment loads can be simulated accurately by using the numerical model based on the model tests simultaneously. In this paper, the air gap response of a floating platform is calculated based on the results of tunnel test and wave tank. Meanwhile, full-scale mooring system, the wind, wave and current load can be considered simultaneously. In addition, a numerical model of the platform is tuned and validated by ANSYS AQWA according to the model test results. With the support of the tuned numerical model, seventeen simulation cases about the presented platform are considered to study the wave, wind, and current loads simultaneously. Then, the impact analysis studies of air gap motion regarding the length, elasticity, and type of the mooring line are performed in the time domain under the beam wave, head wave, and oblique wave conditions.

Regulation Method for Torque-Angle Characteristics of Rotary Electric-Mechanical Converter Based on Hybrid Air Gap

The torque-angle characteristics of electric-mechanical converters are important determinants of the quality of electrohydraulic proportional control systems.It is far more difficult for a rotary electric-mechanical converter(REMC)to obtain flat torque-angle characteristics than traditional proportional solenoid,greatly influencing the promotion and application of rotary valves for electrohydraulic proportional control systems.A simple and feasible regulation method for the torque-angle characteristics of REMCs based on a hybrid air gap is proposed.The regulation is performed by paralleling an additional axial air gap with the original radial air gap to obtain a flat torque-angle characteristic and increase output torque.For comparison,prototypes of REMCs based on hybrid and radial air gaps were manufactured,and a special test rig was built.The torque-angle characteristics under different excitation currents and step responses were studied by magnetic circuit analysis,finite element simulation,and experimental research.The experimental results were consistent with the theoretical analysis.It was shown that REMCs based on a hybrid air gap can obtain a flat torque-angle characteristic with further optimizing of key structural parameters and also increase output torque.This regulation method provides a new approach for the design of proportional rotary electromechanical converters.

Experimental Study on Branch and Diffuse Type of Streamers in Leader Restrike of Long Air Gap Discharge

One of the main problems in the Ultra High Voltage （UHV） transmission project is to choose the external insulation distance, which requires a deep understanding of the long air gap discharge mechanism. The leader-streamer propagation is one of most important stages in long air gap discharge. In the conductor-tower lattice configuration, we have measured the voltage, the current on the high voltage side and the electric field in the gap. While the streamer in the leader-streamer system presented a conical or hyperboloid diffuse shape, the clear branch structure streamer in front of the leader was firstly observed by a high speed camera in： the experiment. Besides, it is found that the leader velocity, width and injected charge for the branch type streamer are greater than those of a diffuse type. We propose that the phenomenon results from the high humidity, which was 15.5-16.5 g/m3 in our experiment.

Numerical Estimation of the Thermal Response of Thermal Protective Clothing-Air Gap-Human Skin Micro-system

Thermal protective clothing has been recognized as the primary shielding against emergency fire hazard and inflammable gas leakage. Therefore,the thermal response of human covered with thermal protective clothing under high temperature is the key work to investigate the thermal insulation of thermal protective clothing. A coupling model composed of thermal protective clothing,air gap and human skin is established and the temperature of the micro-system is numerically solved via the finite element method( FEM).Especially,the heat transfer of air gap located between clothing and human skin considering conduction and radiation is established while the human skin layers involve the effect of blood perfusion. Then the effect of thermophysical properties( thermal conductivity and volumetric capacity) of fabric and thickness of fabric and air on the thermal response of the micro-system is elucidated and compared.The results indicate that the volumetric heat capacity of fabric is the key parameter to affect the thermal shielding performance of thermal protective clothing,and the thicker fabric thickness and air gap thickness can improve the thermal protective properties of the micro-system.

Effect of Air Gap under Fabric on Thermal Protective Performance Using an Improved Apparatus

The bench top test is one of the most important and effective methods to evaluate the total thermal protective performance(TPP) of firefighters' protective clothing,which is greatly influenced by the air gaps entrapped.In this paper,to investigate the effect of air gap width on TPP,a new improved apparatus with two height changeable buttons to hold the thermal sensor was developed to get a series of air gap sizes from 0 mm to 40 mm.The TPP of two types of flame-resistant outer fabrics was measured with TPP test apparatus respectively.Analysis of temperature rise with each air gap width was made to determine the effects of different air gaps on protective performance.It was indicated that air gap size had great effect on TPP of fabrics in the bench top test.An air gap width above 8 mm was suggested for the thermal protective clothing design.

A MATHEMATICAL HEAT TRANSFER MODEL INSTATIC AND CONTINUOUS CASTING

The application of a heat flow model to describe the thermal characteristics of freezing alloys with narrow mushy zones from a refrigerated mould wall was outlined. The extension of the model was to treat the continuous casting of metals with low thermal conductivity, such as steels, which will be outlined. The model was based on the mathematical expedient for replacing thermal resistance of the metal/mould interface by virtual adjuncts of metal/mould material. It provided a good description of the pool profile and the technique exhibits advantages in terms of both computation and versatility of application.

Analytical calculation of electromagnetic, torque for surface mounted permanent magnet brushless motors

With the air gap magnetic field distribution of surface mounted permanent magnet （PM） motors obtained using an analytical technique, the instantaneous electromagnetic torque and its corresponding components are investigated with the Maxwell stress tensor method. Accurate results can easily be achieved using the proposed method without using the tedious finite element analysis （FEA）. In this paper, the electromagnetic torque of a surface mounted PM motor with two phases energized is decomposed into four torque components. This technique is useful not only for the design and optimization of the permanent magnet motor, but also for the choice of control strategy.

Dynamic development model for long gap discharge streamer-leader system based on fractal theory

Establishing a long air gap discharge model considering the streamer-leader transition and randomness of the discharge path is of great signiflcance to improve the accuracy of discharge characteristic prediction and optimize external insulation design.Based on fractal theory and thermal ionization theory of streamer-leader transition,this work establishes a dynamic development model for the long air gap discharge streamer-leader system,which includes streamer inception,streamer development,leader inception,development of streamer-leader system and flnal jump.The positive discharge process of a 3 m rod plate is simulated to obtain the fractal distribution of the discharge path and the law of leader development for comparison with the discharge test results.The results show that the simulation model is similar to test results in the development characteristics of leader path distribution,each stage time and leader velocity.Finally,a simulation calculation of a 50%breakdown voltage of the rod-plate gap and ball-plate gap is carried out,with results fairly consistent with test data,proving the effectiveness and practicality of the model.

Experimental and Numerical Studies of a Linear Synchronous Motor with the Secondary Made of Coated Superconductor

Thrust tests of a linear synchronous motor(LSM)with its secondary made of coated superconducting coils were conducted via the built prototype over the traditional copper windings.A numerical model of the superconducting LSM was made and the measured data of experiment validate its reliability.The nonlinear resistivity of coated superconductor was electromagnetically modeled by resorting to the power law in conjunction with the constitutive relationship of conductor.Based on the numerical model,we carried out a set of transient studies to make a forecast about the superiority of the proposed high temperature superconducting(HTS)LSM,such as magnetic field distribution and the time evolution of thrust together with the speed in different loads and frequencies.The achieved results clearly confirm that the proposed HTS LSM has the advantages to work as a candidate for developing the high-thrust LSM with a large air gap.

Ease Allowance Distributed Features of Different Garment Styles

To investigate the effect of fashion style on ease distributed features in different body parts and orientations,three female shirts with the same size specifications but different silhouettes were designed.Seven female participants whose body shape were similar to Chinese garment size standard were scanned by three dimensional human body scanner both with and without experimental shirts.The ease distribution of three shirts was measured and analyzed by using Geomagic Qualify software.The results show that ease distribution of most body parts can be influenced by garment styles except the upper back and chest.Ease allowances are not evenly distributed in different orientations of body parts,and it tends to be lager at lateral body than at medial.This knowledge can be applied in pattern design for better fitness.

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ON WAVE RUN-UP CHARACTERISTICS ALONG COLUMNS AND AIR GAP RESPONSE OF SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE PLATFORM

This article mainly concentrates on a large-volume drilling semi-submersible platform, aiming to reveal wave run-up characteristics along square columns and give the relationship between air gap distributions and wave parameters. The tests with fixed model were conducted firstly on its encountering a series of monochromatic waves. A wide range of wave slope （H/L ） were selected to investigate the air gap response in detail. As can be seen, larger wave steepness will generally cause smaller air gap in the same wave period, which indicates nonlinear effects of incoming wave can amplify wave elevation. Model tests with mooring condition were also conducted in the same wave conditions. As was expected, the maximum relative wave elevation reduces obviously compared with the fixed one. However, wave shape close to columns show higher harmonic characteristics due to interaction between waves and the columns of semi-submersible platform. Meaningful conclusions from the model tests are drawn in this article, which is helpful in air gap design of floating offshore platform to a certain extent. In addition, the experimental results will provide an important reference for further research on validation and update of theoretical models of air gap.

Characteristics of Long Air Gap Discharge Current Subjected to Switching Impulse

Measuring the pre-breakdown current of long sparks in air is important for investigating the discharge mechanism.Since the breakdown of long air gaps is conducted by a series of streamer-leader processes,the corresponding current signals cover a bandwidth of 0 to more than 20 MHz.Measurement accuracy of the current from the high voltage side is affected by the displacement current and impulse electromagnetic interference.In this paper,a coaxial current sensor with a DC bandwidth of 74.45 MHz is developed.A displacement current-restrained electrode structure is proposed to reduce the equivalent capacitance between the current sensor and the ground over 30 times.Combined with the digital optical fiber synchronous acquisition unit,a current measurement system for long air gap discharge is established.For the purpose of the UHV system’s external insulation optimization design,the discharge current waveform of a 6 m rod-plane air gap under positive switching impulse voltage with 250µs and 1000µs time to crest is obtained.Discharge images and stressed voltage are combined to analyze the continuous feature of a current waveform under critical time to crest impulse and discontinuous feature under long front duration impulse.For the purposes of a lightning protection study,the current waveform of a 10 m rod-plane air gap is subjected to negative switching impulse.Finally,the pulse characteristics of the current corresponding to the single channel and branching stepped negative leader are discussed.

Analytical Analysis and Performance Characterization of Brushless Doubly Fed Induction Machines Based on General Air-gap Field Modulation Theory

Air-gap magnetic field modulation has been widely observed in electric machines.In this study,we present an analytical analysis and performance characterization of brushless doubly fed induction machines(BDFIMs)fed by two independent converters from the perspective of air-gap field modulation.The spiral-loop winding is studied in detail as an example to show the generalized workflow that can also be used to analyze other short-circuited rotor winding types,such as nested-loop and multiphase double-layer windings.Magnetic field conversion factors are introduced to characterize the modulation behavior of special rotor windings and facilitate their comparison in terms of cross-coupling capability,average torque,and harmonic content of the air-gap flux density waveforms.The stator magnetomotive force(MMF),rotor MMF,and resultant air-gap MMF are considered,based on which the closed-form inductance formulas are derived,and the torque equation is obtained along with the optimal current angle for maximum torque operation by using the virtual work principle.The design equations are then developed for the initial sizing and geometry scaling of the BDFIMs.Transient finite element analysis and experimental measurements are performed to validate the analysis.

Modeling and simulation of air-gapped current transformer based on Preisach Theory

Current Transformer(CT)modeling,by which CT’s characteristics can be studied has a significant importance in CT selection and design.In spite of numerous studies about closed-core CT model,only a few works have been conducted on air-gapped ones with the following problems:models of which required data is easily-accessible,have poor simulations of magnetization process;on the contrary,models which have satisfactory simulations,are hard to be established because of the hard-to-get required data.Therefore,based on Preisach Theory,a novel air-gapped CT model is deduced from the closed core CT model.The proposed model is accurate and can be established easily.The saturation and remanence properties of closed-core CT and air-gapped CT are simulated and compared.

Design and analysis of a novel hybrid cooling method of high-speed high-power permanent magnet assisted synchronous reluctance starter/generator in aviation applications

To improve the heat dissipation performance,this paper proposes a novel hybrid cooling method for high-speed high-power Permanent Magnet assisted Synchronous Reluctance Starter/Generator(PMa Syn R S/G)in aerospace applications.The hybrid cooling structure with oil circulation in the housing,oil spray at winding ends and rotor end surface is firstly proposed for the PMa Syn R S/G.Then the accurate loss calculation of the PMa Syn R S/G is proposed,which includes air gap friction loss under oil spray cooling,copper loss,stator and rotor core loss,permanent magnet eddy current loss and bearing loss.The parameter sensitivity analysis of the hybrid cooling structure is proposed,while the equivalent thermal network model of the PMa Syn R S/G is established considering the uneven spraying at the winding ends.Finally,the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid cooling method is demonstrated on a 40 k W/24000 r/min PMa Syn R S/G experimental platform.