Study on Thermal Characteristics and Movement Law of Water Droplets Discharges on Insulator Surface

Temperature changes usually accompany the deformation and discharge of conductive water droplets on the insulator surface. This work aims to reveal the internal temperature evolution characteristics during the deformation and discharge of the conductive water droplets on the silicone rubber surface. Three fiber Bragg gratings are implanted at the interface between the silicone rubber plate and the epoxy resin plate to measure the interface temperature. Results show that the elongation of water droplets can characterize the deformation state of water droplets under an electric field. The significantly different interfacial temperature rise rates can be used to distinguish between the water droplets’ deformation and the water droplets’ flashover discharge on the silicon rubber surface, with a temperature rise rate of 1.68 × 10−3 ℃/s for water droplet deformation and 4.46 × 10−2 ℃/s for flashover. This work is of great significance in realizing the surface condition detection of composite insulators.