In this study, the electric fields analyze of insulator used
for high voltages applications has been done by
Boundary Element Method (BEM). For the numerical
calculation, ELECTRO package program has been used.
The geometric of the insulator included material
properties and boundary conditions have been defined.
The calculation has been performed after the boundaries
and interfaces had been discretized using the boundary
elements. Potential and electric field distributions have
been obtained.
Keywords: Electric Field, Electrostatic Potential,
Boundary Element Method, HV Insulator

Computer methods have become an essential tool
for the design of high voltage equipment, in order to
utilize the electric field as well as possible [1], [2].
The ability to calculate the electric field strength and
potentials on insulators rather than having to perform
laboratory experiments would be very helpful [3].
High voltage insulators are essential for the reliable
performance of electric power systems. All insulators,
regardless of their material, are exposed to various
electrical, mechanical and environmental stresses. The
electrical stresses are the consequences of regular
voltages and overvoltages. The mechanical stresses
are related to the presence of various loads, e.g., the
weight of conductors and hardware, wind load, ice
load, etc [4].
Accuracy in the calculation of field distributions
and device parameters remains the foremost
consideration in the choice of the appropriate tools,
followed by speed of solution and cost. The three
major methods of solution can be categorized as
analytical, experimental and numerical [5], [6]. The
use of analytical methods in complex geometries
requires iterative approximations, which leads to
highly suspect results [7]. These methods are no
sufficient to produce full and accurate results. The
experimental methods have the clear disadvantage of
being costly. Recently, numerical methods have
gained in accuracy and applicability, thus providing
an alternative of choice to the above two methods.
The most commonly used numerical methods are
finite differences, finite elements and boundary
elements [8], [9].

The BEM has some distinct advantages over
methods, such as the Finite Element Method (FEM)
and Finite Difference Method (FDM), which use
differential operators to compute the field [10]. BEM
requires only the discretization of dielectric and
conductor surfaces. FEM and FDM require the
problem space to be truncated at some arbitrary
distance from the model of the device. The entire
problem space up to the truncation then requires
meshing. The discretization of only dielectric and
conductor surfaces in the BEM reduces user input and
storage requirements for the final solution. [11].