Experimental setup to evaluate creepage distance requirements for shipboard power systems

The stresses on shipboard insulators resulting from the unique features of future all-electric Navy ships such as DC power, power electronics induced harmonics, ungrounded rails and bidirectional power flow are not fully understood. The dielectric performance of these insulators determines the creepage and clearance requirements in shipboard power systems. This paper provides technical background on failure mechanisms of insulators pertinent to creepage and clearance requirements. Existing standards on creepage and clearance distances are studied and found to be inadequate. An experimental setup proposed to study the behavior of insulators under shipboard stresses is described. The methods of determination of creepage distance from the experiments and their application in the development of model based scaling rules for shipboard equipment is explained.