The operational reliability of gas-insulated switchgear/gas-insulated transmission lines (GIS/GIL) is critically threatened by internal metallic particles, which serve as primary triggers for insulation degradation. Conventional partial discharge (PD) detection methods often lack sensitivity during the early stages of particle movement. To overcome these limitations, this study aims to develop a novel non-intrusive defect diagnosis methodology based on the analysis of mechanical vibration signals. The coupled particle motion model integrating the electrostatic field, particle tracking, and multibody dynamics has been established. This model reveals the dynamic law that metallic particles migrate toward the conductor and undergo charge polarity reversal after collision, with a maximum speed of 2.7 m/s. Meanwhile, the peak vibration acceleration excited by the collision is calculated as 0.02 m/s2. Accordingly, the high-voltage experimental platform with the full-scale prototype is built to simulate the actual operating conditions of the power grid. With the particle defects set inside the prototype, vibration signals are collected by using an accelerometer, and the measured peak vibration acceleration is 0.017 m/s2. Finally, a defect diagnosis method based on the Hilbert–Huang Transform (HHT) and correlation coefficient analysis is proposed. This method uses Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) to extract the IMF4 component of the signal in the vicinity of the 1000 Hz frequency band. When particle defects occur, the correlation coefficient between the IMF4 component and the original signal exceeds 0.7668. This vibration-based monitoring technique provides an alternative for the condition-based maintenance of GIS/GIL, offering significant engineering value for enhancing the safety and reliability of power transmission infrastructure.
He et al. (Wed,) studied this question.