Electrostatic Shielding of Faraday’s Ring Made of Stainless Steel 304 in the Glass Insulators

High voltage glass insulators are equipment used in power transmission or distribution networks. They consist of a metal bell, a metal pin and a glass or porcelain disk. The joint action of atmospheric pollution, humidity and an intense electric field on the surface of these insulators accelerates the process of corrosion in the metal pin parts, resulting in catastrophic failures in the entire electrical system. In this sense, this case report presents an electrostatic protection device that, aiming to shield the surface of the pins against the pernicious electrical influences, was designed as a screwable Faraday cage made of stainless steel 304 and was denominated "Faraday's ring". To validate the efficacy of the device, electrical field simulations were carried out in 2D models of chains of insulators, which were developed using software that is based on the Finite Element Method, and experimental tests were also carried out with the aid of a Tesla Coil to supply electric discharges on the metallic surface of the device. The simulations and experimental results showed that the device was able to cancel out the intense electric field of ~3