New Studies of the Transient Glow Discharge in Parallel Electrode Gaps

Studies of the parallel transmission line phase conductor gap were conducted in order to obtain a better understanding of the mechanism of lightning flashover of transmission lines. Improved techniques of digital transient recording and image converter photography were used to obtain detailed new data on the breakdown process. These data are used to evaluate models for (1) the growth of corona in the gap and for (2) the characteristics of the glow discharge phase which occurs after corona bridges the gap and before the final collapse of voltage. These models will be important for new transmission line studies, especially for those compaction studies which contemplate drastically reduced phase-phase clearances.