Numerical Study on Alternating Current Breakdown Mechanism Between Sphere-Sphere Electrodes in Transformer Oil-Based Magnetic Nanofluids

A numerical simulation was developed for magnetic nanoparticles in a liquid dielectric to investigate the AC breakdown voltage of the magnetic nanofluids according to the volume concentration of the magnetic nanoparticles. In prior research, we found that the dielectric breakdown voltage of the transformer oil-based magnetic nanofluids was positively or negatively affected according to the amount of magnetic nanoparticles under a testing condition of dielectric fluids, and the trajectory of the magnetic nanoparticles in a fabricated chip was visualized to verify the related phenomena via measurements and computations. In this study, a numerical simulation of magnetic nanoparticles in an insulating fluid was developed to model particle tracing for AC breakdown mechanisms happened to a sphere-sphere electrode configuration and to propose a possible mechanism regarding the change in the breakdown strength due to the behavior of the magnetic nanoparticles with different applied voltages.