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Abstract Insulation failures caused by water drops deformation on insulator sheds edge greatly threaten the stable operation of power grid. However, only few studies have focused on water drops deformation characteristics on insulator sheds edge. In this paper, full‐time domain deformation of water drop was defined. The rain tests were performed to study the deformation of water drops and obtain water drops parameters under DC voltage. The water drops deformation parameter was selected according to the state of water drops when arc is generated. A fluid‐electric field coupling method is employed to establish simulation model to study the influence of water drops initial diameter, initial mass flow rate, DC voltage, and conductivity on water drops deformation. It is indicated that water drops maximum deformation length before first break in simulation is in good consistency with that obtained from rain tests. The water drops initial diameter, initial mass flow rate, and DC voltage significantly influence the deformation of water drops on sheds edge. Moreover, the water drops may even bridge adjacent sheds in some cases. In contrast, the effect of water drops conductivity on the water drops deformation is not apparent.

Abstract Hollow porcelain insulators in substations are frequently confronted with rain flashovers under extreme rainfall. This study aims to investigate the spatial and temporal variation of electric fields between hollow porcelain insulator sheds affected by dynamic deformation of pendant water drops and effects of the dimensionless number of fluids, the Weber number (We) and the electric Bond number (BoE), on it for influencing factors' analysis. Flow‐electric field coupling simulations were carried out to compute the magnitude and the position of AC electric fields between the sheds. The results show that the maximum electric field at a point in time (Etmax) increases significantly after the breakup of the pendant water drop, and its position alters accordingly. For low We and BoE, the global maximum electric field (Egmax) increases with increasing We and BoE, respectively. It is much closer to the adjacent sheds and occurs later than Etmax at the breakup of the pendant water drop (Ebmax). By contrast, Egmax decreases in different degrees at high We and BoE, respectively. There is little difference between Egmax and Ebmax in the position and the occurring time. The influence mechanism on the maximum electric field and discharges and the relationship between discharges induced by the pendant water drop and rain flashover are discussed.