Quick start

Using PDflex is really straightforward, and after a few clicks you will be ready to see the main features of your partial discharge data. In this section, we will provide you with basic steps you must follow to open a new data file. As with almost all software, just try yourself, clicking here and there. Once you are used to the GUI of PDflex, you can check the user manual for further methods or details into the computation methods.

Some important remarks on the data

1- The software was designed based on the assumption that the PD signals are measured by a HFCT, therefore the records in the files are the voltage output V0 of the HFCT sensor. Then, these records are translated back into current pulses Ipd as follows: Note that Vo is the voltage signal at the measuring side of the circuit and Ipd is the current flowing through the HV loop.

PD current = (sensor gain) x (sensor voltage output).

2- The data file is a matrix with rows representing each PD pulse and the columns representing the number of samples in each record. Note that this is a square matrix.

3- The default value of the gain is 9.1 mV/mA corresponding to the particular sensor used here at our lab. When reading .mat files the default gain value is 1. However, this value can be changed correspondingly in the settings window.

4- The sampling rate has to be set only for the .mat examples. Setting a value of the sampling rate for .wfm or .bin files will overwrite the actual sampling rate.

5- The .mat files containing the phases and the time stamp are optional. If these files are not loaded, then and arbitrary time stamp is assumed and all the phases are set to zero.

Executing PDflex

1- Download and unzip any of the raw data examples.

2- After filling in the download form, run pdflex.exe. Then, you will see the main interface.

 

3- Click on the Open file button located at the left side of the tool bar.

4- For this example, we are reading the example file coronas_surface_Fs_200MSs.mat so we have to click on the Open button at the right of the field “% file containing PD pulses”. A prompt window will appear to select the file to open. Follow the same procedure to load the file containing the phases and the time stamp.

5- Set the sampling rate of the acquired data in the field Fs (MHz). The default value is 1000. For this example this field has to be set to 200.

6- If the load was successful (no error messages in the Errors text area), then click on the Accept button.