Measurement and assessment of corona current density for HVDC bundle conductors by FDM integrated with full multigrid technique

•FDM-FMG is proposed for assessing HVDC bundled conductors.•FMG decreases the truncation error for finite difference approximations.•FMG is time-efficient as it converges fast on finer computational domains.•Numerical outcomes concurred well with past and present laboratory results. This paper presents an intensive measurement and analysis of monopolar ionized fields in bundled high voltage direct current (HVDC) conductors using the finite difference method based on the full multigrid technique. The positive feature of this study is that it considers the comprehensive representation of the bundle conductor, unlike the existing studies that approximate the bundle conductor with an equivalent conductor radius. Firstly, the proposed method is compared with previous experimental results. Secondly, a flexible laboratory model for the bundled HVDC conductors is constructed. Thirdly, the laboratory model is exploited to validate the numerically computed current density distribution on the ground plane and corona current for different bundles’ numbers and different distances between bundles. Bundles of one, two, and four conductors are adopted in the experimental setup. For the same applied voltage, the results verified that the corona current decreases by increasing the bundles’ number and/or minimizing the spacing between bundles. Consequently, the obtained results confirmed that corona power losses can be minimized, without needing the traditional procedures that involve increasing either the conductor radius or its height above the ground. The results of the proposed numerical approach concurred well with the present and past laboratory results.