To address the problem of low space utilization of existing rigid Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) sensors for partial discharge (PD) in Gas-Insulated Switchgears (GIS) and the problem of disrupting the electric field distribution inside the GIS. This paper draws on the idea of flexible wearable antennas and introduces planar monopole antennas commonly used in the communication field as GIS PD detection sensors and carried out research on flexible planar monopole sensing technology built into GIS PD. The VSWR of monopole antenna in the UHF low band is optimized by the meandering technique. The size of the designed flexible antenna is 142 mm × 195 mm × 0.28 mm. The simulation and physical test results show that the improved monopole antenna with meandering technology has a VSWR of ≤2 in the frequency bands 570 MHz-830 MHz, 1.38 GHz-1.8 GHz, and 2.2 GHz-2.76 GHz when the bending radius is 0 mm, 200 mm, and 400 mm, respectively. The VSWR in the frequency band 450 MHz-3 GHz is ≤5. A 220 kV GIS PD detection platform was built to test the performance of the designed antenna, and the results showed that the antenna could detect the PD signal after bending deformation with a high Signal Noise Ratio (SNR).
Keywords: flexible antenna; gas-insulated switchgear; meandering technology; partial discharge.