Experience with salt-fog and inclined-plane tests for aging polymeric insulators and materials

This paper presents the results of an investigation on evaluating room-temperature-vulcanized (RTV) silicone rubber coatings for high-voltage insulators of substations and overhead transmission lines. It is based on tests conducted for three different available RTVs that are currently used by utilities. The study compared three commercial coatings: RTV-A and RTV-B filled with ATH (aluminum tri-hydrate) as the primary filler, and RTV-C filled with silica. The relative comparison between them is based on their electrical and chemical characteristics. The evaluation employed standard and research-based evaluation methods, including the salt fog test, the inclined plane test, thermo-gravimetric analyses (TGA), thermal conductivity measurement, soaking in water, the mechanical test, and SEM photographs. Results of the inclined plane test showed that the silica-filled coating is not resistive against tracking and erosion compared with ATH-filled coatings. It was observed that filler size is one of the main reasons for better performance of RTV-A compared with RTV-B, whereas both have ATH as the primary filler. The higher thermal conductivity of RTV-A resulted in a very good performance in the salt fog test and the IPT.

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Performance of silicone rubber nanocomposites in salt-fog, inclined plane, and laser ablation tests

IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation ◽

10.1109/tdei.2010.5412019 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 206-213 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Isaias Ramirez ◽

Shesha Jarayam ◽

Edward Cherney

Keyword(s):

Laser Ablation ◽

Silicone Rubber ◽

Inclined Plane ◽

Rubber Nanocomposites ◽

Salt Fog

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Experimental Study on Optimization of Filler Concentration of Silicon Rubber Compound Used in High Voltage Insulators

International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology ◽

10.22214/ijraset.2021.39282 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (12) ◽

pp. 327-346

Author(s):

Allu Shanmukha Rao

Keyword(s):

Tensile Strength ◽

Specific Gravity ◽

Polymeric Material ◽

Silicone Rubber ◽

Power Transmission ◽

Dielectric Strength ◽

Filler Material ◽

Inclined Plane ◽

Tear Strength ◽

Polymeric Insulators

Abstract: In any power transmission system, insulators are essential for a reliable electrical power supply. The Efficiency of insulators will be decided by their electrical and mechanical properties. Recently in many of the power transmission systems, the conventional porcelain insulators are being replaced by polymeric insulators due to various advantages in their properties. Polymeric insulators have been increasingly popular in recent years as a result of their superior performance in contaminated environments due to their hydrophobic nature. However, research is still being carried out on Polymeric material with regards to ageing condition and feasibility for large scale utilization. Ageing of insulation is due to Environmental, Tracking and Erosion conditions. Ageing leads to immature failures and uncertainty in the performance of the insulators. The constituent materials and their properties have a significant impact on the performance of polymeric insulators. There is a strong need to look into newer filler materials which can be added to the existing polymeric base materials to constitute a composite. Keeping this in mind, in the proposed research uses Silicone rubber as base polymeric material and along with that additives are added to arrive at three different composites. A new filler material will be added to the base material forming a new composite. All these HTV Silicone rubber based composites are then tested the recovery of hydrophobicity, dielectric strength, hardness, specific gravity, tensile strength , ultimate elongation ,tear strength properties based on ASTM standards. Further, Inclined plane Tracking and Erosion studies are also conducted on the polymeric test samples for 6 hours to evaluate the SiR housing material suitability for outdoor insulator applications by subjecting them to AC high voltages under laboratory conditions as per IEC 60587 standards. Keywords: Recovery of hydrophobicity, dielectric strength, hardness, specific gravity, tensile strength, ultimate elongation, tear strength, inclined plane tracking and erosion, ageing, filler material.

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