Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Assessment of Insulation Failure of Field Aged 11 kV Polymeric Insulators of Marine Environment with Characterizations Technique

  • Original Research Article
  • Published:
Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The organic nature of composite insulators makes them vulnerable under various stress even though they offer many advantages compared to ceramic counterparts. This premature aging will create a major change in surface profile, variation in chemical bonding and hydrophobicity. Those factors will make the polymers lose their insulation property, resulting in an increase in leakage current, causing frequent flashover. This can ultimately make insulators of this type fail at normal operating voltage, causing disruption in power utilities, resulting in huge economic losses. So in this regard an attempt has been made by the author in the work to understand the chemical phenomena behind this premature natural aging. The various categories of insulators with profiles termed as virgin, 2 years aged, 3 years aged with bio growth, shrinked and flashover has been collected from the marine environment. Analysis of the insulators by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicates that as the insulators age there will be serious decrease in aging resistance, degradation resistance and hydrophobic property. Shore A hardness indicates the surface becomes very hard with aging causing decrease in surface resistance. Water contact angle measurements indicate that material tends to become more hydrophilic. The silica oxidation, oligomer formation and shielding effect reduction are the main factors leading to the insulation failures of field aged insulators. This work will help power system engineers timely replace aged insulators of the type and prevent huge economic losses to the utility industry.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. M. Amin, M. Salman, Aging of polymeric insulators (an overview). Rev. Adv. Mater. Sci. 13, 93 (2006)

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. N.C. Mavrikakis, P.N. Mikropoulos, K. Siderakis, Evaluation of field-ageing effects on insulating materials of composite suspension insulators. IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul. (2017). https://doi.org/10.1109/TDEI.2016.006077

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. H. Zhang, Y. Tu, Y. Lu, Z. Xu, C. Chen, L. Xie Study on aging characteristics of silicone rubber insulator sheds using FTIR, in IEEE International conference. https://doi.org/10.1109/ELINSL.2012.6251431

  4. S. Nandi, B.S. Reddy, D. Sharma, Performance of composite insulators used for electric transmission under extreme climatic conditions. J. Mater. Eng. Perform. 28, 5959–5969 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-019-04341-3

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. S. Nandi, B.S. Reddy, Understanding field failures of composite insulators. Eng. Fail. Anal. (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2020.104758

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Z.W. Gao, X.C. Zhu, S.J. Yang, H.Y. Nie, The FTIR analysis of field aged composite insulators. Adv. Mater. Res. 1008–1009, 620–623 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Z. Wang, X. Zhang, F. Wang, X. Lan, Y. Zhou, Effects of aging on the structural, mechanical, and thermal properties of the silicone rubber current transformer insulation bushing for a 500 kV substation. SpringerPlus. (2016). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40064-016-2549-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. A.E. Vlastos, S.M. Gubanski, Surface structural changes of naturally aged silicone and EPDM composite insulators. IEEE Trans. Power Deliv. (1991). https://doi.org/10.1109/61.131149

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. R. Sundararajan, A. Mohammed, N. Chaipanit, T. Karcher, Z. Liu, In-service aging and degradation of 345 kV EPDM transmission line insulators in a coastal environment. IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul. (2004). https://doi.org/10.1109/TDEI.2004.1285906

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Y. Xiong, S. Rowland, J. Robertson, R. Day, Surface analysis of asymmetrically aged 400 kV silicone rubber composite insulators. IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul. (2008). https://doi.org/10.1109/TDEI.2008.4543114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. M.F. Alhari, Life expectancy and future performance of SiR and EPDM nonceramic insulators through FTIR spectroscopy and analytical methods. Int. J. Manag. Appl. Sci. (2018). https://doi.org/10.1109/SusTech.2018.8671373

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. D. Ghosh, D. Khastgir, Degradation and stability of polymeric high-voltage insulators and prediction of their service life through environmental and accelerated aging processes. ACS Omega. (2018). https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.8b01560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Li. Cheng, S. Shao, S. Zhang, R. Liao, L. Yang, C. Guo, Research on the long-time operation performance of composite insulator shed hydrophobicity under hydrothermal conditions. IET J. Eng. Technol. 3(1), 67–72 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1049/hve.2017.0117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. P.D. Blackmore, D. Birtwhistle, G.A. Cash, G.A. George, Condition assessment of EPDM composite insulators using FTIR spectroscopy. IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul. (1998). https://doi.org/10.1109/94.660819

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Z. Liu, R. Sundarajan, A. Mohammed, J. Graves, SEM and FTIR Analysis field aged vs. laboratory aged polymeric surge arresters. Microsc. Microanal. (2004). https://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927604887749

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. X. Huasong, C. Xie, R. Wang, B. Gou, S. Luo, J. Zhou, Effects of electrical-hydrothermal aging degradation on dielectric and trap properties high temperature vulcanized silicone rubber materials. RSC Adv. (2020). https://doi.org/10.1039/D0RA00134A

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. ASTM D-2250. Standard Test Method for Rubber Property—Durometer Hardness (2017)

  18. Mq. Bi, R. Deng, T. Jiang, X. Chen, A. Pan, L. Zhu, Study on corona aging characteristics of silicone rubber material under different environmental conditions. IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1109/TDEI.2022.3163792

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. M.T. Nazir, B.T. Phung, Y. Shihu, S. Li, Resistance against AC corona discharge of micro-ATH/ nano-Al2O3 co-filled silicone rubber composites. IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul. 25(2), 157–167 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1109/TDEI.2018.006914

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. M. Amin, A.K.M. Ali, Accelerated aging investigation of silicone rubber/silica composites for coating of high-voltage insulators. Electr Eng J. (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00202-016-0498-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The author likes to acknowledge the Center for Material Testing laboratory of M.S.Ramaiaih Institute of Technology, Bangalore for using the facility.

Funding

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, M. S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

    Vinayak V. Rao

Authors
  1. Vinayak V. Rao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vinayak V. Rao.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

None.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rao, V.V. Assessment of Insulation Failure of Field Aged 11 kV Polymeric Insulators of Marine Environment with Characterizations Technique. J Fail. Anal. and Preven. 23, 1932–1939 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-023-01730-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-023-01730-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation