Open AccessComparative study of AC and DC inclined plane tests on silicone rubber (SiR) insulation
Author(s) -
Kaaiye Sharif F.,
Nyamupangedengu Cuthbert
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
high voltage
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.732
H-Index - 20
ISSN - 2397-7264
DOI - 10.1049/hve.2016.0102
Subject(s) - inclined plane , silicone rubber , materials science , composite material , voltage , natural rubber , electrode , test method , electrical engineering , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemistry , mathematics , chromatography , engineering , mechanical engineering , statistics
Currently there are no international standards for evaluating the tracking and erosion resistance of DC polymeric insulation under contaminated conditions. Researchers often modify the existing AC inclined plane test standards such as the IEC‐60587 to accommodate DC voltage conditions but this has been reported to give various inconsistences. This paper presents comprehensive experimental results on inclined plane tests of silicone rubber (SiR) insulation at 3.5 and 4.5 kV AC and positive DC using intravenous (IV) system as the pollutant supply. The leakage currents (LC) were recorded throughout the entire tests. In addition, various physiochemical tests namely, Fourier Transform Infrared analysis, thermo‐gravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy were performed on the aged and unaged samples. Results show that DC LC is bigger (about three times) than that under AC for the same equivalent voltages. Furthermore, DC LC variations are less random and the average magnitudes increase with duration of voltage application compared with AC. The physiochemical analyses show that 3.5 kV rms AC and 3.5 kV DC aged samples have comparable chemical characteristics albeit with electrode corrosion elements detected on the DC aged samples. Under 4.5 kV DC the degradation becomes significantly more severe and unrepeatable. It is therefore concluded that at 0.3 ml/min, pollutant flow rate, 3.5 kV positive DC and 3.5 kV rms AC are comparable as test voltages for inclined plane accelerated ageing of SiR insulation.