10-E-PTL-1255

Aging of Composite Insulators

E.A. Cherney
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Waterloo Ontario, Canada

Keywords: Aging, composite insulators, end of life, hydrophobicity

Abstract The paper provides an overview of the main mechanisms of aging of composite line insulators focusing on brittle fracture, dry band arcing in polluted environments, and exposure of the fibreglass rod due to handling, flashover, and wildlife. Aging is highly dependent on the service environment, type of housing material and fibreglass rod, as well as the overall design of the composite insulator. Unpredictable brittle fracture failure of the fibreglass rod which often results in the drop of an overhead conductor is one form of aging. Another form is their reduced lifetime in polluted environments that comes about due to the gradual loss of hydrophobicity of the housing material. And yet another form of aging occurs when the fiberglass rod is exposed to moisture which can come about through damage of the housing material from flashover, wildlife and handling damage, and other operational stresses. As a result, aging of composite insulators has led to the concern of increased cost of maintenance surveillance in using these insulators, particularly in polluted environments, after flashover, and after possible damage by wildlife.

I. INTRODUCTION N the late 1950s, the development of a line insulator with reduced weight and improved electrical and mechanical characteristics, relative to conventional ceramic string insulators, was considered necessary for the development of 1000 kV transmission lines in North America. Although interest in 1000 kV transmission gradually faded, interest in the light weight insulator continued and in 1959, such a line insulator, based on cycloaliphatic epoxy resin, was introduced on a trial basis at 138 kV. These early insulators experienced severe tracking and erosion failures that were related to the type of epoxy resin that was used in the molded sheds and needless to say, interest in composite insulators at transmission soon dissipated. However, a few years later, manufacturers in many countries introduced composite line insulators, first at distribution and then later at transmission. The first insulators offered had a variety of housing materials and designs, various types of fibreglass rods, and many hardware designs and materials, and their methods of fabrication varied considerably. However, over a 20 year period, a large number of North American utilities began to use composite line insulators in trial and in

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difficult applications and although the early experience was discouraging, as there were many problems with housing materials and insulator designs, the many advantages of these insulators soon became quite evident. As housing materials, molding techniques, and hardware attachment methods improved, and qualification tests on the materials and some standardization of the insulator designs began to take place, it was the realization of the possible superior contamination performance that spurred the many advances of the materials and insulator designs that are in use today. Currently, and wherever possible, the electrical utility industry in North America has rapidly converted from ceramic to composite line insulators and they are in use through 765 kV. Although they have not been in service as long as porcelain or toughened glass insulators, overall, composite line insulators have provided excellent service life and reliability, and they are being used at 765 kV, and once again, there is renewed interest in using these insulators at 1000 kV. However, some concerns have become more evident with their widespread use, and of the concerns, probably the greatest one, and one that is often catastrophic, is aging. Aging of composite insulators is highly dependent on the service environment, type of housing material and fiberglass rod, as well as the overall design of the composite insulator. Unpredictable brittle fracture failure of the fibreglass rod which often results in the drop of an overhead conductor is one form of aging. Another form is their reduced lifetime in polluted environments that comes about due to the gradual loss of hydrophobicity of the housing material. And yet another form of aging occurs when the fiberglass rod is exposed to moisture which can come about through damage of the housing material from flashover, wildlife and handling damage, and other operational stresses. As a result, aging of composite insulators has led to the concern of increased cost of maintenance surveillance in using these insulators, particularly in polluted environments, after flashover, and after possible damage by wildlife. 2

II. COMPOSITE INSULATORS IN POLLUTED ENVIRONMENTS After many years of laboratory tests and field installations, silicone rubber has become the material of choice for composite insulators, particularly for applications in polluted environments [1]. The mechanism of silicone is well known and it is one that is often viewed as comprising of two distinct components. The first component, which is sometimes thought of as the primary protection, comes about because of hydrophobicity of the silicone rubber, and provided that the pollution layer is not considerable, hydrophobicity is transferred to the outer surface of the pollutant. Hydrophobicity inhibits water droplets from coalescing to form a continuous path and therefore prevents the development of leakage current. However, during periods of prolonged wetting or when a significant layer of pollutant accumulates, hydrophobicity is temporarily lost and a leakage current develops over the surface of the insulator. Dry band arcing, which is a consequence of leakage current, manifests itself by localized hot spots that is produced by arcing, gives rise to erosion of the silicone insulator housing. For this reason, inorganic fillers such as alumina trihydrate and silica are used to increase the thermal conductivity of the silicone composite, to conduct heat away from the hot spots, thereby lowering the hot spot temperature which reduces the rate of erosion [2]. The later mechanism is often viewed as the secondary protection which is present in silicone and in other polymeric materials. Silicone rubber nonceramic line insulators have performed well in many polluted areas particularly where sea or desert sand is the dominant pollutant. In these areas, the pollutant does not adhere tenaciously to the rubber surface and periodic rain washing or cleaning by wind minimizes the accumulation of the pollutant. In these regions, insulator water washing maintenance is generally not required. In other areas, a temporary loss of hydrophobicity often leads to flashover but

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maintenance cleaning of the insulators will restore their insulation strength while dry band arcing eventually will erode the housing causing irreversible damage to the insulator, and flashover, requiring change-out of the insulator. The latter failure mechanism occurs in environments in which pozzolanic deposits, in the presence of moisture, develops into a thick and hard crust over the silicone housing. In addition, in constantly wet environments, loss of hydrophobicity will occur rapidly giving rise to dry band arcing and failure of composite insulators. To this end, composite insulator material technology has concentrated on the type, size and concentration of fillers, in particular on maximizing the concentration of filler in silicone, in an attempt to optimize the resistance to erosion. Present day housing materials contain a large proportion of inorganic filler and although a lower percentage of nanofillers show some promise in extending the resistance of materials to arcing, however, the filler additions are approaching the limit of practical processing technology. Combinations of nanometer and micron size fillers are being examined as well [3]. Aging of silicone is commonly viewed as the gradual loss of hydrophobicity, which comes about through the gradual loss of low molecular weight (LMW) constituents in the material and this has been a major concern in using composite insulators as this has a direct bearing on the life expectancy of the insulators. Lifetime of a composite insulator is not easy to assess as many factors play a role in the life; however, it is generally considered that the end of life is associated with the depletion of the low molecular weight (LMW) fluid resulting in permanent changes to the hydrophobicity of composite insulator housing. More specifically, a loss of fluid leads to a greatly reduced rate of return of hydrophobicity after experiencing a temporary loss; for example, after a period of prolonged rain washing. Ultimately, a permanent loss of hydrophobicity may occur but this has not yet been observed in the field and after more than 25 years of use. 3

III. BRITTLE FRACTURE Composite line insulators have failed mechanically while under normal service conditions by brittle fracture of the fibreglass rod. This has occurred despite their simplicity in design and construction and their ease of manufacture [1]. This mode of failure is unpredictable, and often catastrophic, resulting in a drop of an overhead conductor and because of this, their application particularly on critical lines, is sometimes being made with great trepidation. The brittle fracture process is very complex and is caused by the synergism of mechanical, environmental and electrical stresses [4]. The mechanism has been studied extensively and certain aspects of insulator materials and designs that contribute to brittle fracture are now known. The mechanism of brittle fracture is one in which metal ions, particularly boron, and mainly due to the relatively small size of the boron atom, is leached out from the glass structure of the fibres, which are replaced by hydrogen ions. The hydrogen ions that replace the metal ions in the glass result in increased and localized mechanical stress, which with time and external mechanical load, gives rise to mechanical fracture of the glass fiber. This mechanism, referred to as stress corrosion, occurs whenever there is an abundance of free hydrogen ions, which readily is available through dissociation of water or acids in an electric field, and with nitric acid shown to be being particularly harmful [5]. Nearly all brittle fracture failures have occurred near to the line end of insulators and most often in the region of highest electric stress. On insulators fitted with a corona ring, failure most often occurs just above the ring where the electric field is the greatest, and in the region between the corona ring and the hardware, where the electric field is the lowest, brittle fracture failure occurs infrequently. The failures have been correlated to voids within the insulator design, particularly in the region of the line end hardware, which also can occur because of improper bonding of the housing to the

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fiberglass core, and where water or acids can collect and be in contact with the fibreglass rod. The acid may come from the environment or is a product of corona or partial discharge. Laboratory tests have shown that fibreglass rods made from glass fibers that do not contain boron oxide or of low boron oxide content are less susceptible to brittle fracture [4]. This glass is referred to as E-CR or Eglass that is corrosion resistant. E-glass is a glass composition that has been developed for the electrical industry and used because of its low alkalinity, and therefore better dielectric properties. However, boron oxide is an important ingredient in the manufacture of glass without which seeds are often present. Seeds are gaseous bubbles in the glass melt that do not dissolve and in the drawing of glass fibers, tubules of nanometer diameter develop within the fibers. Needless to say, these tubules allow for water penetration which significantly reduces the dielectric strength of the fiberglass rod and quality testing must be vigilant in rejecting rod with seeds. However, compared to E-glass, virtually no leaching of the metallic ions occurs in E-CR glass. Laboratory tests have also shown that the bonding resin of fibreglass rods which is either polyester, epoxy, or vinyl-ester also affect the resistance of the glass fibres to brittle fracture. In these tests, rods having vinyl-ester and epoxy resins have the highest resistance to brittle fracture when compared to polyester resin. Sizing of glass fibers is somewhat of a black art in that it is not a single compound but a mixture of many complex compounds, each of which contributes to the sizings overall performance. The primary function of sizing is related to the manufacture of the fibers without which glass fibers could not be made. Raw fibers are extremely abrasive and are easily damaged during their manufacture so sizing is an essential lubricant that allows the fibers to be formed into rovings. The secondary function of sizing is to seal micro cracks and fissures in the fibers that otherwise would result in a significant reduction in 4

strength. And lastly, the third function of sizing is to form the coupling agent between the glass and the resin system to bond the fibers to the matrix resin in composite systems. However, the role of sizing of the glass fibers in the brittle fracture of composite insulators has not yet been studied and the challenge is to develop a sizing formulation to help seal microcracks in glass fibers where brittle fracture failures are thought to initiate. As both the brittle fracture mechanism and the various factors in the design, material selection and construction of composite line insulators that contribute to the failure mechanism are now well known, it is now possible to manufacture insulators that are resistant to this type of failure. However, this does not eliminate the problem entirely. Presently, the main concern is the ease at which the housings of composite insulators are damaged, through storage, transport, during construction or maintenance of lines and while in service, particularly by vandals, wildlife, or flashover, exposing the fibreglass rod to moisture and acids and to possible brittle fracture failure. Cracking of the fibreglass core during manufacture is yet another concern. Although ultrasonic detection during swaging is commonly employed in manufacturing to detect cracking of the rod, not all manufacturers employ this technique. Presently, there is no routine test that is performed to determine if the core has been damaged during swaging of the hardware to the core. Such cracks lower the mechanical strength of the insulator somewhat, but often not to the point where normal service loads cannot be maintained. However, such a crack becomes a region for moisture or acids to collect giving rise to possible brittle fracture failure. IV. INSULATOR DESIGN FACTORS Both the design and fabrication of a composite insulator are important aspects of a composite insulator as moisture entry reaching the core is detrimental to life. Similarly, voids between the various

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components may give rise to partial discharge which will also limit life. Housings that a fabricated from individual sheds have multiple interfaces and each interface is a potential design weakness as bonding is a critical factor which requires vigilant quality assurance checks. A. Modular Designs Early sheds mimicked those of porcelain suspension insulators, having ribs to increase the leakage distance. Other designs resembled cones to provide a large protective leakage path. These shapes are quite easily removed from molds when molded individually. However, when the shed design evolved from the modular to the fully molded concept, the shape became slightly conical or disk shaped, primarily because of the relative ease of removing the insulator from the mold without incurring damage. When tests are done in the laboratory on uniformly contaminated insulators, there is no detectable variation in performance due to shed shape between deep cone sheds and shallow cone sheds, or diskshaped sheds. There is also no large variation between the disk-shaped sheds of uniform diameter and those having alternating diameters. Only the leakage distance and the material type play roles in the performance. While this contamination performance appears valid for laboratory tests, a good deal of effort is required to ensure an even distribution of contaminant over the insulator, and it may not hold for in-service performance. When the insulators are naturally contaminated and cleaned, it is intuitively obvious that performance may depend on shed design, as various designs will undoubtedly retain contamination and/or enhance natural cleaning to varying degrees. Field observations show that the smooth profile shed that is currently offered has the advantage of being easily cleaned by wind and natural precipitation. Sheds that have a downward conical shape tend to collect contamination more readily on the bottom surface and are more difficult to clean than the smooth profile, disk-shaped sheds. 5

With the diversity of constructions possible, it has become increasingly apparent that composite insulators, particularly at the higher voltage levels, will need a shed structure that is one-piece and fully vulcanized in order to realize long life. Due to corona discharge in the air spaces formed between unbonded sheds, erosion by the physical action of the discharges has channeled worm holes through consecutive sheds, thereby making the sheds ineffective. In a few known instances, the channels have penetrated the fiberglass core and have initiated tracking of the rod. Modular designs that incorporate compounds such as silicone grease or silicone gel to fill the air space in the design tend to bleed oil, which collects around the joints. This oil contributes to the collection of contaminants at these interfaces, which further aggravates the stress condition at these interfaces. Bonding adhesives such as epoxy resins do not form permanent bonds with elastomeric materials, and the bonds separate in a short period of time due to the effects of moisture. Needless to say, composite insulators constructed from modular sheds cannot be high pressure water washed and therefore should not be used in highly contaminated areas where water washing may be required to prolong life. Individually molded sheds or groups of sheds molded in one piece that are slipped onto the core of an insulator normally have an inside diameter that is smaller than the diameter of the core. This method provides a friction fit, reducing the amount of compound that is required to fill the air space contained by the design. However, this technique results is a circumferential tensile stress in the sheds, which is commonly referred to as a hoop stress. This hoop stress has contributed to reduced life. The ultraviolet rays of the sun can cause chain scission in some polymers such as EPDM, giving rise to the development of microscopic cracks. Normally, these cracks are self limiting in depth because of the organic and inorganic inhibitors that are compounded into the

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materials. These cracks are not necessarily considered to be detrimental to the life of the insulator. However, with a hoop stress present, these cracks can propagate to create larger cracks and eventually cause splitting of the sheds. Similarly, corona cutting is accelerated with hoop stress in a shed. B. End Seal Design The end seal is considered to be the most important element of the design of a composite insulator. Field failures have occurred due to brittle fracture of the fibreglass rod due to breach of the end seal, thereby allowing the rod to come into contact with atmospheric pollutants and moisture. Tracking of the fiberglass rod leading to failure has also been a mode of failure in composite insulators. Movement of the core within the end fitting, or bending, gives rise to a displacement of the housing relative to the fitting, thereby exposing the core to the elements. Composite insulator end seals evolve around three basic concepts: glued, friction, and bonded types. Glued-type seals that are made using a sealant material such as an RTV silicone rubber applied between the sleeved core and the hardware are not permanent, generally because of poor adhesion. A friction type seal in which the sleeved core fits into the hardware is quite effective as long as the dimensional tolerances are maintained. However, in applications where bending takes place due to in-service loads, brittle fracture failures have occurred due to moisture ingress reaching the core. End seals that are made by molding the sleeved core material onto the end fitting are by far the best because of the physical bond obtained during molding. C. Bonding between the Core and the Housing A primer is applied to the surface of a fibreglass rod prior to injection molding of the rubber housing. During injection molding, heat produces free radicals in the primer which effects bonding between the injection rubber and the resin of the fiberglass core. However, this primer is extremely sensitive to 6

moisture, and as such has a limited shelf life under normal factory conditions. But, on hot humid days, primers sometimes fail to develop good adhesion. Most manufacturers test for adhesion of a manufactured lot of insulators by taking a sample and stripping off the rubber for an examination of the interface, as a conformance test in manufacturing. This is an effective method for detecting primer that has gone completely bad. But, when the primer has lost some of it effectiveness, this method is not very satisfactory, and yet another challenge for manufactures is to develop a routine factory test to ensure that each and every injected molded insulator is effectively bonded. Poor bonding of the rubber housing along the interface will most definitely lead to failure in the field. D. Corona Rings The lack of, or improper application of, voltage stress control by means of a corona ring has contributed to reduced life of composite insulators. In the absence of a corona ring, corona discharge has caused the cutting of sheds, thereby exposing the core to moisture, which has led to failure by tracking along the core. In some cases this has occurred on insulators with a corona ring that has been improperly specified or applied. In these cases the corona ring simply redistributes the voltage stress, resulting in corona discharge elsewhere on the insulators. In other designs, corona discharge occurs only under contaminated and moist conditions. The maximum surface electric field on composite insulators remains as one of the major unknowns in the longevity of insulators, particularly under moist and in polluted environments. Corona discharge on the surface of composite insulators will in time, give rise to erosion of the elastomer housings, exposing the core, and thereby resulting in irreversible damage, and ultimate failure. The electric field distribution on a composite insulator can be computed using finite element method software, taking into

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account the actual line configuration of the phase conductors and tower geometry. To obtain an accurate distribution of the electric stress over the surface of an insulator, a 3D analysis is necessary. However, a 2D analysis often can give a good estimate as to the electric field distribution. The most up-to-date recommendation on the maximum electric field on composite insulators suggests the field must be below 450 V/mm [6], but this value may change with increasing understanding of the influence of the E-field on the aging of composite insulators, and this level may be lower to prevent corona on the housing under wet and polluted conditions. In the laboratory, corona tests are normally done on composite insulators in the configuration that they will be used in the field. Often, these tests are done using a method in which the test voltage is calibrated in accordance with the conductor electric field. However, this test although satisfactory for examining the corona on hardware under dry conditions, it does not test for corona on the insulator itself. V. IN-SERVICE CONDITIONS A. Flashover Under normal service conditions, insulators on an overhead line flash over because of lightning, switching surges, bird accretion and pollution. Apart from pollution, flashovers of overhead insulators are selfrestoring as once the arc has been cleared, the insulation strength returns to its initial value. Conventional porcelain and toughened glass strings are generally not damaged unless the clearing time is unusually long or the power follow current is of very high level, so normally there are no concerns of damage to insulators after flashover. However, this is not the case for composite insulators, particularly those that are not fitted with a corona ring. Because of the relatively small mass of the hardware on composite insulators compared to conventional insulator strings, considerable heating with possible melting of the hardware can occur, thereby 7

exposing the fiberglass rod to water and acids, and possibly leading to brittle fracture failure. In addition, the hardware may be damaged to the extent that corona occurs from sharp edges that develop from the melt. Corona impinging on the housing may in the long term cause sufficient erosion to expose the fibreglass core. On occasion, the damage can be assessed from the ground using high power binoculars, but most often, a close-up inspection is necessary. Composite line insulators that are fitted with corona rings can also be damaged by power arc if the clearing duration is long or the level of the fault is high. To prevent such damage, corona rings having considerable mass may need to be offered by manufacturers and users need to develop a power arc test to evaluate the relative performance of composite insulator corona rings for resistance to fault current damage. B. Damage due to Handling Unlike strings of porcelain or toughened glass strings, handling and installing composite insulators must be done with considerable care as not to damage the housing of the insulators, particularly the sheath directly on the fiberglass rod, as cuts or nicks of the housing exposing the fiberglass rod has the potential for brittle fracture failure. Installed composite insulators need to be inspected by trained personal to ensure that damaged insulators that potentially may fail by brittle fracture are not put into service. Users need to train maintenance workers on the proper handling of composite insulators to help prevent damage to the insulator housing. C. Damage due to Wildlife Composite insulators can be damaged by wildlife, particularly some species of birds that peck on rubber housings. Similar to handling and installation damage that sometimes occurs, if the housing on the fiberglass cord exposes the fiberglass rod to the atmosphere, then brittle fracture failure becomes a distinct possibility. Once again, a close-up inspection is often required in order

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to properly assess the damage. In some cases users are applying bird discouragers of various designs to help prevent this type of damage. Manufacturers need to develop formulations of insulator housings that birds are not attracted to. VI. CONCLUSIONS Of the concerns that users have today in using composite line insulators, surely the greatest one is the abrupt failure mode of these insulators that occurs by brittle fracture of the fibreglass rod. Although this type of failure occurs infrequently, but when it does occur, it often occurs catastrophically, resulting in a drop of an overhead line, and for this reason, there sometimes is great trepidation in using composite insulators on critical circuits. Fibreglass rods with E-CR glass and with either epoxy or vinyl-ester resin are somewhat more resistant to brittle fracture failure, but undetected damage to the housing rubber exposing the core, during storage, handling, construction, maintenance or during actual service conditions, is still a concern. Sizing of the glass fibers during manufacture still needs to be investigated as a possible means of improving the resistance of the fibers to brittle fracture. In polluted environments, aging of the insulator housing is of great concern and in regions where the pollutant is of a pozzolanic type, erosion of the housing material occurs rapidly giving rise to failure. The use of composite line insulators in these environments is also of considerable concern as the failure mode can also be abrupt and often catastrophic. The cost of increased surveillance of composite line insulators to help prevent abrupt failures is beginning to be of concern to users. As there are no effective instruments or methods of determining the condition of composite insulators from the ground, often a close-up visual inspection is the only means of assessing the condition of the insulators. On occasion, binoculars can be used to observe damage on insulators but most often this is ineffective. As a close-up inspection of 8

the insulators or removal of a sample for laboratory tests and study by experienced personnel involves climbing or the use of an aerial device, and often an outage, and because of the high cost involved, close-up inspections are not being done. The development of an effective means of assessing the condition of composite line insulators from the ground is a challenge that the industry is faced with. Challenges in the manufacture of composite line insulators include the development of a routine factory test method to ensure bonding of the housing to the fiberglass core during injection molding, uniformity of rubber properties at the parting or knit line, and also a method to test for possible damage to the fibreglass core during swaging of the hardware. VII. REFERENCES
[1] E.A. Cherney,Non-Ceramic Insulators A simple Design that Requires Careful Analysis, IEEE Electr. Insul. Mag., vol 12, no.3, pp. 7-15, May/Jun 1996. [2] L. Meyer, S. Jayaram, and, E. A. Cherney, A novel technique to Evaluate the Erosion Resistance of Silicone Rubber Composites for High Voltage Outdoor Insulation using Infrared Laser, IEEE Trans. on Dielectr. and Electr. Insul, vol. 12, pp. 424-432, 2005. [3] I. Ramirez, S. Jayaram and E.A Cherney, Analysis of Temperature Profiles and Protective Mechanism against Dry-band Arcing in Silicone Rubber Nanocomposites Trans. on Dielectr. And Electr. Insul., vol 17, no. 2, pp. 597-606, Apr. 2010. [4] M. Kumosa, L. Kumosa and D. Armentrout, Can Water Cause Brittle Fracture Failures of Composite Non-ceramic Insulators in the Absence of Electric Fields?, IEEE Trans. on Dielectr. and Electr. Insul. vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 523- 533, Jun. 2004. [5] M. Kumosa, L. Kumosa and D. Armentrout, Causes and Potential Remedies of Brittle Fracture Failure of Composite (Non-Ceramic) Insulators IEEE Trans. on Dielectr. and Electr. Insul. vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 1037-1048, Dec. 2004. [6] A.J. Phillips et al, Electric Fields on AC Composite Transmission Line Insulators, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 823-830, April 2008.