SILICONE RUBBER EXTRA HIGH VOLTAGE INSULATORS

Electrical insulator is a very important component in the electric power systems such as sub-stations
and distribution & transmission lines. In the early days, insulators were made of ceramic and glass
materials. But in 1963, polymeric insulators were developed and its improvements in design and
manufacturing in the recent years have made them attractive to utilities. It consists of a fiberglass core
rod covered by weather-sheds or skirts of polymer such as silicone rubber, equipped with metal end
fittings. It is also called composite insulators, which means made of at least two insulating parts – a
core and housing equipped with end fittings. Polymeric insulators have many advantages over the
ceramic and glass insulators such as good performance in contaminated environment, light weight,
easy handling, maintenance free, and considerably low cost etc. Because of these properties it is
gaining popularity worldwide and replacing the conventional ceramic and glass insulators.

This write-up gives the salient features considered by GOLDSTONE in developing SILICONE RUBBER
POLYMER INSULATORS. Two aspects are to be essentially considered in the development, one is the
material suiting to the requirements and the other is design aspect. The following few lines will briefly
describe the important aspects considered.

Insulator Construction

SILICONE RUBBER EXTRA HIGH VOLTAGE INSULATORS | MATERIALS

Silicone Rubber

Silicon rubber insulators give excellent performance in harsh polluted environment which is explained
briefly in subsequent lines. The pollution problem is mainly due to the deposition of the pollutants on
the insulator i.e. on the porcelain surface in the case of disc insulator strings. The pollutants, in nature,
are hydrophilic, and hence chances of dry band arcing is more which may lead to a flashover and it is
not a desired characteristic. Due to this reason periodical cleaning of the insulator is imperative. In
case of silicone rubber insulator also, the pollutants will get deposited on the weather shed. But the
hydrophobicity transfer characteristics of silicon rubber will play a major role in such circumstances.
This property is controlled by proper selection of base Silicone rubber, dosage and particle size of ATH
and degree of cross linking of Silicone rubber of the weather shed. The Silicone rubber compound used
by Goldstone is having all the required properties to combat with the harsh environment.

The pollutants, which are hydrophilic in nature, are converted into hydrophobic nature due to the
hydrophobicity recovery characteristics of silicon rubber which gives a good performance in harsh
polluted environments in comparison to porcelain insulators which do not have such characteristic. The
silicon rubber compound used by Goldstone has been tested for hydrophobicity after exposing the
material to corona, UV radiation, arcing etc., and the results are very good. Hence, in view of the
material characteristics, the silicon rubber compound used in manufacturing the insulators, will give
good performance in the polluted environments as mentioned above.

In addition to corona, UV radiation, the prime importance of silicon rubber material is to possess good
resistance to tracking and erosion. The material used by Goldstone has been tested for tracking and
erosion as per IEC: 587.

FRP Rods

The FRP rods used as the core material in the manufacture of silicon rubber insulators is manufactured
by pultrusion method using boron free ECR grade glass fibres. The FRP rods being Produced by
Goldstone are having all the required mechanical and electrical characteristics required for the long
term uninterrupted performance of High Voltage Composite Insulators. The FRP rods have been tested
for Brittle Fracture Test. The rods met the requirements and passed in the test without even slight sign
of brittle fracture.

Metal Fittings

Both the socket and ball fittings are of forged fittings in High Voltage Insulators, whose tensile
strength, elongation, impact strength, melting temperature etc. are best suited for silicon rubber
insulators for erecting in harsh polluted environments. Sharp corners have been avoided so as to avoid
corona.

SILICONE RUBBER EXTRA HIGH VOLTAGE INSULATORS | DESIGN ASPECTS

Dimensions

To suit the interchangeability, the overall length of the insulator has been kept within the range of
overall length of tension and suspension insulator strings. The metal end fittings have been designed
for 20mm designation in case of tension insulators and 16mm designation in case of suspension
insulators for Extra High Voltage Insulators.

Creepage Distance
With reference to IEC: 60815, a specific creepage distance of 31mm/kV has been specified for very
highly polluted condition. The description of polluted condition for Very High Level as per IEC: 60815
pertains to areas subjected to conductive dusts and to industrial smoke producing particularly thick
conductive deposits, areas very close to the coast and exposed to sea-spray or to very strong and
polluting winds from the sea and desert areas characterized by no rain for long periods, exposed to
strong winds carrying sand and salt, and subjected to regular condensation. Hence our Polymer
Insulators have been made to design for a specific creepage distance of 31mm/kV for High Voltage
Insulators.

Shed Profile

Even though the profile parameters for the shed as well as whole insulator specified in IEC: 60815 are
meant for porcelain insulators, the same have been followed for silicone rubber insulators. All the
profile parameters given in IEC: 60815 have been obtained in the design of insulators.

Sheath Thickness

A normal sheath thickness of 3mm over the FRP rod is being adopted for silicone rubber insulators. But
in our design, we have designed a sheath thickness of 5mm so as to get long time with standability of
the sheath towards the pollution thus leading for a longer span of life of the silicon rubber insulator.

SILICONE RUBBER EXTRA HIGH VOLTAGE INSULATORS | TESTINGS

The different tests that are carried out in our Laboratory:

Mechanical & Physical Tests on our Silicone Compound

• Tensile Strength
• Elongation at Break
• Tear Strength
• Hardness

• Specific Gravity
Study of process ability and Curing Characteristics at a particular temperature with the help
of Oscillating Disc Rheometer

• The report from this study helps us to know the processing characteristics and total spectrum of
curing characteristics of our Silicone rubber compound, which in turn guide the production
department to maintain consistent quality
Electrical Tests on our Silicone compound

• Volume Resistivity
• Break down Voltage

• Tracking and Erosion Resistance Test

Resistance to Corona

• Here a cured sheet from our Silicone compound is put in a cell under
corona generating electrodes, thereby exposing the Silicone rubber under corona. In this test the
Silicone rubber is subjected to combined stress from electrons, ozone, UV and high temperature
simultaneously.
UV Resistance Test (ASTM G53)
• We are equipped with the facility for exposing the vulcanized sheet made from Silicone rubber to
UV light (315 nm) and dry heat simulating normal day condition.
Test for Hydrophobicity

• We have sophisticated camera based instrument for measuring contact angle of liquids on solids.
This instrument is interfaced to PC. Liquid drop shape analysis makes the instrument an error free.
By measuring contact angle, we can assess the state of hydrophobicity character of Silicone rubber
under various conditions.
Facilities available for carrying out different tests on FRP rod & Viscosity of Resin Mixture:

• Measurement of viscosity of epoxy mixture in the impregnated bath is very important, as the
viscosity of resin mixture will control the impregnation of the bunch of glass fibers. Our quality
control department in their process control collects samples from resin bath time to time and
checks the viscosity and gives their feedback to the production department to maintain the
required viscosity.
Glass Content

We have the facility for measuring glass content in FRP rods. Our Quality Control department collects
the samples time to time from production line and measures the glass content.

Dye Penetration Test

It is one of the very basic tests to assess the quality of the FRP rod. We regularly carry out this test on
our FRP rod.

Water Diffusion Test

This is a critical test for FRP rod. Though it is quite time consuming, we are carrying out this tests on
our FRP rod on regular basis.

Besides the above-mentioned tests, we carry out the following tests regularly on our FRP rods:

• Water absorption test

• Specific gravity

All these are to convey that we understand the importance of role of composite insulators in power
transmission and the importance of their long term uninterrupted performance. We believe a thorough
testing of components and in-process can ensure the quality of this new generation product to give
service for years together.

SILICONE RUBBER EXTRA HIGH VOLTAGE INSULATORS | HYDROPHOBICITY

Hydrophobicity effect of silicone housed composite insulators

The intrinsic hydrophobic property in combination with very good uv, tracking and erosion resistances
of well designed silicone rubber formulations make this kind of rubber superior to all other
electrometric and duromeric polymeric housing materials. Further on, a phenomenon well known as
“Hydrophobicity transfer” to different kinds of pollution layers offer great benefits regarding the
electrical insulation capability even under heavy pollution conditions. The ability to transfer the
hydrophobic effect to pollution layers located on insulator surfaces can be regarded as an “intelligent”
or “advanced” property and can only be observed for silicone rubbers. Coastal or marine environments
are characterized by increased ESDD (Equivalent salt deposition density) values due to salt pollution.
Especially in the Mediterranean countries a combination of salt pollution from the sea and dusty and
sandy pollution can be observed on insulator surfaces. The latter kind of pollution results in increased
NSDD (Non Soluble deposit density) values of the pollution layer. Silicone housed composite insulators
show outstanding service experiences in environments where high ESDD and high NSDD values are
existing. This positive service behaviour is based on the above mentioned transfer of the hydrophobic
effect to pollution layers.

Hydrophobicity Transfer Mechanism

In the bulk of Silicone rubber there exists some quantity of highly mobile low molecular weight chains.
It is a homologous compound of PDMS (Polydimethyl Siloxane), defined as LMW. Smaller units n=1
~20 (or even higher) are called LMWS. Migration process of Silicone LMWS are mainly responsible for
the hydrophobicity of PDMS surface and the hydrophobicity transfer to pollution layers. Due to the
coating of the deposited pollutants by LMWS, the pollution layer behaves like a Silicone surface and
becomes hydrophobic.

The intrinsic hydrophobic behavior of Silicone is

caused by the orientation of – CH3 groups towards
the Silicone/air interface and by the adhesion of
LMWS on the surface. A generation mechanism of
LMWS was found to work in Silicone where the
LMW content is in an equilibrium state with PDMS
backbone. This means that PDMS bulk material
produces as much LMWS as needed for the
external hydrophobicity transfer to pollution layer.
This equilibrium reaction is also responsible for the
excellent function of the hydrophobicity transfer to
heavy polluted Silicone surfaces even after
decades.

Considering this generation mechanism, there is no

lifetime limitation for hydrophobicity transfer effect.
Because of the hydrophobicity transfer behavior
there is no need to wash the Composite Insulator
having specially formulated Silicone rubber
housing.

SILICONE RUBBER EXTRA HIGH VOLTAGE INSULATORS | MATCHLESS DESIGN

The automatic microprocessor

controlled crimping machine
ensures uniform crimping without
any stress concentration.
STATE-OF-THE-ART SUPERIORITY

Self - Cleaning Function

The specially designed Polymeric material used in making the housing of these insulators have a self-
cleaning property by recovering the Hydrophobic characteristic due to migration of low moleculor
weight / oligomeric PDMS, making it possible to maintain anti-tracking performance over an extended
period.

Shatter Resistance
Composite Insulators are practically unbreakable.

Hydrophobicity
Surface hydrophobicity is
maintained throughout the
lifetime of the insulator. This is
very important in polluted
environment.

High Tensile Strength

The composite FRP pultruded rod has a very high mechanical strength. Our special crimping technique
allows this high strength to be maintained.

Light Weight
In a typical comparison, the Composite Insulator weighs 10-35% of a Ceramic Insulator. This ensures
easy installation, less manpower, low transportation and installation cost.