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  • Fengrui SUN, Richang XIAN, Feng XIAN, Xiaowei SUN, Yawen XING
    Insulating Materials. 2024, 57(9): 140-148.

    Moisture intrusion and residual conductive particles are common defects in the joints of tubular insulated busbars in substations. These defects would cause distortion of electric field distribution at the joints, endangering insulation performance and potentially leading to insulation breakdown, burning, and other accidents. In this paper, finite element multi-physics simulation technology was used to construct a joint model of tubular busbar with wrapped insulation material based on the actual structure. Three types of water films, with 10, 30, and 50 mm of lengths, and semi-circular conductive impurities with 0.5 mm of radius, were placed at the interfaces between the metal shielding layer and the main insulation layer, as well as between the main insulation layer and the inner sealing layer. COMSOL software was used to conduct electric field simulation analysis, and the impact of different defects located at various interfaces on the electric field distribution of tubular insulated busbar joint was studied. The results show that both water films and conductive impurities can impact the electric field distribution at the insulation layer interfaces to different degrees. The electric field strength inside the defects decreases, while the electric field strength at the defect edges increases dramatically. Among these, the electric field distortion with conductive particles at the insulation interface is more severe than that with moisture intrusion, making insulation breakdown faults more likely. Therefore, it is crucial to enhance the end sealing and strictly prevent the presence of residual conductive particles.

  • Baiyuan CHANG, Mengqi ZHANG, Chong YAO, Shuaishuai FU, Hong ZHANG, Jinghui GAO
    Insulating Materials. 2024, 57(9): 37-46.

    Polyethylene-based non-crosslinked cable insulation materials have better electrical and mechanical properties, simpler processing, lower energy consumption than XLPE, and can recycle, which are one of the most promising new environmentally friendly cable insulation materials. In this paper, LLDPE/HDPE blending insulating materials with different ratios were prepared using domestically produced base materials, and their electrical, mechanical, rheological, and thermal and oxygen aging resistance properties were tested and compared with the blending materials prepared by imported base materials. The results show that both the domestic and imported blending materials have the best electrical properties and mechanical properties when the mass ratio of LLDPE and HDPE is 7:3. The electrical properties of the domestic blending materials are similar to those of the imported blending materials at the optimal ratio, but the tensile strength is lower. There is a significant difference between domestic and imported blending materials in thermal and oxygen ageing resistance. Through the molecular weight and its distribution test, infrared spectroscopy analysis, it is found that the branching degree of domestic LLDPE is similar to that of imported LLDPE, but its molecular weight distribution range is wider and there is an obvious long-tailed distribution in the direction of low molecules, which may be one of the reasons for the lower tensile strength and antioxidant properties of domestic blending materials.

  • Yuxiao ZHANG, Lei ZHANG, Zhong TANG
    Insulating Materials. 2024, 57(9): 80-87.

    The surface charge accumulation of basin insulators is one of the important factors restricting the development of HVDC GIL, and the heat transfer inside the GIL would aggravate the surface charge accumulation. In this paper, an electrical-thermal coupling simulation model of charge accumulation was established. The time-varying temperature distribution inside the GIL under different external ambient temperature and gas pressure was simulated. The surface charge accumulation characteristics under constant and time-varying external ambient temperature were studied, and its effect on the surface charge accumulation was also analyzed. The results show that when the external ambient temperature is a constant value, the external temperature increases every 10℃, the steady-state temperature on the insulator surface increases by more than 9.2%, and the steady-state surface charge density of insulator increases by more than 17.3%. When the external ambient temperature changes with time, the temperature on the insulator surface eventually fluctuates with time around a stable value after continuously rising for a period of time, and the surface charge density is approximately equal to that under the average external ambient temperature. In addition, the surface temperature and charge density of the insulator decrease with the increase of gas pressure. The research results are expected to provide reference for the design and operation of DC GIL, which can improve the safety and stability of DC GIL operation.

  • Lixiang LÜ, Zhuoran YANG, Jian LIU, Xuanpei ZHU
    Insulating Materials. 2024, 57(9): 131-139.

    Fiber reinforced epoxy resin composites are widely used in electrical power equipment. However, due to their complex preparation process and multi-layered structure, internal defects are prone to be introduced during manufacture, which may lead to partial discharge and even breakdown under long-term high voltage operating condition. Early detection of these defects can significantly reduce the occurrence of failures. In this paper, an ultrasonic testing system for composite was established on the basis of ultrasonic reflection method, and various plate samples of glass fiber reinforced epoxy resin composites containing artificial crack, delamination, and metal impurity defect were prepared on the basis of vacuum assisted resin infusion molding method. Ultrasonic testing and spectral analysis were then conducted on these defect-containing plate samples. The results indicate that there are significant differences in the ultrasonic reflection waveforms for different defects of samples. By transforming the ultrasonic echoes into frequency spectra, the normalized spectral characteristic curves are obtained, and different types of defects can be identified by calculating the characteristic values from these curves. The characteristic value of the sample with crack defect is the smallest, and the characteristic value of the sample with delamination defect is the largest.

  • Changhong FAN, Min LOU, Jiaxing ZHU
    Insulating Materials. 2024, 57(9): 114-124.

    Umbilical cables are known as the "nerve lifeline" connecting underwater production systems and upper facilities, and accurate analysis of their temperature field distribution and ampacity is a key guarantee for safe offshore oil and gas exploration and production tasks. Unlike traditional submarine cables, umbilical cables have complex electro-thermal-fluid multi-physical fields coupling effects due to their complex structure and diverse functions, and it is difficult to determine their temperature field distribution and ampacity by traditional analytical methods. A fine cross-sectional model of multi-field coupling of umbilical cable was established based on the finite element software COMSOL in this paper, and the influence of three typical laying methods, environment and other factors on the conductor temperature and steady-state ampacity was studied by the control variable method. The results show that when the current is small, the temperature of the fluid in tube is the dominant factor affecting the cross-sectional temperature and steady-state ampacity of umbilical cable. The trend of conductor temperature can reflect the change of steady-state ampacity. When buried directly, the increase of buried depth and the external fluid temperature will weaken the heat dissipation capacity of umbilical cable. When tiled, the seawater flow significantly reduces the temperature of umbilical cable, and at low flow rates, the increase of flow rate has a significant cooling effect on the umbilical cable. However, the high flow rate of seawater will form a boundary layer with temperature gradient on the surface close to the umbilical cable, making the heat transfer be restricted, and the cooling effect is not obvious. The insulation ageing has less influence on the overall temperature distribution of umbilical cable, but it affects the maximum temperature of the cross-section.

  • Haifei ZHU, Dawei HAN, Xiangkun WANG, Zhisheng XIA, Fan GONG
    Insulating Materials. 2024, 57(9): 149-157.

    Submarine cable is a transmission component of high-voltage power, and the heat generated during the operation of submarine cable will cause the structural temperature rise and expand. Under the constraint of each layer, the submarine cable will produce large thermal stress and deformation, which will cause structural damage. In addition, the increase of temperature will lead to the decrease of elastic modulus of the polymer material inside the submarine cable, resulting in the change of mechanical properties of the submarine cable section. Therefore, it is necessary to study the stress and deformation caused by thermal expansion during the operation of submarine cables, and analyze the influence of temperature on the mechanical properties of submarine cables. In this paper, based on an offshore wind power project, a finite element model of submarine cable-soil was established in finite element software ABAQUS, and the temperature field distribution under steady-state current carrying capacity was obtained. Based on the results of temperature field, the thermal stress and thermal deformation of the submarine cable were calculated by the thermal-mechanical coupling method, and the change of mechanical properties of the submarine cable section under the action of temperature was analyzed. The results show that the highest temperature appears in the copper conductor during the operation of submarine cable, and the outer coating layer has the lowest temperature. With the copper conductor as the center, the temperature drop gradient along the inside radial direction is small, and the temperature drop gradient along the outside radial direction is large. The thermal stress is mainly concentrated in the metal structure, and the maximum deformation occurs in the steel wire armor. When the copper conductor and the optical fiber are located at the top of the cross section, the displacement is the largest, and the displacement is the smallest at the bottom. After considering the influence of temperature, the stress of copper conductor and optical fiber will increase, while the tensile and torsional stiffness of submarine cable will decrease, and the reduction of inverse torsional stiffness is greater than that of clockwise torsional stiffness.

  • Shunan YUAN, Bo GAO, Changshan BAI, Kai LIU, Guangning WU
    Insulating Materials. 2024, 57(8): 17-30.

    The frequent disconnection of inverter power devices and load characteristics of motor can lead to high-frequency pulse overvoltage, which would lead to premature failure of generator insulation and bring challenges to the stability and reliability of system. From the failure mechanism of inverter motor insulation, the different stress failure forms of inverter motor insulation were investigated firstly, and the main factors affecting the failure of the insulation system were sorted out. Then the state detection methods of inverter motor insulation and the delay measures were comprehensively reviewed. Finally, the major challenges and future research direction currently faced by inverter motor insulation were emphasized.

  • Zhou LI, Liming ZHONG, Wenxian WANG, Yibin GAO, Xiaogang DU, Meng ZHANG, Tingting ZHANG
    Insulating Materials. 2024, 57(8): 31-38.

    In this paper, the general rules and characteristics of the failure damage of basin insulators in recent years were firstly summarized. Then, the typical failure area of sample was extracted to analyze the matrix microstructure morphology and the failure fracture surface morphology. Finally, the micro mechanical properties of the heterogeneous interface in composite materials were characterized and analyzed by nanoindentation mechanics technology, and the crack initiation and failure fracture mechanism of Al2O3/epoxy resin composite materials were expounded. The results show that the fracture toughness value of the epoxy resin matrix is about 0.55 MPa·m1/2, and the cracks originate from the epoxy resin matrix under the action of load and continuously expand. When encountering high-strength Al2O3 particles, the cracks deflect due to the retardation and rapidly expand along the interface between the particles and matrix.

  • Chaofeng LIU, Chuanyun ZHU, Jianbin LI, Ying CHEN, Xin HUANG, Xiaohu QI, Yongqing WANG, Jian GUAN, Xiyang JIN
    Insulating Materials. 2024, 57(8): 92-99.

    Post insulator is an important supporting component in gas insulated metal enclosed switchgear (GIS), its insulating properties affects the reliability and stability of GIS. Taking the post insulator for engineering GIS as research object, we selected the surface tangential electric field strength of the insulator as the insulating properties index, and analyzed the influence of the umbrella skirts number, starting position, root radius, top radius parameters of the insulator as well as the shrinkage umbrella skirt structure on the insulating properties. The results show that the tangential electric field of insulator shows wave peaks and troughs oscillation distribution by increasing the umbrella skirt number, which is conducive to hinder the development of insulator surface discharge. The maximum tangential electric field strength increases with the increase of umbrella skirts number, and decreases with the increase of the distance between the starting position of umbrella skirt and the high-voltage electrode. The location of the maximum tangential electric field value shifts with the radius at the base of umbrella skirt. Compared with the original structure, the maximum tangential electric field strength along the surface of optimized structure decreases from 12.66 kV/mm to 9.69 kV/mm, and the decrease rate is 23.5%. It is found that the insulation margin is more than 1.3 times through the negative lightning impulse voltage test and margin test.

  • Lei PENG, Qiang FU, Zhi LI, Musong LIN, Yihua QIAN, Xiaoxiao KONG
    Insulating Materials. 2024, 57(8): 1-16.

    Epoxy resin has been widely used in the field of insulating materials due to its excellent mechanical properties, thermal stability, chemical stability, and electrical insulation. The stable three-dimensional cross-linked network structure not only gives epoxy resin excellent properties, but also brings great difficulties to its reprocessing, degradation, and recycling. At this stage, more and more researches have begun to focus on the environmentally friendly epoxy resin materials to solve problems such as reprocessing and degradation. In this paper, several typical design ideas and methods of epoxy resin based on dynamic covalent bonds were reviewed, and the environmentally friendly epoxy resin materials through introducting ester bonds, disulfide bonds, silicon-oxygen bonds, imine bonds, D-A structure, acetal bonds, host-guest interaction, and multiple dynamic bonds into the epoxy resin were introduced emphatically. Meanwhile, it is introduced that the topology structure of epoxy resin cross-linked network can be reversibly changed by dynamic covalent bonds under certain stimuli to realize the function of remodeling, reprocessing, self-repairing, and degradation. Finally, the application prospects of insulating materials based on dynamic covalent bonds were summarized and prospected.