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COMPOSITE INSULATORS

CHAPTER 1

Introduction
Electrical insulators are used to prevent the loss of electric
charge or current from conductors in electric power transmission
lines. Electrical insulators are electrically insulating components in
various electric circuits and electrical installations. Electrical
insulators are used as a barrier layer used in a circuit, an
insulating sheathing of a current-carrying conductor or a printedcircuit board for electronics. An electrical insulator is also an
insulator as used in power engineering for routing currentcarrying lines or keeping them apart. Power transmission and
distribution systems include various insulating components that
must maintain structural integrity to perform correctly in often
extreme environmental and operational conditions.
The overhead line conductors should be supported on the pole or
towers in such a way that current from the conductors do not flow
to earth through supports i.e., line conductors must be properly
insulated from supports. This is achieved by securing line
conductors to supply with the help of insulators. The insulators
provide necessary insulation between line conductors and
supports and thus prevent any leakage current from conductors to

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earth.
In general, the insulators should have following desirable
properties:
1. High mechanical strength in order to withstand conductor
load, wind load etc.
2. High electrical resistance of insulators material in order to
avoid leakage currents to earth.
3. High relative permittivity of insulators material in order that
dielectric strength is high.
4. The insulator material should be non porous , free from
impurities and cracks otherwise the permittivity will be
lowered.
5. High ratio of puncture strength to flashover.
The insulators have conventionally been made of ceramics or
glass. These materials have outstanding insulating properties and
weather resistance, but have the disadvantages of being heavy,
easily fractured, and subject to degradation of their withstand
voltage properties when polluted. There was therefore a desire to
develop insulators of a new structure using new materials that
would overcome these drawbacks.
The 1930s and '40s saw the appearance of the first insulators to
replace inorganic materials with organic, but these suffered
problems of weather resistance, and their characteristics were
unsatisfactory for outdoor use. In the 1950s epoxy resin insulators
were developed, but they were heavy, suffered from UV
degradation and tracking, and were never put into actual service.
By the mid-1970s a number of new insulating materials had been
developed, and the concept of a composite structure was
advanced, with an insulator housing made of ethylene propylene
rubber (EPR), ethylene propylene diene methylene (EPDM)
linkage, polytetrofluoro ethylene (PTFE), silicone rubber (SR) or
the like, and a core of fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) to bear the
tensile load.
Since these materials were new, however, there were many
technical difficulties that had to be remedied, such as adhesion

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between materials and penetration of moisture, and the endfittings, which transmit the load, had to be improved. Since the
1980s, greater use has been made of silicone rubber due to its
weather resistance, which is virtually permanent, and its
hydrophobic properties, which allow improvement in the
maximum, withstand voltage of pollution, and this had led to an
explosive increase in the use of composite insulators.
In 1980, Furukawa Electric was engaged in the development of
inter-phase spacers to divvent galloping in power transmission
lines, and at that time developed composite insulators that had
the required light weight and flexibility. In 1991 the first
composite insulators having silicone rubber housing were used as
inter-phase spacers for 66-kV duty, and in 1994 their use was
extended to 275-kV service with a unit 7 m in length the worlds
largest.
Thus as composite insulators have established a track record in
phase spacer applications and their advantages have been
recognized, greater consideration has been given to using them
as suspension insulators with a view to cutting transportation
costs, simplifying construction work and reducing the cost of
insulators in order to lower the costs of laying and maintaining
power transmission lines. Recently Furukawa Electric developed
composite insulators for suspension and delivered, for the first
time in Japan, 154-kV tension insulators and V-type suspension
insulator strings. Subsequently they were also used on a trial
basis as tension-suspension devices in 77-kV applications. Work is
also under way on the development of composite insulators for
1500-V DC and 30-kV AC railway service.

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There are following types of composite insulators .

Silicon rubber (SR) Room temperature vulcanizing (RTV), High

temperature vulcanizing
and liquid rubber (LSR).
1. Ethylene Propylene rubber (EPR) Ethylene Propylene Monomer
(EPM),
2. Ethylene Propylene Di Monomer (EPDM).
3. Epoxy Resin Bisphenol, cycloaliphate
4. Polyurethene
5. Polyfluoro carbons Teflon, PTFE
2. RESEARCH SIGNIFICATION:
The insulators have generally been made of ceramics or
glass.These materials have outstanding insulating properties and
weather resistance, but have the disadvantages of being heavy,
easily fractured, and subject to degradation of their withstand
voltage properties when polluted. There was therefore a desire to
develop insulators of a new structure using new materials that
would overcome these drawbacks. Non-ceramic insulators, also

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referred to as composite insulators, polymer or polymeric

insulators are used in power transmission lines.

2. DESIGN OF COMPOSITE INSULATORS

2.1 Structure of Composite Insulators

Typically a composite insulator comprises a core material, endfitting, and a rubber insulating housing. The core is of FRP to
distribute the tensile load. The reinforcing fibres used in FRP are

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glass (E or ECR) and epoxy resin is used for the matrix. The
portions of the end-fitting that transmit tension to the cable and
towers are of forged steel, malleable cast iron, aluminium, etc .
For line insulators, a high degree of standardisation has been
achieved for the end fittings, which enables the easy replacement
of existing conventional insulators by composite solutions. The
glass fibre reinforced resin rod is responsible for bearing the
mechanical loads, which can be tension, bending or compression,
or a combination of all three, depending on the application and
load scenario. Materials for the housing are as manifold as the
corresponding methods of manufacturing. However, there are
performance trends as a result of the existing service experience,
details. The rubber housing provides electrical insulation and
protects the FRP from the elements. For this reason silicone
rubber is adopted, which has superior electrical characteristics
and weather resistance, for use in the housing. Figure 2.1 shows
the structure of a composite insulator.
Figure 2.1 Structure of composite insulator.

Fig. 1: Parts of composite insulators

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END FITTINGTypical end fitting configurations are shown in Fig. 2.

Dimensions are in accordance with IEC 60120, IEC 60471 or IEC

61466, as well as equivalent ANSI. For distribution level up to 70
KN, cast steel end fittings are used.
For force ratings above 70 KN, forged steel end fittings are
applied. For special applications such as railway catenary line
fittings, A high strength coquille aluminium is often used. The
steel end fittings are hot dip galvanized. The thickness of the
galvanizing follows the recommendations of IEC 60383.
Enhanced thickness for heavily corrosive in situ conditions or DC
applications can be provided on request. Details of the
dimensions and their relation to force rating are shown in the
insulator design catalogue.

ROD-

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Fig 3..
The glass fibre reinforced resin rod is an important component of
a composite insulator. The rod is typically produced in a
continuous pultrusion process. Different diameters are available
depending on the application (Fig. 3). The content of fibres
determines the specific intrinsic tensile and bending strength of
the rods. The glass sizing is important for the bond to the resin
matrix. The resin matrix itself must be electrically graded,
characterized by low moisture absorption and by negligible
change of electrical and mechanical properties. The resin
elongation must be balanced with the glass elongation to prevent
cracks and fractures when being subjected to loadings. Typically,
Epoxy-based resins are used today. Fillers are used for different
purposes, which gives the rod a transparent or opaque
appearance. When the raw materials are carefully checked,
process parameters are accurately selected and routine checks
are determined using statistics, both types of rod offer excellent
and reliable performance.
HOUSINGThe electrical purpose of an insulator is the insulation of the high
voltage potential to ground or between two phases against an
external flashover. Simplified, a flashover event can be caused by
an overvoltage or by pollution. With the invention of polymeric
insulators, many different materials have been tried and tested in
respect to their outdoor service performance. The experience has

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shown that there exists a close interaction between sole material

properties and the overall design of an insulator. A survey
conducted by CIGRE Working Group B2.03 and published in the
year 2000 has shown that the majority of composite insulator
applications use Silicone Rubber as housing material (Fig. 6).
EPDM
and others
play a less important role.

Fig. 6: Use of housing material for composite insulators > 100 kV

Meanwhile, the striking distance determines the behaviour during
an overvoltage, the shape (geometry) of the insulator and wetting
behaviour of the insulator surface become the dominating factors
for the pollution performance.
2.2 Designing of Composite Insulators
An important feature of the composite insulators developed here
is that the design of the shed configuration is extremely free,

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owing to the use of silicone rubber for the housing. Based on past
experience, IEC 60815 "Guide for the selection of insulators in
respect of polluted conditions" was adopted. Electrical and
mechanical characteristics were designed to satisfy the
requirements set forth in IEC 61109 "Composite insulators for ac
overhead lines with a nominal voltage greater than 1000 V
definitions, test methods and acceptance criteria". With regard to
pollution design, it has been suggested that because of the
hydrophobic properties of silicone rubber, composite insulators
can be designed more compactly than in the past, but because of
the absence of adequate data it was decided in principle to
provide as great or greater surface leakage distances. The design
value for leakage distance was referenced to the value per unit
electrical stress as determined in IEC 60815, adjusted upward or
downward according to customer requirements. Tensile
breakdown strength was determined by applying a safety factor
to the long-term degradation in tensile breakdown strength. The
rubber and FRP of the housing were required not only to have
sufficient mechanical adhesion but to be chemically bonded, so as
to divent penetration of water at the interface. And because in
general a large number of interfaces may result in electrical weak
points, Furukawa Electric has adopted a composite insulator
design in which the sheds and the shank are molded as a unit,
resulting in higher reliability. The end-fittings comprise three
elements, and have the greatest effect on insulator reliability.
Specifically the penetration of moisture at this point raises the
danger of brittle fracturing of the FRP and the electrical field
becomes stronger. For this reason the hardware is of field relaxing
structure and the silicone rubber of the housing is extended to the
end-fitting to form a hermetic seal. The end-fitting is connected to
the FRP core by a comdivission method that maintains long-term
mechanical characteristics.

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The design requirements for composite insulators for 154-kV

service are set forth below: Overall performance
(1) To have satisfactory electrical characteristics in outdoor use,
and to be free of degradation and cracking of the housing.
(2) To be free of the penetration of moisture into the interfaces of
the end-fitting during long-term outdoor use.
(3) To possess long-term tensile withstand load characteristics.
(4) To be free of voids and other defects in the core material.
(5) To be non-igniting and non-flammable when exposed to flame
for short periods.
Electrical performance (insulator alone)
(1)To have a power-frequency wet withstand voltage of 365 kV or
greater.
(2) To have a lightning impulse withstand voltage of 830 kV or
greater.
(3) To have a switching impulse withstand voltage of 625 kV or
greater.
(4) To have a withstand voltage of 161 kV or greater when
polluted with an equivalent salt deposition density of 0.03
mg/cm2.
(5) To have satisfactory arc withstand characteristics when
exposed to a 25kA short-circuit current arc for 0.34 sec.
(6) Not to produce a corona discharge when dry and under service
voltage, and not to generate harmful noise (insulator string).
Mechanical performance (insulator alone)
(1) To have a tensile breakdown load of 120 KN or greater.
(2) To have a bending breakdown stress of 294 MPa or greater.
(3) To show no abnormality at any point after being subjected to a
comdivissive load equivalent to a bending moment of 117 Nm for
1 min.
(4) To show no insulator abnormality with respect to torsional
force producing a twist in the cable of 180.

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(5) To be for practical purposes free of harmful defects with

respect to repetitive strain caused by oscillation of the cable.
Table-1 shows the characteristics of an insulator designed to
satisfy these specifications

3. ELECTRICAL DESIGN CRITERIA

3.1 Dry Arcing Distance (Strike Distance):It is the shortest distance through the surrounding medium
between terminal electrodes. In the figure given below red line
shows the dry arcing distance.
Figure 3.1 Dry arcing distance

Figure 3.2 Leakage distance

3.2 Leakage Distance

The sum of the shortest distances measured along the insulating
surfaces between the conductive parts, as arranged for dry
flashover test. In the given figure the distance covered by red line
shows the leakage- distance. The design engineer can find
general guidance on what leakage distance is provided by a
properly designed shed shape. These recommendations have
been devised for porcelain and glass insulators but were not
meant to be used for composite insulators.

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ADVANTAGES
Due to many advantages the use of composite insulators has
grown steadily The polymeric products are demonstrating their
capabilities in diverse environments and are now routinely used to
prevent contamination flashover. The advantage of composite
insulators over ceramic insulator is given below:

1. Leakage current control and flashover

resistance:
-One of their major advantages is their low surface energy and
thereby maintaining a good hydrophobic (non wetting) surface
property in the presence of wet conditions such as fog, dew and
rain .
- Water on the surface of insulators stays in form of droplets and
does not form continuous film. So the leakage current along the
insulator surface is strongly suppressed.
-The efficient suppression of leakage current means the risk of
flashover is reduced compared to porcelain insulators.
Power frequency insulation is improved due to low leakage current.
The energy loss is 1/10th when compared to Porcelain Insulators and have higher
di-electric strength.

Fig. 10.1: Hydrophobicity of an unpolluted Silicone Rubber surface

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7.1 LIGHT WEIGHT

The density of polymer materials is lower than other materials. It
makes construction and erection easier and faster. The reduced
weight permits the use of lighter and less costly structures and
mounting arrangements. The light weight of the composite
insulator strings also permits an increase in the clearance
distance between the conductor to ground and an increase in the
phase-to-phase distance in order to reduce the electric and
magnetic fields which are becoming a growing concern to some
members of the general public. . The light weight of the
composite insulators also obviates the need to use heavy cranes
for their handling and installation and this saves shipping cost.
Composite insulators are 90% lighter than Porcelain Insulators,
but offer an equal to better strength. Approximate weight of 400
KV insulator will be less than 15kgs.
7.2 COMPLEX GEOMETORY
The polymers insulators are typically molded therefore it may have a higher creep age distance per
unit length than porcelain. Weathershed profiles can be made more complex and alternating diameter
weathersheds are supplied, which improve the a.c. wet flashover by avoiding bridging of all sheds
simultaneously during heavy wetting conditions.

7.3Resistance to breakages
- Composite Insulators are flexible and therefore, highly resistant
to breakages. While 10 to 15% breakages are reported during
transportation, storage and installation in case with porcelain
insulators.

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Safety against Vandalism & shatter proof.

- Composite Insulators have superior flexibility and strength which provides
improved seismic performance and are highly resistant to breakage due to stone
throwing, etc.
- No shattering/explosion. And not susceptible to breakages during
earthquakes.
Excellent Tracking Resistance avoids erosion or tracking of the housing material.
7.3 POLLUTION PERFORMANCE
The hydrophobic properties on the composite insulator have a
better electrical performance in contaminated condition. Water on
the surface of hydrophobic materials forms water bead, so the
conductive contamination dissolved within the water beads is
discontinuous. This condition results in lower leakage current flow
and the probability of dry band formation, which in turn requires a
higher impressed voltage to cause flashover. The higher
resistance of silicone rubber helps to limit the arcing and
minimizes the flashover. Another advantage of the composite
insulator is that it contributes to reduce the maintenance costs,
such, no need washing, and no need for application of silicone
coatings and reduce the inspections.
7.4 HOLLOW CORE HOUSING FAILURE MODE
The physical properties of the polymer material mean that it will
not shatter like porcelain. With the initiation of an internal fault,
the expected failure mode is rupturing or bursting of the hollow
structure with venting of the internal pressure, leading to an
external flashover and dissipation of the fault energy outside of
the housing.
7.5 PROCESSING
The processing time for polymer insulator is shorter than for
porcelain.

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Safety
- Composite Insulators provide very high level of safety for
apparatus in case of inner over pressure of external causes.
While porcelain Insulators are susceptible to explosion in case of
inner over pressure or external causes.
Composite Insulators have many ecological advantages.
Manufacturing process is pollution free. Composite Insulators are
safe and not health risk.
7.7 EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT
Equipment using hollow core composite insulators can withstand
seismic acceleration stresses up to 1 g (whether it is 0.5g in case
of ceramics insulators) without damage due their lower weight,
high damping factor and high strength design characteristics.
7.8 ECONOMICAL BENEFITS
1. Lower costs of manufacturing, shipping, loading/unloading
work and installation (due to lesser weight and dimensions
2. No breakage during transportation, handling, loading
/unloading assembly works (even so must to be handling
carefully
3. Possible application in hard-reach-areas Swampy areas arm
highlands costs tam necessity at all) insulators cleaners
4. Low costs of repair and replacement of insulators (due to
increased reliability and shock resistance as well as easier
assembly) .
FACTOR AFFECTING THE PERFORMANCE OF COMPOSITE
INSULATORS
5.1 MATERIAL AND MANUFACTURING METHOD
Polymer base and compound quality.
Formulation and design.
Core quality and end fitting gap attachment method.
Manufacturing method and quality control.
Handling, storage and delivery damage.
Damage during installation.
5.2 ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITINS
Ultraviolet radiations.

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Wind and ozone.

Temperature and pressure.
Humidity, rain, fog and snow.
Organic and inorganic pollutions (fertilizers, dust, acid, salt etc).
5.3 POWER SYSTEM OPRATION AND DESIGN
Electric field stress (continuous and transient).
Control stress ring.
Leakage distance.
Proximity of other lines.
Mechanical stress traction, compression, torsion and vibration.
6. PREDICTING SERVICE LIFE
The service life of a composite insulator involves both electrical and mechanical
aspects. Electrical aging involves damage from erosion or tracking due to the
thermal or chemical effects of discharge occurring when the insulation material is
polluted or wet, and may even result in flashover. Mechanical aging includes
long-term drop in the strength of the core material or in the holding force of the
end-fittings, as well as brittle fractures of the core material, and can on occasion
result in breakage of the insulator string. A drop in core strength or holding force
of end-fitting can be countered by adopting an appropriate safety factor and using
a reliable method of comdivssion. Brittle fractures, on the other hand, occur
mostly near the interface between the insulation material and the end-fitting, and
provided this area has been properly manufactured, the probability of their
occurrence will be lower than that of electrical aging. To estimate service life
from the electrical aspect, actual-scale composite insulators were exposed to
electrical stress, and were subjected to an exposure test under a natural
environment. A test chamber simulating environmental stress was also
constructed, and accelerated tests were carried out according to international
standards (IEC 61109 Annex C). Further, by comparing leakage current
waveform and cumulative charge, which may be characterized as electrical aging,
evaluation of composite insulator service life was carried out. Furthermore, since
in Japan, a drop in insulation performance due to rapid pollution during typhoons
is a familiar phenomenon, an investigation was made based on the characteristics
of leakage current obtained during a typhoon into the effect of rapid pollution on
electrical aging in composite insulators.

8. USES OF COMPOSITE INSULATORS

The composite insulators are used at following places:-

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-Distribution and transmission insulators.

- Surge arresters.
-Line surge arresters.
- Bushings.
- Circuit breakers.
- Instrument transformers.
- Capacitors.
8.1 DISTRIBUTION AND TRANSMISSION INSULATORS
Environmental demands on high-volt age transmission lines have
increaser constantly in recent years both in qualitative and
quantitative respects. For example, today it is of prime
importance when planning an overhead line to pay attention to
the achievement of a pleasing and environmentally tolerable
towel configuration. A large power company in Western
Switzerland has reached this goal in an exemplary manner with its
new 400 kV lines in this case the wide use of silicone composite
insulators brought positive results (figure 8.1). The composite
insulator with a connection length of 30 m can be manufactured
in a single piece and is almost

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shorter than the previously used porcelain insulator strings, each

with three long rod insulators type LG 85/22/1470.
Shorter insulators allow the use of shorter cross arms without the
risk of flashover due to reduced clearances to the tower as a
result of the swinging of the conductors. This has the further
effect of reducing the torsional loads in the cross towers. It
requires 37% narrower way-leave, which translates into 50%
lower right-of-way cost.
Figure 8.1 Transmission and distribution insulators
8.2 OUTDOOR SUBSTATION INSULATORS
Switchyards are the nerve centers of every power grid and so the
users' expect and demand a correspondingly high degree an
operational safety. It is therefore not surprising that with the
growing faith in composite insulators - particularly due to the
good experience made in their application in overhead lines
world-wide - great interest has developed in recent years in their
applies bon in outdoor substations. Today, if the customer so
desires, it is possible to design complete substations in silicone
composite technology.
Figure 8.2 Outdoor substation with composite insulators
In the above figure 8.2 a shows voltage controlled bushings for
transformers, b shows surge arrester, c shows live-tank circuit
breaker, d shows current transformer, e shows voltage
transformer, f shows voltage controlled bushing for power
transformer, and g shows cable termination.
8.3 SURGE ARRESTERS
For the obvious reason of the danger explosion due to
overloading, surge arresters were one of the first electrical devil
that were built with silicone insulator she The advances in ZnO
technology in arrester design, which replaced the spark-gap
arresters, eased the realization of porcelain-free arresters. Today,
ZnO arresters are manufactured either by applying the silicone
shed directly onto the active part, which is sometimes done for
voltage levels up to 36kV, or by using a fiberglass reinforced,
silicone coated composite tube as an insulating housing for the
arrester, which is possible up to the highest system voltages.
Figure 8.3 shows ZnO surge arresters.

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Figure 8.3 ZnO Surge arresters

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8.4 BUSHINGS
Increasingly, the design of high-voltage bushings is being
influenced by higher demands on operational safety, damage-risk
minimization (to persons and property) and not least, by a greatly
increased public environmental consciousness. The consideration
of these factors led to a new conception these important
components on the basis composite technology. By using superior
materials, as well as having their manufacture well under control,
it has been possible to satisfy the above-mentioned demands o
the bushings. Fig.8.4 shows 420 kV and 22 kV transformer
bushings and GIS Bushings for 123 kV in composite technology.
Figure 8.4 Power transformer bushing and GIS bushing
8.5 CIRCUIT BREAKERS
For the various reasons already mentioned above there is also art
increase in the use of hot low composite insulators in high voltage
circuit breakers, including their associated control capacitors, and
also recently in high voltage load disconnecting switches. The
possibility of fitting an optical fiber cable into the composite tube
for the transmission of measuring and a control signal,
particularly in circuit breakers, is regarded as an additional
advantage. Figure 8.5 shows SF6circuit breaker.
Figure 8.5 SF6 circuit breaker
8.6 INTERPHASE SPACERS
Inter phase spacers are fitted mainly the points on overhead lines
at which either for reasons of design or due to external influences,
there is a danger that required distance between the conductors
of two phases will not be maintained a situation which would lead
to a short circuit and hence an interruption in service. As early as
1990, a CIGRE questionnaire brought to light that around the
world, 32 power utilities had around 13000 interphase spacers in
operation a practically all voltage levels. Some of them had been
in active service for many years (up to 20 years at the time of the
questionnaire). Almost a third of the inter phase spacers
registered in the above report are installed in Switzerland.
As in any industrialized country, it is becoming increasingly
difficult to obtain rights of way for routes for new lines. A possible
solution to reduce the seriousness of this problem is to increase

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the power transmission capacity of existing lines, such as by

installing a second circuit. In the case in question the cross arms
of the concrete poles were originally designed to guarantee the
required air clearance between the conductors at mid spam for
one 12 kV circuit. So appropriate spacer made of silicone
composite insulator were designed, and installed between
conductors approximately 40m interval in order to maintain the
required conductor separation. This solution is only possible by
using the silicone composite insulators, which is very light
compared with porcelain insulators, and thus do not add sever
bending stress on conductors during dynamic load (ice shedding).
Figure 8.6 shows Silicone composite insulators as inter phase
spacers.

DIAGNOSTIC METHODS:
2.1 VISUAL INSPECTION
Visual inspection is presently the most commonly used inspection
technique. It can be employed remotely from a long distance as
well as by close-up visual inspections. Binoculars or telescopes
are used to perform remote visual inspections. Better efficiency
may be obtained when the inspections are made as close as
possible to the insulator, e.g. operating from a tower, from a
helicopter (including mini-helicopters), or from a bucket truck. A
number of practical guides for visual inspection are available from
CIGRE, EPRI and STRI. The guides typically include detailed
descriptions of different types of possible defects with carefully
selected colour photographic examples, enabling field personnel
to quickly locate the photograph(s) and definition(s) of interest
with respect to insulator deterioration and/or damages.
In particular, it is important to define the criticality of a
damage/defect, enabling required actions to be selected. The TB
481 can also assist in this regard.
A simpler defect classification is necessary regarding LLW, as only
conductive or semi conductive defects are recognized to be
critical. This assumption is valid for the enforced rule that LLW is
only permitted under dry weather conditions. While visual

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inspection allows most of the outside defects to be detected,

internal defects, which might lead to flash thunder, cannot be
observed. Furthermore, visual inspection can generally provide
rather qualitative information, which can be better quantified by
the other diagnostic methods examined in the following sections.
Visual line inspection needs both an experienced helicopter pilot
and an experienced line inspector (Fig. 36). Obviously, the upper
side of tension string insulators can be visually investigated,
which is rather difficult from the ground.

Fig. 36: Helicopter inspection

Field measurement:
Measuring with a field probe (Fig. 37) is an accurate, but time
consuming method. Initially, this technique was developed for the
in-service evaluation of cap and pin insulator strings. With the
increased service time of composite insulators, the field probe has
subsequently been modified to also evaluate the new insulator
technology. In principle, measuring involves mapping of the
electrical field along the insulator. If a defect is found, the
electrical field will show an immediate change. The ambient
humidity has a strong influence on the field recordings, which
makes interpreting the results difficult at such times.

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Fig. 37: Field probe measurements

UV/IR MEASUREMENT:
2.2 INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY (IR)
A thermal emission is associated with local heating caused by a
current flowing along a defective part of the insulator,
characterized by relatively high conductivity in comparison to the
intact insulating material.
With IR, the temperature distribution along the insulator axis is
measured by means of an infrared camera, searching for hot
spots associated with possible local defects. Compact
5 cameras with high sensitivities and excellent performance were
developed which currently permit a fast and reliable inspection of
the insulators. An example of defect detection by IR is shown in
Fig. 5

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. Fig. 5: Examples of clear IR detection of internal conductive defects (from left-to-right: in

laboratory; at test station; in service)

Guidelines for IR inspection from a helicopter are available .The

method is particularly sensitive to defects developing between
the housing and the core, leading possibly to a flash under. In this
case the fault current is passing through the defective zone
causing a significant temperature increase. The phenomenon is
particularly evident when the tracking affects large parts of the
insulator or when a sufficient conductivity is present all along the
insulator. This could be because of humidity ingress in the
interface or because of wetting of the part of the insulator not yet
damaged. On the contrary, temperature measurements by means
of an infrared camera are not suitable to detect conductive or
semi-conductive defects developing on only a small section of the
insulator with the remaining part sound and characterized by high
resistivity, especially if the measurements are made in a low
humidity condition (with the insulator dry). In this case, corona
may instead occur on the tip of the defect, with a very low current
associated with it, thus leading to very limited temperature
increase, hardly detectable in service.
2.3 ULTRA-VIOLET DETECTION (UV)
The possibility of localizing initial corona activity constitutes an
interesting technical challenge, especially in daylight conditions,

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thus different techniques are available for day and night

measurements. For daylight corona cameras, the diagnostic
indicator considered is the emission generated by the defects in
the UV-C range (i.e. with wavelength in the range 240-280 nm), a
bandwidth in which the solar light is filtered by the atmosphere.
Corona emission intensity is calculated using the number of
pulses of light emission (named blobs - Fig. 6). A counter gives
a number proportional to the quantity of blobs received by the
sensor.

Fig. 6: Example of blob counting by a daylight corona camera (245 kV tension insulators)

. Corona activities can be measured in daylight (Fig. 38) or hot

spots can be detected. The images can be superimposed (Fig. 39),
which simplifies the interpretation of the results.
However, this interpretation requires experience too. For example,
it is important that the various types of electrical discharges
occurring on an insulator are differentiated. Dry band discharges
have an UV radiation as well, but are mainly caused by pollution
on the insulating surface. On the other hand, (dry) corona
discharge is initiated at areas of high electric field stress caused
by sharp or irregular points on metallic or insulating surfaces.

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Since the corona discharge is formed by the partial breakdown of

air, it is important to record the prevailing weather conditions
simultaneously with the measurement. It has been empirically
proven that observations/ measurements are required during
periods of both high and low humidity before any conclusions on
the corona performance of a particular insulator or an insulator
set can be drawn.

Fig. 38: Corona activity can be measured in

and corona
daylight
measurement of the same bushing.

Fig. 39: Superimposed image of IR

Measurement of temperature enhancement provides a great deal

of information also in stations and for current-carrying contacts
In composite insulator evaluation, initial experiences show that
the late ageing state can be better detected with this combined
UR/IR-measurement. The matter is currently under investigation
by CIGRE Working Group B2.21. A first approach involves the
validation of a failure interpretation matrix (Fig. 40).

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In general, IR thermography and UV measurements principally

detect different physical properties (heat and enhancement of the
electric field in the form of corona respectively), thus a
combination of these two methods/cameras or use of a multicamera would be the optimum solution for the remote inspection
of composite insulators, especially when a certain failure
tendency is known for the age or vintage of the insulators in
question.

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COMPARISON BETWEEN COMPOSITE AN

PORCELAIN INSULATORS

POLYMERIC COMPOSITE
INSULATORS

PORCELAIN INSULATORS

Excellent HydrophobicityThe improved pollution and

hydrophobicity properties of
Silicon Rubber Provide excellent
Hydrophilic Propertiesinsulating behavior without the
Porcelain surface forms a water
need of washing or greasing
film on the surface due to its
even in humid and/or polluted
high surface tension (called
climates including dense fog,
hydrophilic). As such flashovers
heavy rain with high
and outages in humid and/or
conductivity, sea spray, dense
polluted climates will be very
saline fog and industrial
high.
pollutions. Hence low failure rate
combined with low overall
operating and maintenance
costs.
Lower Leakage Current
Resulting in improved power
frequency insulation. 1/10th the
Higher leakage current
energy loss when compared to
Porcelain Insulators. Higher dielectric strength.
Light weight
- 90% Lighter than Porcelain
Insulators, but offer an equal to
better strength.
- Approximate weight of 400 KV
insulator will be less than 15kgs.

Heavy in weight
- Inferior in strength.
- Approximate weight of 400 KV
insulator will be about 135 Kgs.

Resistance to breakages

Highly fragile.

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- Composite Insulators are

flexible and therefore, highly
resistant to breakages.

- 10 to 15% breakages are

reported during transportation,
storage and installation.

Safety against Vandalism & Susceptible to breakages

shatter proof.
- Due to very fragile properties,
- Composite Insulators have
Porcelain Insulators are highly
superior flexibility and strength susceptible to breakages due to
which provides improved seismic vandalism such as stone
performance and are highly
throwing etc.
resistant to breakage due to
- Porcelain Insulators are
stone throwing, etc.
susceptible to breakages during
- No shattering/explosion.
earthquakes
Excellent Tracking Resistance
avoids erosion or tracking of the Poor Tracking resistance.
housing material.
Compact Design
- Results in space saving (Right
of way) and lower costs.

Bulky in Design
- Requires Larger and heavier
towers for installation and more
space

Aesthetics
Aesthetically more pleasing
design and appearance

Aesthetics
Aesthetically not a pleasing
design.

Safety
- Composite Insulators provide
very high level of safety for
apparatus in case of inner over
pressure of external causes.

Safety
- Porcelain Insulators are
susceptible to explosion in case
of inner over pressure or
external causes.

Composite Insulators have short Porcelain Insulators have long

process time and therefore short manufacturing process requiring
delivery periods.
long deliveries.
Composite Insulators are cost
comparative.

Porcelain Insulators are higher

cost on account of excessive
heating required in the process.

Composite Insulators have many Process of manufacturing causes

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ecological advantages.
Manufacturing process is
pollution free.
Composite Insulators are safe
and not health risk.

pollution and health risk.

Stable long term operating

behavior as demonstrated over
more than 30 years of outdoor
exposure experience abroad
against ` degradation and
deterioration of insulating
properties.

Porcelain Insulators degrade

over period of service and
provide reduced insulating
properties

Design flexibility of Polymer

Insulators allows for adaptation
to suit specific needs such as
Design flexibility is limited.
changes in creepage distance
independent of insulator length
and aero dynamic profile.
Polymer Insulators cannot be
used as ladder during
maintenance.

Porcelain Insulators are rigid and

are therefore used by
maintenance workers as ladder
during maintenance.

CONCLUSION:
Composite insulators are used in increased numbers for the
insulation of HV transmission lines. They are manufactured from
different materials by different manufacturing processes and
show different design aspects. Thus, these composite insulators
are not equal. Their innovative details become obvious only if
particular service stresses act together in such a way that the
particular design items are challenged. Composite insulators are
light in weight and have demonstrated outstanding levels of
pollution withstand voltage characteristics and impact resistance,
and have been widely used as inter-phase spacers to prevent

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galloping. They have as yet, however, been infrequently used as

suspension insulators. Since the mechanical stress is smaller, the
body diameter can be thinner, and so the polymeric insulators
can be made smaller and lighter since their pollution withstand
voltage performance is better than that of porcelain insulators.
It is expected that the market share of polymer insulators will
continue to grow worldwide. The expected life time of polymer
insulators still presents an unknown quantity and therefore is of
concern to some power utilities, particularly for applications in
heavily polluted and wet conditions. Substantial improvements
can still be made to the formulations, the designs of the weather
sheds, stress relief rings and to the metal end fittings. These will
undoubtedly bring about further improvements in the electrical
performance of composite polymer insulators, leading to their
acceptance worldwide and a further reduction in their cost.
Worldwide service experience with silicon rubber insulators is
excellent. Especially, under heavy pollution conditions silicon
insulators outperform any other type of insulator by far. So far
there have no laboratory test been known to judge performance
in service or life expectancy. Suitability of composite insulator
design and materials can be proven by long-term service
experience only. The composite insulators for suspension use that
were developed in this work have been proven, in a series of
performance tests, to be free of problems with regard to
commercial service, and in 1997 were adopted for the first time in
Japan for use as V-suspension and insulators for a 154-kV
transmission line. To investigate long-term degradation due to the
use of organic insulation material, outdoor loading exposure tests
and indoor accelerated aging tests are continuing, and based on
the additional results that will become available, work will
continue to improve characteristics and rationalize production
processes in an effort to reduce costs and improve reliability.
Composite insulators offer economic advantages such as low cost
compact lines, low transportation and installation costs and
drastically reduced maintenance costs. Due to their superior
performance under any service conditions and their technical and
economic advantages composite insulators with silicon rubber
housing will represent the absolute future insulation material.

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