COMPOSITE INSULATOR FAILURES LEAD TO IMPROVED DESIGNS

摘要

Industry-funded research leads to better understanding of brittle fractures and development of insulators with resistant fiberglass rods. THE INITIAL PROMISE OF COMPOSITE INSULATORS WAS INTOXICATING: a product that was lightweight, easy to install, resistant to gunshots and less likely to track in corrosive environments. And we have found that composite insulators for the most part do in fact live up to that promise. But, our industry was caught off-guard when the first cases of brittle fracture were reported. Utilities found that under certain conditions, a transverse crack could propagate across the internal fiberglass rod and bring power lines down. This article provides an insight into the process of insulator degradation and outlines steps utilities can take to address this uncommon yet critical problem.