25 Years Experience of Outdoor Polymeric Insulation

Dave Thornley, MIEE Raychem Limited Swindon, Wiltshire SN35HH United Kingdom

Abe Shocket Raychem Corporation Newark, Delaware

TEST METHODOLOGY
ABSTRACT- The major application for outdoor polymeric materials as an alternative to high voltage ceramics has been on cable terminations. This paper describes the test protocol used to evaluate a range of field aged materials returned from service in a wide variety of locations from all over the world. The importance of optimizing a material for good performance under a wide variety of test conditions is emphasized; as well as the increased importance of U.V. testing.
INTRODUCTION

Over the last forty years, many different polymeric compounds have been introduced to the electrical distribution industry for use outdoors on medium voltage overhead systems. The initial experience when using polymeric alternatives to porcelain and glass was very mixed [l]. When a heat shrink distribution cable termination system was introduced over 25 years ago, there was widespread skepticism about the long term performance of the material, so an extensive accelerated test program was completed to give both ourselves and the users confidence in their product. Large numbers of these terminations have now completed over 25 years of service. It is the purpose of t h s paper to compare the actual condition of a variety of terminations taken out of service with the results of the accelerated tests, and to speculate on what mechanisms may cause eventual failures. The relevance of accelerated tests introduced in the last ten years is also discussed.

In the late 1960's, the major cause of outdoor polymeric weather shed failures [l] was tracking and erosion after one or two years in polluted conditions. As a result a lot of work was done to reduce the propensity of the base polymers to track and erode by using various Although these efforts were additives [2]. successful in giving much improved performance on a short term test like ASTM D 2303 track and erosion test, there remained the question of long term resistance to U.V., ozone, NOX, water and thermal aging and the effkct of these deteriorating factors on the physical and electrical properties of the polymers. Weatherometer aging (see table 4 [3]) was used to simulate the combined effects of U.V.and gaseous pollution. Oven aging was used to simulate thermal aging due to high service temperatures. After aging, candidate materials were subjected to tensile strength/elongation tests to determine the change in mechanical properties, and ASTM D2303 (TERT) tests to see if the failure mechanism of the material surface changed from slow erosion to either tracking or flame failure. The importance of doing ASTM G53 U.V. agmg in the presence of ozone and water has recently been emphasized by Duguid [4]. Table 1 is an interesting comparison between weatherometer aging data with ozone, SO2 and ASTM G53 U.V. aging without pollutants on the same material. An EPDM elastomer formulation which has an, outstanding erosion performance is also included for comparison. The danger of doing only 5000 hours of testing and the aggressive effects which ozone and water can have in conjunction w i t h U.V. are clearly seen.
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0-7803-1883-8$04.00019941EEE

Table 1 Elongation to Break as a Function of Aging Hours and Method

Red Non Tracking - Heat Shrink Material Red EPDM Elastomer
5 3 U.V. Aging Hours Aging ASTM D2565 Weatherometer ASTM 653 - U.V. Aging STM 6 with ozone, SO2

Control

450

405

635 525
_ I

250
1,000

-420

15,000

---380 410 3 15

480

2,000
5,000

-505

350
320

7,500
10,000

395

zero

300
190

--390

15,000

The EPDM rubber formulation gave an excellent performance after 5000 hours of aging with an elongation to break still exceeding 500%. On the basis of this data, it would have been tempting to predict an end point at tens of thousands of hours, and an excellent service life. But between 5000 and 7500 hours, the material embrittled to such an extent that no meaningful elongation test could be done. The conventional explanation for this type of 'cliff edge' behavior is that once all the protecting stabilizers are used up, the material degrades very rapidly. In service terms, this could give materials which appear 'as new' at ten years and then fail completely at twelve years. The comparison on the U.V. plus humidity conditions of ASTM G53 and the sunlight plus pollutant conditions of weatherometer testing is also very interesting. The standard heatshrink nontracking material is hardly effected by the ASTM G53 aging out to 15000 hours. But weatherometer testing with pollutants shows a significant decline in properties which is in line with the natural e.uposure decline of sample 8 in table 4 .
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The ori@ papers (e.g.[3], [5]) show a progressive reduction in physical properties with weatherometer aging and thermal aging but no change in the TERT pexformance i.e. the surface which had been degfaded by various alternative means maintained its resistance to tracking and erosion over the wide range of stressedcurrents which the TERT test provides.

OLD TERMINATIONS, EXAMINATIONS &

DISCUSSION

Various old heatshrink terminations have been take out of service from around the world in a variety of locations. Fig. 1 shows the general construction of these heatshrink terminations. Table 2 summarizes the locations and environmental conditions to which they were exposed. R e s u l t s of the visual examinations are shown in table 3. Note sample 3 was horizontally mounted and deterioration seems to be relatively uniform. The other terminations were installed vertically. None of the terminations showed the type of localized erosion typical of salt fog test to failure.

Sample NO.

Location

Latitude

Table 2 Approx. Hrs. ;unshindyear

2000

Northern Norway

66

m
Environment
18

Adjacent to sea, high rainfall Adjacent to sea coast Few kms from sea, high U.V. for England lOOOm altitude in the Alps Low pollution, inland Desert conditions, 100 miles inland Iron ore mine, coastal

North Germany
Southern England

54 52

1600
2000

10
18

South Germany nxas Saudi Arabia

47

2600
3000

14
10

31
26

3500

13

Western Australia Swindon England

21 52

3000
2000

18 15

No voltage stress-angledat 45, facing South

Table 4 shows the results of tensile strength and elongation tests on the Werent components of the termination. Note that for heatshrink tubing material, control tests were performed on tubing protected from damage by a weathershed. Note also that the crack depths recorded are those seen on sections of stretched to failure dumbbells. Most specimens showed no surface cracks before stretching.

The darkening below the sheds noted in table 3 is due to the chemical products of arcing combining with the staining antioxidant used in the compound. Darkening has been seen on terminations only a few months old in polluted environments 20 years ago this was a cause for concern, but as the same terminationsare still in use today, and the dark area is insulating, non tracking and is less than a micron thick, this has ceased to be a worry.

Figure 1 Heatshrink Termination

CABLE OUTER

HEAT SHRINK

L STRESS
RELIEF MASTIC

SEALANT

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Table 3 Visual Examination of Old Terminations Sample Upper Surface Sheds

No.

Lower Surface Sheds

Tubing above shed

TubinglShed Joint area below shed Discolored both light and dark

Whitened

As new

Slightly mottled

areas
2 2/3 Whitened
1/3 Darkened 90% Darkened

Heavily mottled

Darkened

Shed data only - 90% whtened, both sides

213 Whitened
50% Darkened

Slightly whitened

H e a v y darkening
Darkened

Whitened Whitened, sandy

70% Whitened 30% Darkened

Half light, half dark

Sandy,as new below

sand

Slightly whitened, no
sand

Heavy coatingof sand, no e l o w darkening b sand

All covered in iron ore dust

As upper

Slightly discolored

Plaque sample, discolored on exposed side NOTE: No evidence of located 'dry bands' on any termin-tion, no tracking, no localized erosion.
B

The worst damage seems to be on the upper surface of the sheds where one would expect the worst combination of U.V. plus any chemical 'soup' that is flowing down the termination. The whitening is exposed white filler alumina trihydrate (ALTH). Although we know that stable arcing can occur on the upper shed surface, it would appear that the erosion mechanisms are removing the polymers and red filler faster that the ALTH. The undersides of the sheds appear to be uneroded. some are 'as new' with the part number print

still being present. However, the cracks on the stretched material show that damage is being done.

In case of sample 3, we were fortunate enough to have kept by chance a control sample of the shed molded at the same time. This has a weight approximately 3 per cent greater than the aged sample. Many insulator and termination specifications neglect the effects of weathering, or suggest short term tests compared to our data
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Table 4

Tensile (MPa)/Elongation (YO) Heatshrink Non-Tracking Tubing

Sample No
Location

Control

Above Shed

Below Shed

Molded

Shed

Noway

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

N.Gennany S.England N. Alps Texas Saudi Australia Swindon

9.81200 9.61200 7.51235 8.11225 Axis of shed horizontal 9.01220 9.11225 8.21180 7.11180 8.71205 8.91180 9.51265 8.71275 Control - 10.11410

12.U220 8.11235 9.31205 9.0/150 8.3/195 7.41265

9.71360 7.31480 11.21470aged 11.51370 7.41430 8.61530 8.41420 8.01300 aged

(1000 hrs in IEEE 1024). The long terms tests concentrate on salt fog erosion, and these tests eventually produce failures by erosion or tracking on the cylindrical sections sheltered by the sheds.

Most of the samples showed the maximum damage in areas exposed to the sunshine, and in the oldest samples, it is making significant progress through the wall of the material. However, the material below the damaged area appears to be retaining virtually
Table 5

all its original elongation unlike in the weatherometer accelerated aging tests, and the natural exposure test (sample 8). The examination showed that the embrittled surface on samples 1 to 7 is not producing effective notch propagation sites which reduce the elongation to break of the core of the material in the case of the accelerated tests. The inability of the established test protocols to simulate the combined effect of service degradation mechanisms has lead at

Maximum Crack Depth on Stretched Dumbbells (microns)

Sample No
Above Shed

Below Shed 25 50
25

Top of Shed

Bottom

of Shed 120 75 160

100 100

1 2 3
4

5 6 7 8

35 10 8.35 80-50 h/v 25 Nv 25 75 h/v Plaque sample - 100 micron cracks.

35 40
160

25 12 N V 50125 Nv

75 15

25 50 25 25

Note: Nv - hills and valleys.

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least one user, EdeF, to spec@ a more complex aging test, which is described in an appendix to IEC 1109, a recent polymeric insulator specification. This multifactor test is a step in the right direction, as it incorporatesboth high voltage, light, salt and humidity. The cycle suggested is open to criticism the daily rain cycle cleans accumulated degradation products off the surfaces whereas in many areas of the vrorld long periods without rain allow a steady build up of pollution in a humid environment. On the materials we have investigated in the EdeF tests, the erosion is not always on the side of the insulator exposed to light and the very high leakage currents may be producing effects unrelated to service.

reflected by any of the current specifications and it seems likely that the role of U.V. plus electrochemical attack has been under emphasized. The likely changes in global weather, particularly increasing U.V. levels, should cause the industry to re-address this problem area before it's too late.

BIOGRAPHY
MI. Thornley graduated w i t h a degree in physics iom the Queen's College, Oxford in 1964. Since that time he has held a variety of posts in the electrical and electronics engineering industry. For the last five years, he has been the technical manager of the Raysulate division of Raychem, located in Swindon, England.

One of the attractions of the equipment used for Ed& testing is that it is simple to change the test cycle so as to make it representative of your local conditions e.g. by eliminating the rain cycle and increasing the hours of 'sunning' or vice versa. Problems with some polymerics in polluted areas has caused the industry to concentrate on the erosion/traclcing aspect of their performance. Polymeria installed in areas regarded as IEC pollution class 4 are limited to a few percent of the system whereas the sunshine is everywhere, and it is sunshine in cambination With electrochemical effects which looks likely to cause the eventual decline of these materials.

Mr. Shocket graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh in 1980. He is currently the technical director of the Raychem Electrical Products Divison, located in Newark, Delaware

REFERENCES
[ 11 Peter Peregrinus, "Insulators for High

Voltages ,"JST Looms, 1988.

[2] R B i l l i n g s ,S . Smith, R Wilkins, "Tracking

In parts of the southern hemisphere, U.V. levels are already between 2 and 3 times greater than previously recorded before the growth of the hole in the ozone layer. If this phenomenon extends to the nonhem hemisphere and there was a prorata reduction in insulator life from 30 years to 10 years (to take an extreme example), this could be a major problem for utilities.

on Polymeric Insulation". AIEE Trans on Elec. Insuln., Vol. E1-2, No 3, pp.131-7, Dec. 1967. [3] RJ.T. Clabbum, RJ. Penneck, C.J. Swinmum, "The Outdoor Performance of Plastic Materials U s e d as Cable Accessories", IEEE PES. Winter meeting, New York, NY, Jan/Feb 1973. [4] T. Duguid, "IEE Colloquia on H.V. Polymeric Insulators", London Nov. 1992. [ 5 ] R J. Penneck, D.D. Nyberg, "Improvements in Non-Tracking materials", presented at the IEEE PES Conference, April 1979.

CONCLUSION The methodology used to develop an outdoor polymeric insulating material in the 1960's has been successfbl in practice over 25 years. The precise degradation mechanisms which occur in service do no appear to be
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