BREAKDOWN IN SOLID INSULATING MATERIALS

The Power Group

08EL-02 M. Tariq Mustafa
08EL-47 Muhammad Younis 08EL-49 M. Imran Ali 08EL-50 Umer Hafeez 08EL-51 Mujahid Hussain 08EL-59 Mudassar Nazeer 08EL-60 Shafqat Hussain Sabaaq

University College of Engineering & Technology, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan.

 BREAKDOWN OF THE INSULATING MATERIAL

It is a state in which a dielectric material loose its insulating properties and provides a conducting path for the current to flow through it.

Paper

Porcelain

Ceramic

Rubber

PVC

Mica

Wood

Surface flashover is a breakdown of the medium in which the solid is

immersed.

The role of the solid insulating material is only to distort the field so that the electric strength of the gas is exceeded.

The three essential components of the surface flashover phenomenon

Presence of the conducting film across the surface of the insulation Leakage current through the conducting film Degradation of the insulation.

 Conducting film is usually moisture from the atmosphere

due to contamination
Moisture is not only a conducting path, it can also arise

from metal dust due to wear and tear of moving parts.

For discharge to occur, there must be a voltage at least

equal to the Paschen Min. for the particular state of the gas.
e.g.Paschen min. in air at N.T.P it is 380V, whereas tracking

can occur at well below 100V.

Tracking
Tracking is the formation of the

permanent conducting path across

a surface of the insulation.
Only organic material.

Erosion
In a surface discharge, if the products of decomposition are

volatile and there is no residual conducting carbon on the surface, the process is simply one of pitting, results erosion.
Occurs in organic materials.

 It is preferable to use materials with erosion properties

rather than tracking properties

As tracking makes insulation immediately completely

ineffective, Whereas
Erosion only weakens the material but allows operation

until replacement can be made later.

Electro-Mechanical Breakdown
When an electric field is applied to a dielectric between 2

electrodes, a mechanical force will be exerted on the dielectric due to the force of attraction between the surface charges.

 This compression decreases the dielectric thickness

thus increasing the effective stress Pc =1/2 0 r V2 /d2