• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.207-210
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• 2017

The suspension arrangement of insulators provides flexibility and assists in power transmission in transmission lines. The performance of the insulator string is strongly influenced by the environmental conditions to which it is exposed, its shape and the inherent material properties of suspension-type insulators. The suspension-type insulators are mostly made from glass, porcelain and ceramic material due to their high resistivity. Irregularity in charge distribution throughout the porcelain insulator may lead to accelerated aging and electrical breakdown. A very high and steep lightning impulse voltage may also cause breakdown of suspension-type insulators. We investigated various material characteristics such as alumina addition, surface morphology, x-ray diffraction pattern and relative density of suspension porcelain insulators manufactured in 1989 (36,000 lbs.), 1995 (36,000 lbs.) and 2001 (36,000 lbs.) by the KRI Company for use in 154 kV high power transmission lines. We compared the material characteristics of these porcelain insulators with that of the top-of-the-line porcelain insulators (36,000 lbs.) manufactured by the NGK Company in 2000. These suspension-type porcelain insulators were exposed to arc and flashover tests to examine their electrical and mechanical strength. It was noted that alumina addition (17 wt.%) for K-2001 was one of the major contributors to the enhancement of the performance of the porcelain insulators and to their ability to withstand very high current generation during the arc test. The porcelain insulators manufactured during 2001 also showed the highest relative density of 95.8% as compared to the other insulators manufactured in 1989 and 1995 respectively 94.2% and 91.5%. We also discuss reports of various failure modes of suspension-type porcelain insulators.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.29 no.10
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• pp.635-640
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• 2016

This paper dealt with the deterioration characteristics and an on-line diagnosis equipment for SPDs (surge protective devices). An accelerated aging test was carried out using a $8/20{\mu}s$ standard lightning impulse current to analyze the changes of electrical characteristics and to propose the diagnostic parameters and the criterion for deterioration of ZnO varistor which is the core component of SPDs. Based on the experimental results, an on-line diagnosis equipment for SPD was fabricated, which can measure the total leakage current, reference and clamping voltage. The leakage current measurement circuit was designed using a low-noise amplifier and a clamp type ZCT. A linear controller, the leakage current measurement part and a HVDC were used in the measurement of reference voltage. The measurement circuit of clamping voltage consisted of a surge generator and a coupling circuit. In a calibration process, measurement error of the prototype equipment was less than 3%.