Analysis of surface degradation of silicone rubber insulation due to tracking under different voltage profiles

Tracking is basically a carbonaceous process. In the present study, the tracking phenomenon in silicone rubber material has been studied under AC and DC voltage. The influence of applied voltage magnitude, conductivity, and flow rate of the contaminant on tracking, were analyzed. It is observed that the tracking is more severe under DC voltages. The tracking time is less under negative DC voltage compared to the positive DC voltage. The tracking mechanism is explained in detail. The leakage current during the tracking studies was measured and its trends were analyzed by using the moving average technique. The leakage current magnitude is high with thermally aged specimens when compared to the virgin specimen, irrespective of the type of applied voltage. It is realized that the tracking time and the leakage current magnitude shows an inverse relationship. In addition, the surface condition of the insulation material was analyzed with the water aged specimen and the diffusion coefficient of the material was calculated. The reduction in contact angle of the specimen has direct impact in the reduction of its tracking time. The tensile test and DMA test results indicate that thermal aging of the specimen alter the mechanical properties of the material. The activation energy of the material was calculated through DMA studies, indicating that materials with high activation energy show an increase in tracking time of the specimen. © Springer-Verlag 2007.