Aging degradation of the mechanical properties of composite insulators and its analytical approaches

An investigation of the aging degradation of mechanical performance of composite insulators is reported. Useful approaches for analyzing their long-term performances to develop reliable composite insulators is reported. The static-load time-test data are examined to see how well they can be represented by a Weibull distribution. Degradation of mechanical strength and the behavior of a FRP (fiberglass-reinforced plastic) rod are analyzed by the acoustic emission method. Cyclic load tests are performed to check the delayed rupture characteristics. >