Characteristics and Kinetics of Cellulose Degradation in Oil-Impregnated Pressboard under Simultaneous Thermal-Electrical-Mechanical Stress Accelerated Aging

This study aims to investigate the characteristics and kinetics of cellulose degradation in oil-impregnated pressboard (OIP) under simultaneous thermal-electrical-mechanical stress accelerated aging. Thus, the multi-stress aging experimental setup is designed and established. OIP multi-stress aging experiments are performed at 130 °C, a DC electric voltage of +6 kV, vibration amplitude of ${10}{-}{50}\ \mu\mathrm{m}$ and vibration frequency of 100–300 Hz. The aging characteristics of pressboard and oil are then measured, including the degree of polymerization and aging by-products (i.e., furfural, moisture, acidity and dissolved gas). Investigations on aging characteristics reveal that thermal stress is still the dominant factor of cellulose degradation, while electrical and mechanical stresses serve as aging acceleration factors. The simultaneous thermal-electrical-mechanical aging of OIP is 10-24% faster than the single thermal aging. Moreover, the kinetics of cellulose degradation is also proposed to predict the bond scission fraction of cellulose with a goodness-of-fitting over 0.97. Finally, the correlations between the parameters in the kinetics of cellulose degradation and mechanical stress reveal that the increase of vibration amplitude generates more weak and amorphous links available for degradation, while the increase of vibration frequency accelerates the reaction rate.