Breakdown strength estimation of non-cellulosic insulating materials used in electrical power equipment

Breakdown of solid insulating materials in power equipment could result in undesired outages and replacements, and may be due to an increase in electric stress on the material. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a proper diagnosis of materials before their practical use. In this work, a few inherent properties of different non-cellulosic insulating materials, such as Nomex, Teflon, laminated Nomex, glass bonded mica, epoxy resin bonded mica paper, and epoxy resin bonded fiberglass, have been evaluated by performing non-destructive dielectric diagnostic measurements, and an attempt has been made to correlate these basic parameters to evaluate the breakdown strength (BDS). An equation has been proposed using a basic theory which defines the correlation between the BDS, dielectric constant, dissipation factor, sample thickness, and volume resistivity. The results obtained from the equation are also compared with the experimental values. The suggested equation will be helpful to predict the BDS of any non-cellulosic material without experimentation in the laboratory.