Evaluation of pyrolysis and arc tracking on candidate wire insulation designs for space applications

Author

Stueber, Thomas J. ; Hammoud, Ahmad ; Stavnes, Mark W. ; Hrovat, Kenneth

Author_Institution

NASA Lewis Res. Center, Brook Park, OH, USA

fYear

1994

fDate

5-8 Jun 1994

Firstpage

473

Lastpage

476

Abstract

Polyimide wire insulation has been found to be vulnerable to pyrolization and arc tracking due to momentary short-circuit arcing events. This report compares arc tracking susceptibility of candidate insulation configurations for space wiring applications. The insulation types studied in this report were gauge 20 hybrid wiring constructions using polyimide, tetrafluoroethylene (TFE), Cross-linked Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene (XL-ETFE) and/or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) insulations. These constructions were manufactured according to military wiring standards for aerospace applications. Arc track testing was conducted under DC bias and vacuum (10^-6 torr). The tests were conducted to compare the various insulation constructions in terms of their resistance to arc tracking restrike. The results will be presented and discussed in this paper

Keywords

arcs (electric); insulated wires; organic insulating materials; polymer films; pyrolysis; space vehicle electronics; 1E-6 torr; PTFE; TFE; XL-ETFE; aerospace applications; arc tracking; cross-linked ethylene tetrafluoroethylene; gauge 20 hybrid wiring; military wiring; polyimide wire insulation; polytetrafluoroethylene; pyrolysis; short-circuit arcing; space wiring; tetrafluoroethylene; Aerospace testing; Cable insulation; Insulation life; Insulation testing; Manufacturing; Military standards; Polyimides; Vacuum arcs; Wire; Wiring;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electrical Insulation, 1994., Conference Record of the 1994 IEEE International Symposium on

Conference_Location

Pittsburgh, PA

ISSN

1089-084X

Print_ISBN

0-7803-1942-7

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ELINSL.1994.401416

Filename

401416