Dielectric Strength of Laminated Paper and Polymer Materials Under Aging and Tensile Stress at 77 K

Among various factors influencing the service life of electrical equipment, the performance of dielectric insulation materials has an important role. Degradation of insulating materials caused by aging is fatal to insulation breakdown. The dielectric sheets of most conventional and high-temperature superconducting electrical equipment are working at tensile status when lapped on the conductor. Therefore, the study of the dielectric characteristic for insulation materials at aging and tensile status is very important to safely operate electrical equipment. In this paper, a special electrode system was designed to measure the breakdown voltages of polypropylene laminated paper, polyimide, and polytetrafluoroethylene sheets at tensile status both in normal environment and liquid nitrogen. Before the breakdown experiment, the specimens of the three materials all endured the aging process of abrupt temperature change. According to the test results and the Weibull plot analysis, the polyimide presents good dielectric strength at aging and tensile status both in normal environment and in liquid nitrogen.