Investigation into new designs for h.v. insulators using synthetic materials

Investigations into the application of some new materials to h.v. insulation are reported. The first is concerned with the exploitation of the properties of epoxide resin¿its mechanical strength, ease of casting, excellent electrical characteristics and high thermal conductivity. Two basic types of equipment were studied: the post insulator, which principally utilises the mechanical strength of the resins, and the h.v. bushing, which uses the facility of casting the material in large complex shapes and its high thermal conductivity. A second investigation was aimed at exploiting the extremely high tensile strength of plastic bonded glass-fibre rod, which exceeds that of mild steel, so that suspension insulators were the obvious application, and insulating crossarms were an alternative application. Work is not yet completed on either of these two investigations, but sufficient has been established to form a basis for a much wider exploitation of these materials.