Brittle fracture of high voltage composite insulators-a new method in inspection and detection

Composite insulators are widely used on high voltage power lines because of their technical and economic benefits. In the recent years the number damaged composite insulators due to brittle fracture increased worldwide. In the High Voltage Laboratory of Budapest University of Technology and Economics a new technology has been developed to analyze high voltage composite insulators. As a part of a complex expert system this method can identify the critical, severe and hidden failures like brittle fracture with high accuracy. The accuracy, speed, efficiency and reliability of the new method are promising. The differences between the damaged, undamaged and new insulators are significant in the results, thus an all-new complex system is under development. The accurate prediction of critical insulators and power lines is essential because of the large number of damages caused by brittle fracture.