Silicone rubber nanocomposites for outdoor insulation applications

The paper presents results on eroded mass measurements for nanofilled silicone rubber by controlled infrared laser heating, which simulates hot spot heating by dry-band arcing on wet and polluted composite insulators. Improvement in dispersion by surface treatment of the nanofillers with surfactants and by calcination is demonstrated. Along with improved dispersion of the nanofillers, a significant reduction in eroded mass is found in silicone rubber samples containing Tritontrade X-100 and treated fumed silica filler. Furthermore, the variations in eroded mass among the samples are also shown to be reduced considerably with the surfactant. The study shows that resistance to heat erosion equivalent to a silicone rubber filled with 30 weight % of micro-sized silica can be obtained with only 2.5 weight % of fumed nano silica and surfactant.nanofilled silicone rubber infrared laser heating, hot spot heating dry-band arcing wet composite insulators.