Experience in HVDC testing of vulcanized rubber in UTeM’s high voltage laboratory

This paper discusses UTeM’s experience in developing High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) test arrangement for HV test of solid insulator. Solid insulations form an integral part of high voltage structures. The solid materials provide the mechanical support for conducting parts and at the same time insulate the conductors from one another. Under normal condition, solid material exhibits a wide range of dielectric strength, depending on the condition of the environment and testing method. Thus, vulcanized rubber was selected as the test object to determine its dielectric strength through disruptive discharge test. The experimental results are based on breakdown voltages from one stage and two stages of HVDC configuration at three different points on the tested rubber.