Development of a Thermochromic Polymer Insulator

Intelligent materials are those that have the ability to change some physical property in a controlled manner. In the case of the developed insulator, property to be modified is the color. The main objective is that it indicates, by changing its color, when it is in fault condition, thereby facilitating system maintenance because one of the major problem of polymeric insulators is identifying its degradation or failure. After the analysis it was decided that it would be used the thermochromic property. A study of the thermal performance was conducted. Computer simulations and tests on samples were performed. During the modeling has been found the value of heat transfer coefficient of the surface of the insulator (21 W/m2K). After modeling and testing was an insulator made with thermochromic property.