Research on Defect Detection of Insulation Piercing Connector (IPC) Based on UHF Partial Discharge

Insulation piercing connector (IPC) is widely used as a link fitting for the insulated conductor in distribution network. However, there are most accidents in recent years due to installation, operation, etc. In this paper, the structure of the IPC is analyzed. The IPCs with the typical defect were prepared, including the insufficient contact force, the loose connection, the grease loss, the dampness, and the overload operation and the experimental platform based on UHF partial discharge was built. Obtained results show that the standard installed IPC has the obvious partial discharge, whose amplitude can reach 110 mV and discharge mainly concentrates on the alpha and the gamma quadrant. The defects obviously increase the PD amplitude and have a great influence on the PD characteristic, including the discharge quadrant, times and PRPS. In actual operation, this detection method could be adopted to diagnose the IPC with defect to prevent failure and improve power supply reliability.