Assessment of Mechanical and Dielectric Behaviour of Sintered E-CR Glass Reinforced Polyimide Composite Insulator Core for Mechanical Load-Bearing and High Voltage Insulation Applications

Glass fiber reinforced composites have proven to be a promising material in the design and fabrication of insulator core components for electrical power and energy systems. Several studies on composite insulators have been conducted by many researchers in the earlier years. However, this research studied the influence of electrical corrosion resistance (E-CR) glass on the mechanical and dielectric characteristics of polyimide (PI) composites for mechanical load-bearing and electrical insulation applications. The composites were produced by spark plasma sintering process by varying the concentration of E-CR particulates. The produced composites were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), nanoindentation, and inductance capacitance resistance (LCR) meter tests. By using SEM, the dispersion of the E-CR particles in the PI matrix was examined. The hardness and modulus of the PI were improved with the incorporation of E-CR reinforced particulates. At 20 wt% E-CR loadings, hardness of 1.45 GPa and elastic modulus of 13.05 GPa was recorded. In addition, with the addition of the E-CR particulates, the resultant composite depicted a dielectric strength of 303 kV/cm. Thus, the findings suggest the easy fabrication of PI composites and their candidature for mechanical load-bearing and insulator core rod applications.