Assessment of ATH-Filled Silicone Rubber Under DC Dry Band Arcing

This paper investigates the tracking and erosion performance of silicone rubber filled with alumina trihydrate under DC dry band arcing in the inclined plane tracking and erosion test (IPT). Alumina trihydrate is incorporated into silicone rubber at 50 wt.% loading level for preparing silicone rubber composites, which are exposed to DC dry band arcing under mild and severe voltage levels in the inclined plane tracking and erosion test. Test outcomes indicate that the mechanism of silicone rubber deterioration changes with respect to the severity of the DC dry band arcing. It is found that dry band arcing tends to stimulate surface tracking under mild voltage levels and erosion due to thermal degradation under relatively higher voltage levels (critical). Moreover, test results indicate that silicone rubber erosion is not solely influenced by the dry band arcing power derived from the leakage current, but also dependent on additional contributing mechanisms leading to elevated surface temperatures and severe erosion.