Composite Materials Used in Outdoor Insulation

Composite materials for external insulation are important to guarantee the safe operation of high‐voltage transmission and transformation equipment. External insulation materials are mainly applied to engineering, with higher costs and actual operation being the main considerations in design, manufacture, and application. Starting from the initial inorganic insulation materials such as porcelain and glass insulation materials, more and more polymer composites have become the first candidates of external insulation materials, with advances in technology. Composite insulation materials for transmission lines and substations based on silicone rubber (SIR) have excellent hydrophobicity and hydrophobic mobility, which has significantly changed the design, operation, and maintenance of transmission lines and substations. Such materials have now become the main composite materials for external insulation. With the expansion of their applications, the requirements of high‐voltage external insulation are becoming more and more refined and specialized, boosting the development of new composite materials. This chapter introduces two new composite materials: semiconductor composites for power grid anti‐icing and cycloaliphatic epoxy resin (CEP) materials.