Accelerated multistress aging of polymeric insulators under San Francisco coastal environment

This paper represents the results of a four-year multistress accelerated aging study of outdoor polymeric silicone rubber insulators under artificial coastal California conditions. Weather cycles simulating San Francisco were designed and developed to simulate the actual environment. The aging/degradation/recovery phenomena were characterized using electrical and material parameters. Various sophisticated material diagnostic techniques, such as SEM, FTIR, ESCA, were used. The results indicate that there is slight difference between the virgin and the aged insulator surface, but nothing detrimental to its continued service. An achievement of this research would be to gain a better understanding and prediction of the failure mechanism, if any, of outdoor polymeric silicone rubber (SIR) insulators.