Thermogravimetric Analysis and Activation Energy Calculation of Carbon Fiber Composite Cores

As a new type of overhead wires, carbon fiber composite conductors have a wide potential application prospect in the capacity expansion project. When the conductors run at a relatively high temperature for a long time, the influence of temperature on carbon fiber composite mandrel which are wrapped inside the aluminum conductor cannot be neglected. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the thermal decomposition process of the composite cores. The pyrolysis process of the carbon fiber composite cores was analyzed by thermogravimetric analysis experiments at various heating rates, and the activation energy of the carbon fiber composite cores was calculated using two classic models based on thermal analysis kinetics. The results showed that the activation energy values calculated by the Flynn-Wall-Ozawa method and the Kissinger method were basically the same. It was found that the activation energy values at different conversion rates were stable in the early stage of the reaction and increased slightly in the later stage. To account for this phenomenon, the explanation was also given. The study of the activation energy of the composite core in this paper lay a certain foundation for revealing the aging mechanism and life evaluation of the carbon fiber composite cores.