Composite insulators consist of an insulating core, bearing the mechanical load protected by a polymeric housing, the load being transmitted to the core by end fittings. Despite these common features, the materials used and the construction details employed by different manufacturers may be quite different.
Some tests have been grouped together as “Design tests”, to be performed only once on insulators which satisfy the same design conditions. For all design tests of composite suspension and tension insulators, the appropriate common clauses defined in IEC 62217 are applied. As far as practical, the influence of time on the electrical and mechanical properties of the components (core material, housing, interfaces etc.) and of the complete composite insulators has been considered in specifying the design tests to ensure a satisfactory life-time under normally known stress conditions of transmission lines. An explanation of the principles of the damage limit, load coordination and testing is presented in Annex A.
It has not been considered useful to specify a power arc test as a mandatory test. The test parameters are manifold and can have very different values depending on the configurations of the network and the supports and on the design of arc-protection devices. The heating effect of power arcs should be considered in the design of metal fittings. Critical damage to the metal fittings resulting from the magnitude and duration of the short-circuit current can be avoided by properly designed arc-protection devices. This standard, however, does not exclude the possibility of a power arc test by agreement between the user and manufacturer.
IEC 61467 [1]1 gives details of a.c. power arc testing of insulator sets.
Composite insulators are used in both a.c. and d.c. applications. In spite of this fact, a specific tracking and erosion test procedure for d.c. applications as a design test has not yet been defined and accepted. The 1 000 h a.c. tracking and erosion test of IEC 62217 is used to establish a minimum requirement for the tracking resistance of the housing material.
The mechanism of brittle fracture has been investigated by CIGRE B2.032 and conclusions are published in [2, 3]. Brittle fracture is a result of stress corrosion induced by internal or external acid attack on the resin bonded glass fibre core. CIGRE D1.14 has developed a test procedure for core materials based on time-load tests on assembled cores exposed to acid, along with chemical analysis methods to verify the resistance against acid attack [4]. In parallel IEC TC36WG 12 is studying preventive and predictive measures.
Composite suspension/tension insulators are not normally intended for torsion or other nontensile
loads. Guidance on non-standard loads is given in Annex C.
Wherever possible, IEC Guide 111 [5] has been followed for the drafting of this standard.