Tracking and Erosion Resistance of Liquid Silicone Rubber under Normal and Acidic Environment

Performance evaluation is carried out for Liquid Silicone Rubber (LSR) insulators using tracking and erosion resistance. Present study is conducted for AC and positive DC stress for the normal contaminant as per IEC 60587 and acidic environment simulating acidic rain condition. An experimental arrangement is fabricated as per IEC 60587 and ASTM D-2303 standards and constant voltage method is employed to evaluate the tracking and erosion performance of LSR samples under normal and acidic environmental conditions. Physico-chemical analysis is performed on degraded samples using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray (EDAX) Analysis and Fourier Transform Infra red Spectroscopy (FTIR). Comparative study is conducted for acid rain contaminant and standard contaminant of NH4Cl, further leakage current measurement is carried out for both AC and positive DC stress.