High voltage breakdown studies of sol-gel MgO-ZrO2 insulation coatings under various pressures at 298 K and 77 K

High voltage breakdown (HVbd) tests were performed to investigate electrical properties of high temperature MgO-ZrO2 insulation coatings on long-length stainless steel (SS) tapes under various pressures at room temperature (298 K) and liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K) for applications of HTS/LTS coils and magnets. After solutions were prepared from Mg and Zr based precursors, solvent and chelating agent, the coating were fabricated on SS substrates using reel-to-reel sol-gel technique: Coating thicknesses for 4, 8, and 9 clippings were about 7, 12, and 13 mu m, respectively, and thickness of epoxy-impregnated samples (stycast 2850 FT/24 LV) were measured to be 32 pm. The pressure from 0 GPa to 0.54 GPa was applied on to test couples, the stycast thicknesses between the layers were varied 32-20 mu m. Thickness of the coatings and epoxy-impregnated using stycast were determined by using environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM), The resistance, capacitance, and HVbd of the samples were measured by using standard machines HP 439 a high resistance meter, 161 analog digital capacitance meter and model 200-02R high voltage power supply, respectively. Electric strength and dielectric constant were calculated at 298 and 77 K under various pressures. The high HVbd, and electric strength values of the samples were 2.84 kV and 45.91 kV/mm, respectively. ESEM observation revealed that arcing spots in the insulation coatings become larger and deeper for higher HVbd's. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.