Review of Comparative Evaluation to Understand the Behavior of Tracking, Erosion and Flashover Characteristics Under AC and DC Voltage on High Voltage Polymeric Insulators
Downloads
The use of polymer insulator in high voltage transmission lines has been extensively researched since they possess excellent hydrophobicity, lightweight properties, and contamination resistance. However, the reliability of polymeric insulators in AC and DC voltages has been noted as an important challenge. This study provides a detailed review of the features related to tracking, erosion, and flashover characteristics of polymeric insulators in AC and DC voltages through conducting a salt fog test for 1000 hours. In addition, this study evaluates the degradation of polymeric insulators exposed to AC and DC voltages along with the electric field distribution and hydrophobic properties. Also, the influence of several variables on polymeric insulators in AC and DC voltages has been discussed. Finally, several research gaps were recognized through reviewing the literature have been described.
`K. Haji et al., "The influence of alumina trihydrate filler on the leakage current in a salt-fog test for polymeric material," Proceedings of 2005 International Symposium on Electrical Insulating Materials, 2005. (ISEIM 2005)., Kitakyushu, Japan, 2005, pp. 332-335 Vol. 2,
doi: 10.1109/ISEIM.2005.193555.
D. Stefanini, J. M. Seifert, M. Clemens and D. Weida, "Three dimensional FEM electrical field calculations for EHV composite insulator strings," 2010 IEEE International Power Modulator and High Voltage Conference, Atlanta, GA, USA, 2010, pp. 238-239, doi: 10.1109/IPMHVC.2010.5958337.
J. V. Vas, B. Venkatesulu and M. J. Thomas, "Tracking and erosion resistance of silicone rubber nanocomposites under positive and negative dc voltages," 2010 Annual Report Conference on Electrical Insulation and Dielectic Phenomena, West Lafayette, IN, USA, 2010, pp. 1-4,
doi: 10.1109/CEIDP.2010.5724032.
Meng, B. -Y. Zhang, J. Chen, S. -C. Lee and J. -Y. Lim, "Tracking and erosion properties evaluation of polymeric insulating materials," 2016 IEEE International Conference on High Voltage Engineering and Application (ICHVE), Chengdu, China, 2016, pp. 1-4,
doi: 10.1109/ICHVE.2016.7800616.
B. R. B. Lopes, B. Recife, V. A. L. Ferreira, B. Recife and J. M. B. Bezerra, "Study of the criticality of internal voids in polymeric insulators with 15 kV voltage class," 2018 Simposio Brasileiro de Sistemas Eletricos (SBSE), Niteroi, Brazil, 2018, pp. 1-5, doi: 10.1109/SBSE.2018.8395662.
Amer, J. Laninga, W. McDermid, D. R. Swatek and B. Kordi, "Very Light Pollution DC Flashover Characteristics of Short Samples of Polymer Insulators," 2020 IEEE Conference on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric Phenomena (CEIDP), East Rutherford, NJ, USA, 2020, pp. 143-146,
doi: 10.1109/CEIDP49254.2020.9437486.
Ullah, R.; Akbar, M.; Ullah, N.; Otaibi, S.A.; Althobaiti, A. “Understanding Variations in the Tracking and Erosion Performance of HTV-SR-Based Composites due to AC-Stressed Aging Polymers” 2021, 13, 3632.
https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13213632
Li, X.; Zhang, Y.; Chen, L.; Fu, X.; Geng, J.; Liu, Y.; Gong, Y.; Zhang, S. “Study on the Ageing Characteristics of Silicone Rubber for Composite Insulators under Multi-Factor Coupling Effects.” 2023, 13, 1668.
https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings13101668
D. Windmar, I. Gutman and J. Jonsson, "HVDC pollution testing of insulation: experience from service, laboratory and test station," in IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation, vol. 21, no. 6, pp. 2496-2502, December 2014, doi: 10.1109/TDEI.2014.004605.
S. A. Qasim and N. Gupta, "Functionally graded material composites for effective stress control in insulators," 2015 IEEE 11th International Conference on the Properties and Applications of Dielectric Materials (ICPADM), Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2015, pp. 232-235,
doi: 10.1109/ICPADM.2015.7295251.
M. NageswaraRao, V. S. N. K. Chaitanya and R. P. Rani, "Electric field analysis of polymer insulators for various geometrical configurations," 2017 IEEE International Conference on Power, Control, Signals and Instrumentation Engineering (ICPCSI), Chennai, India, 2017, pp. 1722-1727,
doi: 10.1109/ICPCSI.2017.8392008.
N. Fahimi, M. R. Chalaki, M. A. Baferani, M. R. Tajik and A. A. Shayegani, "Investigating the failures of defected silicon rubber insulators in salt-fog chamber," 2018 IEEE Texas Power and Energy Conference (TPEC), College Station, TX, USA, 2018, pp. 1-6, doi: 10.1109/TPEC.2018.8312084.
J. Bhavani and S. V. S. P. Kumar Ch, "Finite Element Modeling of Voltage and Electric Field Distribution along the Insulators," 2019 4th International Conference on Recent Trends on Electronics, Information, Communication & Technology (RTEICT), Bangalore, India, 2019, pp. 225-229, doi: 0.1109/RTEICT46194.2019.9016905.
Ahmed, R.; Abd Rahman, R.; Jamal, A.; Salem, A.A.; Saman, B.; Lau, K.Y.; Ghoneim, S.S.M. Field-Dependent Pollution Model under Polluted Environments for Outdoor Polymeric Insulators. Polymers 2022, 14, 516.
https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14030516
Leal-Junior, A.; Pires-Junior, R.; Frizera, A.; Marques, C.A.F. Influence of UV Radiation on Mechanical Properties of Polymer Optical Fibers. Polymers 2022, 14, 4496.
https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13914496
N. Vasudev, S. Vynatheya and R. T. Senthilkumar, "Comparative performance of silicone rubber insulators with IEC stipulated test methods," 2012 IEEE 10th International Conference on the Properties and Applications of Dielectric Materials, Bangalore, India, 2012, pp. 1-4,
doi: 10.1109/ICPADM.2012.6318940.
S. Kumara, S. Alam, I. R. Hoque, Y. V. Serdyuk and S. M. Gubanski, "DC flashover characteristics of a polymeric insulator in presence of surface charges," in IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation, vol. 19, no. 3, pp. 1084-1090, June 2012, doi: 10.1109/TDEI.2012.6215116.
Arshad, A. Nekahi, S. G. McMeekin and M. Farzaneh, "Effect of pollution severity on electric field distribution along a polymeric insulator," 2015 IEEE 11th International Conference on the Properties and Applications of Dielectric Materials (ICPADM), Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2015, pp. 612-615, doi: 10.1109/ICPADM.2015.7295326.
Z. Zhijin, L. Tian, J. Xingliang, L. Chen, Y. Shenghuan and Z. Yi, "Characterization of Silicone Rubber Degradation Under Salt-Fog Environment With AC Test Voltage," in IEEE Access, vol. 7, pp. 66714-66724,2019,doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2019. 2917700.
M. Ridhwan, L. S. Lumba and S. Suwarno, "Effects of UV Radiation and Contaminant on The Properties of Polymeric Insulator," 2021 3rd International Conference on High Voltage Engineering and Power Systems (ICHVEPS), Bandung, Indonesia, 2021, pp. 085-090,
doi: 10.1109/ICHVEPS53178.2021.9601141.
K. Kumar , R. V. Maheswari, “An experimental study of the flashover performances of outdoor high-voltage polymeric insulators under fan-shaped pollution and dry band location,” Electrical Engineering (2025) 107:5719–5735, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00202-024-02825-7
Ramadan, Nizar & Madi, Ali & Kashada, Abubaker. (2024). Degradation of Polymers Insulators used in Electrical Transmission Lines under the Rate of Bond Breaking. 6. 016-028.
Rihan, Mahmoud & Ahmed, Zahraa & Nasrat, Loai. (2025). Advancing High-Voltage Polymeric Insulators: A Comprehensive Review on the Impact of Nanotechnology on Material Properties. SVU-International Journal of Engineering Sciences and Applications.6.93-105.10.21608/SVUSRC. 2025.337910.1250.
V. M. Moreno and R. S. Gorur, "AC and DC performance of polymeric housing materials for HV outdoor insulators," in IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 339-350, June 1999, doi: 10.1109/94.775621.
S. M. Gubanski, "Modern outdoor insulation - concerns and challenges," in IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine, vol. 21, no. 6, pp. 5-11, Nov.-Dec. 2005, doi: 10.1109/MEI.2005.1541483.
R. Sarathi, S. Chandrasekar and N. Yoshimura, "Investigation of tracking phenomena in outdoor polymeric insulation material under DC voltages using wavelets," in IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 515-517, Jan. 2006, doi: 10.1109/TPWRD.2005.855485.
G. Heger, H. J. Vermeulen, J. P. Holtzhausen and W. L. Vosloo, "A comparative study of insulator materials exposed to high voltage AC and DC surface discharges," in IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 513-520, April 2010,
doi: 10.1109/TDEI.2010.5448107.
Hong, Jin and Chen Yong Hong. “Electric field analysis of 220kV composite rodinsulator.” 2011 IEEE Power Engineering and Automation Conference 2 (2011): 73-77.
Ali A. Salem and R. Abd-rahman 2018 ”A Review of the Dynamic Modelling of Pollution Flashover on High Voltage Outdoor Insulators”, J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 1049 012019DOI 10.1088/1739-6596/1049/1/012019
P. Dixit, V. Krishnan and G. R. Nagabhushana, "Mathematical model to predict flashover voltages of polluted polymeric insulators intended for UHV DC," 2010 International Conference on High Voltage Engineering and Application, New Orleans, LA, USA, 2010, pp. 437-440,
doi: 10.1109/ICHVE.2010.5640732.
C. Bär; R. Cervinka; R. Bärsch; J. Seifert; J. Lambrecht; H.-J. Win, “ On A Comparative Evaluation Of The Retention Of The Hydrophobicity And The Tracking Resistance Of Silicone Elastomers Under Ac And Dc Stresses”, XVII International Symposium on High Voltage Engineering, Hannover, Germany, August 22-26, 2011 .
Yang, Q.; Wang, R.; Sima, W.; Jiang, C.; Lan, X.; Zahn, M. Electrical Circuit Flashover Model of Polluted Insulators under AC Voltage Based on the Arc Root Voltage Gradient Criterion. Energies 2012, 5, 752-769.
https://doi.org/10.3390/en5030752
AvilaPriya F, Kalaiselvam K, Poongothai K, Arun R and T. Prabakaran, "Electric field calculation and material optimization of 765kV bushing using FEA," 2015 International Conference on Computation of Power, Energy, Information and Communication (ICCPEIC), Melmaruvathur, India, 2015, pp. 0064-0070,
doi: 10.1109/ICCPEIC.2015.7259519.
R. Hernández-Corona and I. Ramírez-Vázquez, "Polymeric insulators characterization aged in salt fog chamber by different techniques," 2016 IEEE Conference on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric Phenomena (CEIDP), Toronto, ON, Canada, 2016, pp. 845-848, doi: 10.1109/CEIDP.2016.7785687.
L. S. Maraaba, K. Y. A. Soufi, L. M. Alhems and M. A. Hassan, "Performance Evaluation of 230 kV Polymer Insulators in the Coastal Area of Saudi Arabia," in IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 163992-164303,2020doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3022521.
Salem, A.A.; Lau, K.Y.; Abdul-Malek, Z.; Zhou, W.; Al-Ameri, S.; Al-Gailani, S.A.; Rahman, R.A. “Investigation of High Voltage Polymeric Insulators Performance under Wet Pollution”. Polymers 2022, 14, 1236.
https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14061236
M. Albano, R.T Waters and A. Haddad,”Visual And Infrared Techniques For The Assessment Of Partial Arcs On Conventional And Textured Insulator Surfaces”, https://www.e-cigre.org/publications/detail/ish2017-531
X. D. LIANG, S. H. LI, Y. CHEN, Y. YIN, Z. Y. LI, “Tracking and Erosion Tests for SR Composite Insulators under DC Voltage”, 21, rue d’Artois, F-75008 PARIS D1-109 CIGRE 2016.
L. S. SILVA, A. A. L. GOMES, T. M. C. CARNEIRO, G. M. F. FERRAZ, A. A. A. QUEIROZ, and G. S. BASTOS, “ Automation And Analysis Of Tests On Polymeric Insulators In Severe Ambient Conditions “, https://www.e-cigre.org/publications/detail/ish2017-578
Bär, C.; Bärsch, R; Hergert, A.; Kindersberger, J.,” Evaluation Of Dynamic Hydrophobicity Propertie With The Dynamic Drop Test Under Ac And Dc Stress And The Hydrophobicity Transfer Test , The 19th International Symposium on High Voltage Engineering, Pilsen, Czech Republic, August, 23 – 28, 2015
S.F. Kaaiye, C Nyamupangedengu, I.R. Jandrell. , “A Comparative Study Of Dc And Ac Inclined Plane Tests On Silicone Micro- Composite Insulators “, The 19th International Symposium on High Voltage Engineering, Pilsen, Czech Republic, August, 23 – 28, 2015
Shaohua Li, Xidong Liang, Feihong Wu, Yanfeng Gao, Bing Luo, Zilan He and Jiafu Wang, “Investigation And Recommendation On 1000 H Salt Fog Test Of Large-Diameter Composite Insulators Under Dc Voltage “,The 20th International Symposium on High Voltage Engineering, Buenos Aires, Argentina, August 27 – September 01, 2017
A. S. Krzma, M. Albano, R. T. Waters and A. Haddad, “Comparative Performance Of 11kv Silicone Rubber Polymeric Insulators With Hvac And Hvdc Excitations Using The Rotating Wheel Dip Test “, The 19th International Symposium on High Voltage Engineering, Pilsen, Czech Republic, August, 23 – 28, 2015
T. Chihani, A. Mekhaldi, A. Beroual, M. Teguar and D. Madjoudj, "Model for polluted insulator flashover under AC or DC voltage," in IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 614-622, April 2018, doi: 10.1109/TDEI.2017.006815.
Alexander Hergert, Josef Kindersberger, “Retention of hydrophobicity under DC voltage stress Evaluation with the dynamic drop test”, Alexander Hergert (DE) and Josef Kindersberger (DE) on behalf of CIGRE Working Group D1.27D, https://www.e-cigre.org/publications/detail/wgr-272-2-retention-of-hydrophobicity-under-dc-voltage-stress-evaluation-with-the-dynamic-drop-test.html.
“Polymeric HV Insulators for indoor and outdoor use-General definition, test methods and acceptance criteria” -IEC 62217:2025.
