Silicone & Other Materials
Chemistry & Properties of Silicones
Molecular Structure & Resulting Properties In contrast to other polymeric insulation materials, silicones (also known as polydimethylsiloxanes) are not made up of a carbon to carbon backbone. Rather, they consist of repeating silicon-oxygen (siloxane) groups with two methyl groups each bonded to the silicon. As such, they differ widely from...
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Resistivity Measurement of Conductive Silicones
Modern cable accessories and connectors are being manufactured using a broad range of silicone elastomers and auxiliary materials – from fluids to gels to pastes. Those elastomers that contain electrically conductive fillers (generally referred to as... Read More
Pre-Coating RTV Silicone onto Glass Disc Insulators
Most application of RTV silicone material has traditionally been as a remedial measure to mitigate pollution-related flashovers of insulators suffering poor service performance. Indeed, coatings have been viewed for years mainly as a maintenance product... Read More
Basics of RTV Silicone Coatings
The application of RTV silicone coatings to porcelain and glass insulators in order to increase performance under pollution is not a new maintenance technology. Yet, while available for decades, not all power engineers fully understand its basics and what... Read More
Experience with Mold Growth on Silicone Bushings
With the dramatic growth in application of composite insulators, there have been periodic reports concerning mold growth and its possible impact on electrical performance. Users will therefore need to know what is the best course of action to follow should... Read More
Flashovers Combatted at South African Substation
When an electrical network which has operated for years without problems suddenly starts to experience a growing number of insulator flashovers this is generally the result of service conditions that have deteriorated due to increased pollution. Should such... Read More
Effect of Biological Growths on Properties of Silicone Rubber Housings
In what must be seen as a rare meeting point of the fields of microbiology and HV engineering, a growing number of utility engineers are reporting the presence of biological growths on composite insulators. This phenomenon seems to be relatively independent... Read More
