Self-Healable Electrical Insulation for High Voltage Applications

Abstract

Polymeric aircraft electrical insulation normally degrades by partial discharge with increasing voltage, which causes excessive localized Joule heating in the material and ultimately leads to dielectric failure of the insulator through thermal breakdown. Developing self-healing insulation could be a viable option to mitigate permanent mechanical degradation, thus increasing the longevity of the insulation. Instead of relying on catalyst and monomer-filled microcapsules to crack, flow, and cure at the damaged sites described in well-published mechanisms, establishment of ionic crosslinks could allow for multiple healing events to occur with the added benefit of achieving full recovery strength under certain thermal environments. This could be possible if the operating temperature of the insulator is the same as or close to the temperature where ionic crosslinks are formed. Surlyn, a commercial material with ionic crosslinks, was investigated as a candidate self-healing insulator based off prior demonstrations of self-healing behavior. Thin films of varying thicknesses were investigated and the effects of thickness on the dielectric strength were evaluated and compared to representative polymer insulators. The effects of thermal conditioning on the recovery strength and healing were observed as a function of time following dielectric breakdown. Moisture absorption was also studied to determine if moisture absorption rates in Surlyn were lower than that of common polyimides.