Study on surface modification of silicone rubber for composite insulator by electron beam irradiation

Abstract

In order to improve the outdoor service life of composite insulators, the effect of electron beam irradiation on SIR is studied. In this paper, the silicone rubber was treated by two different doses of electron beam irradiation, and the accelerated aging test of 1000 h high temperature, high humidity and strong sunlight was carried out in the multi factor aging test chamber. At the same time, the physical and chemical properties such as physical tensile properties, hydrophobicity, optical microscope, scanning electron microscope (SEM), Attenuated Total internal Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer(ATR-FTIR) and crosslinking density were analyzed. The results showed that after low electron beam irradiation dose (40 kGy) treatment, the crosslinking density of silicone rubber increased by 8.8 times, and after 1000 h aging treatment, the crosslinking density of low irradiated(40 kGy) silicone rubber is still 6 times higher than that of unirradiated silicone rubber. Based on the analysis of the test results, the surface modification mechanism of silicone rubber under electron beam irradiation and aging is proposed. The research observation results demonstrate the influence of electron beam irradiation and aging on silicone rubber. Related research provides a novel idea for improving the service life of insulators.