Effect of surface tracking on LLDPENR/TiO2 nanocomposite conductivity using PDC technique

Composite polymeric insulators recently being widely used to replace porcelain and glass in high voltage application. While Polarization and Depolarization Current (PDC) is a nondestructive measurement technique used to measure charging and discharging current in time domain. This paper presents the experimental and analysis result of PDC measurement technique for new developed Nano-polymeric material samples. The new LLDPENR/ TiO2were developed by blending the polymer material of Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE), natural rubber (NR) and filled with nanoparticles of TiO2 as fillers. Several samples at different percentage of filler added (1%, 3%, 5%, and 7%) was prepared and tested with and without surface tracking defect. Surface tracking is developed from surface discharged activity associated with the flow of leakage current on insulator surface under wet and contaminated conditions. Presence of impurities or contaminants on surface of the insulator will affect the insulator conductivity. Aim of this study is to see effectiveness of adding TiO2 as fillers improve polymer material dielectric properties under surface tracking condition. Result of PDC pattern and conductivity variation of each sample is analyzed using LABVIEW and MATLAB to determine which sample has better dielectric property