Influence of Defect Size on Insulation Deterioration of Epoxy Resins with Voids

This study investigates the relationship between void size and insulation lifetime due to partial discharges (PDs) in internal voids. Experimental results clearly show that the larger the void size, the shorter the insulation lifetime, which decreases the lifetime n-value index of the voltage-time characteristics. The results also show a clear relationship between the insulation lifetime of a solid insulator having void defects and the PD energy generated in the void, which is related to the cumulative PD energy density per cycle. Therefore, we propose estimating the insulation lifetime of an insulator with voids by calculating the cumulative PD energy density per cycle.