Insulation Ageing Studies by Chemical Characterization

In order to better understand the chemistry of ageing processes, a number of parameters beyond brittleness or end-of-life must be followed. Several techniques which attempt to follow changes at the molecular level are described in addition to the morphological studies using microscopy. Because of the very subtle changes taking place in a solid dielectric at conditions not much more severe than service conditions, attention has been paid to the sensitivity of the methods used. The techniques described along with other more novel techniques must be utilized in order to truly understand thee chemistry of the ageing of solid dielectrics.