Effect of filler on self-healing properties of silicone rubber in electrical tree phenomena

Abstract

Pure silicone rubber is one of the polimer based that is widely used in insulation industry nowadays because it has self-healing properties compared to other polymer introduced before. With its good characteristics such as oil and solvents resistance, cannot be degraded if exposed to sunlight, high gas permeability, high insulation resistance in silicone rubber were give advantages and goodness as a material that have self-healing properties. In this project, the main material used is pure silicone rubber. Nanofillers are well known act as a barrier to the propagation of electrical treeing. But the nanofiller presence in composite is not clearly stated in investigation of self-healing properties. This project has been implemented in High Voltage Engineering Laboratory (IVAT-UTM) and the effects of nanofiller on electrical treeing and self-healing properties of silicone rubber (SiR) were investigated. The nanofiller used in this study is Silicone Dioxide (SiO2). The results came out with self-healing is recovered faster in pure silicone rubber compared to silicone rubber filled of 2wt%, 4wt% and 6wt% of SiO2 nanofiller. The results were taken every 96 hours. The lower percentage of nanofiller used in nanocomposites, the material will recover fast from damage or crack.