Life cycle testing of nanomaterial-modified liquid electrical insulations

Abstract

Liquid electrical insulations referred to in this paper are those which are supplied to the end user in liquid form and subsequently cured into a thermoset coating on the electrical unit. The development of data using nanomaterials as modifiers in these liquid electrical insulations has been ongoing for many years as documented in multiple publications [1,2,3,4]. These studies have focused on the use of nanosilica and nanoalumina materials as modifiers in polyamideimide and unsaturated polyester chemistries. The latest phase of this investigation evaluated situations more closely simulating “real world” conditions using motors and motorettes as test specimens. The results from industrial motors have shown improvements over unmodified products while academic results on motorettes have been inconclusive to date based on their testing.