Case Study on Using Different Insulating Materials for Indian Railways Network, Performance Analysis of in-Service Composite Insulators & Recommendations for the Future

The role of insulators in the Indian Railways Traction system is very critical for the efficient functioning of the whole network. In this work a detailed case study has been done of the Indian Railways Traction network across various zones of the country to understand their requirements and preference of choice for their application namely composite/porcelain. Survey indicated Indian railways have realized significant benefits with the use of composite on multiple aspects. To further understand the healthiness of the composite insulators that have been in service for a considerable time, two of them were removed and tests on mechanical, electrical and material aspects were performed in third party NABL accredited labs. This further confirmed the healthy nature of in-service composite insulators.