3D printed polycarbonate support insulator for quick repair: insulation and mechanical performance

The economic losses caused by insulation accidents depend on the repair time, but the speed of repair is often limited by manufacturing and transportation in the absence of replacements. Since 3D printing has the capability of quick manufacturing and direct repair at the accident site, this paper proposes a rapid repair method for support insulators based on 3D printing. This method uses thermoplastic polycarbonate (PC) as the raw material, which can reduce the waste of resources while making rapid repairs. To evaluate the applicability of this method, the mechanical strength, dielectric properties, and aging characteristics of PC and the insulation and mechanical properties of 3D printed support insulators (taking the 10 kV switchgear support insulator as an example) were studied and tested in this paper. The test results show that the tensile strength and bending strength of the 3D printed PC were 56.9 MPa and 93.8 MPa, respectively, and the dielectric properties had less temperature dependence. After aging at 120°C for 168 h, the dielectric properties and surface insulating ability changed slightly. The 3D printed 10 kV support insulator could pass the 42 kV power frequency voltage withstand test and 75 kV lightning impulse voltage withstand test. Moreover, its partial discharge inception voltage was 34.0 kV, and its flashover voltage reached 76.9 kV, both far exceeding the operating voltage (about 5.8 kV). In addition, its bending resistance reached 1.5 kN. The results show that the 3D printed 10 kV quick repair support insulator has the potential to be applied as a quick repair replacement.