Finite Element Simulation on the Thermal Degradation of Silicone Rubber of Composite Insulator

The study of tracking for silicone rubber materials has become an important way to improve the service life of silicone rubber materials. To investigate the effect of arc heat on silicone rubber, finite element simulations related to thermal degradation of silicone rubber were conducted in this paper. The simulation results show that the heat conduction of aluminum hydroxide in silicone rubber, the heat absorption of decomposing aluminum hydroxide and the thermal conductivity of decomposing aluminum oxide all affect the temperature field of silicone rubber. In addition to this, a hypothesis is proposed that the resistance to tracking of silicone rubber materials may not be mainly derived from the decomposition of inorganic fillers to absorb heat, but rather from the fact that the thermal conductivity of the inorganic fillers is greatly enhanced after decomposition.