HIGH VOLTAGE PORCELAIN INSULATORS

Abstract: A high voltage porcelain insulator is disclosed, which has a glaze (1,2) applied to at least a head portion of the insulator which head portion is covered by a metal fitting (3) and a cement (5). The glaze essentially consists of, in terms of weight, from 64.0 to 68.0% of SiO₂, from 17.5 to 19.0% of Al₂O₃, from 5.0 to 6.5% of MgO, not more than 3.0% of CaO, from 2.0 to 2.8% of K₂O and Na₂O in a total amount, and from 3.0 to 9.0%, when calculated as MnO, a compound which is converted to MnO and or MnO₂ after being fired at a temperature range suitable for firing porcelain.

Description: The present invention relates to high voltage porcelain insulators having excellent steep wave front characteristic. With recent increase in capacity and voltage of power transmission lines, it is required that the mechanical strength and electrical performances of suspension insulators, etc. are improved and reliability of the suspension insulator, etc. is enhanced. In order to raise the voltage in the power transmission lines, it is necessary to enlarge the head portion of insulators and lengthen the leakage distance of their shed portion, which however poses the following problems. First, enlargement of the head portion of the insulator leads to enlargement and weight increase of metal fittings used and accordingly weight increase in the insulator. Consequently, the steel towers become larger and construction costs of power transmission lines increase. It is possible to increase the strength of porcelain by adding a great amount of alumina crystals so that a required mechanical strength may be attained while the shape of the head portion is maintained in a small size. However, since the dielectric strength of the porcelain itself lowers due to increase of the alumina crystals, electrical performance, such as the steep wave front characteristic, of the insulator accordingly reduces. When the leakage distance becomes longer, a part of electrical performance such as contaminating resistance is improved. However, since the flashover voltage on the surface of the shed portion on lightning strike becomes higher, penetration shortening is likely to occur at a porcelain head portion of the insulator. As a result, there is a shortcoming that a steep wave front characteristic lowers as compared with the case where insulators have heads of the same shape with a shorter leakage distance. Under the circumstances, there have been desired developments of the insulators which have excellent steep wave front characteristic even under high voltages while the strength of the insulators themselves are maintained by the same shape as in the conventional insulators. In general, an insulating portion of an insulator is constituted by a porcelain, a glaze and a sanded portion. Although various improvements on each of these portions have been made, they are all related to improvements on mechanical strength. However, there has been available completely no information about the improvements on steep wave front characteristics. Thus, it has been impossible to accomplish the object of the present invention to develop insulators having excellent steep wave front characteristic from the above-mentioned prior art. Further, in order to improve the dielectric strength, that is, the steep wave front characteristic of the porcelain, it has been contrived to homogenize and make finer the microstructure of the porcelain or reduce the dielectric loss of the porcelain. In the former case, the shaping workability is deteriorated and cost largely increases, while in the latter case, there is a limit for the use of the alumina crystals. Further, these countermeasures are essentially contrary to the objects to maintain the production cost or the mechanical strength. Thus, the insulators which met all the requirements for the steep wave front characteristic and mechanical strength could not be obtained only by improving the porcelain itself. With respect to the glazes used in the porcelain insulators, for instance, Japanese patent publication Nos. 49-21,865 and 51-4,275 disclose the insulators in which the coefficient of thermal expansion of the glaze is specified. However, they are all to improve the mechanical strength of the insulators. Furthermore, with respect to the sanded portions, in "Improvement of Mechanical and Electrical Strength of Porcelain Insulators" Report no. RP 424-1 (Nov.1977) of Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, California, it is described that the mechanical strength of the insulators is improved by specifying the coefficient of thermal expansion of the sand. However, this reference is also merely to improve the mechanical strength of the insulators as in the former cases. It is an object of the present invention to obviate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and to provide high voltage porcelain insulators which can have excellent reliability attained by improving steep wave front characteristic as an index of an internal insulation of the insulators at the time of lightning strike without losing mechanical strength and electrical performance of general insulators, and which can be miniaturized even at the same proof strength. The high voltage porcelain insulators according to the present invention have a glaze applied to at least a head portion of the porcelain insulator which head portion is covered with a metal fitting and cement, said glaze comprising, as expressed by weight, from 64.0 to 68.0% of SiO₂, from 17.5 to 19.0% of Al₂O₃, from 5.0 to 6.5% of MgO, not more than 3% of CaO, from 2.0 to 2.8% of K₂O+Na₂O in a total amount, and from 3.0 to 9.0%, when calculated as MnO, of a compound which is converted into MnO or MnO₂ after being fired in a temperature range suitable for firing the porcelain. These features and other, optional, features, and advantages of the present invention will be appreciated upon reading of the following description of embodiments of the invention when taken in conjunction with the attached drawings. For a better understanding of the invention, reference is made to the attached drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 is a graph showing the relation among the steepness, the head-penetrating flashover characteristic and an external flashover characteristic; Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view of an insulator as used in tests; and Fig. 3 is a graph showing the relation between the number of pores and the number of accumulated pores in embodiments of the present invention and comparative examples. In the above-mentioned construction of the present invention, the microstructure of a glaze applied onto the surface of at least the porcelain head portion of the insulator can be improved by incorporating, into basic chemical components of SiO₂, Al₂O₃, MgO, CaO and K₂O+Na₂O, 3.0 to 9.0% by weight, when calculated as MnO, of a compound which is converted to MnO or MnO₂ in a state of an oxide when being fired at a temperature range suitable for firing porcelain. By so doing, various characteristics necessary for the insulators are not lost, and, since the steep wave front characteristic of the insulators is not deteriorated even when the dielectric strength of the porcelain is lowered by adding a greater amount of alumina crystals as compared with conventional techniques, the present invention can provide high voltage porcelain insulators of which head portions may be miniaturized. In the present invention, respectively numerical limitations of SiO₂, Al₂O₃, MgO, CaO and K₂O+Na₂O are basic to known glazes for high strength porcelain insulators, and known numerical ranges are employed for these components. The reason why the compound which is the most important feature of the present invention and is converted into MnO or MnO₂ after being fired at a temperature range suitable for firing porcelain is contained in an amount of 3.0 to 9.0% by weight when calculated as MnO is that if it is less than 3% by weight, the conspicuously improved steep wave front characteristic cannot be obtained, while if it is more than 9.0% by weight, the mechanical strength is lowered. The addition of manganese oxide functions to reduce pores in the glaze. The reason why the number of pores having a diameter of not less than 5 µm in the glaze is preferably not more than 100/mm² is that a microstructure can be obtained in which the number of pores which deteriorate the steep wave front characteristic is reduced. The reason why the coefficient of thermal expansion of the glaze is preferably maintained lower than that of the porcelain is that, as formerly known, compression force can be obtained due to the compression glaze to increase the mechanical strength of the insulators. The difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion is not less than 1.0×10⁻⁶/°C because such an enhancing effect is conspicuous. In the following, the steep wave front characteristic and steepness as a steep wave front characteristic-evaluating scale will be explained. The steep wave front characteristic is an index for representing the insulating performance of the insulator head portion in the case where the insulator in a power transmission line is hit by lightning. As phenomena ordinarily occurring when the insulator is hit by lightning, there are external flashover passing along the surface of a shed portion of the insulator and a head-penetrating flashover passing through the head portion of the insulator. It is preferable that when steep waves are applied to the insulator, the external flashover occurs. There is a fear that the insulator is broken due to the head-penetrating flashover. Thus, the latter must not occur since serious damages such as line breakage in the power transmission lines takes place. Next, the steepness which is the evaluating scale of the steep wave front characteristic is to represent a magnitude of an experimental scale lightning produced corresponding to a natural lightning. More specifically, the steepness is determined by a voltage V (kv) applied to the insulator and a point of time t (µs) when the voltage reaches a maximum value after initial application of the voltage. That is, Steepness = V/t (kv/µs) The higher the steepness, that is, the higher the maximum voltage, or the shorter a leading time period, the more severe the experimental conditions. Fig. 1 shows the relation among the steepness, the head-penetrating flashover characteristic and the external flashover characteristic by using a voltage-applying time period and an applied voltage as parameters. This relation is influenced by the shape of the insulator. The magnitudes of the steepness of A, B and C in Fig. 1 are in the order of A<B<C. As the steepness becomes larger, the head-penetrating flashover voltage becomes lower than the external flashover voltage so that the head portion is likely to be broken due to the head-penetrating flashover. Therefore, as the steepness for the head-penetrating breakage becomes larger, the insulator has more excellent steep wave front characteristic. In the following, examples of the present invention will be explained in more detail. These examples are merely illustrative of the invention, but should never be interpreted to limit the scope of the invention. By using a body having the same composition, a fog-type insulator having a surface leakage distance L=540 mm, a shed portion diameter D=320 mm⊘, and a head side portion thickness T=21 mm and a small head type insulator having L=310 mm, D=258 mm⊘, and T=12 mm were prepared. Next, a glaze of Table 1 falling inside or outside the present invention was applied to each of the outer and inner sides of the head portion of each of the insulator bodies to form glaze layers 1 and 2, which was fired. A head cap 3 and a pin 4 both made of a metal were fitted to the insulator body via a cement 5, thereby obtaining insulators for evaluating their characteristics. With respect to the thus obtained insulators having different shapes, the steep wave front characteristic was evaluated. By using tens of thus obtained insulators as one lot, a positive voltage was applied to a pin side at ten times under a constant steepness while the head cap 3 and the pin 4 of each of the insulators were employed as electrodes. With respect to the insulators in which the head portion was not broken under that steepness, the polarity was changed, that is, a negative voltage was applied to the pin side of each of the insulators at 10 times. Further, similar tests were carried out for other lots while the steepness was varied. Results were shown in Table 1 in which "○" denotes no head-penetrating breakage, "Δ" denotes a case where only one of ten insulators was broken due to head penetrating flashover, and "×" denotes a case where two or more of the ten insulators were broken due to the head penetrating flashover. Pores contained in the glaze layers 1 and 2 observed by means of an image analyzer with respect to a sample which was obtained by cutting a portion of the glaze at the head portion of the insulator having actually undergone the steep wave front characteristic test and polishing it in a direction orthogonal to the surface of the glaze layers 1 and 2. The number of pores was counted until it reached about 1,000 with respect to each of the samples, to enable sufficient accuracy of measurement of the pore distribution. Results are also shown in Table 1. Further, the coefficient of thermal expansion of each of the glazes was measured and shown in Table 1. With respect to the strength of the thus obtained insulators, by taking the strength of an insulator having the same shape with a conventional glaze applied to a head portion as 100, an insulator having 95% or more of this strength is denoted by "○", that of from 80 to less than 95% is denoted by "Δ", and that of less than 80% is denoted by "×". In the final total evaluation of Table 1, "o ○", "○", "Δ, and "×" denote the most preferabale, preferable, equivalent to the conventional insulator, and rejected, respectively, taking the steep wave front characteristic and the strength of the insulator into consideration. It is seen from results in Table 1 that both the steep were front characteristic and the strength aimed at by the present invention can be attained in the case of Test Run Nos. 1 to 11 which have the MnO-calculated amount after the firing inside the range of the present invention in the chemical composition of the glaze applied to the head portion and in which the total evaluation is "○" or "o ○". The number of the pores in the glaze used in the insulators falling inside the scope of the present invention is not more than 100/mm², and the coefficient of thermal expansion of the glaze is smaller than that of the porcelain, that is, smaller by 1.0×10⁻⁶/°C or more. It is seen that the above ranges of the number of the pores and the coefficient of the thermal expansion are preferred. From Fig. 3 showing the relation between the diameter of the pores and the number of accumulated pores in Test Run Nos. 29, 1 and 3, it is understood that the smaller the number of pores having a diameter of not less than 5 µm per mm², the smaller the number of accumulated pores giving rise to inverse effect of the steep wave front characteristic etc. Further, it is also seen that the small head type insulator to which the glaze according to the present invention was applied exhibited equivalent or better performance as compared with the conventional ones. The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned examples only, but various modifications and changes may be made. For instance, in the above-mentioned examples, the glaze having the specified composition was applied to the head portion only. However, the present invention will not be limited to this style, and the effects aimed at by the present invention could be obtained by applying the glaze to at least the head portion. As evident from the aforegoing, according to the high voltage porcelain insulators of the present invention, contradictory performances of the steep wave front characteristic and the high strength which give excellent performances as the insulators can both be attained by applying the glaze having the specified chemical composition to at least the head portion of the porcelain. Therefore, the head portions of the high voltage porcelain insulators can be minimized, thereby enabling small size and light weight of the insulators.

Claims: A high voltage porcelain insulator having a glaze applied to at least a head portion of the porcelain insulator characterized in that said glaze comprises, in terms of weight, from 64.0 to 68.0% of SiO₂, from 17.5 to 19.0% of Al₂O₃, from 5.0 to 6.5% of MgO, not more than 3.0% of CaO, from 2.0 to 2.8% of K₂O+Na₂O in a total amount, and from 3.0 to 9.0%, when calculated as MnO, of a compound which is converted to MnO or MnO₂ after being fired at a temperature range suitable for firing porcelain. A high voltage porcelain insulator according to claim 1, wherein the number of pores having a diameter of not less than 5 µm as viewed at a sectional portion of a layer of the glaze applied to the head portion is not more than 100/mm². A high voltage porcelain insulator according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the coefficient of thermal expansion of the glaze is smaller than that of the porcelain. A high voltage porcelain insulator according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the difference in coefficient of thermal expansion between the glaze and the porcelain is not less than 1.0×10⁻⁶/°C.

Inventors: MIMA, TOSHIYUKI, SEIKE, SHOJI, TOTOKI, TAKAO
Applicants: NGK INSULATORS, LTD.
Application year: 1987
Main classification: H01B3
IPC codes: C04B41, H01B3, H01B17, C03C8