With the development of intelligent sensing technology, a large amount of partial discharge (PD) time-domain waveform images are generated in the on-site detection of gas insulated switchgear (GIS) partial discharge. Traditional pattern recognition methods are mostly aimed at structured data and cannot directly identify defect types of such data.At the same time, the deep learning method for GIS PD pattern recognition is generally faced with the problem of small samples.In order to solve the above problems, this paper proposes a PD pattern recognition method based on transfer learning and DenseNet model.Firstly, the time-domain waveform images are processed by image enhancement, normalization, image compression and other image processing techniques.The FDTD method was used to simulate GIS PD, and the time domain waveform image database of four PD defects are established.Using CNN and transfer learning, the recognition accuracy of the model is increased to 95%, with better robustness.The recognition performance of different CNN structures is studied. The results show that DenseNet model has higher accuracy than other structures and shorter training time. This study can be used to diagnose the insulation status of GIS equipment in-site.

There are many metal and epoxy resin interfacial structures in power equipments, which can generate interfacial stress concentrations and may induce accidents due to epoxy curing. In this paper, through simplifying interface structure into a coaxial cylindrical model, the formation mechanism of interfacial stress concentration of this interface structure was studied during epoxy resin curing process. The strain and temperature at the interface were measured by the strain and temperature measurement system. Then a model for calculating the interface stress distribution was established, including the heat conduction module, curing dynamics module and curing deformation module. The validity of the model was verified by comparing the calculated results with the measured results. In addition, the air gap defects at the interface, appearing after the curing process, were simulated. The results show that, after the curing process, the first principal stress at the centre of the interface gradually increases from the centre to the edge, reaching 41.06 and 40.20 MPa at the upper and lower edges respectively. The existence of air gap leads to partial discharge at low voltage. The calculation model can be extended to the stress prediction between the metal and epoxy resin in other power equipments.

Liquid rubber is a common filler introduced to epoxy resin to improve its toughness for electrical insulation and electronic packaging applications. The improvement of toughness by adding liquid rubber to epoxy resin leads to the variation of its dielectric properties and relaxation behaviors and it has not been systematically studied yet. In this paper, four kinds of liquid rubber with different polarity were selected and the corresponding epoxy/liquid rubber composites have been prepared. By analyzing the temperature and frequency dependence of dielectric spectra, we found that a lower relative dielectric constant and dielectric loss of the epoxy/liquid rubber composites could be achieved by reducing the polarity of liquid rubber filler. These results also confirm that the polarity of liquid rubber plays a critical role in determining the α transition relaxation strength of rubber molecules at about −50 °C, as well as the relaxation time of interfacial polarization. In addition, the conductivity of rubber phase with different polarity were investigated by studying the apparent activation energy of interfacial polarization calculated from the Arrhenius plot. This study can provide a theoretical basis for designing high-performance epoxy/liquid rubber composite insulating materials for industrial use.

Utilizing liquid rubber to toughen epoxy resin is one of the most mature and promising methods. However, the dielectric relaxation characteristics of the epoxy/liquid rubber composites have not been studied systematically, while the relaxation behaviours are a critical factor for both micro and macro properties. In this paper, hydroxyl-terminated liquid nitrile rubber (HTBN) is employed to reinforce a kind of room-temperature-cured epoxy resin. The dielectric spectrum is measured and analysed. Results show that two relaxation processes are introduced in the binary composites. The α relaxation of HTBN shows a similar temperature dependence with the β relaxation of epoxy resin. The interfacial polarization leads to an increase of complex permittivity, which reaches its maximum at 70 °C. In addition, affected by interfacial polarization, the thermionic polarization is inhibited, and the samples with filler ratios of 15% and 25% show lower DC-conductivity below 150 °C. In addition, the α relaxation and thermionic polarization of epoxy resin obey the Vogel‒Fulcher‒Tammann law, while the interfacial polarization and DC-conductivity satisfy with the Arrhenius law. Furthermore, the fitting results of the Vogel temperature of α relaxation, glass transition temperature, apparent activation energy of interfacial polarization and DC-conductivity all decline with HTBN content. These results can provide a reference and theoretical guidance for the assessment of dielectric properties and the improvement of the formulation of liquid-rubber-toughened epoxy resin.

Laminated epoxy dielectric graded material is a commonly used insulating material with broad application prospects in power equipment. The interlaminar interfaces of laminated epoxy dielectric material between different layers form during its lamination process, and these interfaces are the crucial characteristic structures determining the mechanical and dielectric properties of laminated materials. Therefore, in order to gain a thorough understanding of physic properties behind a certain structural motif, it is necessary to study how these interfacial structures influence the mechanical and dielectric performances of graded materials. In this study, double-layered epoxy resin samples with an interlaminar interface are prepared to study their mechanical and dielectric strength. More importantly, the formation mechanism of the interface, as well as its influence on the mechanical and dielectric strength of this laminated material, is discussed. We found that a cross-linking reaction may take place between epoxy resins at the interlaminar interface, and the degree of cross-linking at the interface should be less than that in the bulk. The mechanical strength of the interlaminar interface is weaker than that of the bulk, and it is reduced by less than 40%. Moreover, the interlaminar interface is inclined to trap carriers, which improves the breakdown strength and arc ablation resistance of the laminated material. Our study of interlaminar interface properties could help in designing epoxy dielectric graded materials with better mechanical and dielectric properties.

In the design and manufacturing of epoxy resin insulation components, complex structures can be achieved through multiple pours, thereby forming the structure of interface of laminated epoxy resin. This type of interface structure is often considered a weak link in performance which can easily accumulate charges and cause electric field distortion. However, research on the interlayer interface of epoxy resin has received little attention. In this study, epoxy samples with and without interlayer interfaces were prepared, and the space charge accumulation characteristics and trap characteristics of the samples were analyzed via pulsed electro-acoustic (PEA) and thermally stimulated depolarization current (TSDC) methods. The experimental results indicate that the Maxwell–Wagner interface polarization model cannot fully explain the charge accumulation at the interface. Due to the influence of the secondary curing, the functional groups in the post-curing epoxy resin can move and react with the partially reacted functional groups in the prefabricated epoxy resin layer, resulting in a weak cross-linking network at the interface. With the increase in temperature, the molecular chain segments in the weak cross-linked region of the interface become more active and introduce deep traps at the interface, thereby exacerbating the accumulation of interface charges. In addition, due to the influence of interface polarization and weak cross-linking, the ability of the interface charges to cause field strength distortions decreases with the increase in applied field strength. This research study can provide a theoretical reference for the interfacial space charge transport characteristics of epoxy-cured cross-linked layers and provide ideas for regulating interfacial cross-linking to suppress interfacial charge accumulation.