The Aging Process in Electrical Insulation: A Tutorial Summary

Calculating the life expectancy of electrical insulation is an interesting application of Arrhenius´s law. Bussing´s analytical treatment is derived for the simple case of life at constant temperature. Its extension to variable temperature conditions is explained as is the application of the same techniques to calculating mechanical failure due to creep and capacitor failure due to electrode diffusion. Lastly, recently developed techniques for rapid determination of the slopes of Arrhenius´s-law graphs for insulation life are reviewed.