Lifetime prediction in the case of radiooxidative ageing of an ethylenepropylene rubber used for electrical insulation

Humid and Thermal Oxidative Ageing of Radiation Cured Polymers—A Brief Overview

This article deals with the long-term behaviour of radiation cured polymers. Among the wide variety of possible ageing modes, the attention is focused on two key processes for users of radio-cured polymers: humid ageing of polymer glasses and thermal oxidative ageing of rubbers. These two processes are illustrated by numerous results coming from literature or our own research works. In both cases, the consequences of the structural modifications on the use properties (in particular, on mechanical properties) are described. It is found that the ageings of radiochemically and thermally cured polymers are not so different. It is thus concluded that a great part of the very abundant literature published on the ageing of thermally cured polymers remains exploitable for radio-cured polymers.

Radio-Oxidation Ageing of XLPE Containing Different Additives and Filler: Effect on the Gases Emission and Consumption

In the lifetime extension of nuclear power plants (NPPs) context, aging of electric cables has to be very well understood in order to predict their end-of-life and thus to replace them on time. Therefore, evaluation and understanding of the ageing mechanism of the cable insulating material is mandatory under conditions as close as possible of those encountered in NPPs. In this context, different formulated crosslinked polyethylenes (XLPE)—one of the polymers used nowadays to manufacture the insulator layer—have been irradiated under oxidative conditions, at two different dose rates and at different aging doses. Gases emitted and consumed from the irradiated polymers were quantified to identify the primary processes happening in the materials and thus the interactions involved between the different molecules composing the formulated polymers.

Studying radiolytic ageing of nuclear power plant electric cables with FTIR spectroscopy

Due to the willingness to extend the nuclear power plants length of life, it is of prime importance to understand long term ageing effect on all constitutive materials. For this purpose gamma-irradiation effects on insulation of instrumentation and control cables are studied. Mid-infrared spectroscopy and principal components analysis (PCA) were used to highlight molecular modifications induced by gamma-irradiation under oxidizing conditions. In order to be closer to real world conditions, a low dose rate of 11Gyh^-1 was used to irradiate insulations in full cable or alone with a dose up to 58 kGy. Spectral differences according to irradiation dose were extracted using PCA. It was then possible to observe different behaviors of the insulation constitutive compounds i.e. ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) and aluminium trihydrate (ATH). Irradiation of insulations led to the oxidation of their constitutive polymers and a modification of filler-polymer ratio. Moreover all these modifications were observed for insulations alone or in full cable indicating that oxygen easily diffuses into the material. Spectral contributions were discussed considering different degradation mechanisms.

Propriedades mecânicas e de inflamabilidade de composições de borracha EPDM carregadas com negro de fumo e hidróxido de alumínio

Composições de EPDM (terpolímero de etileno-propileno-dieno) contendo misturas de negro de fumo e hidróxido de alumínio (ATH) foram preparadas com o objetivo de se avaliar seu potencial de utilização em aplicações elétricas. O hidróxido de alumínio, conhecido por suas características de retardante de chama, é uma carga semi-reforçante e, portanto, incapaz de fornecer o nível de reforço necessário para diversas aplicações. Dessa forma, para aliar ao artefato propriedades de não inflamabilidade e alto desempenho mecânico, foi também adicionado o negro de fumo (que é a carga reforçante mais largamente empregada). A escolha do EPDM se justifica pela facilidade de ser encontrado no mercado brasileiro, por sua característica em aceitar grandes quantidades de carga e por ser um elastômero apolar, o que é um requisito básico para aplicação em isolamento elétrico. Os materiais foram submetidos a testes mecânicos e de inflamabilidade, para se determinar aqueles que se ajustavam às normas estabelecidas pela Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas - ABNT. Verificou-se que pelo menos 160 phr de hidróxido de alumínio são necessários nessas composições para que a resistência à chama seja alcançada.