Performance evaluation of thermally aged ATH and BN co‐doped silicone rubber nano‐micro composites for power cable applications

Abstract Power cables are intended to operate at high temperatures over a long period which may change the performance of silicone rubber insulation used in high voltage cable accessories. Therefore, in the current study, to enhance the properties of silicone rubber, alumina try‐hydrate (ATH) and boron nitride (BN) micro and nanoparticles were added to the silicone rubber matrix. The synthesized undoped silicone rubber, silicone rubber with 40 wt% micro ATH, 7 wt% nano BN, and 10 wt% micro ATH + 5 wt% nano BN composites were thermally aged for 600 h at 180 º C. The composite properties were analyzed through electrical, thermal, and physicochemical techniques. To assess the electrical characteristics, water droplet‐initiated corona discharge studies as per IEC 60112 were conducted and leakage current, corona inception voltage, and erosion resistance were evaluated. A deep learning technique also was employed for the prediction of erosion resistance of the samples. Further, to examine the surface texture and chemical changes on the surface of the material, 3‐D microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was adopted. Finally, thermal distribution analysis was performed for all the composites by infrared thermography. The results demonstrated the suitability of nano‐micro co‐doped composites over nanocomposites and micro composites for power cable applications.