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EIRC Accomplishments

The accomplishments of EIRC from 1982 through 2002 cover two major areas:

  • Education and training of future engineers and scientists
  • Improvement of technology for the benefit of government and industry, particularly the electric utility industry, its suppliers, and capacitor technology.

Education and Training

EIRC serves as a forum for students from various disciplines, including electrical engineering, physics, chemistry, chemical engineering, polymer science, and metallurgy, to undertake research related to industrial technology.  Regardless of the major discipline pursued, a student associated with EIRC is exposed to the basic principles of electromagnetics, numerical analysis, dielectrics, and materials science, especially polymers. A student graduated with work experience at EIRC has acquired a valuable blend of disciplines which are essential to deal effectively with the complex problems which confront a wide range of industry. As a result of this cross-disciplinary education, an electrical engineering, physics, or material science student affiliated with EIRC is graduated with sufficient knowledge of the chemistry and physics of polymers to function effectively in electrically related materials applications.  Students who complete their graduate work through EIRC have found positions with leaders in the electrical and electronic industry such as General Electric Central Research, various business units of General Electric, 3M, Phelps Dodge, Seagate, Analog Devices, etc.

EIRC works with a wide range of industry, and training provided by EIRC extends beyond its students to engineers and scientists working for industry through seminars and training sessions provided at the request of industry.   In the recent past, projects have been completed for Union Carbide (DOW), 3M, Toshiba Corporation of Japan, EXXON, Crompton Uniroyal, The Okonite Company, The United States Army, etc.

 

Technological Accomplishments

  • Development of software for transient nonlinear finite element analysis with coupled fields. This proprietary 2-D finite element software allows problems to be solved in which the material parameters are a function of the fields, the boundary conditions are a function of time, and several fields can be determined simultaneously. Thermally-induced mechanical stresses can be computed in post processing. [1], [2],
  • Application of transient nonlinear finite element software to explain how water trees in XLPE power cable convert to electrical trees as a result of lightning strikes, to study electro-thermal phenomena a defect in XLPE power cable, to improvement of high current electrical contacts, etc.  [3], [4], [5]
  • Computation of the temperature rise at the electrode edge of a ZnO surge arrester element during a current impulse, including the both nonlinear conduction and nonlinear thermal properties.  This work helped the manufacturer increase arrester element energy absorption by over 100%.  [6], [7], [8]
  • Development for an industrial customer of a system to measure the nonlinear dielectric properties of materials which are used for grading cable accessories such a joints and terminations. [9], [10]
  • Development of an analytic procedure for computing the electric field distribution of a DC solid dielectric cable including the effects of both a temperature gradient across the insulation and nonlinear conductivity of the dielectric. [11]
  • Development of a theory for breakdown of SF6 gas under quasi-homogeneous electric field conditions, but highly inhomogeneous thermal field conditions. [12]
  • Development of a theory for thermally-induced currents in signal cables used in nuclear reactors.  Software was also developed and qualified for use by the clients of EPRI to evaluate this phenomenon in their reactors. [13]
  • Research which demonstrated the connection between cleanliness of power cable semiconducting layers and the reliability of cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) power cable. This resulted in major improvements to semiconducting compounds with the result that power cable reliability has improved substantially.  [14]
  • Explanation of premature aging of silicone coatings applied to 345 kV station post insulators to improve pollution performance. The coatings were depolymerized as a result of acid rain, an effect which could be reproduced in the laboratory in a month at elevated temperature. However, the degraded coating could still be recoated with good adhesion after proper surface treatment.  [15], [16]
  • Field measurement and investigation of fast surge phenomena in electric power systems, including simulations using the EMPT program and other software. [17], [18], [19], [20]
  • Development for an industrial customer of electroluminescence apparatus for measuring optical emission at a semicon needle-dielectric interface.  [21]