Abstract
In large generators in power plants, stator winding insulations is exposed to a combination of thermal, electrical, mechanical, environmental stresses in service. These combined stresses cause insulation aging which leads to final insulation breakdown. In order to identify the breakdown mechanism, the stator winding insulation materials which are composed of mica-epoxy is analyzed by the component of materials with EDS, SEM techniques. We concluded that the potassium ions of mica are replaced by hydrogen ions at boundary area of mica-epoxy and/or mica-mica. It is proposed that through these phenomena, the conductive layers of potassium ions enable high voltage fields of multiple stresses to create voids and microcracks.
