Abstract
In order to develop a high voltage insulation material, spherical silicas with two average particle sizes of 5 ${\mu}m$ and 20 ${\mu}m$ were mixed in different mixing ratios (1:0, 0.7:0.3, 0.5:0.5, 0.3:0.7, 0:1) and their total filling content was fixed at 65 wt%. In order to observe the dispersion of the spherical silicas and the interfacial morphology between silica and epoxy matrix, field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) was used. The electrical insulation breakdown strength was estimated in sphere-plate electrodes with different insulation thicknesses of 1, 2, and 3 mm. Electrical insulation breakdown strength decreased with increasing mixing ratio of 5/20 ${\mu}m$ and the thickness dependence of the breakdown strength was also observed. The tensile strength of the neat epoxy was 82.8 MPa as average value and its increased with decreasing particles size and that of epoxy/silica (2 ${\mu}m$) was 107 MPa, which was 130.8% higher value.