L’avènement des énergies renouvelables, notamment offshore, et la nécessité de transporter l’électricité sur des distances toujours plus grandes tout en réduisant les pertes en ligne requièrent la mise en place d’un nouveau réseau électrique plus performant, le supergrid. L’amélioration des sous-stations ultra haute tension en courant alternatif (UHVAC) de type poste sous enveloppe métallique (PSEM), i.e. la réduction de leur empreinte au sol ou leur montée en tension, s’inscrit parmi les défis engendrés par le développement du supergrid. L’amélioration de la tenue aux contraintes électrothermiques des isolants solides employés dans les PSEM a été identifiée comme le principal verrou technologique pour le perfectionnement de ces appareillages, déjà pleinement maîtrisés en HVAC. Les travaux présentés dans ce manuscrit ont été motivés par la nécessité de développer un matériau isolant électrique plus performant que les matériaux existant actuellement sur le marché. L’un des matériaux couramment employés pour la fabrication d’isolants solides pour PSEM, une matrice époxy-anhydride chargée d’alumine micrométrique, a servi de référence commerciale à notre étude. Suite à une étude bibliographique, nous avons choisi de conserver la matrice époxy du système commercial de référence et de jouer sur les charges inorganiques employées pour optimiser les propriétés du matériau isolant. Les travaux présentés mettent en évidence l’influence de la nature des charges inorganiques (alumine ou nitrure de bore hexagonal), de leur facteur de forme (quasi sphérique ou lamellaire) et de leur fraction volumique sur la conductivité thermique, le coefficient d’expansion thermique, les propriétés mécaniques dynamiques, les propriétés diélectriques, la conductivité électrique à haute tension (DC) et la rigidité diélectrique (AC) des matériaux composites. L’étude expérimentale des relations structure-propriétés est complétée par un travail de modélisation des propriétés diélectriques et de la conductivité thermique des matériaux composites. / The integration of renewable energies to the power grid requires its modification in order to ensure its stability, security and efficiency. Improving ultra-high voltage alternative current (UHVAC) gas insulated substations (GIS), e.g. reducing their size or increasing their voltage, is one of the challenges induced by the development of the future power grid, the supergrid. Increasing the ability of solid insulators used in such equipment to withstand electro-thermal stress has been identified as the main obstacle to overcome. The work presented in this manuscript has been motivated by the necessity to develop more efficient electrical insulating materials compared to commercially available ones. An epoxy-anhydride matrix filled with micron sized alumina, often used to produce GIS solid insulators, has been used as a reference for this study. We decided to keep the matrix of the reference material throughout our work and to concentrate on the filler influence in order to optimize the properties of the composites. The impact of the nature of the filler (alumina or hexagonal boron nitride), its shape factor (platelets or almost spherical particles) and its volume fraction upon thermal conductivity, coefficient of thermal expansion, dynamic mechanical properties, dielectric properties, high voltage direct current (DC) conductivity and AC breakdown strength have been highlighted. The experimental study of structure-property relationships is completed by dielectric properties and thermal conductivity modelling using the effective medium theory.

Insulation in rotating machines is a common cause for failure. Therefore, research in the area is large and is important to further increase the knowledge of the phenomena related to insulation degradation. This thesis is a case study on 20 stator bars obtained from a generator that had been showing signs of insulation degradation while in operation. The insulation was investigated using a range of measurements to be able to evaluate the degradation of these bars. The measurements performed were electrical partial discharge measurements, acoustic partial discharge measurements, dielectric response measurements, and breakdown testing. Furthermore, a more scientific approach to the commonly used tap test in the industry was conducted, which has not been done before and the purpose was to validate this commonly used test method. It was concluded that the bars have a significant amount of partial discharges within them, and that the stress grading is likely to be blamed in many of the worst cases. Furthermore, the dielectric response measurements provided good information on the thermal stability of the insulation. The set-up of the tap test did not provide reasonable results, and the method approach as well as the experimental set-up was to blame for this. In future work, investigating this specific area could be beneficial. The electrical partial discharge measurements and the breakdown test provided unexpected results when compared, where the former indicated much degradation while the latter proved that the bars can withstand very high voltage levels. / Isolering i roterande maskiner är en vanlig orsak till fel. Forskningen på området är därför omfattande och viktig för att ytterligare öka kunskapen om fenomen som rör isoleringsnedbrytning. Denna avhandling är en fallstudie på 20 statorstänger som erhållits från en generator som hade visat tecken på isoleringsnedbrytning under drift. Isoleringen undersöktes med hjälp av en rad olika mätningar för att kunna utvärdera nedbrytningen av dessa stänger. De mätningar som utfördes var mätningar av elektriska partiella urladdningar, akustiska partiella urladdningar, mätningar av dielektrisk respons och genombrottstester. Dessutom genomfördes ett mer vetenskapligt tillvägagångssätt för det allmänt använda tapptestet i branschen, vilket inte har gjorts tidigare och syftet var att validera denna allmänt använda testmetod. Slutsatsen blev att stängerna har en betydande mängd partiella urladdningar i sig, och att spänningsgraderingen sannolikt får skulden i många av de värsta fallen. Dessutom gav mätningarna av den dielektriska responsen god information om isoleringens termiska stabilitet. Upplägget för tapptestet gav inte rimliga resultat, och detta berodde både på metodiken och på försöksupplägget. I framtida arbete kan det vara bra att undersöka detta specifika område. Mätningarna av den elektriska partiella urladdningen och genombrottstestet gav oväntade resultat när de jämfördes, där de förstnämnda visade på mycket försämring medan de sistnämnda bevisade att stängerna kan motstå mycket höga spänningsnivåer.

The Antimatter Experiment: Gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy (AEGIS) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is an experiment investigating the influence of earth’s gravitational force upon antimatter. To perform precise measurements the antimatter needs to be cooled to a temperature of 100 mK. This will be done in a Penning trap, formed by several electrodes, which are charged with several kV and have to be individually electrically insulated. The trap is thermally linked to a mixing chamber of a 3He-4He dilution refrigerator. Two link designs are examined, the Rod design and the Sandwich design. The Rod design electrically connects a single electrode with a heat exchanger, immersed in the helium of the mixing chamber, by a copper pin. An alumina ring and the helium electrically insulate the Rod design. The Sandwich uses an electrically insulating sapphire plate sandwiched between the electrode and the mixing chamber. Indium layers on the sapphire plate are applied to improve the thermal contact. Four differently prepared test Sandwiches are investigated. They differ in the sapphire surface roughness and in the application method of the indium layers. Measurements with static and sinusoidal heat loads are performed to uncover the behavior of the thermal boundary resistances. The thermal total resistance of the best Sandwich shows a temperature dependency of T-2,64 and is significantly lower, with roughly 30 cm2K4/W at 50 mK, than experimental data found in the literature. The estimated thermal boundary resistance between indium and sapphire agrees very well with the value of the acoustic mismatch theory at low temperatures. In both designs, homemade heat exchangers are integrated to transfer the heat to the cold helium. These heat exchangers are based on sintered structures to increase the heat transferring surface and to overcome the significant influence of the thermal resistance (Kapitza resistance). The heat exchangers are optimized concerning the adherence of the sinter to the substrate and its sinter height, e.g. its thermal penetration length. Ruthenium oxide metallic resistors (RuO2) are used as temperature sensors for the investigations. They consist of various materials, which affect the reproducibility. The sensor conditioning and the resulting good reproducibility is discussed as well.

The Antimatter Experiment: Gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy (AEGIS) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is an experiment investigating the influence of earth’s gravitational force upon antimatter. To perform precise measurements the antimatter needs to be cooled to a temperature of 100 mK. This will be done in a Penning trap, formed by several electrodes, which are charged with several kV and have to be individually electrically insulated. The trap is thermally linked to a mixing chamber of a 3He-4He dilution refrigerator. Two link designs are examined, the Rod design and the Sandwich design. The Rod design electrically connects a single electrode with a heat exchanger, immersed in the helium of the mixing chamber, by a copper pin. An alumina ring and the helium electrically insulate the Rod design. The Sandwich uses an electrically insulating sapphire plate sandwiched between the electrode and the mixing chamber. Indium layers on the sapphire plate are applied to improve the thermal contact. Four differently prepared test Sandwiches are investigated. They differ in the sapphire surface roughness and in the application method of the indium layers. Measurements with static and sinusoidal heat loads are performed to uncover the behavior of the thermal boundary resistances. The thermal total resistance of the best Sandwich shows a temperature dependency of T-2,64 and is significantly lower, with roughly 30 cm2K4/W at 50 mK, than experimental data found in the literature. The estimated thermal boundary resistance between indium and sapphire agrees very well with the value of the acoustic mismatch theory at low temperatures. In both designs, homemade heat exchangers are integrated to transfer the heat to the cold helium. These heat exchangers are based on sintered structures to increase the heat transferring surface and to overcome the significant influence of the thermal resistance (Kapitza resistance). The heat exchangers are optimized concerning the adherence of the sinter to the substrate and its sinter height, e.g. its thermal penetration length. Ruthenium oxide metallic resistors (RuO2) are used as temperature sensors for the investigations. They consist of various materials, which affect the reproducibility. The sensor conditioning and the resulting good reproducibility is discussed as well.