Durability and stability of spacer dampers made of synthetic rubbers under environmental aging conditions

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The 735 kV transmission lines in Québec are equipped with four conductors bundle that requires a quad spacer-damper. A specific quad spacer-damper is developed by Hydro-Québec and Helix Canada by a novel articulation concept. The articulation consists of cylinders that bend as the arms shift in angle. This bending gives the articulation its elastic and damping properties. The elastomer cylinders housed around a central pivot in a cavity within the arm of the frame. Since the elastomers are subjected mainly to compression stresses in the transverse direction, the spacer damper articulation possesses an excellent fatigue resistance. Recognized as effective, robust and providing protective conductor attachment, these spacer-dampers have been installed on all new Hydro-Québec lines built since 1980. They have also been used to replace older models on the grid. In total, more than 800,000 of these spacer-dampers have been installed on Hydro-Québec lines and elsewhere in the world.Despite the smart design, the spacer-dampers are still subjected to various degradation factors such as wind vibration (low and large amplitude); temperature differences (-40 °C to +95 °C); corona effect; presence of ozone and pollutants and accumulation of frost/ice.In this context, a multidisciplinary team composed of researchers from several universities propose a research on the stability and aging behavior of spacer dampers made of elastomers. The main goal of this project is to acquire experimental and theoretical knowledge on the elastomer carried out within the framework. This should allow a better understanding of the mechanisms governing aging caused by the environment and then to correlate the evolution of the physical, mechanical and chemical properties during aging as well as the aging phenomena existing during the use of these materials. This study will make it possible to establish the aging resistance requirements of the elastomer materials used in the spacer-dampers. The knowledge acquired during this project could potentially serve as a source document for determining the standards on the durability of the elastomer materials used in the spacer-dampers, and as an infrastructure for more in-depth studies on similar products.