Mechanical Behaviour of the Cellulosic Dielectric Materials of Windings in Power Transformers in Operation

Power transformers are crucial elements in electrical systems, and the end of their useful life is commonly conditioned by the degradation of the cellulosic insulation materials inside them. These materials are subjected to elevated temperatures and mechanical stresses, generated by electrical solicitations which deform the copper conductors and subsequently the paper, and also to the chemical reactions which take place in the dielectric oil in which the paper is impregnated. In order to better understand the behaviour of cellulosic insulation, we have studied the previous bibliography analysing the mechanical behaviour of cellulosic materials. At present, there are no experimental results analysing how the paper responds to the deformation suffered by the copper conductor in a realistic situation. We have developed a simulation model describing the mechanical behaviour of a standardised copper conductor wrapped with four layers of dielectric paper, using ANSYS Workbench Static Structural, which will be compared with experimental results afterwards.