Effect of Materials

Design on Properties of
Porcelain Insulators
Substitution of alumina for silica
improved the mechanical properties
of high-voltage porcelain insulators
but did not have a significant effect on
their electrical properties.

Fig. 1 Examples of insulators.

N. Riahi Noori, R. Sarraf Mamoory and S. Mehraeen

High-strength electrical porcelain is needed by the power industry. This need is met by a specific compo-
sition of raw materials, which consists of clays and feldspars. These two raw materials, depending on geolog-
ical and geophysical characteristics, have various compositions and specifications. Three main constituents of
electrical porcelain bodies (Fig. 1) are clays (as plastic materials), fillers (such as silica and alumina) and
refractories (such as feldspars and talc).1
When an electrical porcelain body that contains silica is fired at high temperatures, the corners of the
quartz particles are dissolved into a feldspar-containing corrosive liquid. In the critical case, these particles are
completely dissolved in the liquid phase. The decrease of solid quartz content in the system leads to remark-
able decrease in the mechanical strength of the body.
Thus, firing time and temperature of bodies that contain quartz must be controlled carefully. To achieve
the highest strength, quartz particles must be fine, and the bodies must be fired carefully. Long periods of fir-
ing, higher firing temperatures and annealing processes completely vitrify the body. This leads to decreases in
strength.2,3
Another imperfection in the electrical properties of porcelain bodies that contain quartz results from the
difference between thermal expansion coefficients of the quartz grains and the body matrix around them. This
difference results in tensile stress in the quartz grains and compressive stress in the surrounding matrix. When
the temperature changes, these stresses intensify. This leads to development of microcracks that are created
in the grinding step of quartz grains and in the α- to β-phase transformation of the quartz.
These microcracks act as stress localization centers. Therefore, stress near the cracks is remarkably greater
than the applied stress.4 Decrease of strength under load (when the insulator is suspended) usually results in
abrupt fracture of the insulator because of the growth of these microcracks. This problem can be solved by
decreasing the size or content of quartz grains in the body matrix or by substituting a portion of the quartz
with other refractory materials.4
Decrease in silica grain size leads to higher strength, lower workability and higher firing to drying shrink-
age. On the other hand, when the content of fine grains increases, fracture toughness decreases. The only
proper substitution for quartz in industrial production of porcelain insulators is alumina, which can replace a
large portion or total content of quartz.4–6

American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 86, No. 3 9201

Porcelain Insulators

The Experiment
To study the effect of alumina on the
Bending strength (MPa)

mechanical and electrical properties of elec-

Alumina content (%)
Fig. 2 Effect of silica replacement with alumina on bending strength of
porcelain insulators (▲) 1250, (I) 1300 and (●) 1350°C).
Density (g/cm3)
trical porcelain bodies, six body groups were
selected (Table 1). Group 1 had the common
composition of electrical insulator bodies. In
groups 2–6, silica content decreased gradual-
ly and alumina content increased gradually.
In group 6, silica was totally replaced by alu-
mina. The wet method was used for porce-
lain body preparation. Kaolin, ball clay,
feldspar and silica were used as raw materials.
All of the groups had the same amount of
kaolin, ball clay, and feldspar.
Alumina and silica were smaller in size
than 120 µm. The materials were wet milled
with 80–100 wt% water and then cast into
plaster molds to be formed. The samples were
dried at room temperature for 48 h and kept
at 110°C for 5 h. The temperature then was
increased to maximum in 4 h. The samples

were fired at this temperature for 2 h and

cooled inside the furnace at its natural rate.
The maximum firing temperatures select-
ed in this study were 1250, 1300, and
1350°C. Bending strength (Table 2), ther-
mal shock resistance, density (Table 2) and
porosity were determined in accordance with
ASTM standards. In each case, several sam-
ples were tested. Relative permeability factor
Alumina content (%) (εr) and dielectric loss tangent (tan δ) at 60
Hz and 1 MHz were measured. The measure-
Fig. 3 Effect of silica replacement with alumina on density of porcelain ment accuracy for ε was 0.5% and for tan δ
r
insulators (▲) 1250, (I) 1300 and (●) 1350°C).
was 3%.

Strength
The effect of silica replacement by alumina on bending strength of electrical porcelain bodies was deter-
mined (Fig. 2). In the main composition, the body that contained 25% silica without alumina had the low-
est strength. When the alumina content was increased and the silica content decreased, the strength of the
samples increased.
On the other hand, as temperature increased, strength increased because dissolution of quartz (silica) in
system increased. Moreover, when firing temperature increased, alumina was partially dissolved into system,
but the rate of dissolution was much less than that of quartz. When the alumina content in the body and
the firing temperature increased, mullite content (Al2O3·2SiO2) increased, which acted as an agent for
strength increase. Although alumina content in the body was <8%, the formation of mullite phase was pos-
sible at temperature as high as 1340°C.

Density and Porosity

Body composition was important to final density (Fig. 3). When silica was replaced with alumina in the
main composition of the body, the density of the fired bodies increased. In other words, as the silica con-
tent of the body decreased, the density of the bodies increased because of decreased porosity induced from
microcracks around silica grains.
Open porosity content (available pores in bodies) versus increased alumina content in the system was
determined (Fig. 4).

9202 American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 86, No. 3

Porcelain Insulators

Table 1 Composition of Prepared Bodies

The microstructures of two samples, one
with 30% alumina and another with 30%
silica, were observed using SEM. The poros-
Group Feldspar Kaolin Ball clay Alumina Silica
ity in the silica bodies was studied in partic-
ular (Fig. 5). number (wt%) (wt%) (wt%) (wt%) (wt%)
1 15 35 25 0 25
Water Absorption 2 15 35 25 5 20

The water absorption of bodies decreased 3 15 35 25 10 15

with increased firing temperature because 4 15 35 25 15 10
pores and open porosities of the bodies 5 15 35 25 20 5
decreased and there was increased glassy 6 15 35 25 25 0
phase content in the body. In addition, as

Table 3 Loss Tangent

the silica content in the body decreased
(and alumina increased), water absorption of the bodies decreased because of
decreased microcracks and pores. Water absorption of high-voltage insulators
must be zero.7 Group Dielectric loss
No. tangent (×10–3)

Thermal Shock 1 24.5

2 24.7
Thermal shock resistance was determined by heating samples to 100°C for 1
3 24.8
h and then immersing them in 0°C ice water to be cooled completely. This cycle
4 25
was repeated n times.
5 25.1
The number of cycles before crack creation is the criteria for thermal shock
6 25
resistance. For samples prepared in this study, n = 30. The literature requires n ≥
20 for electrical ceramics in a similar condition.

Dielectric Properties
Dielectric loss tangent was measured at 60 Hz and 20°C (Table 3). The dielectric loss tangent was simi-
lar for the various bodies (~25 × 10–3). The dielectric loss tangent of bodies at 1 MHz decreased to 12 × 10–3
that again was similar for all bodies.
The relative permeability factor for all bodies at 60 Hz was 6–7. ■

About the Authors

N. Riahi Noori is a Researcher at the Niroo Research Institute, Tehran, Iran, and is a Ph.D. student at
Tarbiar Modares University, Tehran. R. Sarraf Mamoory is Associate Professor, Tarbiat Modares University.
S. Mehraeen is a Researcher in the Ceramic and Polymer Group, Niroo Research Institute.

References
1S.I.
Warshaw and R. Seider, “Comparison of Strength of Triaxial Porcelains Containing Alumina and Silica,” J. Am.
Ceram. Soc., 50, 337 (1967).
2R.S. Gorour, et al., “Outdoor Insulators,” Ravi S. Gorur Inc., Ariz., 1999; pp. 2–15.
3J.E. Schroeder, “Inexpensive High-Strength Electrical Porcelain,” Am. Ceram. Soc. Bull., 57, 526 (1978).
4P.
Johnson and W.G. Robinson, “Development of Pottery Bodies—Electrical Porcelain”; presented at the 22nd
Meeting of the Pottery Section (Trentham Gardens, Stoke-on-Trent, U.K., 1947), pp. 23.
5A.M. Bisha, B.H F. Al-Khayat and F.A. Awni, “Dielectric and Physicomechanical Properties of Electrical Porcelain

Bodies,” Am. Ceram. Soc. Bull., 64, 598 (1985).

6J. Liebermann, “Reliability of Materials for High-Voltage Insulators,” Am. Ceram. Soc. Bull., 42 [5] 670 (2000).
7M. Nemamcha, S. Rouaiguia, A. Belbah and B. Belfarhi, “Dielectric Properties of Alumino-Silicate Ceramic
Materials,” IEEE, 22, 413 (1995).

American Ceramic Society Bulletin, Vol. 86, No. 3 9203

 Table 2 Properties of Bodies

Group Sintering Bending

No. temperature (°C) Density (g/cm3) strength (MPa)
1 1250 2.37 39
1300 2.41 50
1350 2.43 45
2 1250 2.43 53
1300 2.46 60
1350 2.48 59
3 1250 2.48 62
1300 2.51 75
1350 2.55 83
4 1250 2.53 70
1300 2.58 83
1350 2.61 98
5 1250 2.59 75
1300 2.66 88
1350 2.70 105
6 1250 2.65 80
1300 2.70 92
1350 2.74 110
Porosity (%)

Alumina content (%)

Fig. 4 Effect of silica replacement with alumina on water absorption of

porcelain insulator (▲) 1250, (I) 1300 and (●) 1350°C).
 (a)

(b)

Fig. 5 SEM photographs of body with (a) 30% silica and

(b) 30% alumina.