3D printing fabrication of conductivity non-uniform insulator for surface flashover mitigation

Solid insulators applying functionally graded material (d-FGM) have spatially non-uniform dielectric properties. The d-FGM insulator is effective on insulation performance improvement without complicating the structure; however, the fabrication of such insulators remains a challenge. To investigate the feasibility of 3D printing technology on d-FGM, we designed and fabricated a conductivity non-uniform insulator and tested its surface flashover characteristics. First, a modified genetic algorithm is employed to design the conductivity distribution in the non-uniform insulator. The designed insulator is then fabricated using a 3D printing process named fused deposition modeling (FDM), in which we verified the applicability of 3D printing materials on electrical insulation. Finally, compared to the uniform insulator, the surface flashover voltages of non-uniform insulators were improved by 23% in SF₆ and 20% in vacuum. From above, we envision potential application feasibility for 3D printing of d-FGM in practical insulation design.