Health Monitoring for the Integrity of Electrical Power Wiring and Power System Components

An effort to upgrade and utilize partial-discharge (PD) detection techniques to determine the health of aerospace electrical-power-system components and insulation in high-altitude and space environments is proposed. The results of Phase I show that the frequency spectrum of PD waveforms at subatmospheric pressures extends significantly below that which is present in atmospheric-pressure PD. Consequently, commercially available PD-detection equipment is not able to perform critical tests of the integrity of high-altitude and space systems. The Phase II effort will result in: 1) identification of the optimum techniques for low-pressure PD detection, 2) construction of a prototype system for verification and optimization of an instrument design, 3) completion of two preproduction-level instruments capable of meeting Air Force needs for low-pressure PD testing in a cost-effective manner, and 4) recommendations for updating of DoD and commercial standards and specifications related to high-voltage airborne equipment.