ABSTRACT
Equipment reliability might be significantly improved through the effective prediction of equipment degradation. This chapter focuses on the physical conditions of the materials that the components of electrical equipment are made of. The electrical equipment includes HV and MV electrical equipment, such as gas-insulated switchgear GIS, HV circuit breakers (CBs), power transformers and MV switchgear and CBs. The chapter discusses the physical conditions of the materials are most definitive in providing proper working conditions for different electrical machines and their important parts, and therefore are very important to evaluate. Multiple techniques are developed to measure various physical parameters offline, online, and remotely. Since some physical conditions may be determined only by offline testing, a number of testing techniques are discussed. Various condition monitoring technologies allow condition monitoring of energized equipment continuously online monitoring. These relatively new techniques give operation and maintenance personnel the means to evaluate the present condition of the equipment, to timely detect abnormal conditions.
