Electrical condition monitoring method for polymers
First Claim
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1. A method of determining environmentally induced degradation of a polymer, the method comprising the steps of:
- adding conductive particles to the polymer to form a conductive composite comprising a preselected weight percent of conductive particles;
making an electrical connection with the conductive composite and measuring an electrical property of the conductive composite; and
equating a change in the electrical property of the conductive composite, with the same electrical property of a previously environmentally degraded sample of the conductive composite to determine the degradation of the polymer, the change in the electrical property consistent with a decrease in electrical resistivity.
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Abstract
An electrical condition monitoring method utilizes measurement of electrical resistivity of an age sensor made of a conductive matrix or composite disposed in a polymeric structure such as an electrical cable. The conductive matrix comprises a base polymer and conductive filler. The method includes communicating the resistivity to a measuring instrument and correlating resistivity of the conductive matrix of the polymeric structure with resistivity of an accelerated-aged conductive composite.
27 Citations
45 Claims
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1. A method of determining environmentally induced degradation of a polymer, the method comprising the steps of:
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adding conductive particles to the polymer to form a conductive composite comprising a preselected weight percent of conductive particles; making an electrical connection with the conductive composite and measuring an electrical property of the conductive composite; and equating a change in the electrical property of the conductive composite, with the same electrical property of a previously environmentally degraded sample of the conductive composite to determine the degradation of the polymer, the change in the electrical property consistent with a decrease in electrical resistivity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A degradation sensor for a polymeric structure, the sensor comprising:
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a first quantity of conductive particles dispersed in a first portion of the polymeric structure to define a conductive composite portion, the first portion comprising less than a total polymer in the structure; and a means for communicating an electrical measurement of the conductive composite to an electrical measurement apparatus; and a means for correlating a decrease in said electrical measurement consistent with a decrease in resistivity to an environmentally induced degraded condition of said polymeric structure. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A polymeric structure comprising:
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a degradation sensor for the polymeric structure, the sensor comprising; a first quantity of conductive particles dispersed in a first portion of the polymeric structure to define a conductive composite portion, the first portion comprising less than a total polymer in the structure; and a means for communicating an electrical measurement of the conductive composite to an electrical measurement apparatus; and a means for correlating a decrease in said electrical measurement consistent with a decrease in resistivity to an environmentally induced degraded condition of said polymeric structure. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method of determining environmentally induced degradation of a polymer, the method comprising the steps of:
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adding conductive particles to the polymer to form a conductive composite comprising a preselected weight percent of conductive particles; making an electrical connection with the conductive composite and measuring a resistivity of the conductive composite; and equating the resistivity of the conductive composite with the resistivity of a previously environmentally degraded sample of the conductive composite to determine the degradation of the polymer; wherein a decrease in a resistivity correlates to an age degraded state of the polymer. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A method of determining environmentally induced degradation of a polymer, the method comprising the steps of:
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measuring the resistivity of a composite sensor made of said polymer and a conductive filler; equating a reduction of resistivity of said composite sensor to an environmentally degraded state of said polymer wherein said reduction of resistivity results from volumetric shrinkage of said polymer from aging. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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Specification