Reliability Analysis of Insulators for Overhead Contact System Based on Mechanical Tensile Failure

Insulators serve as vital component in the overhead contact system, playing their roles in mechanical support and electrical insulation. The reliability of insulator is directly related to the power supply reliability performance overhead contact system. To assess the reliability of catenary insulators in a certain coastal area, a batch of porcelain insulators with the same operating years and technical parameters are obtained from traction power supply system. Firstly, a series of strength samples of insulators are obtained by tensile failure load experiments and fitted with normal distributions. Secondly, combined with the reliability design method of insulators and the mechanical safety factor, it is assumed that the stress distribution also conforms to a normal distribution. Finally, the stress-strength interference model is applied to evaluate the reliability of insulators. This paper proposes a reliability assessment method for the insulators of overhead contact system, which significantly facilitates the development of reliability evaluation of insulator.