Evaluation of Icephobic and Dissipation Performance on Coating Materials for Preventing Overhead Transmission Line from Ice/Snow Damages

Abstract

In this work, we manufactured icephobic coating materials, consisting of aluminum pigment-added room temperature vulcanized silicone rubber, by varying the particle size and type of the aluminum pigment. From the measurements of contact angle and surface energy, the coating with higher surface roughness revealed superior water repellency. However, icephobic performance was inversely proportional to surface roughness and hardness. The continuous allowable current application test showed that the silicone rubber (SR) coating exhibited the highest heat dissipation capacity due to its higher emissivity close to similar to 1. Furthermore, the SR coating revealed the remarkable durability for the icephobicity in the long-term period, as evidenced from the accelerated degradation test and cyclic icing/de-icing test. The developed coating material broadens industrial applicability as the icephobic coatings in transmission line. Moreover, it is expected that the superior heat dissipation capability of the SR coating would enhance the power efficiency in summer.