Properties degradation of 3D printed insulators in maritime and indoor environments

Abstract

With the advances in additive manufacturing, there is the idea of using 3D printers to produce spare parts in isolated systems such as ships, oceangoing vessels, warships, spacecraft, isolated stations, and so on. However, it raises the question of the reliability of such spare parts. One area that has not been explored much is the aging of electrical and dielectric properties, which could reveal weaknesses of 3D‐printed spare parts for use in electrical and automation systems. Therefore, the paper aims to investigate the change in resistance and dielectric constant. The results show that these changes could increase the probability of discharge and have serious consequences for electrical and automation systems.