Simone Vincenzo Suraci

Main research topics include:

1. Characterization and diagnostics of insulation systems for electrical applications. The activity is focused on the characterization of different polymeric materials used as insulating materials in electrical systems, e.g., cables and transformers. The characterization may be considered as multiscale. In particular, it ranges from the microscopical characterization achieved by means of physical-chemical techniques to, with additional details, the macroscopical analysis of the electrical properties. Electrical tests include: conductivity measurements, polarization/depolarization current measurements, space charge (PEA method) and dielectric spectroscopy.Extensive analysis is focused on the modification of these properties due to aging phenomena, which deplate electrical and mechanical performance of the insulating material. For this reason, the use of non destructive electrical techniques is proposed as a diagnostic method for the insulation health assessment.
2. Characterization and diagnostics of instrumentation and control cables for nuclear and aerospace applications. The activity focuses on the analysis of the aging of instrumentation and control (I&C) cables subjected to high levels of radiations and temperature. These parameters, usually present in nuclear and aerospace environments, may cause significant depletion of the physical-chemical and electrical properties of the employed materials. The research activity includes the development of innovative and non destructive methods for the analysis of the cable system health in these extreme environments. Metholodogies used for this scope may be considered similar to what presented in (1).
3. Phenomenological modeling of aging and lifetime of insulating materials. The research activity is focused on the development of phenomenological models used for the prediction of the electrical properties as a function of insulation aging. These models, built from experimental tests, allow to obtain information of the material endurance to external stresses (e.g., electrical field and temperature) in order to derive the insulation lifetime.
4. Multiscale and multiphysics modelling of insulating materials. The activities focus on the development of multi-scale models aimed at the predictive analysis of electrical properties of materials during aging. For these activities, molecular simulation software is applied to the polymer chemical structures, in order to derive their microscopical properties as the electric polarizability. The use of multi-scale models links these quantities to the macroscopic properties of the material, as the electric permittivity. Eventually, the concentration of degradation products, obtained by means of chemical kinetics models, are implemented in the model in order to obtain the trend of the electrical properties as a function of aging time.
5. Development of nanocomposite materials for energy applications. This activity is aimed at the design and characterization of nanostructured insulating materials (nanodielectrics) with improved thermal and electrical properties. These materials showed to limit, among others, the inception of space charges and partial discharge-related phenomena. This guarantees better performance and endurance of the insulating materials, particularly in high voltage direct current (HVDC) systems.