mechanically in service by rod fracture. One of the mechanical failure modes of the insulators is a failure process called brittle fracture [1]-[31], which is caused by the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of the GRP rods [32]-[51]. The process is catastrophic and unpredictable, leading to the drop of energized transmission lines [13], [18]. Several attempts have been made over the years [1]-[31] to understand this process and provide potential remedies to avoid it in service. In Fig. 2(a-d), some examples are presented of brittle fracture failures of failed nonceramic insulators operated at 115 kV (Fig. 2a, b), 345 kV (Fig. 2c), and 500 kV (Fig. 2d). It should be noted that all insulators in Fig. 2 were made by the same manufacturer and were based on the epoxy
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