The paper presents the test results for the microstructure of ZnO varistors comprising high voltage gapless surge arresters. The tests were performed on varistors produced in different periods and by various manufacturers. The research was inspired by different characteristics of changes in values of current flowing through surge arresters as a function of changes in values of system voltage in a 220 kV substation, and the temperature in a multi-year cycle. Furthermore, the effects of varistor microstructure degradation following a failure of an unsealed surge arrester were investigated. The results provided the grounds for assessment of ZnO varistor microstructure parameters in terms of their durability and resistance to degradation processes.

The most commonly quenching process for carburizing gears is the oil-quenching (OQ) and salt-quenching (SQ), and finite analysis and comparison of OQ and SQ on the carburizing gear ring were performed. Wherein, the accurate simulation of gear carburization was obtained by the alloying element coefficient for diffusion coefficient and experiment validation. The heat transfer coefficients measured by the inverse heat transfer method was used to the temperature simulation, and the gear distortion mechanism was analyzed by the simulated results. By the comparison of OQ, SQ had higher cooling capacity in the high temperature region and slow cooling rate in the temperature range where martensite transformation occurs. The martensite transformation was more sufficient, and the compressive stress of the tooth was greater in the SQ. The tooth showed a drum-shaped and slight saddle-shaped distortion in the OQ and SQ, respectively. The simulated distortion results have good consistency with the measured results, and the SQ distortion was more uniform and stable based on the measured results.