Failure Testing of a Station Post Insulator
Courtesy of the Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Project engineer Todd R. Fatheree of Reliable Products, Franklin Park, Ill., checks the alignment of a 2.5-inch-dia. fiberglass station post insulator prior to a buckling test.

Insulators of this type are used in electrical power substations to mount transformers and other equipment. The low electrical resistance, good mechanical strength, and high structural stiffness of glass-fiber reinforced polymers makes them ideal for such use.