Silicone rubber composite insulators have been widely applied as the external insulation of electric power system because of their advantages such as light weight

anti-contamination flashover performance

convenient transportation and installation

etc. With the complicated effects of on-site contamination

ultraviolet radiation

discharge

temperature

humidity and other factors

the silicone rubber materials are gradually aged

and aggravated with operation time prolonging

which causes the significant decrease of operation reliability and threatens the stability and safety of power system seriously. How to characterize and evaluate the aging state of composite insulators has been the problem and research focus of both at home and abroad. In this paper

combined with the research results of the authors’ teams

the aging mechanism of silicone rubber material is analyzed

and the artificial accelerated aging methods

the detection and evaluation techniques of aging state of composite insulators are summarized. The applicability and effectiveness of different methods are analyzed

and the related development trends are forecasted

so as to instruct the operation

maintenance and manufacturing of composite insulators for power enterprise and manufacturer.