High voltage equipment is commonly sealed within a welded enclosure. The seal is required because the enclosure contains either a gaseous (e.g., SF.sub.6) or liquid (e.g., oil) dielectric atmosphere within which the equipment operates. To enable connection between the enclosed equipment and external power lines, a bushing is used to provide a conductor through the wall of the enclosure while simultaneously insulating the conductor from the enclosure and maintaining the seal.
Bushings typically consist of a unitary metal conductor encapsulated in epoxy insulation. The inside end of the bushing (i.e., the proximal end of the conductor) is usually connected rigidly (e.g., by a metallic clamp and hardware) to the enclosed high voltage equipment, while the outside end of the bushing is designed to matingly receive a connector device, such as an elbow connector. The outside end of the bushing (i.e., the insulator body and/or the bushing-to-elbow interface) is subject to damage during both transportation and use which quite often renders the bushing unusable. In this event, the bushing must be replaced, which for a unitary bushing requires opening of the sealed enclosure and disconnection of the bushing from the high voltage equipment. Such replacement procedures are costly, time-consuming and often quite difficult to perform, especially when the equipment is located in the close quarters of an underground vault.