Accelerated aging of extruded dielectric power cables. II. Life testing of 15 kV XLPE-insulated cables

For pt.I see ibid., p.122-8 (1991). Attempts to successfully use accelerated aging tests to quantify the life of medium voltage power cables in service have been elusive. Preliminary results are described in which 15 kV cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cables were subjected to accelerated aging tests under a variety of controlled voltage stress and thermal load cycle conditions, with loss of life being calculated for each set of conditions in terms of the geometric mean time to failure (GMTF). Voltage stress was applied to thin wall (0.76 mm) covered wires in a water bath of controlled nature in the core. Crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE), high molecular weight polyethylene (HMWPE), and ethylene-propylene rubber (EPR) insulations were studied.<
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