A consideration of the breakdown field strength of XLPE cable insulation

There are two field theories of dielectric breakdown of cables, the "maximum field theory" and the "average field theory". The former is based on the philosophy that the breakdown of the cable is determined by the electric field strength occurring at the cable conductor, whereas the latter is the idea that the breakdown is determined by the average field strength in the cable insulation layer. The validity of these theories are discussed in the present paper.