Effect of artificial thermal aging on the crystallinity of XLPE insulation cables: X-ray study

X-ray diffraction has been applied to reveal the effect of thermal aging on the crystallinity variation of XLPE insulation cables. The changes in the crystalline phase of XLPE during aging at different temperatures have been analyzed. The carried out investigations pointed out that thermal aging at temperatures above the melting temperature of XLPE have a great effect on the crystallinity variations.