Ultraviolet Radiation Aging Impact on Mechanical Properties of Silane-XLPE Cable Insulation

The study of cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) ability to resist under weather degradation become an important issue for many researchers. In this paper, the effect of accelerated ultraviolet radiation aging on the mechanical properties of silane cross-linked polyethylene (Si-XLPE) has been studied. In order to gain more information on this effect, we have conducted 288 hours of cyclic accelerated aging under ultraviolet radiation in QUV equipment. Tensile mechanical tests have been undertaken for different aging periods. The results indicated that mechanical behavior of Si-XLPE was deeply affected by UV radiation aging. The elongation at break after a slight increase after the first 48 hours, it decreased from 600 % to 407 %. The yielding strength and young's modulus was found to be very sensitive to the aging time under UV radiation.