Unveiling Internal Partial Discharges in Wiring and Cable Systems with Novel Testing Method

Partial discharge (PD) is a pivotal concern in the design of reliable wiring and cable systems for aeronautical application. Today, standardized PD tests for cables strongly rely on experimental setups and the quality of sample preparation, lacking the ability to distinguish between external and internal PD events. In the light of these challenges, this paper presents a novel testing device designed to characterize internal PD in wires and power cables under various environmental conditions for aeronautic. The method involves immersing a portion of the specimen in Gallium liquid metal to establish a counter electrode while managing triple points at the Gallium/sample interface by introducing dielectric liquid on top. Results indicate notable variations in Partial Discharge Inception Voltage (PDIV) values based on testing method, with the proposed technique consistently yielding lower PDIV values and exclusively assessing internal PD, unlike other traditional methods.