An overview of water-resistant cable designs

An overview of the most current information on several different constructions and materials that help combat water treeing is presented. After a brief description of the treeing phenomenon, the author covers accelerated cable life testing, noting the various compounds normally used as the insulation for the medium voltage cable: crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE), tree retardant crosslinked polyethylene (TR-XLPE) and ethylene propylene rubber (EPR). Various EPR compounds are compared as a whole against XLPE and TR-XLPE. These are considered with respect to insulation effectiveness. Different cable constructions utilizing water-blocking materials are outlined.<
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