Mechanism for impulse conversion of water trees to electrical trees in XLPE

A lightning impulse causes substantial capacitive current in a water tree channel which, as a result of its small cross section, has relatively low conductance. Transient, nonlinear finite element computations with coupled thermal and electric fields for the geometry of a 15 kV XLPE dielectric cable indicate that an 80 kV lightning impulse can cause the water within a water tree channel to boil over a range of four orders of magnitude in water conductivity, from 10/sup -2/ S/m to 10/sup 2/ S/m. Boiling of the water in a water tree channel reduces substantially the yield stress of the XLPE, raises the pressure within the water tree channel, and is likely to leave a cavity which can support partial discharge resulting in electrical tree initiation.