Accelerated life testing of solid dielectric cables

The achievement of an accelerated laboratory test capable of predicting the useful service life of products has been an elusive goal for most manufactures. This state of affairs applies to solid dielectric cables functioning in complex environments. The community of interests concerned with electrical power transmission and distribution has long been aware of the lack of a suitable test. It has devised a wide assortment of procedures for evaluating the performance of cable designs and materials, but they do not provide accurate validatable estimates of service life under normal operating conditions. In common with most tests that are loosely labeled “accelerated” they are upon close examination useful mostly for quality control and comparative purposes.