Dielectric breakdown strength correlation with time-to-failure during wet aging of XLPE-insulated cables

This paper reviews two sets of failure information, the GMTF (a parameter obtained from time-to-failure results) and GMBD stress (a parameter that is calculated from AC breakdown test results), and suggests a correlation. The test results were obtained from accelerated aging experiments on full-sized medium voltage cables in carefully controlled and monitored water-filled tanks. Results show that the ambient temperature AC breakdown strength for equivalently aged cables is influenced primarily by voltage stress during aging-not by the aging temperature. The AC breakdown strength on equivalently aged cables was also shown to decrease with reductions in the aging voltage at all aging temperatures.