Numerical Modeling of the Electric Field and the Potential Distributions in Heterogeneous Cavities inside XLPE Power Cable Insulation

Abstract

The XLPE power cable is easily affected by heterogeneous cavities: air void cavity, vented and bow-tie water trees. In this paper, we present a numerical modeling of this cable. A number of simulations are realized in order to analyze the influence of heterogeneous cavities and the influence of their positions and sizes on the electric field distribution, the potential distribution and the degradation of the XLPE insulation. The models are implemented with the finite element method based on the software package COMSOL Multiphysics.

Keywords

• numerical modeling
• finite element method
• electrical field
• heterogeneous cavities
• XLPE power cable
• COMSOL Multiphysics