Impact of step voltage parameters on accuracy of evaluating XLPE insulation DC voltage endurance coefficient

Abstract

Abstract The voltage endurance coefficient n of cross‐linked polyethylene (XLPE) insulation is an important indicator for the analysis of insulation failure mechanism. Accurately obtaining the value of n can provide technical support for the reliability evaluation of cable operation. The constant stress method and the step stress method are used to obtain the values of n, but the test parameters can influence the accuracy of the obtained n values. Two methods for selecting test parameters are proposed. The equivalence between the two methods is established, providing theoretical support for the accurate evaluation of the n value of solid insulation materials by using the step stress method. The accuracy of the evaluation results is verified by analyzing the test data. The test results show that the nstep = 13.04 evaluated by the step stress test with the proposed parameter selection method is consistent with the test result of constant stress nconstant = 12.83.

Keywords

• electric breakdown
• electric strength
• insulation testing
• life testing
• power cable insulation
• transmission networks