Electrical testing of polymeric insulated cables for life prediction

The design of the insulation system of medium and high voltage electric cables is mostly governed by the test conditions imposed on the cable during type tests, routine post manufacturing tests and post installation commissioning tests. Currently, there is strong technical and commercial pressure to widen the application of polymeric insulation to higher voltage (and higher stressed) cables called upon to work in more arduous conditions with less protection from their installation environments. The authors describe a situation where reliability was of paramount importance, the subject was a 70 mm² solid copper conductor triplex extruded cable with conducting polymer screens and insulated with an EP rubber