Investigation on water treeing behaviors of thermally aged XLPE cable insulation

The power cable insulation is in permanence subjected to thermal aging during its operating service. Thermal aging may influence not only the electrical, physicochemical and other properties of the XLPE cable insulation, but also the initiation and propagation of water tree inside it. Our research on the influence of thermal degradation to the water treeing behavior of XLPE cable insulation shows that thermal oxidation is the most influential to the initiation and growth of water treeing from the surface of XLPE cable insulation among all the probable factors caused during thermal aging.