Characteristics of Partial Discharge in Cross-Linked Polyethylene Insulation Cable under Damped AC Voltage

Abstract

Partial discharge (PD) diagnosis techniques are widely used in the insulation condition monitoring for power cables. In this paper, the damped AC (DAC) voltage method was used to study the PD characteristics in the heat-shrinkable cable accessories. Four different cases of artificial defects in cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cables were investigated, and these defects include termination without stress tube, incorrect use of insulation tape as the semi-conductive adhesive tape in the middle joint, void and metal particles on the surface of XLPE insulation. Furthermore, the PD inception voltage and patterns obtained under the DAC voltage are compared with the AC test results.