Technical Article

MODERN
SILICONE
RUBBER COLD SHRINK CABLE
ACCESSORIES for
MEDIUM VOLTAGE
CABLES

Sanjay Jha, 3M India (sjha@mmm.com)

old shrink and heat shrink characteristic properties of silicone

C
technologies have been around for
many years, but how they work is
not widely understood. This paper
briefly discusses how these
technologies work and some
characteristic features of both the
technologies. This paper also discusses the
rubber,high 'K' stress control principles and
general benefits of cold shrink cable
accessories in terms of installation, aerial
applications, safety and environment
conservation. The innovative products like
the cold shrink branch splice and the
integrated splice have also been introduced.

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Adjacent Long Chain Molecules
C C C
C C C
C C C
C C C
Cross-Linked Molecules
Fig 1: Cross Link Bonds
The Cold Shrink Technology
Essentially, a cold shrink tube is an open
ended rubber sleeve, made primarily from
rubber elastomers with high-performance
physical properties, that has been factory
expanded, or pre-stretched, and assembled
onto a supporting removable plastic core.
Cold shrink tubing shrinks upon removal of
that supporting core during the installation
process. The installer slides the tube over the
cable to be terminated and unwinds the core,
causing the tube to collapse down, or
contract, in place.
Cross linking forms bonds between the
molecules of the material that act like springs
when the material is stretched and that try to
return the material to its original shape. For
these materials, the more they are cross
linked, the stronger the desire to return to
their original shape. Figures 1 to 3 here
illustrates this principle on which cold shrink
technology works.
Expanded
Fig 2: Bonds are stretched when expanded.
Envision cross-link sites as “springs”.
Fig 3: Bonds act as springs
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Fig.4 : Sizing of Cold Shrink Components
Figure 4 shows the principle of sizing
cold shrink products taking into account that
the materials will not recover to their original
diameter when aged in expanded form. The
minimum cable size assigned for cold shrink
products is larger than the sum of original
diameter of the tube and the loss in recovery
due to ageing. This is to ensure positive
inward pressure – a constant squeezing
effect – which provides excellent electrical
performance and a good environmental seal.
Innovations with Cold Shrink : (a) Branch
Splice
In some underground and aerial cable
distribution networks, sometimes there is a
need to tap off power from the main cable.
Most of the times, such requirement could
be met by using a Branch Joint as the
alternative methods might not be feasible or
safe specially for buried or aerial locations.
For instance, for tapping of power from
medium voltage aerial bunched cables,
sometimes, the cables are terminated and
connected on a busbar supported on
insulators on the pole structures as shown in
the schematic below.
In the above type of tapping
arrangement, we lose the important benefit
of aerial bunched cables i.e. the cable
surface being potential free allowing the
cores to be bunched together and providing
safety. The cable terminations as well as the
insulators and busbars are 'live' front and
pose a safety hazard. Besides, the entire
installation becomes an eye sore.
The 3M Cold Shrink Silicone Rubber
Branch Splice suitable upto 12/20 (24) kV
Grade addresses this need by providing a
reliable, safe and easy to install branch
splice. One of the key challenges faced by
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the development team was

handling of the stress grading at
the insulation screen cutback
area of the branch cable side
(two cores going into one
connector). This was overcome
by designing a unique cold
shrink stress control adaptor to
accommodate two cables at one
side of the joint. The adaptor in
combination with the 'step'
design of the main splice body,
was able to handle the stress
grading and meet the partial
discharge requirements even
upto 2Uo.

Fig 5 : Typical arrangement for branch connections

in MV ABC Cable network

The construction of the branch joints is shown in the below schematic.

The 3M Cold Shrink Silicone Rubber Splice has been successfully tested in accordance with the
requirements of DIN VDE 0278 Part 629-1/11.97, Test Sequence B1, Table-5.

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Innovations with Cold Shrink : (b)
Integrated Splice
In pursuit of its goal of developing
products which are independent of the skill
of the installer, 3M has introduced the latest
integrated silicone rubber 'C' splice for single
core polymeric cables upto 19/33 (36) kV
voltage grade. In this design, the integrated
splice body comes with a preloaded copper
stocking for shield continuity as well as the
preloaded outer jacketing tube on a cold
shrink core. The construction of the 'C' Splice
is shown below.
Fig 7 : Construction of 3M cold shrink silicone
rubber integrated Splice
The 3M integrated cold shrink splice
body is based on the plug-in type of
connection wherein the prepared cable ends
can be fitted with the specially designed
range taking shear bolted cable studs. The
cable ends are then inserted into the
integrated splice body where these studs
mate with the female part of the connector
which is housed inside the integrated splice
body. After establishing
the conductor
connection, the inner
cold shrink body
consisting of stress
control, insulation and
shielding layers is
shrunk down by pulling
the loose end of the
core. The metallic shield
continuity is established
using the preloaded
copper stocking and
constant force spring
based solderless
connection. Finally the
outer cold shrink
rejacketing tube is
installed in place to complete the joint. The
product have been successfully type tested
Technical Innovations
according to the CENELEC HD 629.1 S2
standard.
The 'Living Seal' advantage in Cold Shrink
Cold shrink products are typically
expanded between 200 percent and 300
percent when they are loaded on a
removable core. When installed on a cable,
the expansion is typically between 30
percent and 150 percent. This is a unique
advantage that cold shrink products have
when compared with other technologies.
Because of this living seal, cold shrink is an
excellent choice where large load swings or
large differences in temperature occur. As
the cable expands and contracts with these
differences in temperature, the cold shrink
product will expand and contract with the
cable to maintain the integrity of the interface
and an excellent moisture seal.
Environmental sealing is critically
important in keeping moisture out of the
termination and cable. Mastic is typically
used to seal around the ground coming out
of the base of the termination under the
bottom seal of the termination. At the lug
end of the termination mastic or tape are
typically used to provide an environmental
seal. For both of these types of seals, cold
shrink type materials work extremely well
because of the continuous inward pressure
that they exert. This inward pressure and
flexibility of the material allow it to move
with cable and maintain the environmental
seal. Cold shrink relies on this inward
pressure for environmental sealing, unlike
heat shrink which relies on adhesives for an
environmental seal as we will see later.
Fig 8 : Living Seal in cold shrink
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 Technical Article

The Heat Shrink perspective provide the same electrical performance as a

Heat shrink products are also cross
linked, which allows them to be expanded
and then shrink back to a smaller diameter.
The difference is in the material used for heat
shrink products. The material has crystalline
regions in it that keep it expanded at normal
temperatures without a mechanical core.
When the material is heated above the
crystalline melt temperature, the crystalline
regions melt and allow the material to be
expanded. While it is expanded, it is cooled
below the crystalline melt temperature,
which allows the re-crystallization and
become rigid again. The product is supplied
in this expanded state. Heating the product
to a temperature above the crystalline melt
temperature again melts these crystalline
regions and allows the product to shrink.
However, when the source of heat is
removed, after the product has shrunk onto
the cable, the crystalline regions re-solidify.
Under most operating conditions of the
cable, these regions remain in crystalline
form, and, therefore, exert no inward
pressure on the cable. That is why most
heat shrink products use hot melt adhesives
and mastics to achieve interface and
environmental seal as the heat shrink
material doesn't expand and contract with
the cable.
cold shrink joint. Cold shrink joints provide
the highest interface pressure and do not
lose any of this interface pressure as they go
through load cycles.
The Choice of Materials
Silicone rubber used in cold shrink
products,is a semi-organic inorganic material
with a Si-O backbone and organic side
groups as shown in the diagram below. The
bond energy of Si-O is about 30% higher
than the C-C bonds in EPDM and EVA. This
molecular structure imparts the key
properties like stretch-ability, high
temperature withstand, low ageing and UV
resistance properties.
Moreover, Silicone rubber is inherently
hydrophobic in nature. Hydrophobic
materials have a contact angle greater than
90O as shown in fig below.

Interface Pressure and Electrical

Performance of joints
The joint insulation to cable insulation
interface (also referred simply as interface) is
a critical aspect of joint design. The interface
Silicone molecule- Si-O Backbone
area pressure has been shown to greatly
enhance the performance of the joint. The
Fig 9 : Molecular structure of silicone rubber
higher this interface pressure, the better the
electrical performance of the joint. The
research for this information was performed
by the IREQ test lab in Montreal, Canada and
is documented in a paper titled, 'Interfacial
Discharges in Underground Cable
Accessories.” The type of joint material, the
length of interface between the joint and the
cable insulation and the type of joint
(technology) all affect the interface pressure.
As we know from our earlier discussion of
heat shrink materials, these joints provide
very little interface pressure. Push on joints
also provide much less initial interface
pressure than cold shrink products and tend
to lose much of their interface pressure as
they go through load cycles. Since the initial
interface pressure of push on joint is lower, Fig 10: Contact angle and hydrophobicity
they must have a much longer interface to

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Fig 11 : Contact angle recovery
It is well known that during undesirable
conditions, the energy from leakage current
can cause the insulator surfaces to become
hydrophilic. It is important that the insulator
material regains its hydrophobic property
once these conditions are removed. This is
known as hydrophobic recovery property.
3M cold shrink termination silicone rubber
has excellent hydrophobic recovery property
which is less than 24 hours (refer the graph).
Another important parameter for the
material selection is surface tracking. For
surface tracking on a termination to occur,
three conditions must be met. The three
conditions are presence of electrical
potential, moisture and contamination. Since
electrical potential is always present, the
termination material should be formulated to
minimize moisture and contamination. In
view of the above features, Silicone materials
do this extremely well, as they repel water
and cause it to bead up on the surface. This
never allows a continuous wetted out
surface on the termination and thus
minimizes tracking.
These properties have lead to the
widespread usage of silicone rubber for
polluted outdoor electrical applications as
medium and high voltage cable terminations
as well as for splicing applications. An
important contributory factor is that the
consistency of silicone rubber can be
controlled much more easily and reliably in
the manufacturing process. This enables
consistent quality and assured performance
of the cold shrink terminations and joints.
Technical Innovations
High 'K' Stress Control
3M Cold shrink cable
terminations and joints use High
dielectric constant material for the
control of potential distribution of
the electrical field. The High K
material is built in as an integral part
of the joints and terminations and
capacitively distributes the field.
Electrical flux is regulated to
equalize the electrical stresses in a
controlled manner along the entire
termination and joint. By controlling
the electrical field, the stress
concentrations within the installed
joints, termination, and on the
termination's insulator/air interface,
are kept below the designed limit.
Within a continuous length of
shielded 15 kV cable, the stresses
are typically 50 Volts/mil adjacent to the
shield to about 70 Volts/mil at the conductor.
The High K material reduces the cable's
stresses at the termination and joint to less
than those in the continuous shielded
portion of the cable. The figure below
illustrates actual computerized stress plot of
typical terminations and joints.
The Application Advantage
3M Cold shrink products do not require
special tools to install like in case of heat
shrink products which require a torch and
gas cylinder. Cold shrink products install
consistently with respect to length and
insulation thickness. Heat shrink products
will install with a fairly consistent length, but
the insulation thickness depends
substantially on the uniformity of heat
application around the tubes. If shrinking is
done by not enough skilled person, the tube
thickness could vary and this could cause a
possible electrical failure. On the contrary, a
cold shrink tube always installs with equal
thickness all around the tube besides being
free of any possibility of scorching or wrinkle
(air pockets) formation.
In addition, there could be safety
concerns like the flame should not damage
the cable, other workers or anything else in
the immediate area. There are specific
advantages at construction sites, oil & gas or
a manhole environment etc., where use of
gas torch and open flame could be
hazardous and could cause a possible fire or
explosion. Further, the gases from the flame
must also be exhausted out of the enclosed
work area and oxygen replenished for
worker safety. Obviously, cold shrink
products are a safer option in such
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 Technical Innovations
Fig 12 : Field plot of a typical 3M Cold Shrink termination
Fig 13: Field plot of a typical 3M Cold Shrink splice.
situations. It will also normally take longer to
install a heat shrink product than a
comparable cold shrink product.
Considerations for Aerial Bunched Cable
(ABC) Joints & Terminations
For aerial joints, special consideration
has to be given with respect to the ease and
quickness of the installation at a height.
Since cold shrink does not require gas torch
and cylinders, and is easy and quick to
install, it is the best suited option for aerial
installations. For branch joint application, the
cold shrink product as explained above
provides a screened connection which is
very reliable and easy to install. For aerial
installations, an important factor to be
considered is the movement of the cable and
joints. The joints and terminations will need
to be more flexible and maintain the
interface pressure and an environmental seal
during such movements. Cold shrink joints
will be able to handle this movement better
than heat shrink joints. The movement in
aerial application can break the adhesive
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based environmental seal, which can lead to
moisture ingress. The tensile force acting on
the connector is also an important factor and
must be given due thought. The practice is
either to position the joints at the poles,
placing the joint on supports or, to support
the mid-span joints with special clamps fixed
onto the messenger wire. If necessary, full
tension compression connectors may be
used which can handle the tensile load
better. The other major consideration for
aerial joints is that the jacket system must be
resistant to the sun's ultraviolet rays. Various
UV Resistant 3M Vinyl tapes are very well
suited for this requirement. Most heat shrink
tubes are formulated for ultraviolet
resistance, but heat shrink doesn't handle
movement very well.
Caring for the Environment
Installation of heat shrink cable joints
and terminations require the consumption of
gasses and many times kerosene. In the
process, harmful and waste gasses are
released to the environment. Considering
that tens of thousands of terminations and
 Technical Innovations

joints are installed every year in India alone,

changing to cold shrink cable terminations
and joints could be a small but notable way
of protecting our environment and reducing
our carbon footprints.

Summary
There are many issues to consider when
selecting terminations and joints some of
which have been considered in this paper.
The material properties, how they function,
as well as the actual application must all be
considered to make the proper selection.
Because of cold shrink materials unique
properties, cold shrink accessories move
with the cable while continuing to provide
excellent electrical performance and
environmental sealing, thus providing long
life and reliability. The innovative cold shrink
branch joint and integrated joints are
intended to reduce dependence on
workmanship and improve reliability.

References
1) Dr. Chinh Dang, 1997, “Interfacial
Discharges in Underground Cable
Accessories”, Canadian Electricity
Association, 306 D 932

2) N. Amyot, D. Fournier, D. Lalancette, 2001,

“The Effect of Thermal Cycling on Joint
Interface Pressure”, International Conference
on Advances on Processing, Testing and
Application of Dielectric Materials, vol.
LXXVII, pp 197.

3) William L. Taylor & Joe Whitehouse, 2005,

“An overview of cold applied technology for
medium voltage cable accessories”

Vita
Sanjay Jha received his Degree in
Electrical Engineering from Bengal
Engineering College, Shibpur (Calcutta
University) in 1992. He has worked in
Mahindra Engineering and Chemical
Products Limited and Dubai Cable Company
in various capacities before joining 3M in
2007. Currently he is the Technical Manager
for the Electrical Markets Division – Energy
Products for 3M India.

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