Conference Record of the 1996 IEEE International Symposium on Electrical Insulation, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, June 16-19,1996
Non Destructive Testing of High Volltage Cables by Non-Electrical Methods
Jean-Marie FOURMIGUI;
Electricit6 de France - Research and Development Division
BP no1, Route de Sens
F-77250 MORET SUR LOING - FRANCE
Abstract .- Today, many electrical methods such as partiall
discharges detection and high voltage breakdown tests yield
fruitful information on the insulation quality and have been
performed by most manufacturers as quality control tests. We
have investigated the capability of conventional non-destructive
testing (NDT) methods to detect these defects just after processing,
i.e., before the metallic shield and the polymeric jacket are added.
Three methods have been investigated : X-ray tomography,
ultrasonic testing and thermography. The three methods were
tested on high voltage cables in which artificial defects were
previously inserted. These defects simulate voids and metallic
contaminants. The first step of investigations was carried on
defects with a size of at least 300 p.In this paper, the three
methods are first presented and discussed. Then, the results
obtained are detailed as well as the possible applications of these
techniques for processing, quality control and qualification
purposes.
INTRODUCTION
Synthetic insulated high voltage cables require a high level of
reliability that is mainly provided by clean raw materials and
processing. In the past, many papers showed that impurities
such as metallic or organic contaminants as well as voids and
protrusions of the semiconductive shields are responsible for
premature failures of the insulation. Most of the cable
manufacturers and even some utilities use tests to check the
whole length of cable before energizing in the network. These
tests are generally high voltage tests which are either
destructive when breakdown occurs or non-destructive when
partial discharges are detected. Sometimes, intensityholtage
characteristics and loss tangent measurements can also help in
finding manufacturing defects that could lead to failure.
The aim is then to develop the necessary resources to satisfy
appraisal needs of the network operator. When a failure occurs
(electrical breakdown of the insulation), the question arises as
to whether or not the line should be replaced. If the defect
causing the breakdown is unique, there is no need to suspect
the entire line and it is sufficient to reconnect the two ends.
However, if inspection shows up a generic defect that is
repeated at regular intervals along the line, it may be necessary
to replace the entire cable. Using the same tools, we may wish
to use non-destructive testing methods to evaluate the quality
of equipment proposed by cable suppliers. In the very high
voltage field (critical equipment in the electricity transmission
network), NDT testing methods that are not used just now
could satisfy the zero defect requirement that are essential for
this type of equipment. The purpose of this research program is
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to search among the existing solutions for non-electrical and
non-destructive techniques able to detect defects.
1. DEFECTS TO BE DETECTED
One has usually limited knowledge about defects that could
cause a cable failure, for three reasons:
Defects on cable are fortunately unusual and are often
due to water penletration (problem which is not treated
here).
When an electric breakdown occurs, the power
dissipated by the short circuit melts, and possibly
vaporizes, the insulator. This destruction takes place
over an area much larger than the area of the defect.
It is difficult to get some information about the nature,
frequency and harmfulness of defects generated by
cable production means.
Nevertheless, existing work can be used to estimate the severity
of some defects encountered on synthetically insulated cables
(see [1,2]). Most of these defects lead to the formation of
partial discharges that degenerate into an "electrical tree" and
cause breakdown. They act either by strengthening the local
electrical field, or by forming a medium that facilitates
discharges.
The characteristics and size indicated in this article are related
to discharges inception as, indicated in documents taken from
the bibliography. However, larger defects can exist and, in
some configurations, do not cause discharges or defects, at
least in the short term. This is why one may be interested in a
technique capable of demonstrating defects even if they are
larger than the given sizes.
1.1. Interface defects
These defects may occur between the different layers forming
the insulation, either between the internal shield and the
insulation, or between the insulation and the external shield. In
this case there is an adhesion defect between these layers linked
to the extrusion phase or the chemical cross-linking operation
(see Fig. 1). This volume is filled with gas, usually gaseous
products derived from the: decomposition of peroxide (cross-
linking agent for XLPE insulated cable). It is assumed that this
type of defect can be dangerous for the insulation, if larger than
a critical size of 50 pm.
Another type of interface defect is caused by protuberances in
the shield material (semi-conductor composite) in the
insulation (see Fig. 1). This type of defect increases the field
that may lead to the development of partial discharges. It is
assumed that a protuberance with a radius of 100 to 200 pm is
the critical size at which discharges occur for usual HV cable
electrical fields. Note that the shape of these defects does have
a major effect : an oblong shape form along the line of the
electrical field is worse for field enhancement.
Interface defects (a) Protuberance of
shield into the
insulator (b)
Fig. 1 : Examplesf interface defects
1.2. Solid or gaseous inclusions
This type of defects occurs in the bulk of the insulation. They
may be in the form of gaseous cavities (see Fig. 2-a) or solid
inclusions (see Fig. 2-b). For solid inclusions, there is a critical
size of about 50 pm for a metallic impurity, and 200 pm for a
dielectric impurity. A gaseous cavity larger than 50 pm is
known to be dangerous.
Solid inclusion (b)
Gaseous cavity (a)
Fig. 2 : Examples of defects inside the insulation
2. TECHNIQUES UNDER INVESTIGATION
Three techniques were tested on cables : X-ray tomography,
ultrasonic testing and thermography. Note that that these
techniques are widely used for medical purposes and are
respectively known as scanner, ultrasonography and
thermography. Whatever is their use, they are based on the
same physical principles which are briefly recalled below.
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2.1. X-ray Tomography
X-ray tomography is a non-destructive technique which allows
the observation of the internal part of the tested item. It is now
applied in many industrial fields. The principle relies on the
numerical recording of several X-ray cross sections of the item
(see Fig. 3). Each record corresponds to the density profile of
the item. This record is repeated for a set of different angles
from 0" to 360". Then, the 2D image of the item cross section
is computed and generally displayed as a colored map showing
densities.
Set of detectors
Fig. 3 : Principle of tomography testing.
2.2. Ultrasonic testing
When a high frequency (MHz) acoustic wave (ultrasonic)
propagates through a material and meets an other material
(change of acoustic impedance), then a reflection occurs and
part o f the wave is reflected and possibly detected. Considering
that principle, the ultrasonic testing can yield fruitful
information on the size, the shape and the location of internal
defects. Even large items can be tested and this is generally
easily performed. The principle of ultrasonic testing is
illustrated on Fig. 4.
transducer transducer
for emission for reception
M
-
(Tested item
I
- Defect
I1
Fig. 4 : Principle of ultrasonic testing.
2.3. Thermography
Thermography consists in measuring the temperature at the
surface of a tested item. This is performed using a high
precision infrared camera. In our case, a thermal wave is
generated through the cable and the temperature is recorded at
the outer surface. The occurrence of an internal defect leads to
a perturbation of the thermal flow and then to local changes on
the surface temperature as illustrated on Fig. 5.
isotemDerature CUmeS with defect-
Surface temperature :
without defect
Variable source
Fig. 5 : Principle of thermography testing.
3. EXPERIMENTAL
cylindrical holes and rod
.........
t
Fig. 5 : Location of holes and rod into the insulation wall.
The tests were all performed on 20 cm to 30 cm long cable
samples. These have either copper or aluminum core (diameter
between 3 cm and 5 cm), they are polyethylene insulated
(thickness around 2 cm), the PVC jacket and the metallic shield
were removed except the outer semiconductive layer. In order
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to simulate defects, metallic wires were inserted and holes were
drilled as illustrated on Fig. 5 . These wires and holes range
from 0.3 mm to 1 mm diameter and were inserted at various
locations :
the inner polyethyleneisemiconductive layer interface,
the middle ofthe insulation wall,
0 the outer polyethyleneisemiconductive layer interface.
4. RESUL,TS
4.1. Tomography
Several cross sections of the cable were performed under
different experimental conditions to best detect the artificial
defects. It appears that it is easier to detect metallic defects than
holes. The deeper in the insulation wall the defect is inserted,
the lower the sensibility of the method. At this stage of the
program, it seems that a hole of 0.3 mm located near the core is
difficult to detect with this technique. At the opposite, it seems
possible to detect easfly smaller metallic inclusions. An
example of computed image for a cable drilled with 0.4 and 1
mm diameter holes is given on Fig. 6. The shadows located
near the core are due to tlhe presence of the metallic core and to
the image computation. The core was hidden for confidentiality
but one could see each wire separately.
Fig. 6 : Computed image of a cable drilled with 0.4 and 1 mm
diameter holes.
 IX-ray tomography I Ultrasonic testing I Thermography
NDT Technique
Detection I 1 mm hole
0.3 mm hole
IYES
Difficultnear intemal shield
I YES
Difficult near internal shield
I NO
NO
I
1 mm rod YES YES NO
0.3 mm rod YES YES NO
Time for testing Long Short Very long
cost High Medium Medium

4.2. Ultrasonic testing
The same type of cable with defects in the range 0.4 - 1 mm
was submitted to an ultrasonic control. The results yield the
conclusion that these defects give an echo and can be detected.
As with tomography, the worst situation is a 0.4 mm hole
located near the core. A typical result is illustrated on Fig 7.
The upper scan is related to a cable without defect and the
lower corresponds to the insertion of a 0.4 mm hole.
Seal wthoul deied
surface. Due to very long thermal processes, the temperature
perturbation generated by the artificial defects is homogenized
before it gets to the surface. It was also assumed than the outer
semiconductive layer, whose thermal conductivity is much
higher than for polyethylene, could be responsible for this lack
of sensibility.
5. DISCUSSION
This work shows that NDT techniques are able to detect defects
with sizes lower 1 mm and that 300 pm can not be considered
as a limit. It is evident that the detection limits depend on the
defect size and on its location in the insulation wall. The
sensibility of each technique also depends on the time available
to perform the testing and some are very time consuming.
These characteristics are summarized in Table 1.

CONCLUSION

Although preliminary, these results are very promising for

different purposes such as quality control and appraisal after
failure. Further work in that direction will be performed in
order to get better knowledge on the intrinsic limitations of
Scai Vmh a3 mn hole defect in the middle oftheitisolation wall these methods concerning applications to cables. Other
techniques will probably be tested and we are still searching for
new NDT techniques.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We thank J. Berdala from C2bles Pirelli for his kind

collaboration providing the cable samples.

Fig. 7 : Typical results of ultrasonic testing (hole 0.4 mm) REFERENCES

4.3. Thermography
A thermal step was applied to the tested cable by heating the
aluminum core at 80°C. The outer surface initially at room
temperature gets to more than 40°C. At the present time, it was
not possible to detect 1 mm diameter rod inserted near the
surface which was considered as the most suitable situation for
detection. It seems that the very high thermal resistance of
polyethylene does not allow temperature changes to reach the
[ I ] Densley R.J., Bartnikas R., Bernstein B., (( Multiple Stress Aging
of Solid-Dielectric Extruded Dry-Cured Insulation Systems for Power
Transmission Cables )), IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 9,
No. 1, January 1994.
[2] Fukuda T., ((Technological Progress in High Voltage Power
Cables in Japan, Parts I and 11 n, Electrical Insulation Magazine,
Vol4., 1988, pp. 9-14 and pp. 15-20.

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