Electrical Treeing Test of DC Cable XLPE Insulation
under DC Voltage and High Temperature
*
Ying Liu, Yang Xiao , Yu Su
State Key Lab of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment
Xi’an Jiaotong University
Xi’an, China
Abstract—Along with its increasing application in high-voltage
DC transmission network, XLPE insulated cable has become a
global research hotspot. To study the cable endurance to DC
operation, the initiation characteristics of electrical trees in
XLPE cable insulation need to be investigated under DC voltages
and design temperatures. A novel treeing test configuration,
consisting of a heat oil bath, a DC voltage source and a
micro-imaging system, is set up for the research on the treeing
characteristics of XLPE samples under DC voltage and high
temperatures. Treeing tests were performed on XLPE specimens
made from a 110 kV DC cable, and each specimen has a
pin-plane electrode system within. Under a continuously applied
DC voltage of 60 kV for 20 days, the specimens, immerged in
silicon oil heated up to 90 ºC, showed no electrical trees.
Application of 60 kV DC voltage on specimens at room
temperature for 10 days could not trigger a tree either. Under
the condition of grounding after pre-stressing of a DC voltage, 20
kV was high enough to initiate a tree in the XLPE DC insulation.
It is concluded that electrical treeing cannot be easily caused by
constant DC voltages, even under the combined action of a high
voltage and an elevated temperature. The detectable damage in
XLPE insulation is a joint result of space charge’s injection and
extraction, and the deterioration caused by charge extraction
will be more serious than injection. That is why grounding after
pre-stressing can trigger a tree much easier.
Keywords—XLPE DC insulation; constant DC voltage; elevated
temperature; real-time observation; tree initiation
I. INTRODUCTION
XLPE power cables have been widely applied in the
high-voltage DC transmission network, which makes it
become the focus of global attention in the cable industry.
It is well-known that the molecular level degradation and
microscopic change of cable XLPE insulation can lead to
progressive degradation and/or failure in the long run. A
contributing factor for cable failures is the formation and
growth of electrical trees [1]. It was reported that high
temperature contributed to the initiation and growth of
electrical tree [2-3]. In order to obtain the first-hand
information of the cable endurance to DC operation, it is
essential to research the initiation and growth characteristics
of electrical trees in XLPE cable insulation under DC voltages,
not only at room temperature, but also at some elevated
temperatures, such as 70 ºC and 90 ºC.
978-1-5090-2804-7/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE
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Xin Chen, Chong Zhang, Wenpeng Li
Global Energy Interconnection Research Institute
State Grid Corporation of China
Beijing, China
The characteristics of DC electrical trees in solid insulation
materials, especially the initiation properties, have been
investigated under constant and repetitive DC voltages, DC
voltages with polarity reversal, and grounding after DC
pre-stressing. As far as we know, all the experiments were
performed at room temperature.
M. Selsjord pointed out that electrical treeing and
breakdown strength depended on the magnitude of
pre-stressing DC voltage, the number of grounding, and the
rate of voltage drop [4]. The number of abrupt grounding
needed to trigger an electrical breakdown at the needle tip
decreased with increasing magnitude of pre-stress DC voltage
and increasing rate of voltage drop [5]. S. Grzybowski argued
that DC breakdown strength of XLPE cables was higher than
AC, and it was closely related to space charges which had less
effect on AC breakdown strength [6]. Y. Tanaka found out by
the PEA (pulsed electro-acoustic) method that the dominant
factors for DC breakdowns in LDPE and XLPE were different.
In LDPE, the breakdown was caused by a highly enhanced
electrical field as the result of the packet-like charge
accumulation; while in XLPE, a large conduction current
might have played a dominate role for the breakdown under a
high DC stress [7].
As a matter of fact, electrical trees considered as the result
of a DC stress were sometimes actually caused by the AC
ripples of DC voltage. Besides, undetectable small defects,
micro-voids or impurities in the material are known to lower
the treeing inception voltage [8].
In this paper, a test setup was established for treeing tests
under high DC voltages and elevated temperatures. Electrical
tree initiation in XLPE insulation specimens of a 110 kV DC
cable was investigated by applying a DC voltage of 60 kV and
an elevated temperature of 90 ºC. Besides that, experiments
were also performed under room temperature and grounding
after DC pre-stressing. The experimental results are presented
and discussed, and the test setup is improved and verified
accordingly.
II. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
A. Sample Preparation
In this paper, the test specimens were made from the
XLPE insulation of a 110 kV DC cable manufactured by a
native factory. After the copper conductor and the outer
semi-conducting layer were removed by mechanical devices, system.
the cable was cut into small pieces about 5 mm thick and each
piece was divided into four smaller specimens, as shown in Some trial tests were carried out to testify the applicability
Fig.1. The insulation layer of this cable was 10 mm thick and of this experimental system. The silicone oil in the container
the inner semi-conducting layer was 0.3 mm. The needle could be heated up to 200 ºC, and the DC voltage supply was
electrodes were inserted into specimens, whose tip radius was no less than 190 kV. This verified the applicability of this test
(5±1) μm and the tip angle was 30 °. The pin-plane distance setup for treeing tests under high DC voltages and elevated
was (2±0.2) mm. temperatures.
In several trial tests, the silicone oil between the needle
B. Experimental Setup
and plane electrode broke down when the applied voltage rose
Fig.2 shows the set of testing devices designed and used to above 80 kV, and some electrical trees were triggered
conduct the treeing experiment under DC voltages and instantaneously.
elevated temperatures. It consisted of three parts: a DC
voltage resource, a temperature control system and a real-time C. Experimental procedures
digital micro-imaging system. The treeing experiments under DC 60 kV and 90 ºC were
As it can be noticed, temperature control was achieved by carried out in a screen room. According to the original plan,
a high temperature circulator and a transparent glass tube the DC voltage would be applied continuously on the
which was wound spirally in the inner wall of the container. specimen to be observed by the digital micro-imaging system
The sample was immersed in silicone oil to prevent external in real time, until an electrical tree appeared in it. While in
discharges and flashover, as well as to be heated up to the fact, the violent shaking of silicone oil above the specimen
preset temperature. made the real-time observation impossible. So, the program
was revised. The DC voltage with rise rate of 1 kV/s was
applied for a determined timespan. After it was switched off,
the specimen was observed for the appearance of electrical
trees.
III. RESULTS AND IMPROVEMENT
A. Results and analysis
After the DC voltages have been applied for a range of 7
to 24 hours, some electrical trees were triggered in the DC
XLPE specimens. The characteristics of these trees were
suspicious. They usually emerged from the side of the needle
Fig.1. The preparation of specimens electrode with a shape much different from typical AC and
DC trees, as shown in the Fig.3.
Shielding room
Fig.3(a) shows the 400 times magnified image of an
High temperature
electrical tree which was found in a specimen after 11 hours
Digital circulator application of 60 kV DC voltage at 90 ºC. Fig. 3(b) shows the
microscope
40 times magnified image of another electrical tree which was
initiated after application of DC voltage for 24 hours.
DC high
voltage T-shaped external
generator fixator
Glass tube
Silicone oil
DC XLPE
Light source specimen

220V AC

Control box
PC (a) Tree A (b) Tree B

Fig.2. The test setup
The problem was that the applied DC voltage not only
made silicone oil in the container shake violently, but also
caused the shift of the sample. In order to avoid this, the
sample is fixed by a homemade T-shaped external fixator, and
then its image can be recorded by the digital micro-imaging
Fig.3. Images of electrical trees initiated in specimens under a DC voltage of
60 kV and the temperature of 90 ºC
It is suggested by the follow-up analysis that the
non-effective fixation of the needle electrode may be the
reason for the abnormal experimental phenomenon. The DC
XLPE specimen, immersed in the silicone oil of 90 ºC for a
quite long time, was rather soft and easy to deform. The wire

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connected with the needle electrode was hard and it exerted trees were triggered.
sustained stress on the electrode. As the result, the needle
electrode moved slightly in the soft specimen, which Besides, grounded treeing tests after DC pre-stressing
produced some gaps between the needle electrode and the were carried out. In this case, electrical trees could be initiated
surrounding material. In Fig.3(a), the needle electrode was much easier. The experimental data indicates that after being
thought to have moved forward a certain distance, and in pre-stressed by a DC voltage of 20 kV, 50 percent of the
Fig.3(b), it shifted slightly to the right. Consequently, specimens were treed. It was already reported that electrical
electrical trees appeared in the gaps were caused by the trees could be triggered under AC 16 kV in only one minute
electrode movement. [9], and 50 % tree initiation voltage under lightning impulse
was 35 kV [10].
B. Improvements on test setup
Under a DC voltage of 60 kV, the static field E at the
Based on above speculation, some improvements were needle tip is calculated to be higher than 3000 kV/mm by the
necessary for the effective fixation and real-time observation formula (1) below, which is several times higher than the
of the specimen. Two main improvements on the test setup value of 400 kV/mm, the estimated intrinsic breakdown
were made. strength of XLPE [11].
Firstly, a new set of fixator devices was designed to fix the
2U
positive wire connected with the needle electrode, the E= (1)
negative wire connected with the ground electrode through a 4d
copper rod, and the specimen, as shown in Fig.4. R ln(1 + )
R
Secondly, a hollow cylinder was designed to serve as an where U is the applied DC voltage, R is the curvature radius
observation window, as shown in Fig.5. It went through a hole of needle tip, and d is gap spacing between the needle and
on the container lid and hanged below it, with its lower end plane electrodes.
just above the specimen. During an experiment, the
researchers could observe the specimen through this window. It is apparent that electrical trees are hard to be initiated
under constant DC voltages, even under a combination of the
high field and elevated temperature. In contrast, electrical
trees were much more easily formed if the applied voltage
was AC, impulse or grounded after pre-stressing DC voltage.
Y. Tanaka pointed out by using PEA method that, the
electric field in a XLPE specimen around the needle tip
usually reached a maximum within a few minutes after the
application of a DC voltage [7]. After that, the field would
decline gradually to a stable value. This corresponded well
Fig.4. The new fixator set with our experimental results. Under a constant DC voltage,
the injected charge could distribute themselves to modify the
applied electric field. Consequently, the equivalent radius was
larger than its geometrical radius. It is not easy to cause
obvious material deterioration in the specimen, even under the
combined action of a high electrical and thermal field for a
rather long time.
TABLE I. TREEING TEST DETAILS
Sample Voltage (kV) Temperature Time (day)
1 60 90 ºC 1
2 60 90 ºC 1
3 60 90 ºC 1
4 60 90 ºC 2
5 60 90 ºC 2
6 60 90 ºC 7
7 60 90 ºC 10
Fig.5. The observation window 8 60 90 ºC 10
9 60 90 ºC 11
10 60 90 ºC 20
C. Results after improvements 11 60 RT 1
After the improvement of the experimental setup, ten 12 60 RT 10
specimens were tested under 60 kV and 90 ºC, for a time
range from 1 to 20 days, as shown in Tab.1. The situation is quite different for specimens tested under
other types of voltage, such as AC and grounding after DC
After the 20-day’s application of DC voltage and high pre-stressing. Not only the injection but also the extraction of
temperature, no trees were observed. For comparison, two space charges will take place. The accumulated energy around
experiments at room temperature were carried out, but still no charge carriers is released momentarily with the de-trapping

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or extracting of them. This explosive energy release leads to
obvious deterioration of insulation materials, such as visible
electrical trees.
Therefore, the detectable damage of XLPE insulation
material is a joint result of space charge’s injection and
extraction, and the deterioration caused by charge extraction
would be more serious than injection.
IV. CONCLUSIONS
The electrical treeing experiment can be performed by
using the self-designed test setup under a DC voltage no more
than 80 kV and the temperature less than 200 ºC. The
continuous application of 60 kV and 90 ºC on specimens for
20 days did not trigger an electrical tree in the DC XLPE
insulation.
The needle electrode embedded within the sample can be
thought as a metal defect. It is shown by results of this paper
that the metal defects within XLPE insulation will not
contribute to apparent treeing phenomena under stable DC
electric field. However, it should be emphasized that the
stability of applied electric field is crucial for keeping the
insulation intact, as the experimental results have already
showed that the impulse voltage and grounding could give
rise to electrical trees within the samples.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported by the National Nature Science
Foundation of China under contract NSFC 51307131.
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