Conference Record of the 2000 IEEE Intemational Symposium on Electrical Insulation, Anaheim, CA USA, April 2-5, 2000

Space Charge Development and Breakdown

in Cross-Linked Polyethylene Under DC Fields
Mahmoud Abou Dakka, Alexander Bulinski and Soli Bamji
National Research Council Canada
Montreal Road, Bldg. M-50
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K I A OR6

Abstract: Space charge development in cross-linked polyethylene
(XLPE) was investigated using the Thermal Step Method (TSM).
The samples were subjected to dc fields of - 25, 50 and
70 kV/mm and, several times during aging, the TSM, which is a
non-destructive technique, was used to measure insulation re-
sponse current. The distribution of the corresponding space
charge was computed using the newly developed inverse matrix
technique. The insulation response current increased systemati-
cally with the time of voltage application. Under similar aging
conditions some specimens were found to develop space charge
faster than others. These specimens have consistently failed
sooner than those with slower rate of space charge buildup. It is
proposed that the initial rate of space charge development in
polymeric insulation could provide an indication of its perform-
ance under dc field.
INTRODUCTION
The detrimental effect of space charge accumulation on the
performance of polymeric high voltage insulation, such as
XLPE, has been well recognized, especially under dc fields [ 1-
41. Space charge can create high local electric fields, which
could lead to electrical tree initiation and insulation break-
down. The nature and density of space charge depends on the
impurities, additives, fillers, cross-linking by-products and de-
fects in the insulation. Knowledge of the dynamics of space
charge formation is essential for the development of new in-
sulating materials and the improvement of existing ones. Study
of the development of space charge during the entire lifetime
of the insulation could clarify whether a direct relationship
between space charge and the insulation breakdown really ex-
ists and, if so, which specific space charge characteristic could
be most reliably linked with the probability of insulation fail-
ure.
The recent developments in space charge measurement tech-
niques [5-71 have given researchers powerful tools to deter-
mine not only the distribution of space charge in the insulation
but also to examine its temporal variation under ac voltage.
Thermal Step Method, a technique used in this study, exam-
ines space charge in the insulation by applying a thermal gra-
dient to the specimen and measuring the response current
caused by the thermal diffusion and the associated movement
of space charges in the insulation [SI. These TSM currents can
be used to compute space charge and electric field distribu-
tions inside the insulation [9].
This paper describes the current response and the development
of space charge in XLPE specimens subjected to dc fields
between 25 and 70 kV/mm for up to 5700 h. It is shown that
during aging significant changes in the TSM currents are ob-
served. For the same material and under the same aging condi-
tions, some specimens accumulate space charge faster than the
others, especially in the early stages of aging. These specimens
were found to consistently develop breakdown faster than the
other specimens, for which the space charge development was
slower.
EXPERIMENTAL
XLPE 310 UC from AT Plastics was used in this work. The
flat sheet specimens were molded at 120°C and then cross-
linked at 180°C for 15 min at a pressure of 8.4 MPa. To re-
duce the effect of cross-linking by-products the specimens
were pretreated in rough vacuum at 60°C for six days before
voltage application.
The basic specimen geometry is shown in Fig. 1. Semicon
electrodes were molded on either side of each specimen and
the upper electrode had a smaller diameter than the bottom
one. A 0.5 mm thick insulation ring was molded around the
upper semicon electrode to increase partial discharge inception
voltage and the flashover distance to ground.
The specimens were aged at room temperature with dc voltage
to produce electric fields of around 25, 50 and 70 kV/mm.
TSM measurements were performed before aging and then af-
ter 2, 24 and 96 h and subsequently every 500 h until break-
down. The TSM measurements, described elsewhere [SI, were
fully automated and computer-controlled. To reduce any ex-
ternal interference, the TSM test cell and the electrometer
(Keithley 642) were enclosed inside an EM1 cabinet. To en-
sure good repeatability of the measurements the TSM current
was measured three times on each specimen for each sampling
time. The space charge distribution was obtained from the
TSM current waveforms using the inverse matrix calculations
[ 9 ] . One of the important features of this newly developed
technique is its very effective convergence, within a few itera-
tions, and low error.

0-7803-5931-3/00/$10.0002000 IEEE 489

 2 I (a> Aging Field - 25 kV/mm
-
I' '.
0

s
+"
-2

0
5
H
I XLPE 0 -4
Semicon Electrode I-
insulation
(0.2mm Thick) (47-51 pm)
-6
Figure 1 . Specimen geometry.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 0 2 4 6 a IO 12

Time, s
Fig 2 shows the changes of the TSM current response with
aging time for different aging stress. Aging times of up to Aging Field - 50 kV/mm
5700 h were applied. For all aging stresses the TSM currents
increased with aging time. As expected, a very strong effect of 20
electric field can be observed. For example, 500 h of aging at
50 kV/mm produced a TSM current similar to the current after Qa
more than 5700 h of aging at 25 kV/mm.
+-
c
L
lo
3
Aging at fields up to 50 kV/mm resulted in TSM currents 0
having two peaks of the opposite polarity, both of which in- I
creased with aging time. Aging at 70 kV/mm always produced u)o
I-
-._._._._._.-.-.-
negative TSM currents. These types of current response were
very repetitive from specimen to specimen at all three aging
fields. -1 o

The increase of the TSM current with aging time indicates the
increase in the accumulation of space charge. Selected space 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
charge distributions corresponding to currents in Figs. 2b are Time, s
shown in Fig. 3. The characteristic feature of these distribu-
tions is the presence of homocharge at both electrodes, which
indicates charge injection from the electrode into the material. 0
(c) Aging Field - 70 kV/mm I
It was shown elsewhere that aging XLPE at 25 kV/mm pro-
duces mainly heterocharge near the electrodes [ 101.
Attempts of correlating the space charge amplitudes, their lo- Q, -20
~"

cation or the intensities of the local electric fields induced by C

those charges in the insulation with the times to specimen E

breakdown did not produce any consistent results. However, it 6
was observed that under the same aging conditions, some -40
specimens accumulated the space charge much faster than the P
other samples and that these specimens consistently failed
sooner than the samples in which the space charge accumula-
tion was slower. -60

I I I I 4 I 8 ' I - 8 - I , I

0 2 4 6 a 10 12
Time, s

Figure 2 - TSM currents after various times of aging at different

dc fields.

490
 25

g 20-

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Distance from Cathode, um tbd'2 bdl

Figure 3 - Space charge distributions in XLPE specimens after vari-

ous times of aging at 50 kV/mm, dc field.
0 5 10 15 0
Aging Time, h
Figure 5. Calculations of the AQ/At.

80

60
f
oaq- 40
aa
20
A 50 kV/mm

0
1 I I I I I I I ~ I I
I
I I IIll[ I I
I
I I I Ill( 1
20 100 1000 10000
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 Time to Breakdown, h
Aging Time, h Figure 6 - AQ/At versus time to breakdown.

Figure 4 - Averages magnitudes of charge obtained by integrating
TSM currents.
To explore this observation, the TSM current waveforms for
each specimen were integrated over the entire duration of the
TSM measurement and the absolute value of such integration
was computed. The average values of the resulting charge, Q,
is plotted for various stresses versus aging time in Fig. 4. The
strong effect of aging stress is apparent. Individual Q(t,,&
curves could be very different from specimen to specimen in
spite of the identical aging conditions.
Specimens with a more gradual development of the cumulative
charge in the early phases of aging seemed to consistently have
longer times to breakdown. The rate of change of the Q(t)
function, AQ/At, was calculated for all specimens as shown in
Fig. 5. Finally, a AQ/At versus time to breakdown curve,
shown in Fig. 6, was obtained. This curve shows strong corre-
lation between the rate of space charge buildup and the time to
insulation failure.
The experiments are continuing and if further data confirm this
initial finding, an easy tool could be developed to determine
whether polymeric insulation has a good prospect of a long

49 1
service life under dc field. Since the TSM measurements can
easily be performed on cables, this technique could be applied
to full size cables prior to installation.
CONCLUSIONS
XLPE specimens were aged at dc fields between 25 and
70 kV/mm.
Under identical aging conditions different specimens accumu-
late space charge at different rates.
The rate of space charge accumulation within the first few
hours of aging can be correlated with the insulation’s time to
breakdown. The higher the initial charge accumulation, the
shorter is the time to insulation failure.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors gratefully acknowledge technical help of
Ms. Yaoren Chen of NRC Canada over the course of this
work.
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