FIELD AND LABORATORY AGING OF POLYMERIC CABLE TERMINATIONS - PART 2 -LABORATORY AGING

This paper presents the results of laboratory aging tests on polymeric cable terminations. The goals of the laboratory aging were two-fold: (1) develop an accelerated aging test that can simulate the changes pr oduced in the field, and (2) provide an assessment on the magnitude of aging induced changes on the electrical performance of terminations. Monitoring leakage current and material changes during laboratory test s were useful for assessing the variations possible in aging due to ex perimental parameters used. It has been shown that a laboratory aging test that is based on evaluating the termination's leakage current sup pression capability and the ability to withstand moderate level of dis charge activity is suitable not only for assessing the long term perfo rmance, but also for ranking the electrical performance in accordance with field exposure.