Improvement of tree inception voltage of crosslinked polyethylene for high voltage cable applications

Although XLPE is efficiently used for high voltage cable insulation because of its many outstanding properties, it undergoes deterioration due to "treeing". A lot of research has been carried out to retard treeing in XLPE cables by using additives. However, little information appears to exist as to whether and to what extent such modifications affect the other relevant properties of XLPE. This paper highlights the modification of XLPE by adding different types of additives with a view to improving the electrical tree inception voltage of unmodified XLPE. These modified and unmodified samples have also been evaluated for mechanical properties, thermal stability, oxidative stability, extent of crosslinking, volume resistivity and dissipation factor measurement.