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(1) ELECTRIC CABLES FAILURES |

LinkedIn
Manuel Bolotinha
14–18 minutes

1. CABLE FAILURES PROCESS

Failures of cable systems are disruptive, expensive and hazardous and results in loss of
vital evidence.

Cables, jointing, terminations and connectors properly installed and not subjected to
mechanical forces, moisture, or extreme temperatures have a predictable long service
lifetime.

This life of cable is dominated by the aging of cable insulation system.

Cable faults, very random in nature, normally only affect a short length of a specific cable
and are cleared by the protective relaying.

In conduits and cable trays, cables seldom can directly affect others through mechanical
motion or by heating (fire).

Protective relays properly designed, installed and kept calibrated, should clear cable
faults in a short time and thus restrict the damage to the faulting cable.

The cables can fail from any combination of electrical, mechanical, and thermal factors.

The service environments in which power cables operate are varied and may include mild
environments, as well as harsh environments with high temperature levels. Power cables
used to energize medium and high voltage equipment, such as pump motors and switchgear,
must operate at voltages and currents that are significantly higher than cables for control
and instrumentation.

Because medium and high voltage power cables operate at higher voltages, there is an
increased stress on the cables, which could accelerate aging degradation due to internal
ohmic heating and partial discharges (corona).

In addition, medium and high voltage cables are susceptible to unique aging mechanisms,
such as water treeing, that low voltage cables (up to 1 kV) do not experience.

Placement in conduit, raceways, underground ducts, and cable trays affects service
conditions under which the cables must operate.
Routing in densely filled cable trays, enclosed ducts, or fire-wrapped cable trays, together
with other continuous duty power cables, will result in elevated operating temperatures.

Exposure to elevated temperatures can also be caused by the location of cables installed in
close proximity to high temperature steam lines and other high temperature sources.

Aging due to elevated temperatures will cause the various polymers used to insulate the
cables to degrade, resulting in loss of elongation, embrittlement, and eventual cracking over
long exposure periods.

Exposure to moisture can also degrade power cables.

This can occur for cables installed below grade in ducts or conduits that are susceptible to
water intrusion, or for cables buried directly in the ground. Cables exposed to water while
energized are susceptible to a phenomenon called water treeing in which tree-like micro
cracks are formed in the insulation due to electrochemical reactions.

Reactions are caused by the presence of water and the relatively high electrical stress on
the insulation at local imperfections within the insulating material, such as voids and
contaminant sites that effectively increase the voltage stress at that point in the insulation.

Moisture can also cause corrosion of the various metallic components of the cable, such as
metallic shields or the conductor.

In general, aging degradation of the insulating material is of the most concern for high and
medium voltage power cables.

Other subcomponents are also susceptible to aging degradation due to various stressors to
which they are exposed; however, their degradation rate is usually minimal.

Some specific causes of power cable failures are the following:

• Short-circuit to ground
• Conductor-to-conductor short-circuit
• Reduced insulation resistance
• Reduced dielectric strength
• Excessive partial discharge

2. MODES OF CABLE FAILURES

Common failure modes of cables are:

Electrically induced failures

These involve lightning, switching surges, and partial discharges.

Partial discharges may be caused by poor insulation system design or by manufacturing

defects and it is a well know phenomenon for XLPE insulated cables.

Mechanically induced failures

A mechanically induced failure can occur during installation by using excessive pulling
tension and/or exceeding minimum bending radii.

Cable can also be damaged during construction when earth moving equipment can dig into
the cable or cable duct banks.

Repeated bending and twisting during installation or in service can result in irreversible
straining of conductor wires.

Thermally induced failures

Thermal degradation causes the insulation of the cable to lose its physical properties.

Thermally induced failures are due to overloading beyond its design capability for extended
periods and/or excessive ambient temperature conditions.

Metallic (semiconducting) shield damage

This failure mode describes where the shield ceases to perform its function. In order for the
shield to perform its function, its volume resistivity must always remain sufficiently low.

However, when metallic shield is damaged or corroded its volume resistivity is impacted
by temperature.

At higher temperatures, volume resistivity of the metallic shield increases significantly

(due to peak loads, unbalance currents, or circulating currents) giving rise to high voltage
gradients at sharp metal edges that will lead to corona and arcing damage (from outside
in).

Corona and arcing will lead to eventual cable insulation failure.

Poor metallic shield contact

This is the case where metallic shield is insulated from the semiconducting tape shield due to
poor contact.

This can be caused by a layer of corrosion or scale buildup on the metallic shield.

Such a condition will give rise to a potential difference between the semiconducting shield
and the metallic shield that will cause arcing between the two shields.

This will lead to arcing damage from the outside into semiconducting shield and insulation
and eventual cable failure, being more severe if there are multiple areas of poor contact or
breaks between the two shield systems.

Failures in most cases occur at the end-terminations or joints (where the factory-
manufactured insulation gets disturbed).

3. CAUSES FOR CABLE FAILURES

Some of the major causes for cable failures are:

• Ageing
• Wrong selection or application
• Mechanical failures
• Corrosion of sheath
• Moisture in the insulation
• Heating of cable
• Fire and lightning surges
• Electrical puncture

Mechanical failures

Mechanical failures can be due to breaks and defects of sheath material, mechanical
punctures by people or machines, or cracks due to sharp bending or vibration.

Whenever mechanical damage occurs in cable sheath, the entrance of moisture will
produce slow deterioration of insulation material, resulting in eventual failure of the cable. It
is important therefore to take every precaution that either direct or indirect mechanical
damage be eliminated or minimized by correct selection, installation, and maintenance of
cable systems.

Corrosion of sheath

Sheath corrosion can occur due to the following factors:

• Dissimilar soil effects

• Galvanic action
• Acidity and alkali in conduits
• Chemical contamination in the soil

Corrosion of sheath will eventually allow moisture to penetrate into the insulation system
and cause an eventual failure. Sheath corrosion can be minimized by correct application of
cathodic protection, application of insulating paints, providing adequate drainage, and
removing the source of chemical contamination.

Moisture in the insulation

Because of mechanical damage or other reasons, entrance of moisture into the insulation
system will deteriorate the cable, and all precautions to prevent such entrance should be
taken. Damages due to moisture can be indicated by the following:

• Bleached or soggy paper

• Resistance to tearing of tapes
• Stain on the inside surface of the sheath
• Visible water
• Whitish powder on aluminum conductor

Heating of cable
An increased heat rise in the cable results in insulation degradation.

Heat can be due to overloading, high ambient temperatures, insufficient ventilation, manual
heating due to cables being installed too close to each other, or external sources of heat.

Care must be taken not to exceed the temperature rise of the cable insulation system.

This can be done by first identifying the various environmental and operating factors that
will determine the correct selection of the cable insulation and conductor size.

Once correct selection and installation are made, routine maintenance and inspection of
cable will ensure safe and long operating life of the cable.

Fire and lightning surges

Fire in conduit or manholes can cause cable failure in adjacent manholes and junction
boxes.

Barriers can be installed between large groups of conductors to prevent fire damage.

Surge arresters should be installed to protect the cable where it is connected to overhead
lines to minimize failures of cable due to lightning surges.

Electrical puncture

Once the insulation is weakened owing to any of the reasons already analyzed, it may fail
electrically.

That is to say that the insulation system cannot confine the flow of electrical current to the
conductor inside the insulation system.

Failure may be phase-to-ground or three phase-to-ground or phase-to-phase faults. If

failure is short-circuit due to defective conductors, it will be detected by the circuit
protective device. Some of the not-so-easy-to detect electrical failures can be indicated by
the following:

• Bulging of the sheath

• Tree design marking
• Polymerized compound
• Lack of compound in the insulation

Cable failures can be further classified into two classes:

• Inherent causes
• Non inherent causes

Inherent causes

Inherent causes can be classified as follows:

 • Sheath or jacket defects
• Insulation defects
• Conductor defects

Sheath or jacket defects

Sheath defects are due to the following:

• Thin lead (splits under pressure)

• Eccentric lead thickness less than 85%
• Structural defects: radial splits, laminations, gas pockets, and others
• Cracked, embrittled, soft sports, bulge, cuts, bruises, or gauges

Insulation defects

These defects are due to the following:

• Defects in workmanship that can be indicated by the following:

• Wrinkling or creasing of tapes
• Torn tapes
• Excessive registrations
• Knotted or misplaced fillers
• Soft walls
• High dielectric loss that can be indicated by the following
• Scorching or carbonizing of paper
• Happens in one or more spots
• Can be determined by powe factor at 60°C or higher
• Incomplete saturation that can be indicated by the following:
• Scarcity of the compound in spaces between adjacent tape edges and surfaces
• Paper is void of the compound
• Unstable compound that can be indicated by the following:
• Visible change in the compound
• Wax, in case of mineral oil
• Ionization T that can be indicated by the following:
• Carbonized paths (tree design)
• Strings or flakes of darkened wax containing carbo

Conductor defects

Conductor defects can be indicated by the following:

• Irregular strands
• Sharp corners
• Missing strands
• Burrs on the strands
• Poor brazing

Non inherent causes

Non inherent causes can be classified as follows:

 • Corrosion of sheath
• External fire and HV surges (due to fire in cable circuits and lightning strikes and
surges
• Overheating (mainly due to heating of a cable that is overloaded or external heat and
high temperature)
• Mechanical damage (vibration; expansion and contraction; external causes; injury
during installation)
• Other causes (high internal pressure; migration of compound on a slope or riser;
moisture admitted through defective joints, terminations, and bond

Corrosion of sheath:

Corrosion usually results either to complete penetration of the sheath or weakness of the
sheath, so that the sheath breaks open.

Electrical breakdown takes place owing to admission of moisture.

Corrosion of the sheath can be due to the following:

• Positive potential (anodic), indicated by rough, pitted surface and very thin deposits
of white crystals
• Negative potential (cathodic), indicated by heavy deposit of lead oxides colored red,
yellow, or orange
• Local galvanic action
• Chemical action

Local galvanic action

Galvanic corrosion may occur in the presence of an electrolyte and some other metal that is
connected electrically to the sheath elsewhere.

Such failures are indicated by corroded sheath, which may be identical with either type of
corrosion depending on whether the sheath is anode or cathode.

Chemical action

Chemicals such as alkali attack cable insulation, which comes about from incompletely
cured concrete; acetic acid, rotting wood, jute, and other materials.

Usually, these can be identified by the chemical known to be present for a particular
installation.

4. PARTIAL DISCHARGES

Partial discharges are among the principal causes of catastrophic failures in cable
terminations and joints.

Main causes of discharges are deterioration of the insulation wall and joint defects.
Acoustic Emission techniques can be used for the detection of partial discharges in cables
and a Partial Discharge Scanner (PDS) is used for monitoring.

This equipment provides easy access, may be handheld or manipulated and indicates the
intensity of the partial discharges.

5. CABLE FAULT LOCATORS

Location of a fault in underground cables is a permanent challenge to maintenance

personnel.

There are various methods to locate a fault, such as “acoustic fault location”, “decay
method”, based on voltage decoupling by a capacitive voltage divider, “surge current
differential method” (DICM), “impulse current method” (ICM), “multiple impulse method”
(MIM/SIM), based on single high voltage impulse, “fault burn down technology”, that
forces an high current carbonizing the insulation material, used for paper-oil impregnated
cables and “time domain reflection method” (TDR).

MIM/SIM is the most recent method, and TDR is the most established and widely used.

In TDR method a low voltage impulse is sent into the cable under test. That low voltage
impulse (maximum 160V) travels through the cable and is reflected positively at the cable
end or at any cable interruption (cable cut). At a short-circuit point this low voltage impulse
is reflected negatively.