CSE 029

Testing and Diagnosis of Power Cables

using Damped AC Voltages

AUTHORS

E. GULSKI, G.J. ANDERS - Lodz University of Technology, Poland

R. JONGEN - onsite hv solutions ag, Switzerland
J. PARCIAK - onsite hv solutions Central Europe, Poland
H. PUTTER, D. GÖTZ - Megger Germany GmbH, Germany

Summary
Testing of the newly installed and service aged transmission power cables is
becoming more and more important issue to ensure high quality of the cable
circuits. During the past 20 years, in addition to the traditional continuous AC
voltage testing using AC resonant systems, the damped AC method has become an
alternative testing way accepted in many countries. PD monitored voltage withstand
testing using damped AC voltages provides similar results for PD occurrence and the
localization to the traditional resonant method. PD monitored damped AC voltage
testing was successfully applied for quality control of newly installed on- and
offshore long length HV cable connections up to 230 kV. Such tests form a sound
basis for quality assurance and condition-based maintenance during the cable’s
service life.

KEYWORDS

After-laying testing - Diagnostic testing - Damped AC Voltages - Dissipation Factor - Partial

Discharges - Power Cables

1. Introduction
Early cable failure occurrence can be prevented by high quality of the workmanship
onsite [1,2]. In order to check the on-site installation, the acceptance voltage
withstand testing is performed on the newly installed cable systems. During the on-
site tests, both cable insulation and cable accessories are tested at an externally
applied over-voltage condition just before putting them into operation [1,3]. The test
intends to identify any weak spot in the power cable system e.g., introduced during
transportation or poor workmanship and so on. According to [4-5], the test is called
successful if no breakdown was registered in any part of the cable system during
testing time. Failure statistics of, e.g., new cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cables at

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different voltage levels, show that early failures occur during the rst three years of
operation. Eighty percent of these failures are related to the local installation defects
in cable joints and terminations [1]. Experience presented in [2] shows that 12% of
all on-site acceptance tests on newly installed circuits resulted in breakdowns
mostly in cable joints and terminations. The majority of the problems are caused by
poor workmanship during assembling, including:

Wrong assembling dimensions,

Wrong materials or tools used,
Missing or wrongly applied electric eld distribution elements of joints and
terminations, e.g.: spacers, llers, semi-conductive materials, insulating tapes,
defects of de ectors and so on.

Past experiences show for new XLPE insulated 60 kV to 230 kV cables that the
highest number of failures appears within the rst 3 years of service [6,7]. Assuming
that the cable systems have been tested after installation and passed successfully
the commissioning process, there must have been some hidden defect(s) that had
not been detected by the applied testing procedures like those described in [4,5].
These defects could develop slowly, and the statistics show that there is a chance of a
failure every 42 km of circuit lengths [6,7].

In the last 30 years, different testing methods have been introduced and are
currently in use, including: continues AC resonant (ACR) and damped AC (DAC) [3]. It
has been documented in recent publications that for testing transmission power
cables; the DAC after-laying and diagnostic testing [13-15,49,50,54,55] is providing a
sensitive PD detection method. By using DAC, a calibrated PD detection is possible
onsite with a background noise below few tens of pC [8,12].

To assess the overall technical condition of newly installed power cable circuits
and/or to evaluate the electrical, thermal and mechanical service aging of cables in
operation, the following tests and diagnostics are usually performed and the results
evaluated in relation to different testing parameters as provided by the international
guidelines, recommendations, national regulations and power companies own
recommendations [3-5, 16-30]:

High voltage continuous resp. damped AC over-voltage testing,

Partial discharge measurement,
Dielectric losses by estimation of the dissipation factor (Tan δ).

The quality of the installation of power cables, including its components, has an
impact on the availability of the power supply [12,29]. To obtain full information
about the technical status of the cable system, it is important to answer the following
questions:

1. What are the conditions of cable system components, e.g.: terminations, joints,
cable insulation?
2. Is there any degradation process visible in the cable components, e.g., from
installation or service operation?
3. Can the particular components of the cable system withstand service conditions
with minimum risk of breakdowns?
4. Are there any threats of potential failures in the near future, e.g., next year or in
ve years, in any of the cable system components?
5. Will the over voltage service conditions, e.g., switching surges or short-circuits,
cause the deterioration or defects which can be a threat for cable reliability?

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To answer these questions, various types of on-site tests can be applied to power
cables, e.g.: low/high voltage, on-line/off-line, electrical/non-electrical or
destructive/non-destructive tests. Detailed information about various testing
methods for HV/EHV cables can found in [3-5,16,20,21,27].

Voltage withstand tests are part of after-installation acceptance tests described by

the standards, guides and recommendations [4,5,16,21]. PD and dielectric loss are
diagnostic parameters that may give additional information about the condition of
the tested object [24-28]. Based on characteristic of the PDs and dielectric loss
measurements, potential insulation damage can be pinpointed.

High voltage on-site withstand tests are applied for:

1. Commissioning of the cable system on site to demonstrate that transportation,

installation and the erection have not caused any dangerous defects in the
insulation.
2. Checking quality of the repair of the cable system and con rmation that all
dangerous defects in the insulation have been eliminated.
3. Diagnostic purposes to demonstrate that the insulation is still free of dangerous
defects and the life-time expectation is suf ciently high.

This paper discussed the testing approach covering partial discharge (PD) diagnosis
and dielectric loss estimation monitored during the on-site voltage withstand testing
by damped AC voltages [3, 16].

2. Onsite testing of transmission power cables

Application of an overvoltage to the insulation is the oldest method used to qualify
the cable for service conditions. This test is related to the nominal voltage (Uo) or
above nominal cable voltage (over-voltage) conditions. This simple test can be used
to check whether the cable insulation holds the required voltage for the duration
speci ed in the applicable standard, e.g., according to the IEC norm - 1h at 2.0 x Uo
for 110 kV cables. The test based only on a breakdown criterion is considered
insuf cient to reliably qualify the examined cable [4, 5]. An external voltage source
is necessary for the voltage withstand test to energize the cable capacitance. For HV
withstand testing, two types of AC voltages are utilized [3,30]:

1. Continuous AC voltage (AC)

2. Damped AC voltage (DAC)

For a continuous AC, the capacitance of the cable produces high power requirements
to compensate for the losses during the application of a resonant voltage. To
generate the required power, a mobile resonance test-set is used with a variable test
voltage frequency of 20-300 Hz [3, 30, 36, 38]. Another type of withstand test is the
so-called “soak test”. This test is performed on new or after repair circuits at nominal
voltage (50/60 Hz power network supply) obtained by connecting it for 24 hours to
the network without load [4,5] at the operational voltage. The test is called successful
if no breakdown occurred in any of the cable system components. However, results
reported in [35, 36, 40] show that this type of the withstand test is not ef cient as
many installation-related defects have partial discharge inception voltage (PDIV)
above the nominal operating voltage - Uo [36, 41].

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The IEEE Guide for Field Testing of Shielded Power Cable Systems Rated 5 kV and
Above with Damped Alternating Current (DAC) Voltage, has been available for the
past 7 years [3, 16].

This document describes the advantages and challenges of application of DAC for
cable testing in the eld. The references [3, 16] discuss the various testing
parameters (methodology, voltage levels, test procedures and other testing speci c
factors) applicable for after-laying- and diagnostic testing for medium- and high
voltage power cables. Figure 1 shows some typical test set-ups of single- and double-
ended PD detection systems.

Figure 1 - Example of the on-site testing of newly installed HV power cable circuits: using (a) DAC
voltages by a 300 kV system with single sided PD detection, PD detector (Coupling capacitor and
quadrupole) on the right side directly connected to the cable termination (b) DAC voltages by a 300 kV
system with double power and double-sided PD detection, Both PD detectors (Coupling capacitor and
quadrupole), recognisable by the aluminium electrode, directly connected to the cable terminations.
The typical weight of those systems is in the range of 1.000 kg and the onsite power demand is in the
range of 5 kVA, even to test power cable with the capacitive loads above 10 μF

Sinusoidal damped AC (DAC) voltage testing has been introduced at the end of 1980s
as an alternative to the DC test voltages [17]. Since then, the technology has been
further developed and DAC testing has been commercially used since the end of
1990s [12, 18,25-29,37,39,41]. Various countries are using the DAC technology for
the onsite cable testing combined with PD measurements and dissipation factor (DF)
estimation [16,20,21,26-28]. The method is applied for condition assessment of all
types of power cable systems up to 230 kV network voltage level.

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Figure 2 - Visualization example of onsite energizing and PD diagnosis by continuous AC (ACR) voltages
(top) and by damped AC (DAC) voltages (bottom), energizing (left), diagnostic (right)

Considering that for (E) HV power cable both methods ACR and DAC are in use,
Figure 2 shows the principal differences between them. Based on [8-12], the
following statements can be made regarding the results of both methods as a
consequence of the same type of insulation defects:

a. There is no difference between PD inception, detectable PD levels and PD

extinctions voltages.
b. The PD pattern information of a single DAC voltage cycle is more informative than
that from an AC counterpart because a PD occurrence by decaying DAC voltage is
visible.
c. There is no difference at maximum voltage level between voltage stress
effectiveness in kV/mm.
d. The test voltage destructiveness of DAC is lower than that caused by the AC
stresses because of the decaying character of the DAC voltage.
e. There is no signi cant difference between dielectric losses at similar test voltage
levels and frequencies.

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Figure 3 - Examples of PD localization in the same HV power cable done by both a)
continuous and b) damped AC test voltages

It is known that the occurrence of partial discharges (PD) is a good method to show
the condition of the cable insulation at different voltage stresses. Moreover, prior an
insulation breakdown, the detection of a PD is a 72% indicator of the upcoming
failures [16].

To investigate the applicability of the damped AC as an alternative for continuous AC

voltages, their comparison by different experts is illustrated in Figure 3. These
examples, as well as investigations reported in [9,12,51,58,59], con rm that there
are no signi cant differences by applying continuous or damped AC voltages for the
PD detection. Additionally, reference [19] suggests that if the damped AC frequency
is in the range of 10 Hz-300 Hz, the PD inception and occurrence will not be different
from those for occurring at the power-frequency and voltage. This was also con rmed
by [12,51].

3. DAC technology
At present the DAC technology up to 400 kV is an alternative method for the onsite
testing of power cables, which can be used for testing distribution and transmission
power cables and allows PD detection and localization of the problematic areas in a
complete cable system (terminations, all types of joints, cable sections, and so on). It
can detect problems in both the on-shore and, since a few years, also in the off-shore
power cables [53-56].

The physical design and embedded system con guration result in a small footprint,
and low level of electromagnetic interference resulting in a reproducible onsite
background noise of few tens of pC (see [19, 32-33]), as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5.
This noise level is a combination of the background noise of the applied test voltage,
which should be low, and additional electromagnetic interferences in the nearby
environment.

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 Figure 4 - Damped AC (DAC) system for the on-site testing and PD detection of transmission power
cables: (A) schematic overview; (B) con guration for 2-side PD detection for long cables; (C) PD
monitored DAC voltage; (D) PD monitored DAC voltage breakdown; (E) PD mapping to localize the
discharging site in a cable

To obtain a low noise level during the PD

measurement, DAC systems use own HV
supply. Additionally, all components in
the system have to be PD free. All
components have dedicated designed
HV electrodes and HV (inter)
connections that would withstand a
higher voltage easily without showing
any corona effects. Because of compact
construction, it is possible to obtain
enough distance from other (live) parts, Figure 5 - Example of DAC PD
while keeping a short HV and ground background noise (< 6 pC) as measured
connection between the DAC system and on-site on a PD free 220 kV power cable
the test object that delivers the optimal
signal to noise ratio. Furthermore, the
following aspects are providing system
own background noise level below 10 pC
(see Figure 5) when applying the DAC
system:

1. The ‘clean power supply’: is formed by the capacitive test object itself and the
external inductance that is part of the system. During damped AC resonance, the
power supply used to energize the test object is actually switched off during the
PD measurement. The modern design of the coils of the PD free external
inductance guaranties a noise free power supply that enables a very sensitive PD
free measurement environment.
2. Unique semiconductor switch: The use of a proprietary laser triggered
semiconductor switch, unique to the DAC, enables switching without
disturbances, both in its primary current path, as well in the energy necessary to
operate the switch. As this switch is driven by a laser light only, no heavy, noisy
power supplies and mechanical moving parts are necessary.
3. Linear grounding philosophy & optical control: Grounding of the system is
designed in such a way that the grounding path is as short as possible. During the
measurement, only one linear, non-branched, ground connection is of
importance. Ground loops and external coupling of interferences over the

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 grounding path is therefore reduced to a minimum. Also, all communication and
control between the system components takes place over optical cables. In this
way, no analogue signal loops or lines are present between the system
components that could cause interference or noise.
4. Optimal shielding: All sensitive PD measurement and signal processing
components are constructed in shielded compartments in such a way that
external disturbances cannot couple in.

Measurement systems with low self-noise levels will provide better and easier PD
detection. Furthermore, it is known that the noise level at a low frequency bandwidth
(IEC level) can be higher compared to the noise level at the higher frequencies, which
is used for PD localization.

4. AC testing voltages with emphasis on DAC

The generation of DAC voltages consists of 3 stages described below.

4.1. Energizing phase

Damped alternating voltages (DAC) are generated by continuously increasing the
voltage applied to the test object to a predetermined level (energizing phase) and
then immediately discharging the test object’s capacitance through a suitable
inductance (switching and LC damped resonance phase), this is visually shown in
Figure 2.

During the energizing stage, the capacitance of the test object is subjected to a
continuously increasing voltage at a rate dependent on the test object capacitance
and the current rating of the power supply. According to [16], during the energizing
phase the test object is stressed with increasing unipolar (negative or positive)
voltage. The charging time depends on the maximum available load current of the
voltage supply, the test voltage, and the capacitance of the test object.

One of the concerns that exists within the industry is that during the damped AC
energizing stage space charge may accumulate and can therefore potentially
damage the cable under test. Until now, there is no scienti c- or applied evidence
that space charge accumulation may or may not exists after damped AC application
on MV, HV or EHV cable systems.

Following arguments are in favour of the damped AC technology with regards to the
possible injection and accumulation of relevant space charge:

1. According to [3,12,16,51], applying DAC cannot be treated as an application of a

pure constant HVDC voltage because after a reaching the peak value, within a
time shorter than 1 µs, a decaying AC voltage is generated.
2. According to electric elds and materials fundamental theory [43], no DC stresses
and steady-state condition occur in the cable under test if the voltage is
continuously increasing until the time of triggering the HV switch.
3. Based on the review of the international literature discussing the use of damped
AC [3,12,16, 49-56, 58, 59] and the basics of a space charge behaviour, it cannot
be stated that there will be space charge accumulation in the XLPE insulation
because of the energizing phase for the generation of DAC voltages. This

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 considering the excitation time stays below 100 seconds, and the electrical eld
strengths will be up to 20 kV/mm.
4. All eld tests performed in last 20 years in both MV and HV installations
supports the theory that no relevant space charge is generated. Within the MV
range the eld stresses are not comparable with HV or EHV range; however, it
was within the MV range where a high number of water-treed cables failed
shortly after a HVDC withstand test as the result of the space charge effect. With
the DAC tests performed on such critically aged cables no faults have been
reported. No increased after testing failures have been reported for
measurements performed on HV and EHV cable systems. It must be said that for
cable systems above 245 kV limited testing experience is available.
5. It is known from the basics of electric eld theory that the presence of space
charge in the insulation is locally changing the electric eld distribution, which in
his turn, may be responsible for the occurrence of any pre-breakdown
phenomena like a partial discharge e.g., PDIV or PD amplitudes. Older references
like [12, 51] as well as recent publications [46, 58, 59] have proven that there are
no signi cant differences between AC and DAC with respect to the occurrence of
PD. More important, even after 45 minutes of stressing the cable samples with
DAC, no difference in PDIV and PD level occurred, underlining that no relevant
space charge has been accumulated over that period as otherwise this would
have in uenced the PDIV and PD level.
6. A recent publication [60] being used in Cigre TB 751 [57], clearly shows that a
signi cant increase in electrical caused by the generation of space charge with a
steady-state DC eld stress of 30 kV/mm, takes hours. Hypothetically taken, if
DAC would generate space charge, which is not proven so far, then based on this
research it will not signi cantly change the local electrical eld, as electrical eld
stress will be lower than 30 kV/mm and as the energizing time will be maximum
1 hour (whereas the increased eld strengths will only be seconds per excitation).
7. Published conference and referred journal contributions suggest that the
electrical eld stress must be above 20 kV / mm for the possibility of space
charge being trapped [44-47].
8. Reference [16] describes the transmission mechanisms from AC to DC eld
distribution as follows; the initial voltage distribution will be capacitive and
slowly relaxes to a resistive distribution with the time constant of typical XLPE
insulation (permittivity εr ε0 times volume resistivity ρ): 2.3 × 8.85 × 10 −12 F/m
×1014 Ω•m = 2035 s.
9. As a result, in a hypothetical case of pure HVDC stress (constant voltage level
only), the time constant needed for this transition would be over 30 minutes. As
the duration of the charging phase of a DAC test is signi cantly below this time
with the test voltage levels as mentioned in [4, 5, 16], the E- elds will stay below
critical values [44 - 45], [47]. This applies for both single DAC excitations and for
several cycles as typically applied during a PD monitored DAC test.

The energizing time needed to apply a DAC excitation depends on several

parameters:

1. The capacitance of the cable under test in [µF]

2. The test voltage level in [kV]
3. The energizing current that the DAC power supply can supply.

Depending on the rated voltage of the HV cable, the maximum test voltage level can
be up to two times the nominal operating voltage (2.0 x Uo). Damped AC systems are
delivering a constant current during the energizing phase, whose value is system

©2024 - CIGRE CSE N°29 June 2023 9

dependent. Depending on the cable capacitance and other minor factors, a certain
time is needed to reach the selected test voltage level. Examples of energizing times
are given in Figure 6.

Figure 6 - Examples of damped AC energizing times in relation to the maximum eld strengths and
energizing times as discussed in different references in a HV cable when testing at 2 x Uo. Example
based on a 72 kV rated cable with an XLPE insulation thickness of 11 mm

Energizing times are shown for three different cable capacitances of 1, 5 and 10 µF
(approximately 3, 15 and 30 km length). On the secondary Y-axis at the right side,
the test voltage level in relation to Uo is given. On the primary Y-axis at the left side,
the corresponding maximal peak eld strength in [kVpeak/mm] at the conductor is
given for a typical HV cable with conductor cross-section of 2500 mm2. The
maximum eld strength stays far below 20 kV/mm, which is the borderline as per
[44, 47]. In general, the total energizing time is below the 100 seconds as suggested
in [16].

Examples of energizing times of EHV cables are illustrated in Figure 7 with

energizing times shown for three different cable capacitances of 1, 5 and 10 µF
(approximately 5, 25 and 50 km length). The maximum eld strength does not
exceed 20 kV/mm when testing up to 1.7 x Uo. It can also be observed that, in
general, the total energizing time is below the 100 seconds if the total capacitance
stays below 8 µF. To stay within the limits recommended by [16] and considering
very long EHV power cables with capacitances above 8µF, voltage sources with
higher energizing currents are recommended to be used.

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 Figure 7 - Examples of damped AC energizing times in relation to the maximum eld strengths and
energizing times as discussed in different references in a HV cable when testing at 1.7Uo. Example
based on a 245 kV rated cable with an XLPE insulation thickness of 22.5 mm

Summarizing the energizing phase, it is recommended to keep the DAC energizing

time below 100 seconds [16] and the test eld strengths below 20 kV/mm [44-47]. By
having these boundaries and the arguments mentioned above, it can be assumed
that there will be no relevant space charge accumulation within the XLPE cable
insulation.

4.2. Switching phase

After the unipolar charging voltage with a given voltage ramp rate of dU/dt has
reached the selected maximum DAC test voltage (charging voltage), the HV switch
closes instantaneously, with very fast turn on time, e.g., less than 1μs. This fast-
switching time is necessary to avoid switching over-voltages and disturbances
during the PD measurements. The cable capacitance and the system HV inductance
then form an LC oscillating circuit. The maximum resulting DAC current owing in
the LC circuit is a function of the actual capacitive load, system inductance and the
maximum test voltage.

4.3. LC damped resonance phase

The frequency of the DAC test voltage equals the natural frequency of the circuit.
The DAC attenuation depends on the quality factor of the total resonant circuit. The
quality factor is inversely proportional to the losses of the circuit that include the HV
switch, the losses in the cable system, and the losses in the test set inductor.
Because of the symmetrical bipolar AC discharging process, no remaining charges
will be introduced to the cable insulation during the oscillating phase.
As a result of the relatively low cable inductance and no occurrence of transient over-
voltages due to re ections at joints and cable terminations, the DAC stress applied to
the cable capacitance represents normal AC stress conditions. This means that the
PD inception voltage (PDIV), the PD amplitudes, and the PD behaviour are

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comparable to the factory testing conditions [12,29,51].
In the case of PD-free insulation, the application of DAC stress will have a similar
effect as during the factory testing conditions on the pass/fail outcome of the test
[12,16,41]. The dissipation factor (DF) can be estimated with the decay
characteristics of the DAC wave.

5. DAC voltage testing

Reference [16] de nes several parameters that are related to the test circuit, the test
procedure, the data acquisition and the data analysis when a DAC test is conducted.

It is recommended to perform the voltage withstand testing with DAC voltages as a

monitored DAC withstand test – in this mode, besides a breakdown criterion,
diagnostic parameters, i.e., partial discharges and dielectric losses can be used.
Evaluation of the PD parameters is used to detect weak spots in the cable system
during the DAC test. PD attributes are expressed by diagnostic properties such as PD
amplitude, PD intensity, PD occurrence, PD phase-resolved patterns and PD location.
The additional information provided by the PD detection; it can improve the
evaluation of the insulation condition. If PDs are detected during voltage test
execution, evaluation of the detected PDs is necessary. Expert knowledge about PD
behaviour for different types of insulation is necessary to obtain reliable picture of
the object under test. Important aspects are the background noise level at the test
location, proper test setup, calibration and quality of the connection between the
cable terminations and DAC test system.

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In relation to the applied DAC testing procedures, [16] includes practical

considerations, based on user experience during the last 20 years [4,5,12,16,41].
Examples of such considerations include the number of DAC excitations applied
during testing and the minimum recommended test voltage level. User feedbacks
have con rmed the following test parameters:

1. Maximum DAC test voltage levels (Uo is the rated phase to ground voltage):
a. For HV cables up to 150 kV up to 1.73 – 2.0 Uo
b. For EHV cables up to 230 kV up to 1.4 – 1.7 Uo
c. For EHV cables up to 400 kV up to 1.18 Uo
2. Fifty DAC excitations at maximum applied DAC voltage withstand level are
recommended [16]. Considering the time from the PD initiation until breakdown,

©2024 - CIGRE CSE N°29 June 2023 12

 DAC test results may differ from those obtained by a continuous AC withstand
voltage testing due to the shorter duration of the excitation and decaying
characteristics of the voltage [16]. As the use of DAC is an alternative method, the
testing should not be unnecessarily destructive and is monitored with the PD
inception indicating whether defects are already present. The main goal of the
monitored DAC PD withstand test is to detect partial discharge activity during
this test. If PD has been detected and localized/ examined one can perform a
qualitative assessment. Based on the survey among DAC users reported in [16],
some apply (in case of short cable length) a testing time of 60 minutes instead of
50 excitations. Moreover, 40% of the survey responders have observed an
insulation breakdown during testing, and in more than 70% of these failures, PD
has been detected before breakdown.

A simpli ed testing procedure for a DAC test on a 220 kV offshore export cable is
shown in the ow chart in Figure 8. The test setup is calibration and then each
individual cable phase is tested consecutively by increasing the DAC test voltage in
steps. When the maximum test voltage is reached, the voltage withstand diagnosis is
performed with a minimum of 50 DAC excitations. During all steps, the partial
discharge activity and tan δ development are monitored.

Figure 8 - Test procedure for 150 kV -230 kV export cables [29, 53]

6. Diagnostic parameters

6.1. PD measurement
In situation when the internal PDs are detected and localized, decision about further
action(s) needs to be taken. Further steps involve TDR analysis, phase resolved PD
patterns analysis and evaluation of the characteristics of PD (occurrence, intensity,
amplitude). If PDs are localized during DAC voltage increasing phase in one or more
of the faulty cable components, it is usually not necessary to perform the withstand
test phase. Additional overstressing of the cable that is not PD-free, can result in an
unexpected breakdown and additional risk of the cable and system damage during

©2024 - CIGRE CSE N°29 June 2023 13

the testing at the maximum voltage level. Moreover, a breakdown may have an
impact on the service life reduction of a healthy cable and cable accessories,
especially for serviced aged cables. The cable owner can make an agreement to
execute the withstand test even though the PDs were successfully localized.
However, if no breakdown was recorded at voltage withstand test but PDs were
localized in the cable system, 100% service reliability of the cable system cannot be
ensured anymore.

If the PD monitored test voltage mode is used, several PD parameters can be

measured as show in Table 1.

Parameter Description

PDIV [kV] Partial Discharge Inception Voltage – at this voltage rst

repetitive discharges are visible.

PDEV [kV] Partial Discharge Extinction Voltage- at this voltage

internal discharges vanish. Determines the highest
“safe” voltage at which the test object is “PD-free”.

PD magnitude [pC] at different voltage Related to size of defect gives information about PD
destructivity. The higher PD amplitude, the more
harmful defect is.

PD pattern (PRPD) Phase-resolved PD ngerprint of discharging pulses

that occurs in single DAC voltage excitation.

PD intensity [N] Number of PD pulses recorded in one DAC excitations.

PD location Location of discharging sources in cable system

through Time Domain Reflectometry technique. Based
on this parameter, it is possible to pinpoint the faulty
part of cable circuit.

Table 1 - Evaluation of the PD parameters obtained with on-site DAC measurements [29, 53]

For effective partial discharge detection, a standardized PD measurement is

recommended. A centralized standardized PD detection at the cable termination(s) is
normally performed in compliance with [32-34]. The detection and localization
depend on many factors, and the higher the PD level is, the higher the chance of
localizing it. Depending on the construction type of an individual cable system, a
successful single ended PD detection testing can be performed on about 20 km long
HV cable circuit.

In the case of longer lengths, the application of a PD detection on both ends of the
cable can be performed [16,30,49,50]. This will, for the worst-case situation (PD at
the near end), reduce the travelling distance for PD pulses by a factor 2. For the
double-sided measurement the system uses a coupling capacitor with PD detector on
the near end side and a second PD detector at the far end. In this way, PD localization

©2024 - CIGRE CSE N°29 June 2023 14

along the complete line length can be performed, including the terminations, all joint
types and the cable insulation [32-34,41,49,50,61]. At present for double-sided PD
measurements, experience is available on HV cable circuits with a length of 60 km.
From technical and conceptual point of view, present solutions of dual sided PD
detection on HV power cables are applicable for cable length of up to 100 km.

6.2. DF (tan δ) estimation using DAC

With DAC voltages, the estimation of the dissipation (DF) factor is based on the
calculation of the attenuation factor of damped sine voltage wave applied to the test
object [16]. The readings of the DF are based on the loss characteristics of the test
object together with the known losses of the measuring device.

During the measurements on the power cable, the dielectric losses can be directly
obtained from the damping factor of the oscillating test voltage calculated between,
e.g., the rst and the third amplitude periods. The damping factor of the AC voltage
depends on the loses in the test object (R2) and losses of the measuring circuit.
Therefore, the change of R2 relates to change of cable losses. As a result, the lower
the value of R2 is, the less damped and longer oscillations are obtained [16].

To the best knowledge of the authors, there are no international standardized

acceptance rules for dielectric loss measurements with DAC voltages beside some
guidance as given in [12,16,22,52]. Tests are performed on a comparative basis. The
purpose of dielectric loss estimation with DAC is to grade tested cables on a scale
from high to low quality. Again, comparative testing will show which cables are better
and which are worse and, over time, let the users develop their own in-house
guidelines, unique to a speci c situation. Measurement of the dielectric losses on a
cable sample result in a single DF value in [%] expressed as N x 10-4 where the
relation is 0.01% = 10 x 10-4. The measuring threshold value of DF at DAC is
generally 0.1%.

7. Evaluation guidelines / criteria

When applying PD-monitored DAC testing for acceptance and/or maintenance
testing, the following outcomes are possible:

The complete installation and/or repair have been successfully performed, and
the cable section is approved and can be used for network operation.
The complete installation and/or repair have not been successfully performed
e.g., PD presence or insulation have been observed and the cable section has to
be repaired or needs further investigations.

©2024 - CIGRE CSE N°29 June 2023 15

 General criteria Cable voltage class up to 220 kV

Maximum test voltage [16, 4,5]

After-laying test: 1.4 – 2.0 x Uo (depending on voltage
class)

Background noise level PD measurement (IEC 60270) ≤ 25 pC with tolerance of ± 20% [29, 53]

Withstand test criterion No breakdown during the withstand test (50 DAC
excitations) respectively (1 hour using ACRT) at the
maximum test voltage level

PD criterion No concentrated PD activity (> 6 PD events per cycle)

above the background noise level on a voltage level
equal and below 1.4 x Uo

Dissipation factor criterion Tan δ ≤ 0.1% / Δ Tan δ ≤ 0.1% with tolerance of ± 20%
up to the maximum test voltage level

Table 2 - General testing and evaluation general criteria for transmission power cables [29, 53]

Introduction of the DAC technology 20 years ago for the onsite testing of power
cables opened the possibility of reproducible conditions for calibrated PD detection
[32-35]. As a result of scienti c research projects [12,49,51] and about 20 years of
worldwide after-laying testing of MV and HV power cables at more than hundred
different third parties, the parameters listed in Table 2 could be recommended as
general criteria for determination whether a transmission cable has passed the test
and is sound for operation or not. The criteria are based on the authors’ experience
from worldwide testing of power cables at hundreds of different installations up to
230 kV [29, 53].

The background noise level criterion is for the onsite conditions and is also based on
experiences. There are no standards available that de ne the maximum allowed
background noise level for the onsite PD testing. This is different to the laboratory
measurements where the standard de nes a maximum noise level in the range of 1
up to 10 pC. With onsite testing the focus is on the quality assessment of cable laying
and installation workmanship. In case of bad quality, the PD level is generally higher
then 25-100 pC.

8. Practical case studies of newly installed and

in service cable circuits

8.1. Overview of the DAC applicability for testing (E) HV

cables

©2024 - CIGRE CSE N°29 June 2023 16

Author’s practical feedback of the last 10 years con rms results of the survey [16]
about aplicability of DAC for testing power cables up to 230 kV. Morover, the
experences show, the application ratio between HV and EHV cables being 1 to 5,
where HV cables are those with the operating voltage of up to 150 kV versus EHV
power cables with operating voltage between 150 kV and 230 kV, see Figure 9.

In recent years, the DAC voltage in combination with PD measurement, has been
used multiple times for testing HV power cables longer than 10 km as summarized
in Table 3.

In all cases, the after-laying test was

successful, for some cables defective
joints have been identi ed, localized,
assessed and replaced. All circuits still
operate without any issues after putting
in service.

As the overview given in [30] of the use

of DAC for testing HV and EHV was
based on data collected up to 2016 only
and the fact that in the mean time the
use of DAC technology has increased
Figure 9 - Overview of cable voltage
signi cantly, unfortunately these users
categories as tested using damped AC
data have not been evaluated in process
voltages
of the preparation of the latest version
of the [5].

Cable length Voltage class Cable insulation type

38 km, 28 km, 19 km, 16 km, 50 km, 110 kV XLPE

31 km, 31 km, 27 km, 21 km

60 km 132 kV XLPE

22.2 km, 18 km 50 kV XLPE

27 km, 28 km 230 kV Oil- lled

Different lengths up to 14 km 33 kV XLPE *

Different lengths up to 11 km 66 kV XLPE *

14 km 220 kV XLPE

18 km 150 kV XLPE

*Complete strings of an inter-array cables connecting > 10 offshore wind farm turbines

Table 3 - The overview of after-laying testing using damped ac test methods of 11 km up to 60 km long power cables

©2024 - CIGRE CSE N°29 June 2023 17

8.2. After-laying Test of On- and Off-shore Cable Circuit
XLPE 220 kV 13.3 km long

The after-laying test of a 220 kV export

cable 13.3 km long (cable capacitance:
2.1 μF, joints: 21 per phase) has been
performed in accordance with [16] by
partial discharge monitored damped AC
(DAC) withstand test at 1.3 Uo. The
frequency was 49 Hz, which is within the
recommended power frequency range
from 20 Hz-300 Hz, see Figure 10. The
PD background noise level was below 30
pC.

An increase in the test voltage has

resulted in an increase of PD activity
and a breakdown in the discharging site
has occurred. Using PD mapping, the PD
concentration at 5.2 km has indicated
the breakdown position in the cable. The
joint breakdown occurred during the
voltage increase phase whereas all PD
detected before the breakdown were
originating from the failed joint. After
inspection of the breakdown location it
could be seen that an installation issue
showed to be the cause of the PD
development and eventually the
breakdown in the joint.

As a result, the after-laying testing using damped AC voltage combined with dual-
sided PD detection proved to be effective for PD monitored testing of a 13.3 km newly
installed 220 kV cable with a joint problem, see Figures 11 and 12.

Figure 11 - PD patterns as observed during the test: (a) at L2 and L3 at max test voltage level of 1.3 Uo
with no PD activity above the background noise level of 30 pC, (b) at L1 at 0.4 Uo test voltage level
before breakdown, (c) at L1 at the moment of breakdown

©2024 - CIGRE CSE N°29 June 2023 18

Figure 12 - Dual-sided localization of PD sites in a 220 kV 13.3km long cable circuit: (a) TDR analysis of
PD pulse, (b) PD mapping as made from the near cable end up to 1.3 Uo during DAC on-site testing
indicating PD presence at 5.160 m position, (c) PD mapping as made from the far cable end up to 1.3 Uo
during DAC on-site testing indicating a PD presence at 8.100 m position. Dual-sided PD detection
con rms the same PD localization in a joint

8.3. After-laying Test of 110 kV XLPE cable 30.7 km long

A newly installed 110 kV XLPE insulated cable, with a total circuit length of 30.7 km,
has been tested after installation, see Figure 13.
The total cable capacitance was 5.9 μF per phase with 37 cable joints installed on
each phase. The cable has been tested to a maximum voltage level of 2.0 x Uo with a
withstand test of 50 DAC excitations [16]. Prior to the withstand test, a voltage ramp-
up test has been performed where the test voltage level was increased from 0.4 Uo
up to 2.0 Uo in steps of 0.2 Uo.

The DAC frequency was 28 Hz and the background noise level during the PD
measurement was 25 pC.
The test setup can be seen in Figure. 13, with the DAC test system installed at the
near end and the additional PD detector installed at the remote end of the cable
phase.
The PD activity has been detected during the ramp-up test in cable phase L2, see
Figure 14a. Starting from a voltage level of 1.7 x Uo a clear PD pattern could be seen,
see Figure 14b. After the ramp-up test, the voltage withstand test of 50 DAC
excitations was performed with the duration of 65 minutes.

The analysis resulted in a PD location at the cable joint no. 11 located at 7520 meters
from the near end.
The PD mapping is a graphical representation of the cable length that shows the
concentration of the localized PD pulses along the cable length, see Figure 14c.

©2024 - CIGRE CSE N°29 June 2023 19

Figure 13 - Test setup with the DAC system connected to the 110 kV cable phase under test at the near
end and an additional PD detector at the remote end of the same cable phase

As the PD level was in the range of 100 – 12.000 pC, it has also produced an increase
in the dissipation factor tan δ, see Figure 14a. PD activity was found above the
operating voltage in phase L2 at a joint position. The joint at this position was
replaced and the test was repeated after the replacement. During inspection of the
joint, it was found that incorrect installation dimensions have been maintained.
During the 2nd measurement, the absence of PD activity could be con rmed, and the
cable was successfully energized for service operation.

©2024 - CIGRE CSE N°29 June 2023 20

Figure 14 - Dual-sided PD monitored voltage withstand test of a 110 kV 30.78 km long cable system: (a)
Test result overview of the PD monitored ramp-up test from 0.4 Uo to 2.0 x Uo prior to the voltage
withstand test, duration 25 minutes, (b) DAC phase-resolved PD pattern on phase L2 at the PDIV of 1.7
x Uo, (c) PD mapping showing the overall cable length versus the PD concentration. The black dots
represent the joint locations

8.4. After-laying Test of 132kV XLPE cable 19.7 km long

A newly installed 132 kV XLPE insulated cable, being operated at 110kV, with a total
circuit length of 19.7 km has been tested using a DAC PD monitored withstand test.
The location of cable was 4km above sea-level, thus special requirements for both
test system and cable terminations were needed (as of lower breakdown strength at
these heights). Test set-up and measurement results are shown in Figure 15.
The cable circuit consisted of 11 cross-bonding joints, which have been straightened
for testing and had a capacity of 3.4µF per phase. On one side of the cable, the
terminations were ending on a transmission tower. The cable has been tested using
single-ended PD coupling only, although based on the calibration a single-ended
measurement would have been suf cient (low attenuation, re ective end-pulse
being clearly visible), the measurement has been performed from both sides.

The cable has been tested to a maximum voltage level of 2.0 x Uo with a withstand
test of 50 DAC excitations [16]. Prior to the withstand test, a voltage ramp-up test has
been performed where the test voltage level is increased from 0.2 Uo up to 2.0 Uo in
steps of 0.2 Uo. For the second test on the remote end, only a diagnostic ramp-up test
has been performed. The background noise was ~50 pC, and the test frequency was
32 Hz.

The 1st measurement performed withstood the DAC PD monitored withstand test, no
PD has been detected during the ram-up test and during the withstand phase. In the
2nd test performed from the other side, PD has been detected and localized in the
near terminations. After data analysis, it became clear that the PD detected is
oating PD, which was caused by the test set-up (implications of having the

©2024 - CIGRE CSE N°29 June 2023 21

terminations on HV tower). This shows how important it is to not only have PD
detection, but also sophistic tools helping to analyse the root cause of the PD. This
this is of major importance for the terminations.

Figure 15 - Single-ended PD monitored voltage withstand test of a 132 kV 19.7 km long cable system:
(a) Test set-up from side A, (b) Test set-up from side B, (c) PRPD pattern up to 2Uo of the measurement
from side B indicating floating PD and no internal PD

9. Conclusions
From the discussion presented in this paper, the following can be concluded:

1. Testing newly installed and service aged transmission power cables is becoming
more and more important from the point of view of quality assurance of the
transmission circuits.
2. The failure statistics con rm that there is a chance of failure every 42 km of
installed circuit length. Usually, the failures occur in accessories during the rst
3 years of operation with the highest severity and the frequency of failures for
export and inter-array cables.
3. For the last 20 years, the damped (DAC) testing method has become an
alternative to the traditional continuous AC voltage testing using AC resonant
systems and is accepted in many countries and regulatory bodies.
4. Typical DAC systems for testing (E) HV cables are relatively compact and require
low input power. They are typically characterized by weights of approximately
1.000 kg, footprints of less than 10m2 and input power demands of 5 kVA.
5. The details of the DAC methodology and the parameters to be used by
performing after-laying and maintenance testing of newly installed and service
aged cable systems are described.

©2024 - CIGRE CSE N°29 June 2023 22

 6. PD monitored voltage withstand testing using damped AC voltages provides
similar results to the near 50 (60) Hz power frequency high voltage testing for PD
occurrence and localization.
7. Using large number of old and new references it has been discussed that
damped alternating voltages cannot be treated as an application of HVDC and
any assumptions as made by [30] about destructiveness of the DAC due DC eld
and space charge are not proven at all.
8. Based on dedicated investigations, it has been shown that if the DAC energizing
time will be below 100 sec and the test eld strengths will be below 20 kV/mm,
there will be no space charge accumulation in the XLPE insulation.
9. It has been demonstrated that the PD inception and occurrence is not
signi cantly different from those for power-frequency voltage by applying
continuous or damped AC voltages with the AC frequency in the range of 10 Hz-
300 Hz.
10. It has been pointed out that until now there is no scienti c or applied evidence
that negative resp. positive polarity of the energizing voltages might have any
signi cant in uence on the AC electric elds including PD inception and
occurrence generated in the test object.
11. Case studies have shown the value of applying the damped AC testing including
PD detection and dissipation factor estimation for detecting the upcoming
failures prior to service operation and/or in maintenance of existing power cable
systems.
12. PD monitored damped AC voltage testing was successfully applied for quality
control of newly installed on- and offshore long HV cable connections. Such tests
form a sound basis for quality assurance and condition-based maintenance
during service life.
13. Due to the fact that in last 10 years the use of DAC technology has increased
signi cantly, documents from organisations like Cigre, IEEE and IEC need to up-
dated to the state of the art.
14. Based on the references, the practical examples and the fact that the majority of
installation problems is related to defects in cable joints and terminations it is
becoming visible that the focus of a modern after-laying testing of newly installed
(E) HV cables should move away from applying e.g., a 2.0 Uo voltage over-
stresses, towards sensitive PD detection and localisation at lower over-stresses.

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Contact Author: R. JONGEN 

©2024 - CIGRE CSE N°29 June 2023 26