Analyzing the Arcs Development of 10 kV XLPE Power Cable

Arcs will occur during the incipient fault of the power cable, so a correct understanding of the development of arcs is beneficial to the condition monitoring of cable. In this paper, 10 kV XLPE cable samples with defects are made, and the cable arc waveform data are obtained by applying voltage. Then the signal parameter statistics and spectrum analysis are carried out. Finally, the mechanism of cable arc development is analyzed based on the change in cable insulation performance. The results show that the cable arc can be divided into five stages. The main reason for dividing each stage is the different performances of intermittent arc discharge and stable arc discharge. With the development of the arc, the discharge time of the high-frequency arc decreases, and the discharge time of the stable arc increases. The ratio of the third harmonic spectrum amplitude of the voltage signal to the fundamental spectrum amplitude can be used as a characteristic quantity to characterize the development of cable arc. Combined with the mechanism of cable insulation deterioration, it can be seen that the change in insulation performance is one of the main reasons for the change in cable arc.