New terminations for distribution-class shielded power cables

Cable terminations are installed over prepared shielded power cables where a portion of the insulation shield has been removed. The functions of a typical termination are to provide a cable end seal, electrical stress control, and external insulation covering. Sealing the end of solid dielectric power cables is important to prevent water from entering the power cable and degrading the cable insulation. Electrical stress control is needed to prevent a dielectric breakdown at the end of the insulation shield in both the air and cable insulation. An insulation covering must limit leakage current and resist both tracking and erosion from exposure to the environmental conditions in a strong electric field. The ultimate performance and reliability of a termination depends on its materials, design, installation and operating environment. New materials and design were required to achieve the target improvements. A new termination with tapered two-component capacitive stress-control, track-resistant silicone and cold-shrink delivery system was developed. The paper describes the materials, design and performance results for these new terminations