A comparison of analytical and conventional techniques for thermal endurance characterization of cable insulation

The thermal endurance characterization of ethylene-propylene rubber (EPR) insulated cables for medium voltage applications is performed by both conventional long-term life tests and resorting to an analytical technique, which is based on measurements of the oxidative stability of the insulation. It is shown that the temperature index and the halving interval provided by the two methods are very close. Comparisons are finally made with the results previously obtained applying the same procedures to high voltage EPR cables