Model of Inception and Growth of Damage from Microvoids in Polyethylene-based Materials for HVDC Cables. 2. Parametric Investigation and Data Fitting

A new, physical, aging and life model for damage inception and growth in polymeric insulation starting at the level of microscopic cavities has been presented in Part 1, by illustrating extensively its theoretical background and derivation. In the present paper a parametric analysis, relevant to a polyethylene-based compound, is carried out that illustrates the sensitivity of the model to technological and material parameters, first of all applied electric field, temperature, conductivity and cavity size. In addition, fitting to experimental times-to-failure relevant to HVDC cable insulation is discussed in order to confirm soundness and validity of the proposed approach.