2014 Electrical Insulation Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, 8 to 11 June 2014
Investigation of In-service Degradation of a Low
Voltage PVC Cable
Domonkos Kapitány, Gergely Márk Csányi, Zoltán Ádám Tamus
Department of Electric Power Engineering
Budapest University of Technology and Economics
Budapest, Hungary
tamus.adam@vet.bme.hu
Abstract— One of the most common insulating materials of low
voltage cables is PVC, which is also used for jacket because PVC
has outstanding resistance against environmental stresses.
However, the mechanical stresses can injure the jacket and water
easily penetrates inside the cable. Once this has happened, the
metal belting layer will be oxidized and water will ingress into the
core insulation because water swellable protective layer is not
used in low voltage cables. Besides the thermal ageing, the water
ingression into the material is the most important degradation
mechanism of PVC insulation. In this study, mysterious and
rapid degradation is investigated in a low voltage cable line.
Operator has measured continuous and fast decreasing of
insulation resistance since installation. The possible reasons of
degradations are investigated by laboratory examination, which
consists of structural analysis of cable, parallel electrical,
mechanical and chemical measurements on core insulation. The
results suggest that not the water penetration causes the
degradation rather the not proper compound, which is resulted
from manufacturing problems, is the reason of the poor
insulation resistance values.
Keywords: low voltage cable; PVC degradation; voltage
response; thermal stability; hardness;
I. INTRODUCTION
The polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a widely used material for
low voltage cable insulation, besides its good electrical
properties, it has a good resistance against environmental
stresses, especially chemicals. However, these properties are
set by the additives hence changing of the compound results in
changing of electrical, mechanical and chemical properties. In
the long run the effect of proper additives on properties is more
considerable because they concentration change due to the
stresses in operation [1, 2].
Mysterious and rapid degradation is investigated in a low
voltage cable line. Operator has measured continuous
decreasing of insulation resistance since installation on each
four cores of the cable. After manufacturing the insulation
resistance values on Black, Blue, Gray and Brown core
insulations were 65, 95, 90 and 60 MΩ⋅km and after three years
in operation 0.65, 6.9, 1.5 and 2.73 MΩ⋅km insulation
resistance were measured by the operator, respectively. The
acceptance criterion is 50 MΩ⋅km. The laboratory
examinations begin with visual inspection and disassembling of
978-1-4799-2789-0/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE 24
the degraded cable. Then electrical i.e. insulation resistance and
voltage response measurements were executed. For
investigation protecting capability against environmental
mechanical stresses mechanical measurements were also
carried out on the sheath. Finally, the structural degradation
was tested by chemical measurements.
II. SAMPLES AND VISUAL INSPECTION
The cable specimens used during the laboratory tests were
prepared from low voltage (0.6/1 kV) PVC insulated four-core
cables that had been operating for 3 years under the ground.
The build-ups of the cable is the following. Four solid
aluminum conductors of cable are covered by core insulations,
which are prepared from colored PVC material. The cable has
blue, brown, black and grey colored cores. The four insulated
cores are covered by PVC tape belting layer on which
aluminum and then steel tape armor is wound. This structure is
coated by PVC jacket. For the investigation three samples was
prepared from the degraded cable line. The length of the
specimens’ one after the other were 218 cm, 186 cm, 241 cm.
The samples are referred as ‘Degraded 1’, ‘Degraded 2’ and
‘Degraded 3’. For comparative measurements another two
reference cable samples from the same manufacturer are
involved to investigation. First reference sample have been
installed in the same year with the degraded cable and a two
meters long sample removed for laboratory examination. The
operation time of this sample was also 3 years. This sample is
referred as ‘Service aged’. Second one is a brand new also two
meters long sample, which is referred as ‘New’.
During sample preparation visual inspection also carried
out. After removing the jacket, oxidation on steel tape armor
has been observed. Under the core insulations the surfaces of
each alumina cores have been also oxidized. At first sight, the
visual inspection confirmed these expectations, however the
oxidation of conducting cores under the insulation are not so
usual because the water cannot flow through the insulation
without any damage on core insulation. Otherwise the water
penetration would have to result in the failure of cable line, but
only the insulation resistance falling was the only symptom of
the degradation. The photo of ‘New’, ‘Service aged’ and
‘Degraded’ samples can be seen in Fig. 1. In the photo the
oxidation on conducting core and armor can be observed and
the core insulations show discoloration, which can be a result
of the ageing of insulating material. Comparing the samples the
‘New’ and ‘Service aged’ samples look similar.
lossless voltmeter usage self-discharging process of insulation.
The return voltage (Vr(t)) is measured on charged insulation
after few seconds of short-circuiting(tdch). The initial slopes of
the decay (Sd) and return (Sr) voltages are directly proportional
to the conductivity and the polarisation conductivity of the
insulation material [3-6]. Hence:

Sd=σV/ε (1)

Sr=βV/ε (2)

where V is the measuring voltage, σ is the conductivity, β is

Figure 1. Photo of samples
The visual inspection confirmed the expectations; there
were traces of oxidation in the steel armor and the cores as
well, however injury on the jacket was not observed and
oxidation of cores are not a usual degradation.
the polarization conductivity and ε is the permittivity of the
material. The Sd and Sr values are independent of any
properties of the insulation hence these values are independent
of the volume or the shape of the insulation.
In the measurements of voltage response 1000 s charging
and 2 s discharging times and 1000 V charging voltage were
used. The results of the measurements can be found in Table
IV-VI. The Sd values of ‘Degraded’ samples are in 600-800 V/s
range hence the such high value of Sd refers to the rapid
decrease of stabilizer from the PVC insulation. The lowest and
medium values measured on ‘New’ and ’Degraded’ sample,
respectively. Therefore the samples can be sort in order of
aging condition by this measurement [6, 8].
TABLE I. INSULATION RESISTANCE OF ‘DEGRADED’ CABLE

Degraded
III. ELECTRICAL MEASUREMENTS
Core Insulation resistance [MΩ⋅km] Polarization
1 min 10 min Index
A. Insulation resistance
As continuous decreasing of insulation resistance of BLACK 2.56 2.50 0.98
degraded cable had been measured by the operator previously, BLUE 3.56 3.47 0.97
insulation measurements were carried out in each core of GRAY 2.99 2.96 0.99
samples in the laboratory. During the measurements BROWN 3.60 3.40 0.94
standardized 500 V dc charging voltage and 600 s charging and Average of three ‘Degraded’ samples
1 s sampling time was used. In every second, insulation
resistance was calculated and saved by the measuring device. TABLE II. INSULATION RESISTANCE OF ‘SERVICE AGED’ CABLE
Using these results polarization indexes were calculated from
the 600 s and 60 s insulation resistance values. Since PVC Service aged
material is highly temperature dependent therefore the 60 s Core Insulation resistance [MΩ⋅km] Polarisation
values were corrected using correction factors. Multiplying the 1 min 10 min Index
corrected insulation resistance values by the length of the BLACK 146.65 192.67 1.31
cables equal with insulation resistances suitable for BLUE 129.43 167.99 1.30
comparison. The results of the measurements and calculations 161.97 209.57 1.29
GRAY
can be seen in Table I-III. In case the calculated values are far
BROWN 146.55 190.72 1.30
below the limit values, that means the cables must be in critical
condition.
TABLE III. INSULATION RESISTANCE OF ‘NEW’ CABLE

B. Voltage response New

By measuring the voltage responses of the insulations, Core Insulation resistance [MΩ⋅km] Polarization
conductive and polarizational processes can be studied 1 min 10 min Index
independently. The voltage response method measures decay BLACK 1151.17 4358.61 3.79
and return voltages. The timing diagram of the measurement BLUE 1240.11 5876.67 4.74
can be seen in Fig. 2. After long duration charging (tch) and GRAY 1190.18 5761.04 4.84
disconnecting the voltage source from the insulation, decay
BROWN 894.38 2381.30 2.66
voltage (Vd(t)) can be measured that’s curve shows in case of

25
 The summarization of results can be seen in Table VII. The
results show that the hardness of the sheath ‘Degraded’
samples is highest and comparing with measurement result of
‘Service aged’ sample minimal ageing processes occurred in
the sheath. The Shore D hardness value of ‘New’ sample can
be found between that of other samples. This suggests new
material compound is used for the sheath of ‘New’ sample.

TABLE VII. SHORE D HARDNESS OF SHEATHS

Shore D hardness
Sheath
average deviation
Degraded* 44.16 1.49
Figure 2. Timing diagram of voltage response measurement
Service aged 38.38 2.76
New 41.77 1.96
TABLE IV. VOLTAGE RESPONSE RESULTS OF ‘DEGRADED’ CABLE * Average of three ‘Degraded’ samples

Degraded V. CHEMICAL MEASUREMENTS

Voltage
Sd [V/m] Sr [V/m]
Response The most significant deteriorating process of PVC is the
average deviation average deviation splitting of hydrochloric acid i.e. the disconnection of C-Cl
BLACK 833.59 94.48 119.59 2.78 linkage. The chlorine has a very high affinity to hydrogen,
BLUE 805.54 133.58 106.57 4.62 therefore the process keeps on with disconnection of C-H
GRAY 678.26 36.01 110.36 2.21 linkage and formation of hydrochloric acid. The process starts
BROWN 653.64 166.23 108.62 7.38 mainly at structural defect of the chain. The splitting process
Average of three ‘Degraded’ samples
catalyzes itself if it gets going. It spreads rapidly along the
chain molecule causing the quick deterioration of the insulation
TABLE V. VOLTAGE RESPONSE RESULTS OF ‘SERVICE AGED’ CABLE properties. This process is called zipper effect. In order to
retard the splitting process some chemicals added to the PVC.
Service aged The additives either make the formed hydrochloric acid
Voltage
Response
Sd [V/m] Sr [V/m] ineffective or eliminate the weak points of the chain molecule
average deviation average deviation and by this means retard the thermal ageing of PVC insulation
BLACK 18.14 - 77.69 - [1, 2, 5, 6].
BLUE 15.46 - 75.37 - The thermal stability is measured to determine the amount
GRAY 18.84 - 81.87 - of the active stabilizer in PVC. At this test the material is
BROWN 22.54 - 85.08 - heated to 200 °C and the induction period is measured by
conductimetry i.e. the duration measured till development of
TABLE VI. VOLTAGE RESPONSE RESULTS OF ‘NEW’ CABLE HCl. On new cable insulation, 100-300 minutes thermal
stability can be measured depending on the manufacturing
New technology of PVC [1, 2, 6]. The thermal stability of samples
Voltage
Response
Sd [V/m] Sr [V/m] can be seen in Tables VIII.
average deviation average deviation
BLACK 1.43 - 83.36 - TABLE VIII. THERMAL STABILITY OF SAMPLES
BLUE 1.36 - 78.07 -
Thermal stability [min.]
GRAY 0.59 - 78.54 - Core/
Degraded Service aged New
BROWN 2.65 - 93.99 - Sheath
average deviation average deviation average deviation
IV. MECHANICAL MEASUREMENTS BLACK 55.3 1.7 247.0 7.9 163.7 2.1
BLUE 119.0 5.1 233.3 6.8 153.7 1.2
Besides the HCl formation, loosing of plasticizer is the
GRAY 108.7 10.9 251.7 0.9 157.0 1.6
other main ageing mechanism of plasticized PVC. Decreasing
of plasticizer content leads to the reduction of mechanical BROWN 45.7 0.5 171.3 6.1 144.0 1.6
properties. Several measurements are used in cable diagnostic SHEATH 98.0 9.6 155.7 1.2 214.7 4.8
to characterize mechanical properties of materials of insulation
and sheath for condition monitoring. Earlier studies suggested The results of the sheaths show that the ‘New’ sample has
that the Shore D hardness measurement one of the most highest thermal stability, medium value was measured on
effective tool for condition monitoring of PVC covered low ‘Service aged’ sample and lowest value was given for
voltage cables [7, 8]. Ten Shore D measurements were ‘Degraded’ sample. Therefore these results follow the ageing
executed on the sheath of each samples and average and condition of samples. The thermal stability of core insulations
deviation have been calculated from the measurement results. do not show similar results, namely lowest values measured on
‘Degraded’ samples, but ‘Service aged’ sample has highest

26
values not the ‘New’ sample. This may be a result of the
changing in the compound of the PVC material that used for
manufacturing.
VI. DISCUSSION
The fast decrease of insulation resistance suggested that the
degradation processes are not usual of the examined cable line.
Earlier studies revealed the main degradation processes can be
followed by parallel mechanical and electrical measurements
[1, 2, 8]. Namely the decreasing of stabilizer amount in PVC
insulation increases the electrical conductivity and as section
III. shows the conductivity is directly proportional to steepness
of decay voltage. The corresponding values of thermal stability
and steepness of decay voltage from [8] the diagram of thermal
stability vs. steepness of decay voltage is resulted.
250
Steepness of decay voltage [V/s]
200
150
100
50
0 stability measurement results of ‘New’ sample into
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Thermal stability [min]
Figure 3. Relationship between thermal stability and steepness of decay
voltage
The diagram suggests strong correlation between values
and the calculation of correlation coefficient shows -0.94 result,
which means strong negative correlation between thermal
stability and conductivity. The lessening of the active stabilizer
is the result of the disconnecting of H and Cl molecules from
the PVC chain and double bonds are formed on PVC chain in
the place of disconnection of H and Cl atoms. The resulted
double bonds on polymer chain increase the conductivity of
PVC material. Hence, the increase of slope of decay voltage
indicates low thermal stability. However, the plasticizer also
have effect on conductivity, the plasticized PVC has higher
specific conductivity [6]. The mechanical properties
(elongation at break, indenter modulus, hardness etc.) of PVC
are related to the plasticizer content of the material, therefore
by the results of mechanical measurements, the plasticizer
content can be estimated. Previous results [7, 8] show
measurement of Shore D hardness on cable sheet is an effective
method for indicating the thermal ageing of PVC cables Fig. 4.
[8].
The results of ‘Degraded’ cable samples do not show
advanced ageing (44.6 Shore D hardness) and proper
mechanical property of sheath can protect the cable from
environmental mechanical stresses [8]. Therefore the changing
of stabilizer content, which is a direct indicator of structural
changing of PVC by ageing, can result in radical increasing of
conductivity and losing of insulation capabilities of core
insulations.
Figure 4. Relationship between Shore D hardness and thermal ageing [8]
Comparing the results of the thermal stability measurement
of ‘Degraded’ sample with the data of Fig. 3., the 45.7-119.0
min thermal stability cannot be resulted in such high steepness
of decay voltage that results were measured on ‘Degraded’
sample. Contrary to this, the thermal stability values of
‘Service aged’ sample are almost twice of the ‘Degraded’ ones,
therefore steepness of decay voltage indicates the decreasing of
active stabilizer amount of PVC compound. Taking the thermal
70 80 consideration, it can be stated that there is no general
relationship between thermal stability and conductivity which
can be used for all cases however the relationship between
these properties shows strong correlation. Otherwise at the
manufacturing of ‘New’ cable probably other compound were
used by the manufacturer.
Since the operating time of ‘Service ageing’ sample and
‘Degraded’ samples were similar (approximately 3 years) and
the total length of examined cable has been degraded i.e. the
examined properties did not degrade only locally. Hence, either
the total length of the cable had been overloaded for a long
time and thermally degraded or some manufacturing problem
occurred in this production serial. The thermal overload of the
cable is not probable since the mechanical measurement did not
prove the thermal ageing because earlier studies have shown
that higher Shore D hardness values (70…80) can be measured
at thermally aged PVC sheath. Therefore the results of
laboratory examinations suggest that the fast ageing of the
cable line is a result of an imperfect manufacturing of the
compound.
The results emphasize that the electrical quality monitoring
test are not provide information about the perfection of
materials that are used during manufacturing.
VII. CONCLUSION
Mysterious and rapid degradation was investigated in a low
voltage cable line. However after the manufacturing
qualification the insulation resistance was over the threshold
limit (50 MΩ⋅km), but after installation the operator measured
27
continuous decreasing of insulation resistance since
installation. After two years operation it was only 0.6-2.73
MΩ⋅km. For investigating the possible reasons of failure,
complex (parallel electrical, mechanical and chemical)
laboratory examination has been executed. The electrical
measurements suggested the low stabilizer content of
compound, which was proved by the chemical measurement,
however this value is acceptable for other kind of PVC cables.
Since the mechanical measurements on sheath show good
conditions, the chance of thermal overload is not confirmed.
Finally, the most possible reason of rapid degradation is the
usage of improper compound for manufacturing. The results
emphasize that the qualification test based on electrical
measurement does not provide enough information about the
lifetime expectancy of insulation.
REFERENCES
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electrostatics”, Journal of Electrostatics, Vol. 67. issue 2-3., May. 2009.
pp. 154-157.
28
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26-31. Ljubljana, Slovenia
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