CHAPTER II

Review of Related Literature and Studies

The literature that follows can help with the comprehension of the research

process. The data gathered was taken from other published works and sources from the

internet. This part of the research shall cover past research initiatives and findings that

have used ideologies that are almost identical to this study.

XLPE Cable

In the study of Alghamdi and Desuqi (2020) entitled “A study of Expected

Lifetime of XLPE Insulation Cables Working at Elevated Temperatures by Applying

Accelerated Thermal Ageing”, says that XLPE or cross-linked polyethylene was invented

in 1963 by the General Electric Research Laboratory to surpass the mechanical and

thermal properties of Polyethylene by using cross-linked polyethylene that can stand the

temperature of 90°C during operation. XLPE cable is usually used as a main component

in electrical power networks of large establishments or buildings.

According to the article “PVC vs. XLPE: Comparison of Two Most Popular

Cable Insulations” (Keystone Academy, 2020), electrical cable insulation is needed in

order to isolate the electrical conductors from each other and in the surrounding

environment, which is why a layer of insulation is wrapped around the electrical cable

conductors. Also, in this article the XLPE and PVC was compared to be able to know

which is a much better material to use. They concluded that XLPE is of much better use

than PVC in terms of carrying high current load, availability of varying sizes, tensile
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strength, elongation and impact resistances, resistance to chemicals like oils, temperature,

fire resistance, and much harder than PVC due to cross-linking.

In conclusion, XLPE is one of the widely used power cable component. The

insulation used in XLPE power cable is hard and if stripped and peeled manually will

take much of the time. Automatic/motor-driven power cable stripper is one of the

solutions to make the stripping faster.

Stripping of Power Cable

In the study of Desai et al., 2018, they said that the recent and most known means

of stripping off insulation from the core of the power cable is manually peeling it off.

According to their study, “Stripping process is that the insulating material is being split

and peeled off of the conductor.” Stripping machines used in stripping and peeling cables

are often fed manually with the power cable so that the length and precision of the cut is

controlled, while on smaller sized power cables, fine adjustments are applied. Also, their

study emphasized the basic elements of an automatic power cable stripper which is

consist of DC motor, gear box, roller, adjustable screw, cutting frame, V pulley, coupling,

chain sprocket, and shaft. The finished product of their study is huge and bulky, though

their product is said to have a possibility not to damage the metal conductor of the cable

and minimize the waste of insulation stripped from it.

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Therefore, stripping is an important part and process of power cable termination.

As stated on the related studies above, the stripping process of insulation of the power

cable is not easy and should be precise to have the conductor undamaged, also added that

stripping with mechanical tools consume a lot of time, and the automatic ones are bulky

enough to consume extra spaces. This research will provide solution to both the precision

and bulky problems concerning the recent tools available.

DC Motor

In the article “DC Motors” by Industrial Quick Search (n.d.), a dc motor is

described as an electrical machine that uses direct current to create a magnetic field that

converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. A magnetic field is generated in a DC

motor's stator when it is energized. Magnets on the rotor are drawn and pulled by the

field, which causes the rotor to rotate. The commutator, which is attached to brushes

connected to the power source, supplies current to the motor's wire windings in order to

maintain the rotor's continuous rotation. The main reason why the dc motor is chosen

compared to other motors is that it because its speed can be precisely controlled, which is

very suitable for industrial machines. Also, it has a high starting torque compared to that

of an induction motor and compared to that of an AC motor, the DC motor is easier to

install and fix with less maintenance needed.