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The selection of the frequency range for high-voltage on-site testing of

extruded insulation cable systems

Article  in  IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine · December 2000

DOI: 10.1109/57.887600 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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 F E A T U R
The Selection of the Frequency
Range for High-Voltage On-Site
Testing of Extruded Insulation
Cable Systems
Key Words: Extruded insulation, high voltage, on-site testing, frequency range
H
igh-voltage ac (HVAC) on-site testing of cables re-
quires a transportable HVAC source of remarkable
power—up to 10 MVA. Because such HVAC
sources have not been available in the past, oilpaper cables
have traditionally been tested by high-voltage dc (HVDC)
voltages. For such cables, a certain relationship between dc
and ac breakdown voltages has been found, which guaran-
tees the efficiency and the validity of the HVDC on-site test.
When extruded insulation cables were introduced, HVDC
on-site testing was also applied to this type of cable insula-
tion, and it is still applied in some parts of the world.
Meanwhile, research work and practical experience have
shown that HVDC testing of extruded insulation cables is in-
efficient [1]. A dc stress may cause local long-living space
charges in the highly resistive extruded insulation, which can
trigger a breakdown under later ac voltage applications in
service. Therefore, several attempts for replacing HVDC
testing have been made, e.g., the application of very-low fre-
quency (VLF) voltage [2-3], oscillating switching impulse
(OSI) voltage [4], and variable frequency ac voltage [5]. The
VLF voltage testing, including dielectric measurement, has
been applied especially for diagnostic testing of extruded in-
sulation medium-voltage cables to detect dangerous water
trees. The application of an HVAC on-site test seems to be
the best method for withstand testing of HV extruded insu-
lation cables [5], because it represents the same kind of volt-
age stress that the cable would experience under service
conditions. An additional partial discharge (PD) measure-
ment is very helpful to detect very small discharges within
the insulation, which may lead to a breakdown after a long
service time.
The comparison of VLF voltage and ac power frequency
voltage (Fig. 1) shows the remarkable difference between the
two waveshapes. Considering the acknowledged principle
[6,7] that an HV test shall simulate the service conditions,
November/December 2000 — Vol. 16, No. 6 0883-7554/00/$10.00©2000
E A R T I C L E
E. Gockenbach
Institut für Hochspannungstechnik und
Hochspannungsanlagen (Schering-Institute), Hannover,
Germany
W. Hauschild
HIGHVOLT Prüftechnik Dresden GmbH, Dresden,
Germany
Application of an HVAC on-site test
seems to be the best method for
withstand testing of HV extruded
insulation cables, because it represents
the same kind of voltage stress that the
cable would experience under service
conditions.
only an ac voltage within a certain frequency range around
the power frequency can fulfil this requirement. The prob-
lem is that the present standard on HV testing (IEC 60060-1)
[7] defines ac test voltage only within a frequency range of
45–65 Hz.
For on-site testing of extruded insulation cables, the
CIGRE (International Conference on Large High-Voltage
Electric Systems) Working Group 21.09 [5] recommends a
frequency range of 30 to 300 Hz (Fig. 2), whereas the newest
draft of IEC 62067 [8] proposes 20 to 300 Hz. The genera-
tion of ac voltage can be done by inductance-tuned resonant
test systems (ACRL system) at a fixed frequency with a me-
chanical change of the inductance, or in a very efficient way
11
 40K 40K
f = 20 Hz
f = 0.1 Hz
0 VLF 0 20 Hz

–40K –40K
0 V(1) 0 V(1)
40K 40K
f = 50 Hz f = 30 Hz

0 50 Hz 0
30 Hz

–40K –40K
0s 1.0s 2.0s 3.0s 4.0s 5.0s 0s 50ms 100ms 150ms 200ms

40K 40K f = 50 Hz
f = 0.1 Hz

0 VLF 0 50 Hz

–40K –40K
0 V(t) 0 V(3)
40K f = 50 Hz 40K f = 300 Hz

0 50 Hz 0 300 Hz

–40K –40K
0s 0.2s 0.4s 0.6s 0.8s 1.0s 0s 50ms 100ms 150ms 200ms

Fig. 1 Very-low frequency (VLF) and 50 Hz alternating voltage Fig. 2 Alternating voltages applied for on-site testing.
waveshapes.

by ACRF systems (frequency-tuned resonant test system) at

variable frequency with an electronic change of the exciter
frequency. reactor
It is the aim of this paper to contribute to the selection of a 3
proper frequency range for HVAC on-site testing of ex-
truded insulation cable systems and, in particular, of 3 f exciter
1
cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cables. This will be done 5 4 2
load
from the viewpoint of the breakdown mechanism of the ca- C = C1 + C2
ble insulation, taking into consideration different types of 6 control
typical insulation defects. As criterion, the difference be-
tween the breakdown voltages at different frequencies is ap- Fig. 3 Block diagram of an ACRF test system.
plied. The acceptable tolerance to the power frequency
cuit, mainly consisting of the capacitive load C = C1 + C2
voltage must also consider the usual dispersion of break-
with C1-test object (1), C2-basic load (2) of voltage divider
down voltages of XLPE insulation. The selected frequency
and/or coupling capacitor and the inductance L of HV reac-
range is decisive for the parameters of the test systems gener-
tor (3) and the exciter transformer (4):
ating variable frequency ac voltage. Therefore, the relation-
ship between the parameters of such frequency-tuned
fN = 1 / (2π LC ). (1)
resonant test systems and the acceptable frequency range has
also to be considered.
The ACRF system is tuned into resonance when the fre-
quency fE of the exciting ac voltage generated by a frequency
AC Voltage Generation and Frequency Range converter (5) is equal to the natural frequency fN. For the test
frequency
Load-Frequency Characteristic
AC test voltages for on-site testing can be used advanta- f = fN = fE, (2)
geously by frequency-tuned series resonant systems (ACRF
system) with variable frequency [9]. An ACRF system (Fig. a commonly accepted range (fmin, fmax) must be defined which
3) is characterized by the natural frequency fN of the HV cir- determines the range of the testable load. According to

12 IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine

 C 500

6 10 100 nF 1000 2000 225

400
100
300

Hz

Cmax/Cmin
100 10

f 2

1
1 1.44 10 15 20
20 fmax/fmin

Fig. 5 Relationship between testable capacitive load (C max /C min ) and

10 frequency ratio (f max /f min ).
0.03 45 m 0.1 1 Km 10
I

Fig. 4 Load-frequency characteristic of an ACRF test system. r = ms/P50. (5)

Equation (1) this load-frequency characteristic (Fig. 4) is The lower the minimum frequency fmin the lower is the nec-
given by the relation essary maximum test power

Cmax/Cmin = (fmax/fmin)2 = α2. (3) Pmax = 2 π fmin ⋅ Cmax ⋅ U 2 (6)

The reactor inductance L must be designed according to
the maximum load Cmax (the longest cable to be tested),
which causes the minimum frequency fmin. Then the mini-
mum load Cmin is fixed by the acceptable maximum fre-
quency fmax. If the basic load is selected by
C2 = Cmin = Cmax (fmin/fmax)2, (4)
the ACRF system operates without test object at its maxi-
mum frequency. All cables up to a maximum length lmax cor-
responding to Cmax can be tested within the given frequency
range. Reasonable conditions can only be reached if the ac-
cepted frequency range is large enough, e.g., fmax/fmin > 10,
otherwise the basic load Cmin becomes too large. Therefore,
the acceptable frequency range should be as large as possible
to enable the on-site testing of different cable lengths with
only one test set-up. Figure 5 shows such a generalized char-
acteristic with coordinates for ac laboratory testing in the
frequency range 45 to 65 Hz resp. α = 1.44, according to
IEC 60060-1 [7] and with coordinates for the latest draft for
on-site testing of extruded insulation cables in the frequency
range 20 to 300 Hz resp. α = 15 [8].
Weight to Power Ratio
The ratio between system weight (ms) and maximum test
power is an important parameter to characterize an on-site
test system concerning weight, design, and transportability.
It is required that on-site test equipment shall be lightweight,
compact, and transportable. For the comparison of different
test systems the weight-to-power ratio r is calculated based
on equivalent test power P50 at 50 Hz:
and the equivalent test power becomes
P50 = (50 Hz / fmin) ⋅ Pmax. (7)
The application of low frequencies is limited by the re-
quired larger cross-sections of the iron cores of the reactor
and the exciter transformer (Fig. 3, components 3 and 4), to
avoid the saturation of the core. The necessary enlargement
of the core leads to a higher system weight. Below about 20
Hz the increase of the system weight ms is no longer compen-
sated by the increase of the equivalent test power; the
weight-to-power ratio r increases. Therefore, from the view-
point of the test system the minimum frequency should not
be below 20 Hz.
Quality Factor
The quality factor q of a resonant test system is the ratio
between the test power P and the required feeding power PF
of the test system
q = P / P F. (8)
The feeding power PF must cover all losses in the test circuit.
This means, mainly, the dielectric losses in the test object,
the dielectric losses of the basic load, and the resistive and
magnetic losses in the reactor and the exciter transformer.
The very high-quality factor q > 100 of the fixed reactors
used in ACRF systems is more than twice of that in ACRL
systems, but it depends on the frequency (Fig. 6).
The influence of the losses in XLPE cables (tan δ < 10-3)
can be neglected. Therefore, the tendency of the quality fac-

November/December 2000 — Vol. 16, No. 6 13

 250 consequence, reduce the quality factor. Furthermore, the in-
120
creased dielectric loss of the basic load causes a heating of the
200 A basic load capacitor. Therefore, a test frequency above 300
Q Hz cannot be recommended.
150
80
With respect to an optimum design of ACRF test systems,
60 a frequency range of 20 to 300 Hz, proposed in the latest
Q 100 I IEC Draft [8] for on-site testing of extruded insulation ca-
40 bles, seems to be reasonable, taking into account that the
I
50
20
electrical stress and the breakdown behavior is similar to ser-
vice stress and behavior.
0 0
0 50 100 150 200 Hz 300
Breakdown Characteristic of
f
Extruded Insulation
Fig. 6 Quality factors and load current depending on test frequency [4]. The breakdown characteristic of extruded insulation was
tested on model cables with XLPE insulation, which were
produced with the same manufacturing procedure as real
110
high-voltage cables, and which contain inner and outer semi-
kV conducting layers. The only difference to real cables was the
thickness (1.5 mm) of the extruded insulation. It is well
90 known that the performance of extruded insulation changes
with ageing conditions, such as temperature, electrical field
Uw 80 stress, mechanical stress, etc. In order to get reproducible
test results, the withstand voltage of the model cable was
70
checked over a period of about two years. It can be seen from
Fig. 7 that the ageing behavior can be neglected, taking into
60
account that the difference in the average withstand voltage
50 is less than 10% over the respective time and the confidence
0.1 1 10 weeks 100 range of each measuring point is about 8%. The test proce-
t dure was a standard step test with a step duration of 5 min.
Fig. 7 Withstand voltage with confidence range as function of ageing time.
and a step voltage of about 10% of the expected breakdown
voltage [10].
The withstand voltage and electrical field strength, as
400 functions of the frequency of the applied voltage, is shown in
250 Fig. 8. The voltage at the frequency of 10-4 Hz are the values
kV
kV/mn measured with dc voltage, under the assumption that the dif-
300 200 ference in the withstand voltage between dc voltage and ac
250 voltage with a frequency of 10-4 Hz is very small and, there-
150 fore, negligible. It can be clearly seen that the frequency of
200
the applied voltage has a strong influence on the withstand
Uw Em
150 100 voltage of the XLPE insulating material. The withstand volt-
100 age Uw decreases linearly with increasing frequency on a log-
50 arithmic scale. With regard to the breakdown behavior of
50
the insulating material, it is obvious that the breakdown
0 0 mechanism at 0.1 Hz is different from the breakdown mech-
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100 Hz 10000 anism at 50 Hz.
f
In order to get more detailed information for the fre-
Fig. 8 Withstand voltage and electrical field strength with the confi- quency range of interest between 10 to 1000 Hz, a number
dential range as a function of the frequency. of investigations were made on a sphere-sphere electrode ar-
rangement, which has about the same ratio between maxi-
tor (Fig. 6) must be explained by the behavior of the compo- mum and average electrical field strengths as the model
nents. At low frequencies near fmin the quality factor is cables [11]. Figure 9 shows the withstand voltage as a func-
determined by the losses in the reactor and the exciter trans- tion of the frequency, together with the relation to the with-
former. They could be reduced by a larger core, but this stand voltage, at 50 Hz.
would lead to a higher weight. For higher frequencies near As expected, the withstand voltages between 20 Hz to
fmax the supplementary losses (hysteresis, skin effect, etc.), as 300 Hz are very close together and confirm the proposal and
well as the dielectric losses of the basic load increase and, in recommendation of the IEC draft [8]. The two lines at 20 Hz

14 IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine

and 300 Hz show that the difference in the withstand voltage 200
at these frequencies, related to the withstand voltage at 50 kV 150
Hz, is in the range of +10 % to –15 %, due to the more or
%
less similar breakdown process within the insulation and the 150

relatively fast polarity change of the applied voltage. The 100

production of space charges and its influence on the electri-
100
cal field strength distribution is, therefore, similar for all fre-
Uw
quencies in the range between 20 to 300 Hz. A test with
50
frequencies different from the power frequency of 50 Hz or 50
60 Hz is normally only on-site necessary because test systems
for power frequency are not available due to the high re-
quired power and the very heavy weight. In order to check 0 0
1 10 50 100 1000 10000
the sensitivity of the different frequencies on mechanical f
Hz

damages of the extruded insulation and on the influence of

Fig. 9 Withstand voltage with confidential range as function of the
water trees the model cables were mechanically damaged by
frequency.
a small cut in the insulating material, or stored for a certain
time in water. In Fig. 10 the withstand voltage and the ratio
between withstand voltage with and without mechanical 300 200
damages is shown as a function of the frequency of the ap-
plied voltage. kV
%
At first glance, the ac voltage at 0.1 Hz seems to be more
sensitive on mechanical damages than the ac voltage at 200
150
power frequency of 250 Hz. The reason for that is the rela-
150
tive high withstand voltage without mechanical damage at
Uw 100
0.1 Hz, which is caused by a different breakdown process. 100
The withstand voltages with mechanical damage are closer
together because the main reason for the breakdown is me- 50
50

chanical damage and electrical field distortion. The slow po-

larity change at 0.1 Hz may also lead to a general increase of 0 0
0.01 0.1 1 10 100 Hz 10000
the withstand voltage, independent of the failure mecha-
f
nism. In any case, the ratio between the withstand voltage
with and without mechanical damage is sufficient for the Fig. 10 Withstand voltage as a function of the frequency for model ca-
bles without and with mechanical damages:
failure detection at all recommended frequencies. However, Full circle—withstand voltage without mechanical damage
at frequencies between 20 and 300 Hz, the stress of the insu- Blank circle—withstand voltage with mechanical damage
lating material is much closer to the service stress; therefore, Diamond— ratio between the withstand voltage with and without me -
tests within this frequency range are recommended. This is chanical damage.
based on the extremely similar breakdown processes. Fur-
thermore, the higher strength of the insulating material at 250
very low frequency (0.1 Hz) also leads to a higher voltage
amplitude to detect mechanical damage, which is undesir-
%
able for many reasons.
On-site tests on buried cables are often done to check the
150
performance of the extruded insulation. The main parame-
ters are water trees, which can lead to a breakdown of the in- 1 2
sulation. Therefore, additional tests with water 100

tree-containing model cables have been done in order to 3 4

check, again, the validity of the recommended frequency 50
range. Figure 11 shows the relative breakdown voltage of
model cables with mechanical damages and water trees, 0
where the breakdown voltage of samples without defects at a 0.1 Hz 50 Hz 250 Hz OSI

power frequency of 50 Hz represents the reference value. It Fig. 11 Related breakdown voltage at different frequencies for model
should be noted that Fig. 11 does not show the dispersion of cables and rod-plane electrode arrangement:
the breakdown voltages that are about ± 10%. 1. rod-plane electrode
2. model cables without defects
The difference between the breakdown voltage without 3. model cables with mechanical defects
any defects and the breakdown voltage with defects is very 4. model cables with water trees.
large for low 0.1 Hz. For ac voltage with 50 Hz and 250 Hz, OSI=Oscillating switching impulse

November/December 2000 — Vol. 16, No. 6 15

 the differences are smaller and the comparison between the
two frequencies shows very small deviation. The interpreta-
tion of these results concerning the type of on-site test volt-
age can be done in two ways. The sensitivity of defects is
higher for very low frequency voltages, compared to 50 and
250 Hz, but the absolute voltage values required for a break-
down are higher. The breakdown voltage without defects at
0.1 Hz is 200 % of the breakdown voltage, at 50 Hz, and this
means that the breakdown mechanism is different for this
very low frequency. The breakdown voltage without—as
well as with—defects for 50 Hz and 250 Hz are very close to -
gether and, therefore, the breakdown mechanism is the
same. This confirms again the recommendation to use a fre-
quency in the range of some ten Hz to some hundred Hz for
on-site tests of XLPE insulated cables with ac voltage. Fur-
thermore, the breakdown behavior of the investigated
rod-plane electrode arrangement is similar to the behavior of
the model cables, as a function of the frequencies. This
means that a weak point within the insulation can be simu-
lated by a rod-plane electrode arrangement, and the influ-
ence of the frequency on the breakdown process is
comparable to the breakdown process in model cables.
Conclusions
High-voltage on-site tests of extruded insulation cables
are necessary to check the quality of the installation of the
system. The test voltage should simulate the stress under ser-
vice conditions, and generate the same failure mechanism.
With respect to an optimum design of test systems, a fre-
quency range of 20 to 300 Hz, proposed in the latest IEC
Draft for on-site testing of extruded insulation cables, seems
to be reasonable.
The test results on model cables can be used for real cables
concerning the influence of the waveform on the breakdown
voltage. The withstand voltage decreases with increasing fre-
quency. The withstand voltage and the electrical breakdown
field strength are very close together for frequencies be-
tween 20 Hz to 300 Hz.
Mechanical defects, as well as water trees, reduce the
breakdown voltage at 0.1 Hz more than at 20 to 300 Hz, but
the absolute test voltage values are higher, and the break-
down mechanism is different compared with voltages of
power frequency or adjacent frequencies.
For on-site tests, frequency-tuned resonant test systems
(ACRF) can be recommended because they have a very good
weight-to-test power ratio, and very low power demands.
Ernst Gockenbach (M ‘83 -SM ‘88) received
the Diplom degree in 1974 and the Ph.D. in
1979 from the Technical University of
Darmstadt. From 1979 to 1982, he worked at
the High Voltage Test Laboratory of the
Switchgear Factory, Siemens AG, Berlin, and
was responsible for the High Voltage Outdoor
Test Field. From 1982 to 1990, he worked
with E. Haefely, AG in Basel, Switzerland, as chief engineer for
high-voltage test equipment. Currently he is a professor of
16
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high-voltage engineering and director of the Schering-Institute
of High Voltage Technique and Engineering at the University
of Hannover. He is a member of VDE and CIGRE, secretary of
the CIGRE Study Committee 15—Materials for
Electrotechnology, secretary of the CIGRE Working Group
33-0—High Voltage Test and Measuring Technique, and a
member of several national and international working groups
for standardization of high voltage testing and measuring pro-
cedures.
Wolfgang Hauschild studied electrical engi-
neering at the Dresden Technical University,
became assistant and head assistant at the HV
Laboratory at Dresden T.U., earned his doc-
tor’s degree in 1970, and the habilitation in
1976. In 1976/77 he was a guest professor at
Damascus University and erected a large HV
Laboratory there. In 1980, he moved to TuR
Dresden / HV Test Equipment Division, now HIGHVOLT
Prüftechnik Dresden GmbH, where he acts as the technical di-
rector. Dr. Hauschild published two books and many papers
on HV engineering, is a member of the CIGRE Working
Group 33.03, and the German Speaker to IEC TC 42.
References
1. CIGRE Working Group 21.09, “After-laying tests on high-voltage
extruded insulation cable systems,” Electra, No. 173, 1997, pp. 33-41.
2. P. Grönefeld, R. von Olshausen, “A very low frequency 200 kV generator
as a precondition for testing insulating materials with 0.1 AC voltage,”
4th ISH, Athens, 1983, paper 21.02.
3. W. Boone, G.C. Damstra, W.J. Jansen, and C. de Ligt, “VLF HV
generators for testing cables after laying,” 5 th ISH, Braunschweig, 1987,
paper 62-04.
4. F. Farneti, Ombello, E. Bertani, and W. Mosch, “Generation of
oscillating waves for after-laying tests of extruded cable links,” CIGRE
Session, Paris, 1990, Report 21-10.
5. W. Schufft, P. Coors, W. Hauschild, J. Spiegelberg, “Frequency-tuned
resonant test systems for on-site testing and diagnostics of extruded
cables,” 11 th ISH, London, 1999, paper 5.335.P5.
6. IEC Publication 600071-1: 1993, “Insulation Coordination Part 1:
Definitions, Principles and Rules.”
7. IEC Publication 60060-1: 1989: “High-Voltage Test Technique Part 1:
General Definitions and Test Requirements.”
8. Draft IEC 62067, “Power Cable Systems—Cables With Extruded
Insulation And Their Accessories for Rated Voltages Above 150 kV up
to 500 kV—Test Methods and Requirements,” Document 20/376/CD,
January 2000.
9. W. Hauschild, W. Schufft, and J. Spiegelberg, “Alternating Voltage
On-Site Testing Of XLPE Cables: The Parameter Selection Of
Frequency-Tuned Resonant Test Systems,” 10 th ISH, Montreal, (1997),
Volume 4, pp. 75 - 78.
10. G. Schiller, “Das Durchschlagverhalten von vernetztem Polyethylen
(VPE) bei unterschiedlichen Spannungsformen und Vorbeanspruchungen,”
Doctor Thesis, University of Hannover, 1996.
11. E. Gockenbach and G. Schiller, “Effect of Frequency on Electrical
Strength of XLPE Insulating Materials,” 8 th ISH, Yokohama, 1993, paper
23.05.
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