STUDY ON SURFACE TRACKING RESISTANCE OF INSULATION MATERIALS OF CABLE

This paper presents a study on surface tracking resistance of various types of cable insulations. Non carbon filled crosslink polyethylene (XLPE), carbon filled XLPE, low density polyethylene (LDPE), medium density polyethylene (MDPE), and high density polyethylene (HDPE) were investigated. The test specimen has a dimension of 10 mm in width, 50.8 mm in length and 1.52 mm thick. The test samples were divided into two groups for investigation. The former group was the new test samples, whereas the latter test samples were subjected to thermal ageing with 120oC for 168 hours. Then both specimens were experimented. One side of the specimen was contacted with high voltage electrode terminal made of 1 mm diameter Nichrome wire. Another side of the test specimen was dipped into 0.1 percent…