A NEW METHOD OF EVALUATING THE RESISTANCE OF CROSS-LINKED POLYETHYLENE COMPOUNDS TO WATER TREEING

In this paper, a new method of evaluating the resistance eo water trees of various cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) insulation compounds is presented. The new method is that water trees are grown in XLPE materials which are immersed in AgNO3 solution used as needle electrode. Water trees grown by this method have several characteristic properties such as spontaneous colouring and fast growth during the formation of water trees, as well as retention of their original structures after removal of the electric field, Several XLPE insulation com pounds, whose water-tree-resistant properties are known, have been used to test and verify that the growth of water trees in AgNO3 solution is a very effective test method for evaluating the water-tree-resistant properties of different XLPE compounds.