Close and Return ---------~---------------------- JICABLE '99 (,10.1 Type testing of cables and accessories BERUJN S.M., GRUNTJES R.J.B., ROELOfS G.P.T., Kema Nederland, Arnhem, The Netherlands Résumé Abstract 1 Parce que les câbles et leurs. accessoires représentent une partie importante des réseaux électriques, ils sont soumis à de nombreux essais, dont les essais de type. Pour ces essais plusieurs normes sont applicables. Les essais de type ne sont pas superflus car il apparaît que 26% des matériels essayés sont refusés suite à un défaut de conception. Le taux de refus pour les accessoires (33%) est supérieur à celui des câbles (17%). Pour les accessoires, le VDE 278 est une norme sévère; 50% des matériels sont refusés en essai. Il ne se dégage pas de tendance particulière sur le taux de refus, cependant le taux de défaillance en essai des accessoires tend à augmenter. Because cables and accessories are an important part of the electric infrastructure they are subjected ta several tests. One of these tests are type tests. For type tests several standards are available. Type testing of cables and accessories is not a superfluous luxury, while it appears that around 26% of the abjects do not pass the type tests because of design failures. The failure rate for accessories (33%) is higher than for cables (17%). For accessories, VDE 278 ls a severe standard, 50% of the objects does not pass type tests according ta this standard. No c1ear trend in failure rate can be seen over the years, although the failure rate of accessories has the tendency ta increase. Introduction Standards used for type testing of cables and accessories Cables and accessories are an important part of the eiectric infrastructure. The necessity of a high quality of manufacturing ls basically expected [1]. Because of this, cab les and accessories are subjected ta several tests in several manufacturing stages. One can distinguish between for instance pre-qualification tests, type tests, routine tests, acceptance tests and after laying tests. These tests can be performed according ta different standards, depending on the rated voltage of the cable or accessory and the requirements of the purchaser, for instance VDE 278 [2], IEC 60502 [3], IEC 60840 [4], etc. To prove the correct design of the cable and accessories, type tests are often required. The manufacturer and the utilities have to make choices between several standards and they have ta decide if only the cable or accessories will be tested or that the combination that will be used 'will be tested. ln this paper results will be presented of type tests performed on cables and accessories during the last six years (1993-1998) at KEMA High-Voltage Laboratory. Figures are presented about the total number of cables and accessories tested, according ta which standard, the number of failures and causes of the failures. At the end of the paper some conclusions are drawn and sorne recommendations are given. At this moment there are several national and international standards for testing of MV and HV cables and accessories. The most applied international standards can be divided into four categories, according ta the nominal voltage: 5 • 150 - 500 kV, IEC 60267 in preparation • 6 - 30 kV, e.g. IEC 60502-2 and -4 and VDE 278 • 30 -150 kV, e.g. IEC 60840 • 1 and 3 kV, e.g. IEC 60502-1 From the 166 type tests performed in six years time, most tests are performed according ta IEC 60840, IEC 60502 and VDE 278, as is shown in Figure 1. 60 . 50 tlS 40 CIl c. ~ '0 30 ~ CIl .Q E 20 ::> Z 10 IEC 840 IEC502 VDE 278 Other Figure 1 Number of type tests performed as.a function of the standard Close and Return The category other standards contains for instance Canadian or Dutch standards, however the number of tests performed per standard is not enough to make any statistical analysis. The three standards used most for type testing and a new standard are explained in the following four paragraphs. IEC 60267 Until now no official IEC standard is available for tests for power cables with extruded insulation and their accessories above 150 kV (U m=170 kV). At this moment the International Electrotechnical Commission is preparing a new standard for rated voltages above 150 kV up to 500 kV. The prequalification test will be one of the tests, described in this standard. The publication of the final draft is to be expected in the beginning 2001. The electrical and non-electrical type tests as described in part 2 are in general the same as the tests described in IEC 60840. Regarding the electrical type tests two important differences can be mentioned. In the first place, IEC 60502 requires the heating cycle test to be performed without applying voltage and with a heating cycle of at least 8 hours duration. IEC 60840 requires a heating cycle of at least 24 hours duration and continuously voltage should be applied to the sample. The number of cycles amounts to 20 for both standards. Secondly, the maximum allowed dielectric loss factor for XLPE insulation in accordance with IEC 60840 is much lower than the requirement in IEC 60502-2. The non-electrical type tests in both standards are comparable and have the same purpose: checking the properties of the cable materials. IEC 60840 VDE 278 ln February 1999 the flrst edition (from 1988) has been replaced by the second edition. The first edition of IEC 60840 only describes test methods and requirements for power cables with extruded insulation for rated voltages above 30 kV up to 150 kV. VDE 278 is a German standard for power cable accessories with extruded insulation for rated voltages up to 30 kV. The latest edition was published in November 1997 and consists of different parts, which are based on the Harmonisation Documents. VDE 278 is describing tests for the.following type of accessories: joints, inand outdoor terminations, stop-ends and cable connectors. The VDE 278 was a more severe standard for accessories than the IEC 60502 from 1993, the latest edition is in general equal to, the now more severe, part 4 of IEC 60502. Type tests consist of the following electrical tests: bending test, partial discharge test, tan measurement, heating cycle voltage test, partial discharge measurement, impulse withstand test and a power frequency voltage test. Furthermore a number of non-electrical type tests are required in order to test the properties of the materials. ô This standard is often used for performing type tests on HV cables as can be seen in Figure 1. Although the first edition of tEC 60840 does not describe tests for accessories of power cables for rated voltages above 30 kV up to 150 kV, some manufacturers have performed type tests according to IEC 60840 on a cable with joints and terminations as is shown in Figure 1. Apparently there was a need for a standard for accessories, therefor, a new edition has been published which replaces the first edition and describes tests for both power cab les with extruded insulation and their accessories for the same voltage rating. Regarding thé test programme no major changes have occurred. Ali figures presented in this paper are related to tests performed in accordance with the first edition. IEC60S02 Since April 1997, this standard consists of three parts (1, 2 and 4) under the general title: Power cables with extruded insulation and their accessories for rated voltages from 1 kV up to 30 kV, which replace the former tEC 60502 (1993). Part 2 and part 4 of IEC 60502 concern rated voltages from 6 kV up to30 kV for tests on respectively cables and accessories.· Results of type tests performed Data used for analysis From 1993 until 1998, 166 Type test are performed on cables and accessories for around 50 different customers. From these 166 type tests, 75 were performed on cables and 91 on accessories. In Figure 2 it is shown how this ls divided over different components. Transition joints '5% Crossbonding joints 7% Straight-through joints 19% Terminations 23% Figure 2 Data used for analysis Cables 46% Close and Return Number of type tests not passed Of the 166 Type tests performed, 123 were passed and 43 were not passed. In this number the number of tests not passed because of an assembling or manufacturing fai/ure is not included. Thus, 26% of the type tests are not passed because of design failures. The number of type tests not passed, ineluding assembling and manufaeturing faults is much larger. .Remarkable, but logie, is that the percentage of tests not passed for aeeessories in general is considerable higher (33%) than for cables (17%). As is shown in Figure 3, the fai/ure rate is the highest for crossbonding joints (50%). 60 T········-·······································-····....................................................... 50 +--------------- ~ ~ 40 ,..._ 45% , - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ 40% +-----------;:;;------- 35% +----A~---f-~.___-___/'_:____-- 30% +----j---\---f---~=7''_ir___-­ e i 25%-I-~~' I.'! e 20% +----j'-\-----'I----i-----+---.2 :f 15% +---J-~r__+--'wI'---'<.----_+---- 10% +-----------"""'----,If------ 5% +----.:..----------r-;~ïiiiei;l +---.---,---.-----,--,-=:=:;::::=:::, 0% 1992 -""1 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 year Figure 5 Trend in failure rate +----------- " 30 + - - - - - - - - - - Œ Therefor, it can be concluded that the general fai/ure rate for accessories will increase with the introduction of the new IEC 60502-4. e:0 ~ seen that the fai/ure rate per year is depending more on the standard according which the type tests have been performed than on the years. 20+----- LI- 10 The trend is not shown for each type of accessory separately sincethe numbers are too few. o Cables Transition joints Terminations Straighttrough joints Crossbonding joints 20 Figure 3 Failure rate for different objects Dolher 18 !lJIEC80840 16 14 Failure rate as a function of the standard :l BIEC60502 ,; 12 From Figure 4 it can be seen that for aeeessories for ratings 6-30 kV the failure rate is signifieant higher for tests performed according to VDE 278 (around 50%) than for tests performed according to IEC 60502 (around 10%). For cables the fai/ure rate for tests aecording to IEC 60840 is higher than for tests aecording to IEC 60502. J DlVDE 278 ~ 10 QI .Cl ~ 8 z 6 4 2 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 Year 60% -p======;; , E:lCables Figure 6 Number of tests per standard per year for cables 50% ~ 40% .j======'--~ .5 .!! e 30% + - - - - - - - Oother i!! .2 30 + - - - - - - - - = = ; 'iii LI- 20% + - - - - - - - 25 + - - - - - - - - - , i'I 10% .!! 20 'ô +----1< :<1-------1 ~ 0% IEC50502 VDE278 tEC 60840 Other Standard ~ 15 + - - - - I.... I----~ :0 z 10+---- Figure 4 Failure rate for cables and accessories for different standards 5 o 1993 Trend At first sight, no elear trend can be seen over the years in Figure 5. When taking into account the figures presented in Figure 6 and Figure 7 it can be 1994 1996 1995 1997 1996 Year Figure 7 Number of tests per standard per year for accessories Close and Return Failure cause From the 43 faults, 13 appeared in cables and 30 in accessories. The fauits can be divided into 4 categories as can be seen in Table 1. In some types of cables and accessories multiple faults occurred. This can happen, because for type tests more than one loop is used. It can therefor occur that a cable or accessory does not pass the short-circuit test, does not pass the non-eleetrical tests and fails during the heating cycle. Table 1 Number of faults for different moments in the type tests Moment in type tests Cables Accessories non-electrical tests 7 2 before heating cycle 4 10 during heating cycle 3 9 after heating cycle 2 13 From these figures it can be seen that for cables around 70% of the faults occur in the first two stages, while for accessories this is only around 35%. Most faults in the before the heating cycle stage are the presence of partial discharges for both cables and accessories. In some of the cables a breakdown occurred when the voltage was increased towards the tests level. From the 9 faults of accessories during the heating cycle 5 of them were because of the difference of shrinking properties of the cable and the accessories [6]. Conclusions and recommendations Since cables and accessories are an important part of the electric infrastructure and because 26% of the type tests are not passed because of design failures, type tests are nowadays necessary. From the figures about the trend it can not be concluded that the fallure rate will go down or go up, so also in the future type tests will be important. Several standards for type tests are available, however the differences in requirements are nowadays smaller than they were before. For type tests of accessories according to IEC 60502, this implies that the type tests will be more severe. This will cause that the failure rate for accessories will go up in the future. From the 166 type tests performed the percentage of tests not passed for accessories considerable higher (33%) than for the percentage not passed cables (17%). The failure rate is the highest for crossbonding joints. Remarkable is that before the heating cycle test starts, around 70% of the cables has already not passed the type tests, while this percentage for accessories is much smaller. Since a number of faults during the heating cycle test is caused because of the interaction between cable and accessories and because sometimes the object that ls not under test fails, it is important to test comblnations. As is weil known the strength of a chain is the strength of its weakest Iink. References [1] General reports, Group 21, Electra; February 1999, No 182, page 53 [2] VDE 278, Starkstromkabel-Garnituren für Nennspannung U bis 30 kV, Anforderungen und Prüfverfahren [3] IEC 60502, : Power cables with extruded insulation and their accessories for rated voltages from 1 kV up to 30 kV [4]IEC 60840, Power cables with extruded insulation and their accessories for rated voltages from 30 kV up to 150 kV, [5] IEC60267, Power cables with extruded insulation and their accessories for rated voltages from 150 kV upto 500 kV. [6] S.M. Benda-Berljn and G.P.T. Roelofs, 'Type testing of cables and accessories, a way to improve th the quality of these products?', lO ISH '97, Montreal, volume 4.