A novel approach for the failure prediction in XLPE power cables using acoustic emission technique

Acoustic emission (AE) is a NDT technique which has the unique potential for evaluating degradation and possibly failure prediction of XLPE cables as well. The authors have demonstrated its capability towards failure prediction on XLPE cables. In this study, 5 sets of 50 number of identical XLPE cables were taken up for the investigation. These tests were carried out on both damaged and undamaged conditions. The AE data acquired during their loading cycles is analysed and a lucid empirical relation is developed to predict their failure performance. Using this approach one could appreciate that impending failure is significant even at 50% to 60% of maximum expected operating voltage with a reasonable error margin. In fact, till date there is no lucid method spelt out in the open literature for the failure prediction of XLPE cables. Moreover, this methodology can also be applied to predict in real time the failure of similar XLPE cables made of other material systems.