Experience of Withstand Testing of Cable Systems in the USA - B1-303

Presented at CIGRÉ - Session 2010 - Paris, 22-27 August, 2010.High voltage withstand tests are used within manufacturing plants to ensure the quality of completed cable system components from MV to EHV. Thus, it is quite natural for utilities to also use withstand tests as commissioning and maintenance tests for cable systems in the field. The goal of these tests is the same as in the factory test, namely to have any weak components of the cable system fail in a controlled manner, such that the minimum number of customers are affected. In fact a recent study has shown that withstand tests are among the most routinely employed diagnostic tests in the USA; this study has also shown that the most preferred withstand tests use Very Low Frequency (VLF: 0.02 to 0.1 Hz) AC methods