Evaluation of degradation due to ageing of the power cables with pvc insulation and jacket. Development of the indentation test

The environmental conditions (temperature, radiation) from NPP lead to the ageing of the organic components of the power cable. The effective evaluation of the degradation due to ageing of the cable components, at the observation time, requires knowledge of some electrical and mechanical parameters, useful to characterize the cable condition. In order to develop a non-destructive method for evaluation of degradation due to ageing of the NPP power cables, an experimental device was made able to establish the compressive modulus in power cable components (jacket and insulation). The paper contains a description of the experimental device (indentation device), the working method for determination the compressive modulus values, results and conclusions. The paper presents original contributions in the development of the non-destructive method and of its application area being dedicated to the specialists working in research and technological engineering. (authors)