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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Cable indenter aging monitor

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:7013565

This project was undertaken to develop a hand-held, nondestructive test device to assess the aged condition of electrical cable by in situ measurement of mechanical properties of polymeric jackets and insulations. The device is an indenter similar to those used to make hardness measurements. Comparison of measurements made on installed cables with previous measurements serving as baseline aging/mechanical property data will determine the state of aging of the field cables. Such a device will be valuable in nuclear and fossil plant life extension programs. Preliminary laboratory tests on cables covered with ethylene propylene rubber (EPR) and chlorosulfated polyethylene (CSPE) point to the measurement of the rate of force increase resulting from constant rate deformation as having the best correlation with progressive thermal aging. This first phase of the work has demonstrated the technical feasibility of the method. A second phase will include the generation of additional groundwork data and the design of the portable indenter for in situ plant measurements.

Research Organization:
Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (USA); Franklin Research Center, Norristown, PA (USA). Valley Forge Corporate Center
OSTI ID:
7013565
Report Number(s):
EPRI-NP-5920; ON: TI88014206
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English