The rapid urbanization and growth of my country's power grid have also driven the rapid development of power cables. As essential power transmission equipment, power cables are easy to install, easy to maintain, and have excellent insulation properties. They are widely used in industrial and residential power distribution systems. Replacing overhead lines has become a trend in both production and daily life. Analyzing the causes of cable failures and conducting timely and effective analysis when they occur, as well as quickly locating the fault point and addressing it, are crucial for quickly restoring power to the cable lines.
Cables can be categorized as power cables, silicone rubber cables, and overhead cables, depending on their uses and materials. Today, we will discuss the causes of various power cable failures.
Common Power Cable Fault Analysis
1. Mechanical damage. Mechanical damage refers to damage to the cable caused by external forces, including damage during construction and transportation, damage during installation, and damage caused by natural forces.
2. Insulation aging. Insulation aging occurs when the insulation layer is affected by soil substances and gradually loses its insulating properties due to long-term underground installation.
3. Overvoltage. Overvoltage refers to breakdown caused by lightning strikes or other cable breakdowns.
Strictly, improper shielding tape handling, poor conductor connections, improper material selection, inadequate consideration of electric field distribution, inaccurate or non-compliance with process requirements.
5. Poor material quality. Poor material quality manifests itself primarily in two ways. First, in production, this primarily involves defects in the manufacturing of cable accessories, such as pinholes or tiny cracks in metal castings. Second, during construction and operation, the main cause is substandard crimping tubes, which crack after crimping and gradually lose insulation over time.
Preventative Measures for Power Cable Faults
1. Strengthen line inspections
2. Preventative Measures for Transmission Line Trips
3. Select appropriate cables for different transmission lines
4. Avoid or protect against adverse environments during cable laying
5. Repair and improve unclear cable markings
6. Enhance personnel expertise to reduce human-caused failures
7. Monitor cable insulation performance to identify potential flashover failures as soon as possible
8. Strengthen monitoring of load current
In short, the quality of power cables directly affects line safety. Once a production line fails to operate safely and stably, the loss of life and economic losses caused by its failure will be unpredictable. Therefore, our power workers must fundamentally prevent the occurrence of cable failures to minimize cable accidents, starting from the details and striving to achieve the goal of safe and stable power supply.
