A Proposed Diagnostic Procedure for DC Electrical Tree Damage in XLPE

The growth and partial discharge (PD) characteristics of electrical tree in crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE) needle-plate electrode samples are investigated under constant dc voltage at different temperatures. The results reveal that under the experimental conditions, the electrical trees are all branch trees, and the discharge intensity fluctuates with time. The increase in temperature promotes the growth of electrical tree as well as the intensity of PD. Five texture features of PD
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histogram are extracted and used as the elements to evaluate the insulation status of XLPE needle-plate electrode under dc voltage based on the gray correlation degree. The area ratio and lateral tree ratio of electrical tree is extracted based on the gray histogram. The lateral tree ratio increases with the increase in temperature, which is closely related to the intensity of PD. Gray correlation theory is used to evaluate the status of XLPE insulation. The results reveal that the evaluated insulation statuses based on the gray correlation degree are the same as those based on experience, which indicates that the proposed diagnosis method of XLPE insulation status based on the gray correlation degree with
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histogram texture features as elements has a high accuracy.