In order to explore the effect of pH value of the solution on the growth characteristics of electro-hydro mixed branches of cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) cables, an electro-hydro mixed branch experimental platform with different pH values was built to accelerate the aging of XLPE cables. The growth characteristics of electro-hydro mixed branches under different pH environments were systematically observed and analyzed by combining macroscopic dielectric properties test with microscopic morphology detection. The macroscopic test results show that the aging degree of the cable is more serious in the acidic or alkaline environment. When there are electrical tree defects in the insulation, acidic or alkaline solutions with different pH values will promote the accelerated aging of mixed branches, and the acceleration effect of acidic environment is more significant. After microscopic detection of sample slices with different acidity and alkalinity, it was found that both acidic and alkaline environments could accelerate the growth of mixed branches. On the basis of electrical trees, the strong acid and strong alkali environment was more suitable for the development of mixed branches than the weak acid and weak alkali environment, and the promotion effect of acidic solution was more prominent. At the same time, this study also deeply analyzed the conversion mechanism of electrical tree to water tree in cables under different pH conditions. Finally, through the correlation analysis between the dielectric performance parameters and the branch density of different groups of samples, the fitting model of the branch density on the macroscopic dielectric performance parameters is obtained by curve fitting, which provides an effective non-destructive testing method for cable multi-branch aging. These results reflect the structure–property relationship of XLPE polymer under acid-base corrosion and electric field coupling and reveal the microstructure degradation mechanism of polyethylene insulation.
Li et al. (2026) studied this question.