Dynamic stressing of subsea cable insulation for floating offshore wind applications

For the floating offshore wind sector, cables are subjected to mechanical flexure due to the dynamic behaviour of the tidal current and floating platform. Cables could suffer irreversible damage of interfaces in joints through mechanical flexing, which lead to accelerated growth of electrical treeing and thereby shortening the asset lifetime. However, there is little knowledge on the consequences of low frequency vibration, or repeated compression and extension of cables. This project will determine whether dynamic stress could accelerate tree growth, which lead to the identification of a new failure mechanism specific to floating submarine cables. Any test data generated in this space would be entirely new and will be able to advance understanding of asset reliability in dynamic cables. The proposed project is relevant to sub-themes of 'Power Networks and Storage' and 'Renewable Energy' under EPSRC's 'Energy' theme.