The electrothermal aging process of cross-linked polyethylene
(XLPE)
insulation has been an essential factor for the reliability of high-voltage
(HV) cables, but the underlying mechanism remains a puzzle. In this
paper, the dielectric properties in the terahertz domain of sliced
XLPE samples from an HVDC cable are investigated at an electrothermal
aging duration up to 1500 h. It is found that with the increase in
aging time, the real part and imaginary part of the complex permittivity
decrease and increase, respectively. To explain the dielectric phenomenon,
chemical changes and crystallinity are characterized by Fourier transform
infrared spectrum (FTIR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC),
respectively. It is proven that declined crystallinity is positively
correlated with the real part of complex permittivity by using effective
medium theory. Furthermore, by comparing the terahertz dielectric
response of unaged and aged XLPE samples in different temperatures,
the appearance of small polar molecules has been proven to be responsible
for the rise of the imaginary part of complex permittivity.