The goal of this project is to demonstrate a proof-of-concept for a technique to repair aging cables that have been subjected to degradation associated with long-term thermal and radiation exposure in nuclear power plants. The physical degradation of the aging cables manifests itself primarily as cracking and increased brittleness of the polymeric electrical insulation. Therefore, the proposed cable-repair concept comprises development of techniques to impart a softening agent within the deteriorated polymer insulation jacket so as to regain the ability of the insulation to stretch without failing and possibly to heal existing cracks in the insulation. Our approach is to use commercially available ethylene-propylene rubber (EPR) as the relevant test material, demonstrate the adsorption of chemical treatments in the EPR and quantify changes in resulting physical and mechanical properties. EPR cable samples have been thermally treated in air to produce specimens corresponding to the full range of cable age-performance points from new (>350% elongation at break) to end-of-life (
Revised: April 17, 2015 |
Published: September 11, 2013