This guide provides a comprehensive procedure for testing a manufacturer's laminate foil moisture impervious barrier for use in XLPE insulated transmission cables. The testing protocol confirms the mechanical integrity of the laminated foil design and its bonding strength to the cable jacket, to ensure there will be no moisture ingress into the cable core after the samples have been subjected to simulated field installation requirements and simulated long-term operational characteristics.

This guide is intended to be a complement to other guides and specifications governing the testing of XLPE transmission cables, and should not be construed as negating the need for any part of any other applicable guides or specifications. When the tests specified in this document have been performed on the smallest and largest size cable cores, the test results for this specific jacket and moisture barrier design are applicable to all intervening cable core sizes in the same product range, as long as the same exact materials and the same construction and manufacturing processes have been employed.

This guide details a systematic test sequence that can be used by the cable manufacturers to determine if their finished product, a transmission cable with laminate foil design, will prevent moisture ingress into its cable core.

The following topics will be discussed to assist the user of this Guide to become more familiar with the cable laminate foil design:

• a) Principles and Basic Background Factors
• b) Moisture Barriers
• c) Properties and Testing of Metallic Laminated Moisture Barriers
• d) Qualification Tests of Metallic Laminated Moisture Barriers
• e) Sample Test of Metallic Laminated Moisture Barriers