Thermal Effects on Crosstalk of Multiconductor PVC Cables and Estimation of Thermal Accelerating Ratios

This paper is concerned with how crosstalk amplitudes of multi-conductor PVC cables vary with heating temperatures and time to determine thermal effects on the cables in realistic conditions, and thus proposes a method to estimate aging rates and acceler-ating ratios with respect to the variation of crosstalk amplitudes. First, the mechanism of thermal effects on crosstalk of multicon-ductor cables is analyzed: high temperatures accelerate chemical reactions in insulating materials to change their microstructures as well as their permittivity. The resulting variation of permittivi-ty leads to changes in crosstalk amplitude. Then, experiments are conducted to measure crosstalk amplitudes of cables in a thermal chamber. Finally, based on measured results, time-based varia-tions of crosstalk amplitudes at different temperatures are demonstrated and the equivalent chemical reaction rates calculat-ed. By fitting the rates with the Arrhenius equation, accelerating ratios between different temperatures are obtained.