Abstract
The main purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of corrosion-induced adhesion between aluminum conductor strands and the semi-conductive cable screen in power cables. In this paper it is proposed that increased adhesion at this interface represents a critical precondition for the localized degradation of the semi-conductive screen, which may in turn promote severe water tree formation within the XLPE insulation. To investigate this hypothesis, a model test setup was developed to assess corrosion behavior and resulting adhesion effects between two aluminum conductor grades and a commercially available semi-conductive screen material. The experimental results reveal substantial differences in corrosion resistance between the aluminum grades, which directly correlate with corresponding variations in adhesion to the semi-conductive screen. These findings highlight the importance of material selection in mitigating interfacial degradation processes that can compromise long-term cable reliability.