Thermal Behavior Analysis and Experimental Investigation of Cable Joints with Contact Resistance Considered

To enhance the simulation accuracy of cable intermediate joints, a modeling approach that explicitly accounts for the difference in contact resistance between compressed and non-compressed areas was proposesd. The differences in contact resistance between compressed and non-compressed areas were considered, a geometric annular ring was constructed to represent the contact interface between compression connector and cable conductor, and the electrical conductivity of contact-resistance ring was inversely determined based on an equivalent circuit model. Results showed that under an applied current of 3 020 A, conductor temperature, outer surface temperature of compression connector, and surface temperature of joint’s silicone rubber insulation were calculated to be 90.9, 96.1, and 60.1 ℃, respectively. The maximum discrepancy between simulation and experimental data was found at the outer surface of compression connector, with a relative error of 5.14%, verifying the effectiveness of simulation model, and providing a reference for refined thermal simulation and safety assessment of high-voltage cross-linked polyethylene cable joints.