Remotely operated vehicles (ROV) are used for the inspection, maintenance and repair of submarine and offshore cables, subsea exploration, and rescue operations. ROVs are powered by umbilical cables, which have to withstand electrical, mechanical, and thermal stresses. This thesis investigates the effect of repetitive bending on the insulation properties of ROV umbilical cables for medium voltage.

Umbilical cables with XLPE, polypropylene, and HDPE insulation were mechanically aged using a cyclic bend-over-sheave setup, after which the dielectric properties were analysed using electrical breakdown tests and several diagnostic tests, such as partial discharge analysis.

The cables with XLPE and HDPE insulation showed delamination of the conductor–insulation interface, which resulted in increased partial discharge activity, a reduced breakdown voltage, and a significantly decreased lifetime. For HDPE, the lifetime power law exponent 𝑛 dropped from 18 to 9 after 23,000 cycles of mechanical ageing. Polypropylene, on the other hand, did not show delamination but an increase in dielectric-bounded cavities with mechanical ageing.