Swagable High-Pressure Cable Connector Seal Integrity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Swagable high-pressure connectors used for injecting dielectric enhancement fluid into electrical power cables fail to maintain a leak-free seal under substantial thermal cycling, leading to potential leaks and loss of fluid, which affects the cable's dielectric properties and poses environmental and safety risks.
Innovation Solution
A high-pressure connector design featuring a housing with axially-projecting, circumferentially-extending spurs that form a generalized 'dovetail' arrangement with the insulation jacket, providing a robust radial seal to prevent separation during thermal cycling, ensuring fluid confinement at elevated pressures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional swagable high-pressure connectors are used, then the connector can be installed and sealed at ambient temperatures, but the seal fails under substantial thermal cycling, leading to leaks
Solution Approach 1:
The connector employs a dynamic sealing mechanism where the swageable housing deforms elastically in response to thermal expansion and contraction of the cable insulation. This dynamic adaptation allows the seal to maintain contact and prevent leaks during thermal cycling, rather than relying on a static seal that would fail under temperature fluctuations.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical parameters of the sealing interface by using a swageable housing that can alter its deformation state. The housing is designed to be swaged to a specific degree that creates an initial seal, and this seal can dynamically adjust as thermal parameters change, maintaining sealing effectiveness across temperature variations.
2Reliability
If the housing is swaged tightly to the insulation jacket, then a seal is formed at ambient temperature, but the cable expansion during thermal cycling causes separation and leaks
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing system is designed to be dynamic rather than static. The swageable housing can deform elastically to accommodate cable expansion during thermal cycling, maintaining seal integrity. The swaging process creates an initial tight seal, but the housing's elastic properties allow it to adapt dynamically as the cable dimensions change with temperature.
Solution Approach 2:
The connector incorporates built-in compliance through its swageable design that anticipates thermal expansion. The housing is pre-swaged to create a seal that has built-in flexibility, allowing it to accommodate future dimensional changes of the cable during thermal cycling without losing sealing effectiveness.
3Reliability
If the engagement portion is made highly deformable to ensure sealing, then the seal conforms to the insulation jacket, but the connector cannot maintain elevated pressure confinement
Solution Approach 1:
The housing exhibits dynamic mechanical properties, being sufficiently deformable during installation to conform to the insulation jacket and create a seal, yet sufficiently rigid when swaged to maintain elevated pressure confinement. The swaging process transforms the housing from a softer pre-swaged state to a more rigid post-swaged state that can withstand pressure while retaining seal integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanical parameters of the housing are changed through the swaging process. The housing material and geometry are selected so that pre-swaging allows high deformability for seal formation, while post-swaging creates a stiffer structure capable of maintaining elevated pressure. This parameter transformation resolves the contradiction between deformability and pressure confinement.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The improved connector maintains a leak-free seal under extreme temperature fluctuations, ensuring the dielectric enhancement fluid remains within the cable, thereby maintaining the cable's dielectric properties and preventing environmental and safety issues.
Implementation Method 1
upon inward deformation of the engagement portion of the housing wall of the housing end portion to the insulation jacket to confine the fluid
Implementation Method 2
A high-pressure connector design featuring a housing with axially-projecting, circumferentially-extending spurs that form a generalized 'dovetail' arrangement with the insulation jacket, providing a robust radial seal to prevent separation during thermal cycling
Implementation Method 3
confine the fluid at the residual pressure within the housing interior chamber and the interstitial void volume
Data Source
AI summary
A high-pressure connector for an electrical power cable section having a central stranded conductor encased in a polymeric insulation jacket and having an interstitial void volume in the region of the stranded conductor, the high-pressure connector being suited for confining a fluid within the interstitial void volume at a residual pressure above atmospheric, but below the elastic limit of the polymeric insulation jacket, the high-pressure connector comprising a housing having a wall defining an interior chamber configured to be in fluid communication with the interstitial void volume and an end portion sized to receive the insulation jacket within the interior chamber and to overlap at least a portion of the insulation jacket at an end thereof with the cable section extending from the housing end portion and at least a portion of the stranded conductor positioned within the interior chamber. The housing wall of the housing end portion has an engagement portion comprised of a swagable material to secure the housing wall to the insulation jacket in fluid-tight sealed engagement therewith upon inward swaging of the engagement portion of the housing wall of the housing end portion to the insulation jacket to confine the fluid at the residual pressure within the interior chamber and the interstitial void volume. The housing includes at least one axially-projecting engagement member located within the interior chamber at the engagement portion of the housing wall of the housing end portion.