Detection and Evaluation of Shield Damage Defects in Power Cables Using an Improved Dual-Frequency Time–Frequency Domain Reflectometry

Zhao, Kun; Grivet-Talocia, Stefano; Manfredi, Paolo; Yan, Yuan; Li, Hongjie

doi:10.3390/en18195214

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Detection and Evaluation of Shield Damage Defects in Power Cables Using an Improved Dual-Frequency Time–Frequency Domain Reflectometry

by

Kun Zhao

^1,2

,

Stefano Grivet-Talocia

²

,

Paolo Manfredi

²

,

Yuan Yan

^1,2

and

Hongjie Li

^1,*

¹

The State Key Laboratory of Insulation and Power Equipment, School of the Electrical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

²

Department of Electronics and Telecommunications, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Turin, Italy

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Energies 2025, 18(19), 5214; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18195214

Submission received: 30 August 2025 / Revised: 27 September 2025 / Accepted: 29 September 2025 / Published: 30 September 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Diagnostic Analysis, Strategic Management, and Proactive Maintenance of Electrical Equipment)

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Abstract

Cable shields may develop holes when the sheath is damaged. Time–frequency domain reflectometry (TFDR) is an effective method for detecting cable defects, but it cannot directly evaluate hole sizes. To address this issue, we analyze the impact of shield hole sizes on TFDR signals. Building on this analysis, we propose an improved dual-frequency TFDR method to measure shield holes and evaluate their sizes. This method directly measures the characteristic impedances and damage ratios using dual-frequency TFDR, followed by a two-step evaluation process to determine the hole center angles and lengths based on these measurements. Simulations and experiments validate the proposed method. In laboratory-scale experiments using a scaled cable model, and considering measurement noise, the maximum relative errors for shield hole length and center angle are 11% and 5%, respectively.

Keywords: cable detection; defect location; cable damage; defect evaluation; time–frequency domain reflectometry

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MDPI and ACS Style

Zhao, K.; Grivet-Talocia, S.; Manfredi, P.; Yan, Y.; Li, H. Detection and Evaluation of Shield Damage Defects in Power Cables Using an Improved Dual-Frequency Time–Frequency Domain Reflectometry. Energies 2025, 18, 5214. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18195214

AMA Style

Zhao K, Grivet-Talocia S, Manfredi P, Yan Y, Li H. Detection and Evaluation of Shield Damage Defects in Power Cables Using an Improved Dual-Frequency Time–Frequency Domain Reflectometry. Energies. 2025; 18(19):5214. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18195214

Chicago/Turabian Style

Zhao, Kun, Stefano Grivet-Talocia, Paolo Manfredi, Yuan Yan, and Hongjie Li. 2025. "Detection and Evaluation of Shield Damage Defects in Power Cables Using an Improved Dual-Frequency Time–Frequency Domain Reflectometry" Energies 18, no. 19: 5214. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18195214

APA Style

Zhao, K., Grivet-Talocia, S., Manfredi, P., Yan, Y., & Li, H. (2025). Detection and Evaluation of Shield Damage Defects in Power Cables Using an Improved Dual-Frequency Time–Frequency Domain Reflectometry. Energies, 18(19), 5214. https://doi.org/10.3390/en18195214

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Detection and Evaluation of Shield Damage Defects in Power Cables Using an Improved Dual-Frequency Time–Frequency Domain Reflectometry

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