Taking the normal cable joint

cable joint with unilateral XLPE insulation shrinkage and cable joint with bilateral XLPE insulation shrinkage as the objects of study

the paper calculates electric field distributions inside the cable joints and studies electric field change on specific paths in case of XLPE insulation shrinkage without separating from stress cones. Moreover

it pays special attention to electric field change at the stress cone terminals that are prone to breakdown in practical operation. The calculation results show that there are maximum electric fields at stress cone terminals of both normal cable joints and deficient joints with XLPE insulation shrinkage; moreover

in the case of XLPE insulation shrinkage the electric field at stress cone terminal increases evidently

and when the XLPE insulation of the cable joint shrinks

the electric field of the contact section between the high-voltage stress cone and XLPE increases with the shrinkage expansion.However

the effect of the shrinkage distance on the end of the high-voltage stress cone is not significant. Air gaps produced by XLPE shrinkage wield more influence on the stress cones than XLPE insulation shrinkage does. In the case of bilateral XLPE insulation shrinkage or air gaps produced by the shrinkage

the electric field distributions in key areas on both sides do not interact. The research findings can provide theoretical support to cable joint fault diagnosis.