MEASUREMENT OF CABLE INSULATION THICKNESS

Cost cutting in Cable Industry has led to increased focus on optimising the quantity of insulation material used in cables. Every micron of extra insulation translates into increased cost of production. This led to development of online and offline measuring systems that measure the insulation thickness at multiple points. Both the systems are generally used together for optimised results. Online systems, measure insulation thickness during the process of manufacturing, are expensive and are generally Xray or Ultrasound based. On the other hand Offline measurements are relatively inexpensive and are done on a section of the cable insulation after the cable has been manufactured. Historically, Cable industry has used Profile Projectors for offline measurement of insulation thickness. In 2012, a new system, the Cable Quickie was developed that uses image processing to measure insulation thickness. The system uses classical edge detection algorithm along with newly programmed algorithm for automatic contour extraction of cable insulation which makes it highly precise and reliable. Cable quickie performs width analysis at more than 1000 points along a single insulation cross section and calculates Insulator thickness on every strand, Inner and Outer Insulation Diameter, Concentricity, Eccentricity, Ovality and Circularity of the Insulation. The software can generate reports as per EN 60811-1-1 and IS:10810. The maximum cable diameter that can be measured is 120mm with an accuracy of 1 micron. It automates cable insulation pass fail decisions with a click of a button. Other functions include built in trend monitoring, statistical evaluation of measured parameters and customised report generation. Cable Quickie significantly cuts down the time, cost and effort required for measurement of cable insulation thickness.

Processed Image Cable Insulation Thickness