This study investigates the insulation performance of a 66 kV dry-type submarine cable used in offshore wind farms under mechanical aging. During installation and operation, submarine cables are subjected to various mechanical stresses, including tension, compression, and bending, which can lead to insulation deterioration. In this study, XLPE samples extracted from a submarine cable were prepared and subjected to controlled tensile strain below the yield strain to evaluate their mechanical and electrical performance. Changes in tensile strength, elongation, and tan δ (dielectric loss factor) were measured to assess the extent of aging. The results indicate that as the applied strain and exposure duration increased, tensile strength and elongation decreased, while tan δ values increased, signifying a decline in electrical insulation performance. A strong negative correlation (R = -0.809) was observed between tan δ and tensile strength, demonstrating that mechanical aging significantly affects electrical properties. These findings highlight the importance of minimizing excessive mechanical stress during the installation and operation of submarine cables. The results provide valuable insights for enhancing the reliability of submarine cables in offshore wind farms and emphasize the necessity of optimized design and maintenance strategies to mitigate the effects of mechanical aging.

The increasing demand for renewable energy is driving the rapid expansion of the offshore wind industry, leading to intensified research on subsea cables. These cables endure combined thermal, electrical, and mechanical stresses, with mechanical stress being a critical failure factor. Environmental changes, such as seabed scouring, free spans, and seismic activity, accelerate cable degradation by introducing additional dynamic loads. Conventional monitoring systems primarily track thermal stress, lacking the ability to assess mechanical impacts. This study develops a system to simultaneously measure thermal and mechanical stress in subsea cables. Laboratory experiments confirm the system’s reliability, showing a temperature measurement error within 0.8% at 60℃ and a strain measurement error within 13% at 378 με. The proposed system aims to enhance failure prediction and maintenance strategies for offshore wind subsea cables.

Localized heat can be generated using electrically conductive word-lines built into a 3D NAND flash memory string. The heat anneals the gate dielectric layer and improves the endurance and retention characteristics of memory cells. However, even though the electro-thermal annealing can improve the memory operation, studies to investigate material failures resulting from electro-thermal stress have not been reported yet. In this context, this paper investigated how applying electro-thermal annealing of 3D NAND affected mechanical stability. Hot-spots, which are expected to be mechanically damaged during the electro-thermal annealing, can be determined based on understanding material characteristics such as thermal expansion, thermal conductivity, and electrical conductivity. Finally, several guidelines for improving mechanical stability are provided in terms of bias configuration as well as alternative materials.

Reliability of CMOS has been severed under aggressive device scaling. Conventional technologies such as lightly doped drain (LDD) and forming gas annealing (FGA) have been applied for better device reliability, but further advances are modest. Alternatively, electro-thermal annealing (ETA) which utilizes Joule heat produced by electrodes in a MOSFET, has been newly introduced for gate dielectric curing. However, concerns about mechanical stability during the electro-thermal annealing, have not been discussed, yet. In this context, this paper demonstrates the mechanical stability of nanosheet FET during the electro-thermal annealing. The effect of mechanical stresses during the electro-thermal annealing was investigated with respect to device design parameters.