In order to study the growth characteristics of electrical trees in XLPE cable under secondary applied voltage, a short cable metal needle defect test device is adopted to study the growth characteristics of the new trees after the electrical trees in XLPE cable under the action of the voltage of 12 kV are influenced by secondary applied voltage (15 kV). The research results show that influenced by secondary applied voltage and voltage increase rate, there will be a peculiar "bush-branch" electrical tree in XLPE cable insulation layer and the new trees under secondary applied voltage have the characteristics of short initiation time, fast growth rate and narrow discharge channel, etc, which shows that secondary applied voltage has a great effect on the secondary initiation and growth of electrical trees in XLPE cable and it is an important factor of accelerating cable aging and breakdown.
