Patent ID: 7848912

Claim:
A computer simulation method for simulating an electrical cable having a stranded conductor surrounded by a conductor shield encased in an insulation jacket and having an interstitial void volume in the region of the conductor injected with a fluid composition comprising at least one dielectric enhancement fluid component so as to at least partially fill the interstitial void volume at an initial time t=0, the simulation method comprising: for a selected length of the simulated cable, defining a plurality of radially arranged finite volumes extending the selected length of the simulated cable; for each of a plurality of different selected incremental time periods occurring after t=0: estimating the radial temperature of each finite volume; calculating the diffusion properties of the dielectric enhancement fluid component within each finite volume using the estimated radial temperature; calculating the mass flux from one finite volume to another finite volume for the dielectric enhancement fluid component within the finite volumes; and combining the calculated change in mass of the dielectric enhancement fluid component within each finite volume with the calculated mass flux between each adjacent finite volume for the dielectric enhancement fluid component within the finite volumes to determine a new concentration for the dielectric enhancement fluid component within each finite volume; and outputting the value of the new concentration for the dielectric enhancement fluid component within each finite volume.