Cold shrink cable accessories are components made from elastomer materials (commonly silicone rubber and EPDM rubber), molded, expanded in diameter, and lined with supports to form various cable accessory parts. During field installation, these pre-expanded parts are fitted onto the treated cable ends or joints. The internal supports are then removed, and the elastomer quickly shrinks and presses against the cable insulation, thus forming the cable accessory.

Cable accessories are also called cold shrink cable accessories. Early cold shrink cable terminations only used silicone rubber cold shrink components for additional insulation; electric field treatment still used stress cone type or stress band wrapping type. Currently, all raw materials for cable accessories are imported. The silicone rubber used has excellent insulation and high resilience, ensuring that it will not break down due to the breathing effect of the cable during operation after installation.

All products use a special sealant to bond all connection parts, achieving overall sealing and preventing operational accidents caused by atmospheric impact. Cold shrink stress control tubes are now widely used, with voltage ratings from 10kV to 35kV. Cold-shrink cable joints use cold-shrink insulating tubing for enhanced insulation at 1kV and cold-shrink insulating components with inner and outer semi-conductive shielding layers at 10kV. Cold-shrink branch sleeves are used at the branching points of three-core cables.

Cold-shrink cable accessories offer advantages such as small size, convenient and quick operation, no need for special tools, wide applicability, and fewer product specifications. They exert sustained radial pressure on the cable body, allowing it to "breathe" with the cable, providing excellent sealing and waterproofing, and ensuring long-term reliable operation. Compared to heat-shrink cable accessories, they do not require heating, are safe and reliable, and do not pose a risk of internal layer separation when moved or bent after installation (as heat-shrink cable accessories rely on elastic compression). Compared to prefabricated cable accessories, although both rely on elastic compression to ensure internal interface characteristics, cold-shrink accessories do not correspond one-to-one with cable cross-sections and have a wider range of specifications. It must be noted that cold-shrink cable accessories are under high tension before installation onto the cable. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that the cold-shrink components do not exhibit significant permanent deformation or elastic stress relaxation during storage. Otherwise, sufficient elastic clamping force cannot be guaranteed after installation on the cable, thus compromising good interface characteristics.

These cable accessories are resistant to dirt, aging, and water, and possess excellent cold resistance, making them particularly suitable for high-altitude, cold, humid, and salt-spray environments.