This project is concerned with establishing whether the occurence of switching/lightning impulses can lead to accelerated ageing of extruded cables. HDPE and XLPE material samples have been manufactured using a mold tool developed as part of this project. The samples then can be electrically aged using one of the high voltage laboratory's impulse generators. A real-time software based monitoring tool has been designed to control the impulse wave-shape and process the measurement data. The obtained results will inform the further development of models describing the multifactor ageing mechanisms that in-service cables experience. The electric field and potential profiles as well as the mechanical deformation of the sample will be observed when using different shaped electrodes.