The effect of the oscillating wave on the interfacial and internal defects of cable from the perspective of the electric field is studied in order to understand the test results of the oscillating wave voltage method for different defects in cables. Firstly, an oscillating wave test platform is set up to partial discharge tests the artificial defective models including longitudinal knife defects and external semiconductor lap defects. Then, the excitation characteristics of oscillation wave are analyzed primarily by PDIV and PRPD. Furthermore, the electric field distribution of cables with defects are simulated by utilizing a finite element simulation software in threedimension. Artificial defects with different sizes are fabricated to represent the diversity of the defect site and the characteristics of defective discharges are explained by the electric field distortion at the defects. Experimental and simulation results show that: it is hard to detect the internal defects due to the filling of hard grease by using the oscillation wave voltage method, whereas interfacial defects of poor connection of outer semiconductor has better characterization results.