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Ground Fault Current Distribution
Ground Fault Current Distribution
LINE GEOMETRY
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ABSTRACT: A new method for determining transmission line sags and tensions is
proposed. The algorithm is based upon new elements developed explicitly for
transmission line systems. These elements make it possible to analyze lines of any
geometry under general loading, temperature, and creep history either clamped in
the service condition or suspended in the construction sheaves. Because the ele-
ments are derived from true catenary components, the results, including exact clip-
ping offsets and sag corrections, remain valid in any terrain. Examples are included
that provide comparisons to traditional analysis methods.
INTRODUCTION
Because of the significant effort needed to find transmission line sags and
tensions using accurate catenary models, various computational shortcuts are
traditionally used (Ehrenburg 1935; Farr 1980; Winkleman 1959). Modeling
a series of spans with a single ruling span, approximating catenaries by par-
abolas, and using the semigraphical method all remain popular. While these
approaches are convenient for hand calculations and very accurate for sec-
tions consisting of level spans of approximately equal length, they may lose
accuracy in other cases. When faced with large sag-to-span ratios or signif-
icantly different support elevations, the parabolic approximation, whereby
the load per unit length is replaced with the load per unit horizontal projec-
tion, is no longer valid. If actual span lengths differ significantly from the
ruling span (say by a factor of two), the accuracy of the ruling span cal-
culations is in question.
A new method for analyzing overhead transmission lines is proposed. It
is a nonlinear, matrix displacement method wherein all conductor spans are
modeled as true catenaries. It utilizes three elements: (1) The cable element
is used to analyze a line under service conditions (Peyrot and Goulois 1979);
the element has been modified to handle conductor materials with nonlinear
response to stress, temperature, and creep; (2) the pulley element models an
elastic catenary draped over a pulley and is used to determine sags and ten-
sions during stringing and sagging operations (McDonald and Peyrot 1988);
(3) the clip element, introduced here, serves as a bridge between the pulley
and cable element analyses and is used to determine necessary insulator off-
sets when going from sagging to clipped-in conditions.
In this paper, the mathematical foundation and computer implementation
of each element are discussed. An algorithm that uses these elements to
analyze an entire line is described in the context of a new computer program,
'Sr. Engr., Failure Analysis Associates, 149 Commonwealth Dr., Menlo Park, CA
94025.
2
Prof., Dept. of Civ. Engrg., 1415 Johnson Dr., Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison,
WI 53706.
Note. Discussion open until February 1, 1991. To extend the closing date one
month, a written request must be filed with the ASCE Manager of Journals. The
manuscript for this paper was submitted for review and possible publication on No-
vember 30, 1989. This paper is part of the Journal of Structural Engineering, Vol.
116, No. 9, September, 1990. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9445/90/0009-2374/$1.00 +
$.15 per page. Paper No. 25034.
2374
STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS
At the heart of the proposed algorithm are the new structural elements,
the most basic being the cable element. Because the pulley and clip elements
are extensions of the same concept, the cable element will be discussed first.
It is basically the same as originally described (Peyrot and Goulois 1979),
but has been generalized to model material nonlinearity.
Cable Element
The cable element, as shown in Fig. 1, exactly models a segment of con-
ductor or ground wire as a catenary rather than a parabolic curve. Nonlin-
earities due to large displacements or materials not obeying Hooke's Law
are correctly handled. The cable is a two-node, planar element formulated
in an updated Lagrangian solution framework. There are four nodal forces
f (horizontal and vertical tension components at each node) corresponding
to four degrees of freedom x. In the reference, it was shown that for a given
initial cable length L and an admissible set of end forces, the horizontal and
vertical projections (H,V) of the catenary are given by Eqs. 1 and 2, re-
spectively. The vector f is admissible if static equilibrium is enforced, that
is, / 3 = —xf a n d / 4 = wL — f2 where w = the load per unit length of un-
stretched cable.
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Stress-elongation curve:
2376
02 Initial Curve
Creep Curve
Unloading
Curve
Elongation
- i — i — | — i — , — \ — i — i — i — i — i — | — i — i -
curve is a straight line through the point of maximum elongation and having
slope aeF, which is the final elastic stiffness of the material.
Besides the mechanical strain, temperature changes will cause an expan-
sion or a contraction em at potentially different rates for each material
M-AA? Aest) (8)
where the temperature elongation of material M = e,M; \LM = the thermal
expansion coefficient of material M; t = the analysis temperature; and ttest
= the temperature at which the conductor was tested.
The cable element uses the composite tension-elongation curve of Fig. 3.
The composite curve is constructed by shifting each material curve inde-
pendently by its temperature expansion e,M, then multiplying by the bare
conductor area A,. The curves are summed, keeping in mind that compres-
sion stress (negative sM) in a material is not allowed. This may cause kinks
in both the initial and final curves as shown in Fig. 3.
Given the average tension T in the cable, which can be determined from
fi, ft, and w, Eqs. 6, 7, and 8 can be used to calculate the elongation e for
initial, final, or creep conditions. Replacing the constant cable stiffness ae
with the secant stiffness (1007/e) for the current average tension T will re-
sult in the correct total cable stretch and thus the correct end forces f. With
this definition of ae (see Fig. 3), the original linear elastic cable element
formulation (Eqs. 1 and 2) remains valid for nonlinear materials. The Ja-
cobian matrix j should be modified to account for the dependence of ae on
/, and/ 2 . The cable element, as described in this section, can be used as a
substitute for all of the techniques used in the SAGTEN program. In addi-
tion, it can handle cables with unequal end elevations.
Pulley Element
The pulley element extends the concept of the cable element to the case
of a cable supported somewhere along its length by a sheave. As shown in
2377
to Final Composite
a
o Initial Composite
H
Equivalent
Stiffness
Material 1
, , , 1 , ,
Elongation (%strain)
Fig. 4, it is a three-node planar element with six nodal forces f and 6 degrees
of freedom x, two at each node. In the same manner as the cable element,
f is found by iteratively eliminating a residual vector r using Newton's method.
In this case, there are four residuals defined as the horizontal and vertical
misclosures at nodes i and j holding node k fixed. The residuals were derived
previously (McDonald and Peyrot 1988):
(xv x2)
(x3,x4)
T2
, ?! ~ B , Tj
(12)
laew
To simplify the residual equations, the following dependent variables are
used: p , and p2 = the horizontal and vertical tension components at takeoff
point A; p 3 and p 4 = the horizontal and vertical tension components at B;
T„ Tj, and Tk = the tensions at nodes i, j , and k, respectively; (3 = the swing
of the suspension element; Ls and aes = the length and elastic stiffness of
the suspension element, respectively; and Lx and L 2 = the unstretched lengths
of suspended cable in the left and right spans, respectively.
The independent unknowns u, chosen for convenience, are the unstretched
length of cable in the left span, the angle of declination from a vertical line
through the pulley hub to the left contact point A, the angle of declination
to the right contact point B, and the tension at A. Again, r is eliminated by
repeatedly improving u according to Eq. 5. Forcing r = 0 insures that one
of perhaps several equilibrium states has been found.
The pulley element implicitly distributes cable to each side of the sheave
in order to maintain continuous tension across the support; only the total
unstretched length of cable in the element is specified. In conventional finite
element and matrix displacement schemes, the length of an element is rarely
variable, making problems like this, in which the unstretched length of cable
in any given span is unknown, very difficult to solve. But with the pulley
element, very general, traditional solution methods can be used; it is treated
like any other element in an updated Lagrangian framework.
The pulley element also takes the form of a single subroutine PULFX.
Given the positions of the three nodes and the total, unstretched length of
cable in the element, PULFX returns the end forces f and local tangent stiff-
ness matrix k.
Clip Element
In the design of overhead transmission lines, one objective is to balance
the horizontal tension at each tangent tower. This results in a plumb insulator
string when the cable is initially clipped in. When the conductor is still in
2379
the construction sheaves, however, the total tension, rather than the hori-
zontal component, is balanced at each tower. If the supports are at signifi-
cantly different elevations, the cable will flow downhill, thus increasing lower
span sags while increasing tension in the higher spans. Some redistribution
of the cable among the spans may be necessary to insure equal horizontal
tension in each span when the insulators are installed. The amount of con-
ductor shifted at each support is called a "clipping offset" and the differences
between the sags in the sheaved and clipped conditions are called "sag cor-
rections." The clip element provides a convenient and accurate method of
computing offsets and corrections even in the roughest terrain.
The clip element, shown in Fig. 5, is very similar to the pulley element.
It is a three-node planar element with six forces f corresponding to 6 degrees
of freedom x. Again the forces are found using Eq. 5 to iteratively reduce
the four residuals r corresponding to the horizontal and vertical misclosures
at i and j . But while the pulley element preserves the total tension across a
sheave by letting TB = TA minus possible losses due to pulley inefficiency,
the clip element preserves the horizontal component of tension across an
insulator clip by forcing TB cos u3 = TA cos u2. Consequently, the insulator
is guaranteed to be plumb and/ 5 = 0 in all cases. The residual equations
follow immediately from Eqs. 9-12 by setting the radius r = 0. Instead of
u2 and u3 being angles to the contact points A and B, they are now interpreted
as angles normal to the left and right spans at the clip, respectively.
It is interesting to note that there is no physical counterpart for the clip
element, that is, no real mechanism distributes cable to maintain horizontal
tension at a support. It is simply a mathematical tool that forces constant
horizontal tension in the transmission line model and thereby determines pre-
cise insulator clip locations. Again, the element takes form in a single sub-
routine CLIPFX.
STATIC ANALYSIS
1. Given the structrure attachment locations, cable properties, and design hor-
izontal tension, element lengths and approximate nodal positions are calculated.
2. An analysis is done using clip elements to find exact insulator attachment
locations ensuring plumb insulators.
3. Clip elements are replaced by pulley elements and the analysis is redone.
Points directly under the structure attachments are compared to the insulator at-
tachment points to determine clipping offsets. Sags are compared to those found
in step 2 to determine sag corrections.
4. Pulley elements are replaced by triplets of cable elements, one for the in-
sulator string and one for each span of the clip element. The line is then analyzed
for any specified loading, creep, or temperature combination.
EXAMPLES
Clipping Offsets
A reference example (Winkleman 1959) is included here to demonstrate
the ability of WSag to calculate accurate clipping offsets. Using the method
described in the original reference, offsets are found by equating the total
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Attachment Elevation Span Sag (ft) Offset (in.) Sag (ft) Offset (in.)
(D (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
de 0.0 — — — — —
— — 450.0 7.16 — 7.2 —
12/6 -3.0 — — -2.3 — -2.0
— — 490.0 8.64 — 8.6 —
12/7 -50.0 — — -4.5 — -4.0
— — 690.0 17.38 — 17.3 —
12/8 -101.0 — — -9.8 — -9.0
— — 745.0 20.88 — 20.8 —
13/1 -190.0 — — -15.3 — -15.0
— — 650.0 16.45 — 16.4 —
13/2 -288.0 — — -18.1 — -17.0
— — 865.0 30.18 — 30.1 —
13/3 -405.0 — — -22.0 — -21.0
— — 760.0 24.07 — 24.0 —
13/4 -507.0 — — -23.1 — -22.0
— — 355.0 5.29 — 5.3 —
13/5 -545.0 — — -23.2 — -22.0
— — 870.0 32.30 — 32.3 —
13/6 -581.0 — — -22.3 — -21.0
— — 855.0 31.10 — 31.2 —
13/7 -522.0 — — -21.7 — -20.0
— — 360.0 5.48 — 5.5 —
14/1 ' -566.0 — — -21.2 — -21.0
— — 1,322.0 79.71 — 79.8 —
de -744.0 — — — — —
Note: conductor type: ACSR IBIS (397.5 Kcmil, 26/7); initial horizontal tension: 1,622
lb; 1 ft = 0.305 m; 1 lb = 4.45 N.
amount of slack in the properly clipped line to that when the conductor is
in the sheaves. Since this was a method intended for hand calculations, the
slack is calculated using the first term of the parabolic approximation. This
approximation, however, becomes less accurate for inclined spans, the very
case for which offsets become important. In the proposed method, offsets
based on exact solutions to the catenary model are found by forcing the total
amount of cable (rather than slack) to be equal in the clipped and sheaved
states. The answers remain valid regardless of inclination or large sag/span
ratios. In Table 1, the exact offsets for this 12-span example are compared
to the original results. The reader is referred to Winkleman (1959), for the
specifics of this example. Fig. 6 shows the actual tension profile (not the
horizontal component) along the line for the initial clipped-in case as well
as when the line is still in the sheaves.
Mountainous Terrain
In this example, an existing line of ACSR Bittern conductor (1272 Kcmil,
45/7) built in the Rocky Mountains is analyzed for two loading conditions:
30° with 1-in. (25.4-mm) radial ice, and 176° with bare conductor. The ini-
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D In Sheaves
T& Clipped
1600-
Tower
-i—i—H—i—r~ T—:—i 1—n 1—
-r
de 12/7 13/1 13/3 13/5 13/7
2800'
2700'
2500'
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A
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4 2 0 0 -- CI
• o n • B B- ti E! B m O
4000
3800-
3600
Tower
3400- —i r
2 4 10
-a SAGTEN WSag
14250
14000
13750 -.
13500
13250
B B B H 11 l\ a a B
13000 -.
12750 -j
12500 -^
Tower
12250 —i 1 1 1 r- -1—
4 6 10
SAGTEN WSag
Iv
Vertical Scale x 2
Ruling Span = 972 feet (296.2 m)
ACSR Drake Conductor
5 ft (1.52 m) Insulator Strings
2384
the vertical load on each structure is simply the half the total weight while
the horizontal load is dependent on the ruling span. For an inclined span,
the horizontal and vertical loading on each structure is a function of the
temperature and loading. Furthermore, since the insulator strings will swing
to equalize the horizontal tension component in each span (between dead
ends), the span loading cannot be analyzed independently but is affected by
the other spans. Consider the loads on towers A and B in the line shown in
Fig. 10. In this instance, level ruling span analysis is not sufficient without
considerable extra effort. Since WSag does not rely on the ruling span ap-
proximation but models the entire line geometry, the tower loads are found
directly. Table 2 gives the loads on Towers A, B, and E for several load
cases (using the initial stress-strain curve) based on an initial horizontal ten-
sion of 3,620 lb (16,100 N) at 60° F. Note the large longitudinal load (2,050
lb = 9,122 N) developed at Tower B for the heavy ice case. WSag could
also be used to model unbalanced loads along the line.
CONCLUSIONS
A new algorithm has been proposed that can determine exact sags and
tensions for a transmission line in any terrain, whether clipped or still in the
construction sheaves. It utilizes a nonlinear, matrix method in which global
force imbalances are iteratively eliminated to ensure static equilibrium. The
method is based on elements that model true catenary segments undergoing
arbitrarily large displacements with potential nonlinear material behavior. A
new computer program, WSag, has been presented which uses the proposed
algorithm to solve general sag-tension problems. Numerical examples were
included to demonstrate good agreement between the results of the proposed
method and more traditional procedures.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Some of the concepts described herein have evolved from research spon-
sored by the Electric Power Research Institute.
APPENDIX I. REFERENCES
Batterman, R. H. (1972). ALCOA's computer program for cable sag and tension
calculations. ALCOA Conductor Products Co., Pittsburgh, Pa.
Ehrenburg, D. O. (1935). "Transmission line catenary calculations." A1EE Trans-
actions, 54, 719-727.
Farr. H. H. (1980). Transmission line design manual. U.S. Department of the In-
terior, Water and Power Resources Service, Washington, D.C.
Hildebrand, F. B. (1956). Introduction to numerical analysis, McGraw-Hill, New
York, N.Y.
McDonald, B. M., and Peyrot, A. H. (1988). "Analysis of cable suspended in sheaves."
J. Struct. Engrg., ASCE, 114(3), 693-706.
Peyrot, A. H., and Goulois, A. M. (1979). "Analysis of cable structures." Comput.
Struct., 10, 805-813.
Winkleman, P. F. (1959). "Sag-tension computations and field measurements of the
Bonneville power administration." Trans. AIEE, 78, 1532-1548.
2386
Subscripts
i,j = node numbers;
M = material;
m,n = degrees of freedom; and
r = iteration number.
2387