WG B2.

25
REPORT

A liaison between Cigre and IEC

Convener: Umberto Cosmai (IT) - Secretary: Jean Marie Asselin (CA)

Members:
Louis Cloutier (CA), Giorgio Diana (IT), Peter Dulhunty (AU), Thadeu A.Furtado (BR),
Sylvain Guglielmini (FR), Claude Hardy (CA), David Hearnshaw (UK), Bertie Jacobs (ZA),
Rolf kleveborn (SE), Hans J.Krispin (DE), Marta Landeira (ES), Konstantin O. Papailiou (GR),
David Sunkle (US), Sergio Thaddey (CH); Wolfgang Troppauer (AT),

Corresponding members:
Jérome Brocard (FR), Julien Garnier (FR), Alessandra Manenti (IT), Alberto Nalda (ES),
Charles Rawlins (US), Jack Roughan (AU)

Associated experts:
Tom Alderton (US), Josè A. Araujo (BR), Rodolfo Claren (IT), Maggie Emery (US),
Miguel Estarellas (ES), David Havard (CA), Sergey Kolosov (RU), Philippe Mouchard (FR),
Serge Pichot (FR), Craig Pon (CA), Carl Tamm (US), Pierre Van Dyke (CA), Brian Wareing (UK).

Introduction Task Force 3, Chairman: H-J Krispin

It has been a long time tradition, that within the broad and
successful cooperation between IEC and Cigre, IEC may request
Cigre to prepare the technical basis for certain IEC standards, as
the ones presented in this paper. This task is facilitated, because
often the experts involved are common members in the relevant
Cigre and IEC working groups».
Under request of IEC Technical Committees TC7 (Overhead
Electrical Conductors) and TC11 (Overhead Lines), Cigre Study
Committee B2 constituted, in 2007, the Working Group WG25
titled: Preparatory studies on specifications for revision of IEC
testing of Self Damping and conductor fatigue characteristics
(new IEC Spec.), for high temperature fittings (IEC 61284), for
test on spacers (IEC 61854) and on dampers (IEC 61897).
The terms of reference of WG B2.25 were to prepare the
revision of existing IEC standards and to recommend new
standards, required by IEC, relating to overhead lines.
Scope: Provide IEC TC11 MT1 with a proposal for the
revision of IEC 61284 Standard titled “Overhead Lines -
Requirements and tests for fittings” [3]
Task Force 4, Chairman: W. Troppauer
Scope: Provide IEC TC11 MT1 with a proposal for the
revision of IEC 61854 Standard titled: “Overhead Lines -
Requirements and tests for spacers” [4]
Task Force 5, Chairman: D. Sunkle
Scope: Provide IEC TC11 MT1 with a proposal for the
revision of IEC 61897 Standard titled “Overhead Lines
- Requirements and tests for Stockbridge type aeolian
vibration dampers” [5]
IEC TC7 set up two Project Teams named PT3 and PT4 for
elaborating the proposals of TF1 and TF2 respectively, in order
to prepare the new standards. The meetings of IEC TC7 PT3
and PT4 were held during the meetings of CIGRE WG B2.25.

The tasks assigned by IEC to WG25 were distributed among
five Task Forces, as follows:
Task Force 1, Chairman: K.O. Papailiou
Scope: Provide IEC TC7 with a proposal for the new IEC
62567 Standard titled: “Method for testing self-damping
characteristics of stranded conductors” [1]
Task Force 2, Chairman: L. Cloutier
Scope: Provide IEC TC7 with a proposal for the new IEC
62568 Standard titled: “Method for fatigue testing of
conductors for overhead lines” [2]
IEC TC11 Maintenance Team (MT1) is in charge to evaluate
the WG25 proposals for the maintenance of the existing
standards, for either issuing corrigendum to these standards or
recommend rewriting by WG09 if the changes are substantial.
Proposals for new IEC standards
New IEC 62567 Standard on conductor self-damping
measurements
Conductor self-damping is a physical characteristic of the
conductor that defines its capacity to dissipate energy internally

34 No. 273 - April 2014 ELECTRA


while vibrating. For conventional stranded conductors, energy
dissipation can be attributed mostly to friction between
overlapping individual wires.
With the great concern regarding the vibration of overhead
conductors and the emphasis on the improvement of existing
methods for investigating and controlling the problem, there
is a growing requirement for reliable information on the
self-damping characteristics of conductors. This parameter is a
principal factor in determining the response of a conductor to
alternating forces induced by the wind.
Conductor self-damping is generally not specified by the
manufacturer but can be determined through measurements
performed on a laboratory test span (Figure 1). Methods
to extrapolate the self-damping parameters to untested
conventional stranded conductors are available but a great
variety of new conductors types is increasingly used on
transmission lines (OPGW, ADSS; ACSS, GTACSR, etc.)
Figure 1 - Scheme of a typical laboratory test bench for conductor self-damping measurements – Power method
Figure 2 – Schema of a typical resonance fatigue test bench
WG B2.25
REPORT
and some of them may have self-damping characteristics
and mechanisms different from the conventional stranded
conductors.
The scope of the new IEC Standard is to provide test
procedures including apparatus and accuracies, for the
measurement of conductor self-damping and for the data
reduction formats.
New IEC 62568 Standard on conductor fatigue tests
It has long been recognized that conductor fatigue and its
resulting consequence, the breaking of conductor strands, was
due to a phenomenon known as “fretting fatigue” in positions
on the conductor where its motion is restrained, e.g. at the
suspension clamp.
Fatigue behaviour of conductors cannot simply be calculated
from the fatigue characteristics of the materials used and the
stresses that occur and must be determined by fatigue tests
conducted on specific conductor/clamp systems reproducing as
closely as possible the field loading conditions (Figure 2).
Fatigue test data are available only for few conductor sizes
and types that are in use, and such data are expensive to acquire.
Moreover, results from tests on one conductor size are not
necessarily applicable to others. For these reasons it has been
deemed important and useful to develop an IEC Standard
based on the previous considerations to characterize the fatigue
behaviour of conductor/clamp systems. It would prevent the
further grow of the present trend that is to extrapolate the
application of fatigue characteristics of a given conductor/
clamp system to another.
No. 273 - April 2014 ELECTRA 35
 WG B2.25
REPORT
Figure 3 - Hexagonal spacer dampers
Processing of the new standard proposals
The proposals for the new standards on conductor fatigue
tests and conductor self-damping measurements were discussed
at the WG B2.25 meetings in Paris (August 2008), Bruges
(April 2009), and Toronto (September 2009). The relevant
final documents were presented to IEC TC7 PT3 and PT4 in
December 2009.
IEC TC7 circulated the Committee Draft (CD) of the two
standards among the IEC National Committees, on January
2010. Comments were received on March 2010 and were
discussed during the PT3 and PT4 meetings in Winchester
(April 2010).
The preparation of the Committee Draft for Voting (CDV)
relevant to the two standards has been discussed during the PT3
and PT4 meeting in Bordeaux (August 2010) and finalized in
January 2011.
The circulation of the CDVs relevant to the two standards has
been carried out during August 2011 – January 2012.
The National Committees approved the two draft standards
with additional comments received in August 2012.
The Final Draft International Standard (FDIS) of IEC 62567
completed with the relevant French version had been submitted
to IEC CO on April 2013, it was circulated among the National
Committees on June 2013 and was approved for publication as
an International Standard on August 2013. The FDIS of IEC
62568 is editing.
36 No. 273 - April 2014 ELECTRA
CIGRE Technical brochure
on conductor self-damping
measurements
Beside the proposal for a new standard on conductor
self-damping measurements, CIGRE SC B2 considered it
appropriated to prepare a new Technical Brochure describing
the experience gained and the solutions adopted by the various
laboratory engineers as well as the theories formulated by
the scientists on this matter, during the last forty years. The
Technical Brochure 482 titled “State of the Art for Testing
Self-Damping Characteristics of conductors for Overhead
Lines” [6] has been prepared by WG B2.25 and published by
Cigre in December 2011.
The relevant Executive Summary has been published in
ELECTRA No. 259 in December 2011.
Proposals for the maintenance of
existing standards
The maintenance of the existing standards considered the
following points:
1. Update the normative references and bibliography.
2. Correct editorial and technical errors of the previous
versions.
3. Suggest changes in the test procedures and/or parameters
based on the user’s experience.
4. Consider the extension of the standards to new types of
conductors.

Figure 4 - Layout of a laboratory stand for the characteristic tests and fatigue tests of vibration dampers.
5. Specify, as far as possible, test parameters and acceptance
values rather than leave them to the agreement between
purchaser and supplier.
6. Avoid as far as possible alternative procedures for the same
test.
IEC 61284 Overhead Lines - Requirement and Test for
Fittings
Regarding the possibility to incorporate requirements for
OPGW fittings and for high temperature conductor fittings,
WG B2.25 suggested the following.
There are several types of high-temperature conductors and
tests that may be necessary for one type of conductor may be not
for another type. Moreover, there is not sufficient experience
with the fittings of these conductors to allow a standardization
of the test procedures. Therefore, at this stage, it is impossible
to formulate test procedures to be included in IEC 61284.
Rather, it is proposed to appoint a Working Group, within
Cigre, with the mandate of compiling test methods currently
used in the industry with the objective to present these methods
in a Technical Brochure. This may serve as a basis for a future
inclusion of tests of fittings for high temperature conductors in
IEC 61284 or in a separate standard.
WG B2.25 also proposed to prepare a different standard for
testing fittings for OPGW.
WG B2.25
REPORT
IEC 61854 Overhead lines - Requirement and test for Spacers
CIGRE WG B2.25 suggested amendments for the maintenance
of IEC Standard 61854 in order to achieve the following:
1. Consider the application of spacers on high temperature
conductors specifying additional test for clamp slip, clamp
grip endurance, characterization of elastic and damping
properties and ageing of non-metallic materials.
2. Introduce an additional test device for the simulated short
circuit current test (variant C) that is more practical,
and closer to the real situation, as it can be set up with
conductors or wires in a tensile testing machine.
3. Introduce test at low temperature on fastener components,
deemed necessary after vast failures of conical spring
washers in service, probably due to embitterment at low
temperature, have been reported.
4. Prescribe a different procedure for subspan oscillation tests,
aeolian vibration tests and fatigue tests on spacer clamps
having rod attachments, in order to involve the rods in the
tests.
5. Modify the test procedure for the aeolian vibration tests as
the original procedure resulted of insignificant effect.
IEC 61897 Overhead lines - Requirement and test for
Stockbridge type Aeolian vibration dampers
Amendments to IEC 61897 have been proposed in order to
achieve the following:
No. 273 - April 2014 ELECTRA 37
 WG B2.25
REPORT

1. Extension of the standard to other types of dampers.
Stockbridge type dampers are by far the most used on
transmission lines. However, in the last decades there has
been an increasing interest on spiral vibration dampers for
application on OPGW and ADSS.
Elastomer based dampers have been in operation for many
years in the form of dumbbell torsional dampers. Recently,
a new type of elastomer based damper has been designed
and put in operation in Canada.
It has been proposed to consider in IEC 61897 Standard
all the above mentioned dampers. For this purpose, the
requirements should be extended to the three damper types
and the title of the standard should be modified as follows:
“Overhead lines - Requirements and tests for aeolian
vibration dampers».
2. Application to High temperature conductors (HTC).
The application of this standard to HTC has been considered
specifying additional high temperature test in clamp slip
test and damper characteristic test.
The behaviour of spiral dampers on HTC has not been
considered as this type of damper is used on shield wires,
OPGW and ADSS only.
The behaviour of elastomeric dampers on HTC conductors
has not been considered for lack of information. Reference
to test for the same application should be found in IEC61854
Standard on spacers [4].
3. Simplification of the procedure for the effectiveness test.
For this purpose, the effectiveness test has been made in
accordance with IEEE 664 Standard [7].
4. Fatigue test improvement.
Clause relevant to fatigue test with the resonant frequency
method has been modified to distribute more evenly the
fatigue stress among the two parts of the Stockbridge and
elastomer dampers. Fatigue test for spiral damper should
be conducted on a test span.
5. Verification of the attachment of weight to messenger cable.
It has been reported from different sources that the required
pulling force 5 kN is overestimated and difficult to achieve
with small masses. It has been suggested to consider
different pulling forces for different damper sizes.
Processing of the proposals for the maintenance of the
existing standards
The revision proposals has been discussed at the WG B2.25
meetings in Paris (August 2008) Bruges (April 2009), Toronto
(September 2009), Winchester (April 2010), Bordeaux (August
2010) and Bangkok (2011).
During the IEC TC11 MT1 meeting in Cairo, Egypt, on 19
November 2009, it was decided to put back the maintenance
results date of the standards to 2012 (originally scheduled for
2011).
Final proposals have been presented to IEC TC11 Maintenance
Team (MT1) in January 2012.
5. conclusions and future work
Under request of IEC TC 7 and TC11, CIGRE WG B2.25
has proposed for two new standards and the revision of three
existing standards as described in the preceding.
The tasks assigned to WG B2.25 have been successfully
accomplished. For further collaboration with IEC, for new
standards or for the maintenance of existing standards related
to transmission lines, a new SC B2 working group will have to
be established.

References

[1] IEC 62567 Ed. 1-0 - Method for testing self-damping characteristics of stranded conductors. To be published
[2] IEC 62568 Ed. 1-0 - Method for fatigue testing of conductors for overhead lines. To be published
[3] IEC 61284 Overhead Lines - Requirement and test for fittings - First edition - 1997-99
[4] IEC 61854 Overhead lines - Requirement and test for spacers - First edition - 1998-99
[5] IEC 61897 Overhead lines - Requirement and test for Stockbridge type aeolian vibration dampers - First edition - 1998-99
[6] CIGRE WG B2.25. Technical Brochure No.482 “State of the Art for Testing Self-Damping Characteristics of Conductors for Overhead Lines”
December 2011.
[7] IEEE Std. 664.1993. “Guide for the laboratory measurements of the power dissipation characteristics of aeolian vibration damper for single
conductor”. IEEE Power Engineering Society.

38 No. 273 - April 2014 ELECTRA