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Madisson, WI 53719, U.S.A.

Phone: 608.238.2171 Fax: 608.2388.9241
Emaill: info@powerlinesystems.com
m
URL: https://www.poowerlinesystem
ms.com/

Therrmal Ratting in P
PLS-CAD
DD

Intrroduction
n
T
Thermal ratin
ng calculations let you determine steady-state or transient relationships between cconductor
a electrical current based
ttemperature and d on ambientt weather. Theese calculatio
ons, coupled w
with PLS-CAD
DD's ability
tto display and
d check line clearances at various
v tempe
eratures, provvide you with
h all the necesssary tools to
o rate your
liines. This can
n be done fo
or the more common static or season
nal ratings orr for a more complicated
d Ambient
A hermal rating calculations are accessed
Adjusted Rating (AAR). Th d through thee Sections/ T
Thermal Callculations
a TNSP)... menus.
((IEEE, CIGRE and

Supported Codes/Sttandards
A
All thermal ratting calculatio
ons performed by PLS-CAD
DD are based on the follow
wing standard
ds:

 IEEE Standard
S 738--2006: Standa
ard for Calcula
ating the Cur rent-Temperaature Relation
nship of Bare Overhead
Conductors
 IEEE Standard
S 738--2012: Standa
ard for Calcula
ating the Cur rent-Temperaature Relation
nship of Bare Overhead
Conductors
 E Brochure 20
CIGRE 07 August 200
02: Thermal Be
ehaviour of O
Overhead Con
nductors
 CIGRE
E Brochure 60
01 December 2014: Guide for Rating Calculations of Overrhead Lines
f Thermal R
 TNSP 2009: Operattional Line Ratings

Y
You should re
efer to these documents
d for all underlyin
ng assumptio ns.

Pro
operties needed
n fo
or Cabless
P
Prior to conducting any ra
ating calculattion, you sho
ould make su re that the cconductors ussed in your P
PLS-CADD
m
model have proper thermal properties defined.
d

T
This section details
d the un
nits for the va
arious properrties that can
n be entered into the Thermal Rating P
Properties
ssection of the
e Electrical ta ow (accessibl e via Section
ab in the Cable Data windo ns/ Cable File
es/ Create N
New Cable
F
File... or Sectiions/ Cable Files/
F xisting Cable File...). Form ulas for derivved propertiess are also provvided as a
Edit Ex
g
guide to creatting custom cables.
c

In addition, Appendix
A A provides
p an overview
o of th
he various caable propertiees and what code uses th
he various
p
properties to guide the inp
put accordinglly.
Figure 1 - Cable Data Dialog highligh
hting the data entryy fields needed to peerform Thermal Ratting calculations forr cable/wire files in the Physical and Electrical tabs
 T
Thermal bime
etallic propertties for a cable are enabled
d by checking
g the Bimetalllic check boxx in the Therm
mal Rating
P
Properties secction on the Electrical
E tab. The es for the outeer strands aree always visible and represent all the
T propertie
ccable's strands when bimetallic properties are disablled. The prop
perties for thee core strandss are only vissible when
tthe bimetallic properties arre enabled, th
his is shown in
n Figure 2.

Figure 2 - In
ndication of how
w to allow for bimetallic therm
mal property inp
put for composiite wires

M
Most thermal properties will
w have two inputs when
n modeling b
bimetallic con
nductors – on
ne value for the outer
sstrands and another
a value for the core strands. Be sure
s to propeerly differentiiate between outer and co
ore strand
m
material/geom
metric propertties to ensure
e that the final composite ccable properties are correcct.

N
Note that the use of °C an ature units arre interchangeeable for thermal propertiies because the rate of
nd °K tempera
cchange for Ce
elsius and Kelvvin are the same. PLS-CAD
DD typically usses °C while some propertiies may tradittionally be
p
provided using °K.

C
Cable files also allow the bimetallic
b mod ess/strain via a similar, butt independent, check box under the
deling of stre
P
Physical tab of
o the Cable Data window
w. The two ind
dependent bim ngs allow a cable to be modeled as
metallic settin
monometallic for the stresss/strain relatio
m or thermal calculations if so
onship and ass bimetallic fo o desired.

Input Propertties
S
See the IEEE Standard
S 738, CIGRE Broch
hure 207, or CIGRE
C Brochu
ure 601 for th
he definition o
of the input p
properties
as they relate to thermal ra
a ating functions.

Pro
operty SI Units Imperial Units
U Comm
ments

Emissivity Coefficiient dimensionlesss dimensio

onless See a pplicable stand
dard.

Solar Absorption Coefficient dimensionlesss dimensio

onless See a pplicable stand
dard.

Me
easurement Tem
mperature °C °F

The uunits for this property are typiically provided in SI so Imperial

Rad
dial Thermal Co
onductivity W/(m·°K) W/(m·°°K)
units are the same.

Hea
at Capacity (W·s)/(m·°C)) (W·s)/(ftt·°F) Calcu late using (c·γ· A) from the ph
hysical properties table below.

DC Resistivity uΩ·cm uΩ·incch

DC Resistance Coefficient 1/°C 1/°F

Uniit Weight N/m lb/ftt Calcu late using (g·γ··A) from the ph
hysical properties table below
w.

Samee as A in physical properties table below but with different

Cro
oss Section Area mm2 in2
units.

Hea
at Capacity Coe
efficient 1/°C 1/°F

Layyers dimensionlesss dimensio

onless

Corre Diameter mm in
Physical Properties
The above formulas for heat capacity and unit weight require different units for some properties compared to
what is used in the PLS-CADD cable file editor. Refer to the following table for the correct units to use with those
formulas.

Symbol Property SI Units Imperial Units Comments

Same as input area but different units for

A cross section area m2 ft2
formulas above.

c specific heat capacity (W·s)/(kg·°C) (W·s)/(lb·°F)

SI requires mass density and Imperial

γ density kg/m3 lb/ft3
requires weight density.

gravitational acceleration or
g 9.807 m/s2 1 Imperial value is dimensionless.
conversion factor

Types of calculations available in PLS-CADD

The types of calculations that can be performed are described in more detail in the PLS-CADD User’s Manual
(Section 11.2.6. Thermal Ratings).

Broadly speaking there are three types of calculators, these are Steady-state thermal ratings, Transient Thermal
Ratings and then the Batch Thermal Calculator (which also performs Steady-state calculations, but for multiple
wires/sections at a time).

Steady-state Thermal Rating

Steady-state Thermal Rating is defined as the constant electrical current which yields the maximum allowable
conductor temperature for specified weather conditions and conductor characteristics under the assumption that
the conductor is in thermal equilibrium (steady state).

For given conductor properties and ambient weather conditions, you can use:

1) Sections/ Thermal Calculations (IEEE, CIGRE and TNSP)/ Steady-State Conductor Temperature… to
determine the conductor temperature for a given electric current,
2) Sections/ Thermal Calculations (IEEE, CIGRE and TNSP)/ Steady-State Thermal Rating… to
determine the current that causes a given conductor temperature, or
3) Sections/ Thermal Calculations (IEEE, CIGRE and TNSP)/ Steady-State Temperature vs Current
Graph… to display the relationship between the two.

To extend the capability of these calculators, PLS-CADD enables you to determine the maximum operating
temperature that all conductors in a span (or the full line) can achieve using the Lines/ Reports/ Thermal Rating
Report…

The maximum temperature is that for which the vertical required clearance under a wire just becomes insufficient.
This vertical clearance is to the TIN model of the ground, if such a TIN is available, and/or to surveyed points
within a certain horizontal offset of the wires. This maximum temperature can then be used to back-calculate the
line’s Thermal Rating using the Sections/ Thermal Calculations (IEEE, CIGRE and TNSP)/ Steady-State
Thermal Rating…

Note that the Thermal Rating check is a vertical only check, as shown in the Graphic below:
 Figure 3 - Illustration of how various clearan
nce checks are p
performed

A
As such you can encounterr survey pointts with a verticcal violation, but which aree horizontallyy far enough a
away from
tthe conductorr to not actua
ally be a violation. Thus, on ating report currently is
ne suggested way to use the thermal ra
a
an iterative ap
pproach.

S
Start by using horizontal cleearance requirement in your feature
g a large horizzontal offset that matchess the largest h
ccode table.

T
Then, if a span has a verticcal thermal violation on a feature codee with a horizzontal clearan
nce requireme
ent that is
le ally specified, run the therm
ess than initia port again witth a horizontaal offset that matches the horizontal
mal rating rep
cclearance requ
uirement for that
t feature code.

A few iteration
ns of this app
proach may be
e necessary to
o identify con
ntrolling pointts.

T
The inputs and
d options for the Thermal Rating reportt are as follow
ws:
 The Coondition drop down n menu allows the uuser to select the cable
conditioon to use for the re
eport.
Option to select desired a attachment sets to iinclude in the report.
Set and Option to Select desired d attachment phases to include in the
Tempeerature report.
Range Input tto set the minimum m wire temperaturre for the spans be eing
analyzeed.
Input tto set the maximum m wire temperaturre for the spans be eing
analyzeed.

Select ffrom a list the feature codes and asso ociated clearances that
will be used to determin ne the maximum te emperature rating and
reporteed within the Therm mal Rating report.
Input ffor the maximum offset for survey p points and TIN mo odel.
This is tthe maximum offse et from the wire forr survey points and TIN
model to be included with hin the report
Feature Codes
Input ffor maximum offsset from wire for ground points to o be
for Survey
S
includeed in profile beloww wire. This is usedd when the program m is
Point Checks
unable to determine the ground elevation below a wire from the
TIN mo odel.
Input ffor maximum leng gth of line segmen nt for inclusion in the
profile below the wire. A m maximum segmentt length field is used to
preventt interpolation be etween survey poin nts which are too o far
apart.

Display of
Cross Section
S
Option s to display cross section and profile g
graphics within the
and Profile
P
thermaal rating report.
Imag
ges in
Option too include vertical clearances to surveyy points. The verticcal Repport
clearance
es are defined in the feature code ta able. If this option is Option to sort and dispplay results per sspan displayed in the
not selected the report will not
n check clearance es to survey points.. Sort Re
esults by Thermaal Rating Summary report by maximum wire temperaturre or
Option to check vertical cllearances to TIN. If this option is not critical station.
selected the
t report will not check
c clearances to
o the ground surfacce.
Option to
o draw markers at locations that contrrol rating. This draw
ws
Optio
ons
a red marker listing the maxximum conductor te
emperature per spa an
d at the controlling station.
displayed
Option to
o draw markers at lo
ocations where clea
arances are checked.
Option to
o erase markers beffore running the report.
Option to
o save rated tempe
erature in a structu
ure comment for usse
elsewhere
e.
 Sele
ect the This dialog allows the
e user to define sspecific structures or
structtures to nge of structures tto run the report on.
a ran
u
use
This dialog allows the e user to define sp
pecific circuit to
Sele
ect the analyyze.
circuitts to use ed within Section
The ccircuits are define ns/ Electric/ Define
Circuuits and Phases.
This menu allows for tthe selections of electrical phases to
Sele
ect the inclu de into the reporrt.
phase
es to use The pphases are define ed within Sectionns/ Electric/ Defin ne
Circuuits and Phases.
Sele
ection Summ mary of structures, circuits and phases that therrmal
sum
mmary rating
g report will analyze.
O
Once the repo
ort is run (by clicking
c OK in
n the dialog’s displayed abo
ove), the softw
ware will:

 Produ
uce a report showing the
e maximum operating te mperature fo
or the selecte
ed spans, ph
hases and
circuitts, with any graphics selectted. The report includes:
o A section on ed clearances for the selectted feature co
o the require odes,
o A list of the sections tha
at have been evaluated,
o A Thermall Rating Sum
mmary, which lists the crit ical point forr each span and notifies you what
feature code that point is. This secction also inc ludes any grraphical viewss (Profile and
d/or Cross
section vie
ews)
o A Thermal Rating Detaill table listing the critical po
oint for each w
wire in each sspan.
o A Thermal Rating by Sp
pan Graph (inccluded in the report and ass a stand-alon
ne window.
 In add
dition, any Ma e chosen will be placed in the model vieews for you to
arkers that are o scrutinize and study.

Figurre 4 - Excerpt fro

om the Therma
al Rating Reporrt
 Figure
F 5 - Therm
mal Rating by SSpan Graph

Figure 6 - Markers leftt behind after ru

unning a Therm
mal Rating Repo
ort in the 3D viiew

T
Transient The
ermal Rating
g
W
When the line
e current sudd
denly changes, or to consid
der the line’s rating underr emergency cconditions yo
ou need to
cconsider the transient beha
avior of the wires.
w

T
The two optio
ons in PLS-CADD here are:

ons/ Thermal Calculation

1) Sectio ns (IEEE 738 and
a CIGRE)// Conductor T
Temp. for Currrent Change
e…, which
determ
mines the co
onductor tem
mperature forr a specified
d step increase in current. You could
d use this
inform
mation to find
d out how much
m time you
u would havee in an emerrgency situation until yourr required
cleara
ance is violate
ed.
2) Sectio
ons/ Therma
al Calculatio
ons (IEEE 738
7 and CIG al or Fault Rating…
GRE)/ Transiient Therma
determ
mines the electrical curre will cause the conductor to reach a specified
ent step increase that w
tempe
erature in a specified amou
unt of time. This
T is useful tto determine the maximum
m fault curren
nt capacity
of a line.
B
Batch Therma
al Calculatorr
P
Possibly the most
m useful off the calculato
ors for Steadyy-state Thermal Ratings is tthe Batch The
ermal Calculattor. This is
a
accessed thro
ough the Secctions/ Therm
mal Calculattions (IEEE 7
738 and CIG
GRE)/ Batch T
Thermal Callculator…
ccommand. This calculator allows you to ultiple Steady State Condu
o perform mu uctor Tempera
ature and Ste
eady State
T
Thermal Ratin
ng Calculation d provides a link to imporrt the required data for the spans from
ns at once and m a current
d
design. It can also export the results ba
ack into the current
c desig
gn as the Disp
play Weatherr Case for the
e sections.
FFigure 7 show
ws the Batch Thermal
T Calcu
ulator table th
hat you can filll out manually or you can choose to im
mport data
ffrom your pro
oject.

Figure 7 - Ba
atch Thermal Ca
alculator

EEach row in the table reprresents a calcculation and the user can enter a desccription for each of these rows and
input the nece n the table dependent on the calculation
essary data in n type selecteed by the radiio buttons in the upper
le
eft corner of the dialog box
b (either de he conductor temperaturee for a given current or finding the
etermining th
ccurrents for given
g ures). Severall of the inputts in the table such as th
conducttor temperatu he day of the
e year and
g
global wind direction
d mayy be the same
e for all the calculations iin the table. You can sele
ect the ‘Defau
ult Values’
b
button at the bottom of th
he table and nominate
n ues for these items. The So
valu ort table by o
option at the b
bottom of
tthe table gives you control on how the table
t is sorted
d.

Y ort conductorr data from an existing design into thee table using the ‘Import P
You can impo Project Wires’ button at
tthe top of the
e dialog box.. This will brin
ng up the Im
mport from P g box where you can choo
Project dialog ose which
vvoltages you wish
w to imporrt as well as se
et default valu
ues for these sections.

Iff the project has a coordin

nate system defined
d in Terrain/ Coord
dinate System
m/ Define…, you can checck the box
a
at the top of the
t table and have the pro
ogram calculate the wind t o conductor angle automa
atically from tthe global
w
wind direction muth if you use the ‘Import Project Wirees‘ command.
n and line azim

T hermal Calcul ator Report tthat documents your resu

The ‘Generatee Report’ buttton will creatte a Batch Th ults. It will
ables you havve selected in the table for each calculattion.
rrecord all varia
Iff you used th
he ‘Import Pro
oject Wires’ bu
utton and performed the ccalculations in
n the table, yyou can choosse to click
o
on the Save computed
c cable temperaturre in Section ‘As
‘ Surveyed’ temperature and Display Weather Casee… button
a
at the top of the table tha
at automatically takes the calculated ca ble temperatture from the
e table for eacch section
a
and populatess the Display
y Weather Ca
ase for each of
o the section
ns with this ccalculated tem
mperature (yo
ou can see
tthe results clearly if you navvigate to Secttions/ Table…
…).

Figu
ure 8 – Warning
g given when sa
aving core temp
peratures from the Batch Therrmal Calculatorr in PLS-CADD

T
This calculated
d temperature for each sp
pan is also pla
aced in the Ah
head Span Surveyed Wirre Temp column of the
W hs and Attachment Stifffness table. Doing this allows you to leverage
Wire Length e the built iin display
ccondition/wea
ather case ca
alled ***Surve
eyed Wire Temp.***
T whiich allows fo
or each span to be displayed at its
ccalculated surveyed temp hout forcing you to creaate multiple weather cases in your Criteria/
perature with
W
Weather… table.

Iff you importe

ed wires for each
e individua
al span of a section,
s you w
will be promp
pted for whatt temperature
e you wish
tto export to the
t model forr each section
n as the Display Weather C
Case Temperature. You ca
an choose bettween the
m
minimum, ma
aximum, or avverage tempe
erature of all the spans in
n the section.. This will auttomatically ch
hange the
d
display of the
e section to the
t selected option. If you want to diisplay each o
of the spans with their ass-surveyed
ttemperature, then
t you can select the op
ption *** Surve
eyed Wire Tem
mp *** for thee Display Wea
ather Case.

N
NOTE:

1. The Cable
C Steady-State Currentt input for the table is forr the individual wire based
d on the cable file. It is
not fo ed phase so the engineer would
or the bundle w w to split the amperage on a phase
need tto decide how
for inp
put in the tab
ble for the wire.
2. If you
u close the Ba
atch Thermal Calculator table and then
n come back tto it, it is reco
ommended tto click on
mport Project Wires' button
the 'Im n again. The Batch
B Thermaal Calculator d
does not upda
ate automaticcally if you
have made any cha
anges to yourr wire model since
s the last time you werre in the table
e.
3. The use
u of CIGRE Brochure 20
07 requires sttrand and co
ore material information w
when calculatting some
results.
4. The use of CIGRE Brochure
B 601 requires the radial
r therma l conductivityy property in tthe cable file..

T
The batch the
ermal calculattor can be ussed to create
e seasonal, daay/night or A usted Ratings (AAR) by
Ambient Adju
vvarying input parameters such
s ation (by changing the
as Ambient temperature and calcculated Globaal Solar Radia
d
day of the yea
ar and time off day).
 Appendix A
Matrix showing how cable data is used in the Thermal Rating reports:

IEEE Cigre TNSP

Comments
Cable Property Tab 738: 2006 738: 2012 P1283/D8 (ETC)
1
207 601 2009
Bimetallic conductor Physical 
Cable type Physical  Only AAC, AAAC, ACSR & AACSR supported
Cast rod strands  Manual input – not stored in cable file
Core cross section area Electrical  
Core DC resistivity Electrical Only used for reporting
Core DC resistance coeff. Electrical Only used for reporting
Core diameter Electrical   
Core heat capacity Electrical     
Core heat capacity coeff. Electrical  
Core strand diameter Physical 
Core strand number Physical 
Core thermal expansion coeff. Physical 
Core unit weight Electrical  
2  
Cross section area Calculated
Emissivity coeff. Electrical     
Measurement temperature Electrical  
Outer cross section area Electrical  
Outer DC resistivity Electrical  
Outer DC resistance coeff. Electrical  
Outer heat capacity Electrical     
Outer heat capacity coeff. Electrical  
Outer strand diameter Physical    
Outer strand layers Electrical 
Outer strand number Physical 
Outer thermal expansion coeff. Physical 
Outer unit weight Electrical  
Outside diameter Physical     
Radial thermal conductivity Electrical   
Resistances at temperatures Electrical     
Sag-tension related 
Solar absorption coeff. Electrical     
Temperatures for resistances Electrical     
Thermal bimetallic Electrical    
Ultimate tension Physical 

Notes:
1. ETC - Elevated Temperature Creep refer to https://www.powline.com/technotes/Elevated_Temperature_Creep.pdf.
2. Total area should equal the sum of areas for outer and core strands based on strand quantity and diameter.