Abstract
The ultimate breaking strength of conductors always plays a vital role in the long-term safe operation of transmission lines and it should be carefully considered in the designing of a conductor. While limited literature has been released regarding the strength calculation of ACCC (Aluminum Conductor Composite Core) conductors. In this study, a finite element method based on real conductor samples is proposed to evaluate the strength of the ACCC conductor, and investigate on how diameters (or sectional areas) of the composite core and aluminum strands influence the conductors’ breaking strength, thereby helping engineers design a proper diameter of an ACCC conductor. The finite element analysis shows that increasing the sectional area of the composite core leads to a larger breaking strength than increasing an equal sectional areas of aluminum strands, which is in line with the tensile experimental results. In specific, the relative errors between the simulated breaking strength and the experimental results are as low as less than 3%. Therefore, the finite element method presented in this work, to some extent, fills in the blank of strength calculation for ACCC conductors, and in practical terms, it could serves as guidelines for conductor-design engineers.
Highlights
In recent years, the Aluminum Conductor Composite Core (ACCC) conductor has been widely used in overhead transmission lines due to its merits of high specific strength, light weight, and low lag at high temperature compared with the traditional Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced (ACSR) conductor [1,2,3,4,5].the ACCC conductor consists of two-layer aluminum strands and a composite core based on carbon fibers and glass fibers, which has successfully replaced the high weight steel core in ACSR conductors [5]
The maximum von Mises stress to the two-layer aluminum strands SEQV-2 and SEQV-3 reaches 88.81MPa and 80.48MPa respectively, which (b) Figure 4. (a) Curve of von Mises stresses to the wire model over axial displacement loads, (b) Curve of von Mises stresses to the two-layer aluminum strands over axial displacement loads. (SEQV-1: the von Mises stress to the composite core, SEQV-2: the von Mises stress to the inner aluminum strands, SEQV-3: the von Mises stress to the outer aluminum strands)
A finite element method based on real ACCC conductor samples is proposed to investigate on how sectional areas of both the composite core and aluminum strands affects the breaking strength of ACCC conductors
Summary
The Aluminum Conductor Composite Core (ACCC) conductor has been widely used in overhead transmission lines due to its merits of high specific strength, light weight, and low lag at high temperature compared with the traditional Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced (ACSR) conductor [1,2,3,4,5].As shown in Figure 1, the ACCC conductor consists of two-layer aluminum strands and a composite core based on carbon fibers and glass fibers, which has successfully replaced the high weight steel core in ACSR conductors [5]. The Aluminum Conductor Composite Core (ACCC) conductor has been widely used in overhead transmission lines due to its merits of high specific strength, light weight, and low lag at high temperature compared with the traditional Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced (ACSR) conductor [1,2,3,4,5]. The ACCC conductor consists of two-layer aluminum strands and a composite core based on carbon fibers and glass fibers, which has successfully replaced the high weight steel core in ACSR conductors [5]. The inner strength core is based on continuous carbon fibers while the outer insulation layer is based on glass fiber/epoxy composites to prevent a direct electrical path between the aluminum conductors and the conductive carbon fibers Both kinds of fibers are impregnated with epoxy and shaped into a composite mandrel bar [6]. The lay ratio (the ratio of screw pitch to the outer diameter) of the ACCC conductor samples is a constant
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