Experimental study on aerodynamic characteristics of conductors covered with crescent-shaped ice

Abstract

Conductor galloping is a common disaster for the transmission lines. Among the existing analytical methods, the wind tunnel test is highlighted as the most effective approach to obtain the aerodynamic coefficients. In this paper, the aerodynamic coefficients of 12 conductor models covered with the crescent-shaped ice, which were fabricated considering the surface roughness of the iced conductor, were obtained based on the wind tunnel test. The influence of the Reynolds number and the shape parameter B, defined as the ratio of ice thickness to the diameter, were investigated. In addition, the effect of surface roughness of the iced conductor was discussed. Subsequently, unsteady areas of conductor galloping were calculated according to the Den Hartog criterion and the Nigol criterion. The results indicate that the aerodynamic coefficients of iced conductors change sharply at the attack angles of 20 and 170 with the increase of B. The surface roughness of iced conductors changed the range of attack angle, which was influenced by the increase of the Reynolds number. The experimental results can provide insights for preventing and controlling galloping.