Research on galloping and insulation characteristics of 500kV crescent-shaped iced quad bundle conductor

Abstract

Conductor galloping is a common phenomenon during the operation of the transmission line, which can easily result in electrical accidents such as flashover and tripping caused by insulation breakdown of the inter-phase spacers. In this paper, a multi-span 4DOF (4 degree-of-freedom) dynamic model for the conductor-insulator is established, and the aerodynamic parameters of the 500kV crescent-shaped iced quad bundle conductor are calculated by CFD, and then the research on conductor galloping and insulation is done. Based on the explicit central difference integral algorithm, the galloping situation under different wind velocities, ice thicknesses, and spans are analyzed discussed. The results indicate that, between the minimum and maximum wind velocity that leads to gallop, the amplitude increases almost linearly corresponding to the wind velocity, which is a challenge to line insulation. Besides, the increasing of ice thickness makes the conductor easier to gallop and may destroy the outer insulation of line. However, too large thickness may be adverse and break the galloping. Furthermore, the conductor span has little effect on the minimum phase spacing. The conclusions are important for the development of anti-galloping technology and the insulation design of the transmission lines.