The Influence of the Steel and Aluminium Components Separation at the Conductors Locking for Stress-Strain Tests

Abstract

At the stress-strain tests for the overhead electrical conductors stranded in alternate directions (aluminum conductor steel reinforced - ACSR), the locking mode of the specimen ends on the tensile machine represents a difficult problem which if is not correctly solved may seriously influence the results obtained. The stress-strain tests are performed according to standards as the European Standard EN 50182:2001. The specimen must have a length imposed by the conductor diameter, but not less than 10m. During the stress-strain tests the specimen is loaded in steps at successive cycles of loading- unloading (30%, 50%, 70%, 85% of Rated Tensile Stress –RTS). Finally, in order to determine the breaking forces, the conductor is loaded up to total breaking. In these conditions, the test success is decisively influenced by the correct locking of the conductor in the grips. The locking of the conductor ends is usually performed by casting the conductor ends in the gripping devices, after the wires ends reflection. In this paper there is presented a new locking method of the conductor ends by separation of the steel wires from the aluminum ones and their separate winding on two drums with helical groove. The tests performed have confirmed that this method is cheaper, and not influencing the real behavior of the conductor.