Behaviour of transmission line conductors under tornado wind

Hamada, Ahmed,El Damatty, Ashraf A. Techno-Press 2016 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.22 No.3

Electricity is transmitted by transmission lines from the source of production to the distribution system and then to the end users. Failure of a transmission line can lead to devastating economic losses and to negative social consequences resulting from the interruption of electricity. A comprehensive in-house numerical model that combines the data of computational fluid dynamic simulations of tornado wind fields with three dimensional nonlinear structural analysis modelling of the transmission lines (conductors and ground-wire) is used in the current study. Many codes of practice recommend neglecting the tornado forces acting on the conductors and ground-wires because of the complexity in predicting the conductors' response to such loads. As such, real transmission line systems are numerically simulated and then analyzed with and without the inclusion of the lines to assess the effect of tornado loads acting on conductors on the overall response of transmission towers. In addition, the behaviour of the conductors under the most critical tornado configuration is described. The sensitivity of the lines' behaviour to the magnitude of tornado loading, the level of initial sag, the insulator's length, and lines self-weight is investigated. Based on the current study results, a recommendation is made to consider conductors and ground-wires in the analysis and design of transmission towers under the effect of tornado wind loads.

Ductility-based design approach of tall buildings under wind loads

Fouad Elezaby,Ashraf El Damatty 한국풍공학회 2020 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.31 No.2

The wind design of buildings is typically based on strength provisions under ultimate loads. This is unlike the ductility-based approach used in seismic design, which allows inelastic actions to take place in the structure under extreme seismic events. This research investigates the application of a similar concept in wind engineering. In seismic design, the elastic forces resulting from an extreme event of high return period are reduced by a load reduction factor chosen by the designer and accordingly a certain ductility capacity needs to be achieved by the structure. Two reasons have triggered the investigation of this ductility-based concept under wind loads. Firstly, there is a trend in the design codes to increase the return period used in wind design approaching the large return period used in seismic design. Secondly, the structure always possesses a certain level of ductility that the wind design does not benefit from. Many technical issues arise when applying a ductility-based approach under wind loads. The use of reduced design loads will lead to the design of a more flexible structure with larger natural periods. While this might be beneficial for seismic response, it is not necessarily the case for the wind response, where increasing the flexibility is expected to increase the fluctuating response. This particular issue is examined by considering a case study of a sixty-five-story high-rise building previously tested at the Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Laboratory at the University of Western Ontario using a pressure model. A three-dimensional finite element model is developed for the building. The wind pressures from the tested rigid model are applied to the finite element model and a time history dynamic analysis is conducted. The time history variation of the straining actions on various structure elements of the building are evaluated and decomposed into mean, background and fluctuating components. A reduction factor is applied to the fluctuating components and a modified time history response of the straining actions is calculated. The building components are redesigned under this set of reduced straining actions and its fundamental period is then evaluated. A new set of loads is calculated based on the modified period and is compared to the set of loads associated with the original structure. This is followed by non-linear static pushover analysis conducted individually on each shear wall module after redesigning these walls. The ductility demand of shear walls with reduced cross sections is assessed to justify the application of the load reduction factor “R”.

Dynamic response of transmission line conductors under downburst and synoptic winds

Haitham Aboshosha,Ashraf El Damatty 한국풍공학회 2015 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.21 No.2

In the current study, dynamic and quasi-static analyses were performed to investigate the response of multiple-spanned and single-spanned transmission line conductors under both downburst and synoptic winds considering different wind velocities and different length spans. Two critical downburst configurations, recommended in the literature and expected to cause maximum conductor reactions, were considered in the analyses. The objective of the study was to assess the importance of including the dynamic effect when predicting the conductor's reactions on the towers. This was achieved by calculating the mean, the background and the resonant reaction components, and evaluating the contribution of the resonant component to the peak reaction. The results show that the maximum contribution of the resonant component is generally low (in the order of 6%) for the multiple-spanned system at different wind velocities for both downburst and synoptic winds. For the single-spanned system, the result show a relatively high maximum contribution (in the order of 16%) at low wind velocity and a low maximum contribution (in the order of 6%) at high wind velocity for both downburst and synoptic winds. Such contributions may justify the usage of the quasi-static approach for analyzing transmission line conductors subjected to the high wind velocities typically used for the line design.

Effective technique to analyze transmission line conductors under high intensity winds

Haitham Aboshosha,Ashraf El Damatty 한국풍공학회 2014 한국풍공학회지 Vol.18 No.3

An effective numerical technique to calculate the reactions of a multi-spanned transmission line conductor system, under arbitrary loads varying along the spans, is developed. Such variable loads are generated by High Intensity Wind (HIW) events in the form of tornadoes and downburst. First, a semi-closed form solution is derived to obtain the displacements and the reactions at the ends of each conductor span. The solution accounts for the nonlinearity of the system and the flexibility of the insulators. Second, a numerical scheme to solve the derived closed-form solution is proposed. Two conductor systems are analyzed under loads resulting from HIW events for validation of the proposed technique. Non-linear Finite Element Analyses (FEA) are also conducted for the same two systems. The responses resulting from the technique are shown to be in a very good agreement with those resulting from the FEA, which confirms the technique accuracy. Meanwhile, the semi-closed form technique shows superior efficiency in terms of the required computational time. The saving in computational time has a great advantage in predicting the response of the conductors under HIW events, since this requires a large number of analyses to cover different potential locations and sizes of those localized events.

Dynamic response of transmission line conductors under downburst and synoptic winds

Aboshosha, Haitham,El Damatty, Ashraf Techno-Press 2015 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.21 No.2

In the current study, dynamic and quasi-static analyses were performed to investigate the response of multiple-spanned and single-spanned transmission line conductors under both downburst and synoptic winds considering different wind velocities and different length spans. Two critical downburst configurations, recommended in the literature and expected to cause maximum conductor reactions, were considered in the analyses. The objective of the study was to assess the importance of including the dynamic effect when predicting the conductor's reactions on the towers. This was achieved by calculating the mean, the background and the resonant reaction components, and evaluating the contribution of the resonant component to the peak reaction. The results show that the maximum contribution of the resonant component is generally low (in the order of 6%) for the multiple-spanned system at different wind velocities for both downburst and synoptic winds. For the single-spanned system, the result show a relatively high maximum contribution (in the order of 16%) at low wind velocity and a low maximum contribution (in the order of 6%) at high wind velocity for both downburst and synoptic winds. Such contributions may justify the usage of the quasi-static approach for analyzing transmission line conductors subjected to the high wind velocities typically used for the line design.

Effective technique to analyze transmission line conductors under high intensity winds

Aboshosha, Haitham,El Damatty, Ashraf Techno-Press 2014 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.18 No.3

An effective numerical technique to calculate the reactions of a multi-spanned transmission line conductor system, under arbitrary loads varying along the spans, is developed. Such variable loads are generated by High Intensity Wind (HIW) events in the form of tornadoes and downburst. First, a semi-closed form solution is derived to obtain the displacements and the reactions at the ends of each conductor span. The solution accounts for the nonlinearity of the system and the flexibility of the insulators. Second, a numerical scheme to solve the derived closed-form solution is proposed. Two conductor systems are analyzed under loads resulting from HIW events for validation of the proposed technique. Non-linear Finite Element Analyses (FEA) are also conducted for the same two systems. The responses resulting from the technique are shown to be in a very good agreement with those resulting from the FEA, which confirms the technique accuracy. Meanwhile, the semi-closed form technique shows superior efficiency in terms of the required computational time. The saving in computational time has a great advantage in predicting the response of the conductors under HIW events, since this requires a large number of analyses to cover different potential locations and sizes of those localized events.

Aeroelastic testing of a self-supported transmission tower under laboratory simulated tornado-like vortices

Nima Ezami,Ashraf El Damatty,Ahmed Hamada,Horia Hangan 한국풍공학회 2022 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.34 No.2

The current study investigates the dynamic effects in the tornado-structure response of an aeroelastic self-supported lattice transmission tower model tested under laboratory simulated tornado-like vortices. The aeroelastic model is designed for a geometric scale of 1:65 and tested under scaled down tornadoes in the Wind Engineering, Energy and Environment (WindEEE) Research Institute. The simulated tornadoes have a similar length scale of 1:65 compared to the full-scale. An extensive experimental parametric study is conducted by offsetting the stationary tornado center with respect to the aeroelastic model. Such aeroelastic testing of a transmission tower under laboratory tornadoes is not reported in the literature. A multiaxial load cell is mounted underneath the base plate to measure the base shear forces and overturning moments applied to the model in three perpendicular directions. A three-axis accelerometer is mounted at the level of the second cross-arm to measure response accelerations to evaluate the natural frequencies through a free-vibration test. Radial, tangential, and axial velocity components of the tornado wind field are measured using cobra probes. Sensitivity analyses are conducted to assess the variation of the structural dynamic response associated with the location of the tornado relative to the lattice transmission tower. Three different layouts representing the change in the orientation of the tower model relative to the components of the tornado-induced loads are considered. The structural responses of the aeroelastic model in terms of base shear forces, overturning moments, and lateral accelerations are measured. The results are utilized to understand the dynamic response of self-supported transmission towers to the tornado-induced loads.

Behaviour of transmission line conductors under tornado wind

Ahmed Hamada,Ashraf A. El Damatty 한국풍공학회 2016 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.22 No.3

Electricity is transmitted by transmission lines from the source of production to the distribution system and then to the end users. Failure of a transmission line can lead to devastating economic losses and to negative social consequences resulting from the interruption of electricity. A comprehensive in-house numerical model that combines the data of computational fluid dynamic simulations of tornado wind fields with three dimensional nonlinear structural analysis modelling of the transmission lines (conductors and ground-wire) is used in the current study. Many codes of practice recommend neglecting the tornado forces acting on the conductors and ground-wires because of the complexity in predicting the conductors` response to such loads. As such, real transmission line systems are numerically simulated and then analyzed with and without the inclusion of the lines to assess the effect of tornado loads acting on conductors on the overall response of transmission towers. In addition, the behaviour of the conductors under the most critical tornado configuration is described. The sensitivity of the lines` behaviour to the magnitude of tornado loading, the level of initial sag, the insulator`s length, and lines self-weight is investigated. Based on the current study results, a recommendation is made to consider conductors and ground-wires in the analysis and design of transmission towers under the effect of tornado wind loads.

Behavior of self supported transmission line towers under stationary downburst loading

Mohamed M. Darwish,Ashraf A. El Damatty 한국풍공학회 2011 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.14 No.5

During the past decade, many electrical transmission tower structures have failed during downburst events. This study is a part of a research program aimed to understand the behaviour of transmission lines under such localized wind events. The present study focuses on assessing the behaviour of self supported transmission line towers under downburst loading. A parametric study is performed to determine the critical downburst configurations causing maximum axial forces for various members of a tower. The sensitivity of the internal forces developing in the tower’s members to changes in the downburst size and location was studied. The structural behaviour associated with the critical downburst configurations is described and compared to the behaviour under ‘normal’ wind loads.

Dynamic characteristics of transmission line conductors and behaviour under turbulent downburst loading

Darwish, Mohamed M.,El Damatty, Ashraf A.,Hangan, Horia Techno-Press 2010 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.13 No.4

During the past decade, many electrical transmission tower structures have failed during downburst events. This study is a part of a research program aimed to understand the behaviour of transmission lines under such localized wind events. The present study focuses on the assessment of the dynamic behaviour of the line conductors under downburst loading. A non-linear numerical model, accounting for large deformations and the effect of pretension loading, is developed and used to predict the natural frequencies and mode shapes of conductors at various loading stages. A turbulence signal is extracted from a set of full-scale data. It is added to the mean component of the downburst wind field previously evaluated from a CFD analysis. Dynamic analysis is performed using various downburst configurations. The study reveals that the response is affected by the background component, while the resonant component turns to be negligible due large aerodynamic damping of the conductors.