Reaction on Power Line Posts Calculator

POWER POSTS

Mark Dave Agojo Krishia Lynne Nuez Tom Mari Jandel Rentoy

Wilbert Rey Tarnate EEE 3

Contents

Introduction Derivations Assumptions Program Flow Program Instructions References

1 2 6 7 8 9

Introduction
An overhead power line is a structure used in transmitting and distributing electric power through long distances. It is essential to produce electrical posts that can support the wires, transformers and other equipment assembled on the posts as well as support its own weight and be strong enough to handle the environmental forces such as wind, rain and temperature change.

Figure 1. Electrical posts setup We have devised a simple design program that will be able to compute for the reaction forces and moments that electrical posts must be able to withstand. Assumptions are made to be able to make the program very simple such as posts are only held rigidly on a level ground. Basic knowledge about the setup and requirements are needed for the computation of reactions such as the current that will be passing through the wire, the original length, size and type of wire and height of the posts. The outputs of the program are the values of the reaction forces and moments of the posts due to tension of the wire when the maximum current passing through an when no current is passing through. Note that the values obtained in this program are not as accurate as the real-life scenario since the assumptions are not the real-life situation. But given a high value of the factor of safety, the results may be used. For multiple wires, the tension multiplies by the number of wires.

Derivations
A. Maximum Current In order to get the maximum current from the effective value of the current in an alternating current (AC) circuit, we first look at the formula for power.in a direct current (DC) circuit (1) where P is the power, I is the current and R is the resistance. We consider the power dissipated in an AC circuit given by ( ) ( ) Where P(t) is the real power; Im is the maximum current and Rcos( the resistance function. Simplifying we get, ( ) (
( )

(2) ) is

(3) (4) (5)

( ) ( ) The average value of any sinusoidal function is equal to zero. Thus, Equating (1) and (5)

(6) We now get the relationship of the effective current with the maximum current (7) We see the effective value of current as the root mean square (RMS) value of the maximum current.

B. Temperature Rise The formula for electrical resistance is given by (8) Where R is the electrical resistance, is the electrical resistivity. l is the length of wire and A is the cross-sectional area of the wire. The equation for thermal resistance is given by (9) where Rth is the thermal resistance of the wire and K is the thermal conductivity of the wire. Using equation (1) to get the dissipated power multiplied by the thermal resistance, we get the temperature rise. (10) The expanded form is given now (11)

C. Linear Thermal Expansion The formula for thermal linear expansion is given by (12) where L is the change in length, L is the coefficient of linear thermal expansion, L is the original length and T is the change in temperature.

D. Tension and Catenary The catenary for level spans is given by the equation ( ) (( ) )
( )

(13)

Figure 2*. Catenary curve for level spans where w is the conductor weight per unit length and H is the horizontal component of tension. Note that the expression to the right is an approximate parabolic equation based upon the MacLaurin expansion of hyperbolic cosines. The sag is the lowest point on the catenary. It is computed by plugging in S/2. (14) ( ( ) ) where D is the sag and S is the span length. The ratio, H/w is called the catenary constant. The approximate or parabolic expression is sufficiently accurate as long as the sag is less than 5% of the span length. Horizontal tension may be expressed as a function of span length and sag (15)
( )

The tension T is given by the equation (16) Let V be the vertical component of tension. Another equation for tension is (17) Equating the equations (16) and (17), we get (18) The formula for the vertical tension is now (19) ( ) Application of calculus to the catenary equation allows the calculation of the conductor length, L(x), measured along the conductor from the low point of the catenary in either direction. The resulting equation becomes (20) ( ) ( ) For a level span, the conductor length corresponding to x=S/2 is half of the total conductor length and the total length, L, is: (21) ( ) ( ) The length may also be expressed as a function of sag from equation (14), giving the formula (22) From (22) the sag may be expressed as a function of length of the catenary and the span length ( ) (23) ( )

Assumptions
1. Posts are vertically straight and held rigidly on a level ground. 2. Wire has a circular cross-sectional area and is homogenous throughout its length. 3. The wire forms a catenary curve thus considering all assumption in the catenary curve. 4. Current passing through is an alternating current (AC). 5. Temperature rise is only due to the power generated by the wire or the electrical losses because of the wires resistance. 6. The setup is initially at room temperature 20C. 7. Insulator covering the core expands with the expansion of the core. 8. Reactions on the posts are only due to the tension of one wire connected to both posts at the top ends of the posts. 9. Weight of post is not considered in the computation of reactions.

Program Flow
Start Input Length of wire at initial temperature RMS of electric current to be passing through the wire Type of wire (with choices from choices.txt) Width of wire Initialize from data.csv Density of wire per unit length Electrical resistivity Thermal conductivity Linear thermal expansion coefficient Compute and Output Cross-sectional area of the wire ((width/2)2) Total weight of wire (density x cross-sectional area x g x Length of wire at initial temperature) Maximum current (equation 7) Temperature rise due to electric current (equation 11) Change of length of wire (equation 12) Final length of wire at final temperature (L + equation 12) Input Post-to-post distance or span length Height of post Compute Sag (equation 23) Horizontal tension (equation 15) Vertical tension (equation 19) Output Horizontal force reaction Vertical force reaction Moment at base or ground connection (Horizontal tension x height of post) Compute Horizontal force reaction with zero current Vertical force reaction with zero current Moment at base or ground connection with zero current Output Horizontal force reaction Vertical force reaction Moment at base or ground connection End

Program Instructions
1. Insert CD in computers disc drive. 2. Copy and paste the content into desired location (ex. Desktop) Content in folder Power Posts: a. Power Posts.exe b. data.csv c. choices.txt d. code.c e. Manual.pdf 3. Run Power Posts.exe and input data 4. Copy results and youre done!

*for different kinds of wires add the type in choices.txt and the their specifications in data.csv

References
Figure 2. Is from chapter 14 of Electric Power Transmission, Generation and Distribution by Grigsby, Leonard (2006) Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

1. 2.

Tarnate, Wilbert Rey (2013) EEE 3 Lecture Slides. Rizzoni, Giorgio (2009) Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering First Ed. McGraw-Hill 3. Anonymous (November 24 2009) Calculating temperature rise of aluminum wire. Physics Forums. Retrieved from http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=357707 4. Wikipedia (March 21 2014) Electrical resistivity and conductivity. Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_resistivity 5. Wikipedia (October 26 2013) Electrical resistivities of the elements (data page). Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_resistivities_of_the_elements_ %28data_page%29 6. Wikipedia (March 19 2014) Thermal conductivity. Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_conductivity 7. Wikipedia (March 23 2014) List of thermal conductivities. Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_thermal_conductivities 8. Wikipedia (January 21 2014) Thermal resistance. Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_resistance 9. Wikipedia (March 15 2014) Thermal Expansion. Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_expansion 10. Grigsby, Leonard (2006) Electric Power Transmission, Generation and Distribution. Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. 11. Kiessling, Freidrich et. al. (2003) Overhead Power Lines: Planning, Design, Construction. Springer