Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Shaun M. McCarthy
Abstract
This work has been commissioned by Sinclair Knight
Merz to investigate the processes involved with rigid
busbar system (RBS) and strain busbar system (SBS)
design. This paper deals with the theory behind the
various forces exerted upon these busbar structures and
their corresponding electro-mechanical responses. A
novel method for calculating the final tension due to
temperature change in an aerial conductor and an outline
for modelling concentrated masses on RBS conductors
is presented. To illustrate the processes involved, a
design demonstration comparing RBS and SBS is Figure 1.2: Example of a strain busbar system
(adapted from [5]).
conducted. A cost analysis is performed, revealing that
the RBS is the more economical of the two designs. connected to vertically arranged porcelain insulators and
steel supports [2]. Selection of the tube dimensions is
1. Introduction frequently governed by mechanical strength
Busbar systems are structures within substations that considerations rather than electrical requirements [1].
serve as connections between electric circuits of a power With respect to SBS, the conductor is usually all
system and consist of conductors, insulators, supports aluminium conductor (AAC) for short spans, and
and associated connections. These structures account for aluminium conductor steel reinforced (ACSR) for
a large percentage of the overall substation equipment longer spans [2]. The aerial conductors are attached to
investment [1]. Proper design is essential for safe, insulator strings (as opposed to vertical insulators for
reliable and economic operation of the power system. RBS), which in turn are also connected to steel support
Of the existing substations today, air insulated structures. The common case of three phases, arranged
substations (AIS) account for the majority [2]. There are in a horizontal plane, is considered in this paper.
two main busbar construction types used in AIS designs. A distinct advantage of RBS is their low and
These are rigid busbar systems (RBS), utilising tubular compact physical profiles, which allow for less required
conductors (Figure 1.1) and strain busbar systems substation area and more pleasing aesthetics. The
(SBS), utilising hanging aerial conductors (Figure 1.2). disadvantages lie in the fact that the rigid conductors
Regarding RBS, aluminium alloys are commonly used and insulators are more susceptible to damage caused by
for the tubular conductors [1][3], which are typically earthquakes, and more support structures are needed due
to span limitations. The advantages of SBS design are
increased ability to handle earthquake loads and greater
allowable spans, resulting in less number of support
structures required. A disadvantage is the need for large
clearances due to the ability of the conductors to move,
requiring a greater investment in substation ground area.
It is the goal of this paper to present an investigation
into the types of forces these busbar systems are
exposed to during their operational lives, describing the
very different electro-mechanical responses of RBS and
SBS separately. This work has been commissioned by
Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) to develop a better
understanding of the phenomena involved in the design
of RBS and SBS. Other objectives of this work have
included the development of calculation sheets for each
Figure 1.1: Example of a rigid busbar system [4]. RBS and SBS, and the application of the sheets to a
theoretical scenario, with the purpose of demonstrating
the design process. It has been decided to base the
calculation sheets on the standards of the New Zealand
system operator, Transpower, particularly [3], which
closely follows IEEE standard 605 [1]. Many of the
results and figures presented in this paper have been
created using the developed calculation sheets.
This paper is structured in the following manner.
Section two describes the gravitational and climate
dependent loads that are incident upon the systems and a Figure 2.1: The catenary curve (adapted from [8]).
novel method for calculating temperature induced sag In situations where the sag of the conductor is smaller
increase of a strain conductor is outlined. Section three than one eighth of the span length, a parabolic
is dedicated entirely to short-circuit forces, which is approximation of the catenary may be used for
considered the most critical factor in busbar design. calculating the sag [1][8]. For same-levelled attachment
Section four describes the electro-mechanical response points, this appears as
of a rigid tubular conductor and section five discusses
other design issues including insulator selection, (2.2)
vibration and topics for further development of this where is the conductor sag (m), is the conductor
work. Section six contains a design demonstration to unit mass (kg/m), is the gravitational constant (9.81
bring together the presented theory. A cost analysis m/s), is the span length (m) and is the horizontal
comparing RBS and SBS is performed. The paper component of the tension inside the conductor (N). It is
culminates in section seven with conclusions. common practise to refer to conductor tensions as
percentages of calculated breaking strength (%CBL) [8].
2. Gravitational and climatic loads Strain conductors are usually installed with an initial
tension of low value, less than 10%CBL [2].
2.1. Dead weight and concentrated masses An example provided in [8] shows that for a 300m
A rigid conductor must be designed to withstand the transmission line, the sag calculated by the catenary
loads created by the conductors own weight, referred to equation and the parabolic approximation is 6.420m and
as dead weight, and any concentrated masses along the 6.417m respectively, yielding a difference of only 3mm.
span, due to, for example, connections down to other
2.2. Wind loads
pieces of equipment. In response to these gravitational
loads, the conductor vertically deforms. Vertical The strength of forces caused by wind is subject to the
deflection of the rigid conductor is treated in detail in location of the busbar system. The wind is assumed to
section four. The force per metre due to the conductor act on the structure in the horizontal direction, as this
dead weight, (N/m), is causes the maximum force [1]. The New Zealand
(2.1) loadings code [10] derives the site wind speed, (m/s),
where is the specific conductor weight, being 26,700 from the regional wind speed, (m/s), as following
N/m for aluminium [6], is the conductor tube wall , (2.3)
thickness (m) and is the conductor outer diameter where the various and factors account for the site
(m). The effect of concentrated masses on deflection terrain and elevation, height of the structure, the
requires more complicated treatment and is also possible effect of wind reduction provided by
discussed in section four. neighbouring buildings and so forth.
In 1691, mathematicians Jakob Bernoulli, Christiaan The wind force per metre, (N/m), acting on the
Huygens and Gottfried Liebniz each proved separately conductor is given by
that the shape assumed by a string hung freely from two . (2.4)
points is the catenary (Figure 2.1), which is is the drag-force coefficient, which describes how
mathematically described by the hyperbolic cosine wind flows around different shapes and is equal to 1.2
function [7]. A strain conductor hangs as a catenary for a circular cross-section [10], as is the case for both
under dead weight [8][9]. The sag of the strain RBS and SBS conductors. is the conductor diameter
conductor is defined as the vertical distance from the (m) and is the design wind pressure (Pa) given by
lowest hanging point of the conductor to the imaginary 0.6 . (2.5)
horizontal line connecting the two attachment points The 0.6 value comes from half times the density of air,
(Figure 2.1). measured in kg/m.
2.3. Ice loads unit mass (kg/m) and is the inital/installation unit
Ice loading is clearly only applicable to regions mass (kg/m), with all other parameters mentioned
susceptible to ice formation. The ice build-up is previously. It is noted that the only variable in (2.9) is
assumed to form around the conductor uniformly . By solving for , the final sag can be calculated
[1][3][10]. The force per metre caused by the weight of using (2.2). Figure 2.2 shows the initial sag at a
ice around the conductor, (N/m), is given by temperature of 15C and the final sag at a temperature of
(2.6) 80C for a SBS with a 32m span length.
where is the specific ice weight (N/m), is the
uniform ice radial thickness (m) and is the conductor
diameter (m). As an example, [3] specifies and to
be 3924 N/m and 3 cm respectively. Transpower
defines the complete load due to ice to be the vertical
force caused by the weight of the ice, coupled with the
horizontal force due to wind acting upon the augmented
section of ice [3]. In this case, the wind speed used in
(2.5) is equal to 0.9 times that of the wind speed used to
calculate the wind load when ice is absent [10].
The presence of ice on the strain conductor causes an
increase in tension [11] that can be conservatively
calculated using methods in [1].
Figure 2.2: Sags associated with a 32m span length.
2.4. Thermal considerations
Sag and tension calculations are of high importance in
A rigid tubular conductor responds to an increase in SBS design to ensure that the minimum phase-to-ground
temperature by elongating [1]. The change in length, clearance is not violated (Figure 2.2), which if occurs,
(m), is described by can result in the dangerous conditions of electrical
(2.7) arcing.
where is the coefficient of thermal expansion of the Equation 2.9 is non-linear and is traditionally solved
conductor (1/C), equal to 23.1E-06 1/C for aluminium using iterative techniques like the Newton-Raphson
[1], is the length of the conductor (m), is the final method, details of which can be found in [12] or any
temperature (C) and is the initial temperature (C). introductory text on calculus. This prohibits the
The resulting elongation causes a thermal expansion convenience that comes with step-by-step progressive
force on the conductor and insulators, (N): calculation. During the project, the author has developed
(2.8) a novel method for accurately solving (2.9). This
where is the Youngs modulus (Pa) and describes the involves two separate approximation methods that allow
stiffness of the conductor material. It is equal to 68.9 direct calculation of . To demonstrate the accuracy of
GPa for aluminium [1]. is the cross-sectional area of the approximations (in this case, the quadratic error
the conductor (m). Thermal expansion puts excessive method (QEM) approximation), Figure 2.3 shows the
stress on the conductor and cantilever (bending) forces deviation between true sag and approximated sag across
on the insulators. One solution is to install a sliding joint different cross-sectional areas for AAC material. The
at one end of the RBS span to accommodate the different curves correspond to the cases outlined in
expansion [1][3]. The presence of a sliding joint affects
1) the vertical deflection of the conductor, 2) the
maximum stress occurring on the cross-section, 3) the
conductors natural frequency and 4) the transmittance
of loads to the insulators. These effects will be discussed
at relevant points in later sections of the paper.
The response of a strain busbar conductor to an
increase in temperature, is an increase in sag [1][8][11].
As temperature rises, the conductor elongates and the
tension within decreases [11]. The general change-of-
state equation that describes this phenomenon is as
follows.
(2.9)
where (C), is the final tension (N),
is the initial/installation tension (N), is the final Figure 2.3: QEM sag deviations [13].
Table 2.1. The details of these methods can be found in law, which determines the force created by the magnetic
[13] and a brief summary is provided in the appendix. field [16].
Table 2.1: Theoretical case definitions [13].
For parallel conductors, such as the RBS tubes, the
equation for the electromagnetic force per metre,
(N/m), can be derived as
Case .
(3.1)
(m) 50 150 50 150
where is the symmetrical RMS fault current (kA),
(C) 50 50 100 100 is the conductor spacing (m) and is a corrective factor
which takes into account 1) the type of fault current, 2)
the conductor location (i.e. middle phase or outer
3. Short-circuit forces
phase), 3) the peak current decay and 4) the mounting
Mechanical stresses are especially severe during short- structure flexibility [1]. In deriving (3.1), it is assumed
circuit conditions [14] and so are treated very seriously that since the conductor length is much larger than the
in the design of busbar systems. Short-circuit forces spacing, d, it can be regarded as being of infinite length
may cause substation failure, particularly due to the [16][21]. Three phase symmetrical faults create the
failure of insulators [2], and are the dominant influence highest mechanical forces [16][21][22] and so the
in substation design [15]. The mechanical effects of current associated with this type of fault is usually
short-circuit currents for RBS and SBS are quite specified for in the design.
different [2]. This section shall begin by discussing the The assessment of short-circuit forces in SBS is a
underlying theory behind short-circuit forces, followed problem of higher complexity than for RBS [2][23].
by the effects on RBS and SBS respectively. In the Significant mechanical stresses and deflections occur in
following discussion, the terms short-circuit and fault the SBS [2][9][24] and the associated calculations
are used interchangeably. exceed three dozen equations. For the sake of brevity,
When two or more current carrying conductors are only a descriptive treatment will be provided for the
in close proximity, they exert electromagnetic forces short-circuit forces associated with SBS. Full details of
upon one another. The direction of the forces is the calculations can be found in the IEC standard [25]
repulsive if the currents flow in opposite directions, and and the CIGRE guide to this standard [2]. The SBS
attractive if the currents flow in the same direction [16]. response can be analysed in terms of three phenomena
Under fault conditions, the currents within the [26], which will now be discussed in order of their
conductors can become excessive, and the forces occurrence.
exerted on the conductors become significant since they The first phenomenon is known as the pinch effect
are proportional to the square of the fault current (as and results from the collapse of subconductors in a
shall be made clear soon). Fault currents consist of an bundle due to the attractive electromagnetic forces
asymmetric decaying component and an oscillating caused by the short-circuit current [2][15][23][24].
symmetrical steady-state component (Figure 3.1). The Bundles are often used in applications with high load
instantaneous value of the fault current is affected by the current requirements where one conductor is not
impedances in the adjacent power system (especially the sufficient. Figure 3.2 shows the pinch effect occurring
synchronous machine reactances), the system reactance- for a bundle of three subconductors. One can see that
to-resistance ratio (determines how quickly the the bundle has fully collapsed a mere 18ms after the
asymmetrical component decays [17]) and the timing of initiation of the short-circuit event. This is small in
the fault with respect to the system frequency [18]. The relation to the typical duration of a short-circuit, which
current may reach a maximum of nearly double the is 15 cycles [15], corresponding to 300ms for a 50Hz
steady-state value [19]. system.
Loads on the rigid conductor are transferred to the 6.1. Scenario outline
vertical insulators as cantilever (bending) forces [1][2]. The proposed scenario is based on a design provided by
Cantilever forces also arise from loads directly on the SKM. The electrical requirements for the busbar
insulator, such as wind and wind-on-ice [1]. Commonly, systems are 1) 220kV voltage rating, 2) 1600A current
rating and 3) 40kA (3sec) short-circuit current. For the of 1670A and 52.4kA respectively. However, the stress
purposes of deriving climatic loads, the design is within the material exceeded the maximum allowable
considered at a location similar to the lower North stress of half the yield strength (90MPa) in all load
Island. The aim of this demonstration is to compare a combinations and caused the vertical deflection of the
four-span RBS against a two-span SBS, each totalling a conductor to exceed the allowable limit of 53mm (span
length of 64m. The proposed designs are shown in length/300) by 406mm (Table 6.1). The dimensions
Figure 6.1. The phase-to-ground and phase-to-phase were increased to 140x8mm, but this was still
spacings are in accordance with [30]. inadequate. A 200x6mm tube was the minimum size
The calculation sheet for the RBS has been verified that met the criteria.
against an SKM design in collaboration with an SKM The natural frequency of the conductor was
representative. The SBS version has been verified calculated to be 3.31 Hz, which is above the frequency
against the strain design example provided in Annex I of to require a damping conductor for aeolian vibration.
[1]. As previously mentioned, both sheets are based on Table 6.1: Deflections and stresses associated with the
standards [1] and [3]. considered tubular conductors.
6.2. Design decisions and justifications Vertical Deflection (mm)
6.2.1. Rigid Busbar System Limit: 53
Tube Dimensions: 80x4mm 140x8mm 200x6mm
On each span of the design, a sliding joint is fitted at - 459 96 47
one end to accommodate thermal expansion. Bending Stress (MPa)
A 15kg span-connection is located at the centre of Limit: 90
the span. Tube Dimensions: 80x4mm 140x8mm 200x6mm
To meet the electrical criteria, an aluminium alloy Load Combination:
6063T5 tube with outside diameter 80mm and wall Dead + Short-circuit 662 114 69
thickness 4mm (written 80x4mm) was selected from [3]. Dead + Wind 109 40 29
This tube has a normal current and a short-circuit rating Dead + Ice 125 44 31
(a)
(b)
Figure 6.1: Side elevation and plan views for (a) rigid busbar design and (b) strain busbar design. Dimensions in mm.
The maximum force at the top of the insulators is Table 6.2: Results of the cost analysis.
5.7kN, provided by the load combination that includes
Component RBS ($NZD) SBS ($NZD)
the short-circuit force. Using a porcelain bending safety
Conductors 27,812 5,640
factor of 0.6, in accordance with [3], the minimum
Insulators/fittings 3,040 2,798
cantilever rating of the insulators used in the design
Supports/foundations 93,861 408,330
should be 9.5 kN.
6.2.2. Strain Busbar System Total 124,713 416,768
The effect of span-connections on the SBS conductors is for the SBS make up 98% of the total cost as opposed to
considered negligible as is the case with the example 75% for the RBS supports. Overall, the strain design is
provided in [1]. 3.3 times more expensive than the rigid equivalent.
To meet electrical requirements, a bundle consisting
of two 415mm AAC conductors was chosen from [3]. 7. Conclusion
This has a normal current and short-circuit rating of
3250A and 48.6kA respectively. Busbar systems require proper design to withstand the
The initial conductor tension was set to 10%CBL, forces in which they are subject to during their
producing an initial and maximum sag of 0.2m and operational lives. The forces considered in this paper
0.75m respectively. The height of structure was are due to gravity, ice and wind, temperature change
increased until the maximum sag of the conductor was and short-circuits. Relevant theory behind these
above the required phase-to-ground clearance of 6.64m loadings is outlined and the electro-mechanical
[30] and rounded to the nearest half metre at 7.5m. The response of RBS and SBS is discussed. In addition,
sags and minimum clearance are shown in figure 2.2. vibration and insulator selection is investigated.
The developed QEM approximation (see section 2.4) Original work includes a novel method for
was used in the sag calculations and produced a sag calculating the final tension in an aerial conductor due
identical to the true result to four decimal places to temperature change and an outline for modelling
(nearest tenth of a mm). concentrated masses on rigid busbar spans.
The minimum phase spacing due to displacement Based on IEEE and Transpower standards,
during the short-circuit was calculated as 2.93m and calculation sheets have been developed and used in a
2.17m for winter and summer respectively. The required design demonstration, with the aim of outlining the
phase-to-phase clearance of 2.1m [30] is not violated. processes involved with each RBS and SBS design. The
This justifies the design decision to place the conductor demonstration included comparing a four span RBS
phases 4m apart. against a two span SBS. A cost analysis revealed that
The maximum tensile force acting on the conductor the SBS was 3.3 times more expensive than the RBS.
is 63.5kN due to the drop force during summer. Using a Topics that should be considered for further
porcelain tension safety factor of 0.42, as recommended development of this work include ampacity and corona
in [3], the insulator selected requires a minimum tensile calculations, consideration of seismic forces and pinned
force rating of 152kN. end modelling for RBS.