THE EFFECTS OF HIGH WINDS ON TRANSMISSION-LINES

The behaviour of transmission lines under severe winds is examined. Po ssible reasons to explain transmission line failures in strong winds a re investigated through aeroelastic wind tunnel tests, and the experim ental results are successfully compared with theoretical predictions m ade through the statistical method using influence lines. Cables with different characteristics are simulated and tested at transverse wind incidence. The results obtained confirm the importance of turbulence i n the dynamic response and demonstrate that the aerodynamic damping pl ays an important role in the dynamic behaviour of the cables. They als o show that, although the background response may indeed be the bigges t contributor for the total fluctuating response in most typical cases , the resonant response can be important depending on the characterist ics of the structure and of the wind flow, and should not be neglected in the design procedures. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights r eserved.