Dynamic Responses of Transmission Tower-line System Under Ice Shedding

Ice shedding from conductors may easily induce electrical and mechanical accidents, which cause a serious threat to the safe operation of transmission lines. In this paper, a 3D finite element model of tower-conductor-ground wire-insulator system was established in ANSYS, and the dynamic responses of ice shedding under different cases were analyzed for a transmission tower-line system. The computed jumping heights are in excellent agreement with the experimental values of a two span conductors model. Many variables were considered in the ice-shedding simulations that include tower-line coupled effect, phase combination of the ice-shedding conductors, thickness of the accreted ice, length of the ice-shedding span as well as elevation difference. Influences of all the variables on the dynamic responses of jumping heights, loads at the end of insulators and the forces of transmission tower were studied. Ice-shedding simulations of an actual 500 kV transmission line section which experience failure under ice shedding in 2008 were performed. The results show that stress ratios of members at the tower head under design ice thickness exceed the limiting values when the amount of shedding ice is large. For ice shedding at the top phase conductors, the jumping height and unbalanced tension at the end of insulator can be reduced by applying interphase spacers in triangular arrangement. The tower is in a safe state under the load of the design ice thickness. In order to prevent ice-shedding accidents, interphase spacers should be used, and the weak members at the tower head should be strengthened according to the calculated load values at the end of insulators.