Investigation on Stability and Galloping Characteristics of Iced Quad Bundle Conductor

The stability and galloping characteristics of iced quad bundle conductor are studied in this paper. Firstly, the aerodynamic coefficients of iced quad bundle conductor and single conductor under four different working conditions are obtained by wind tunnel test. Secondly, the equivalent aerodynamic coefficients at the central axis of the quad bundle conductor are obtained, and the equivalent aerodynamic coefficients are compared with the aerodynamic coefficients of each sub-conductor of the quad bundle conductor. Then, based on the Den Hartog instability mechanism and Nigol instability mechanism, the stable and unstable range of the equivalent coefficients of the quad bundle conductor are analyzed. Finally, the galloping characteristics of the quad bundle conductor are studied by combining with the equivalent aerodynamic coefficients at the central axis of quad bundle conductor. The results of the wind tunnel test show that the aerodynamic coefficients increase with the decreasing of the wind speed. The stability analyses show that the higher the wind speed is, the smaller the Den Hartog coefficient is the easier the Den Hartog’ galloping would occur. Furthermore, the higher the wind speed is, the smaller the Nigol coefficient is, the easier the Nigol’ galloping would occur. The analysis of galloping characteristics shows that when the conductor is located at stable state, the displacement in the y-axis direction would be much greater than the displacement in the z-axis direction.