Chapter 8: Mechanical Design of

Overhead Lines
V.K. Mehta –Principles of Power system
 Main Components of Overhead Lines

The main components of an overhead line are: Note: All above requirements are not found in a single
(i) Conductors which carry electric power from the sending material. Therefore, while selecting a conductor material for a
end station to the receiving end station. particular case, a compromise is made between the cost and
(ii) Supports which may be poles or towers and keep the the required electrical and mechanical properties.
conductors at a suitable level above the ground. Commonly used conductor materials. The most commonly
(iii) Insulators which are attached to supports and insulate the used conductor materials for overhead lines are copper,
conductors from the ground. aluminium, steel-cored aluminium, galvanised steel and
(iv) Cross arms which provide support to the insulators. cadmium copper.
(v) Miscellaneous items such as phase plates, danger plates,
lightning arrestors, anti-climbing wires etc.

Conductor Materials: The conductor material used for

transmission and distribution of electric power should have
the following properties :
(i) high electrical conductivity.
(ii) high tensile strength in order to withstand mechanical
stresses.
(iii) low cost so that it can be used for long distances.
(iv) low specific gravity so that weight per unit volume is
small.
1. Copper. .has the following properties: 3. Steel cored aluminium. Due to low tensile
▪ high electrical conductivity. strength, aluminium conductors produce greater
▪ greater tensile strength. sag. This prohibits their use for larger spans and
▪ high current density i.e., the current carrying capacity of makes them unsuitable for long distance
copper per unit of X-sectional area is quite large. transmission. In order to increase the tensile
strength, the aluminium conductor is reinforced
However, due to its higher cost and non-availability, it is with a core of galvanised steel wires. The
rarely used for overhead transmission systems composite conductor thus obtained is known as
2. Aluminium. Is: steel cored aluminium and is abbreviated as
(i) cheap and light as compared to copper. A.C.S.R. (aluminium conductor steel
has much smaller conductivity and tensile strength reinforced).
(ii) The conductivity of aluminium is 60% that of copper. For
the same resistance, the diameter of aluminium conductor is 4. Galvanised steel. Steel has very high tensile strength.
about 1·26 times the diameter of copper conductor. Therefore, galvanised steel conductors can be used for extremely
(iii) The specific gravity of aluminium (2·71 gm/cc) is lower long spans or for short line sections exposed to abnormally high
than that of copper (8·9 gm/cc). For this reason, the stresses due to climatic conditions. They have been found very
supporting structures for aluminium need not be made so suitable in rural areas where cheapness is the main
strong as that of copper conductor. consideration. Due to poor conductivity and high resistance of
(iv) Aluminium conductor being light, is liable to greater steel, such conductors are not suitable for transmitting large
swings and hence larger cross-arms are required. power over a long distance
 Line Supports

The line supports should have the following properties : The main disadvantages of wooden supports are :
(i) High mechanical strength to withstand the weight of (i) tendency to rot below the ground level
conductors and wind loads etc. (ii) comparatively smaller life (20-25 years).
(ii) Light in weight without the loss of mechanical strength. (iii) cannot be used for voltages higher than 20 kV
(iii) Cheap in cost and economical to maintain. (iv) less mechanical strength.
(iv) Longer life. (v) require periodical inspection.
(v) Easy accessibility of conductors for maintenance 2. Steel poles. The steel poles are often used as a substitute
for wooden poles. They possess:
The line supports used for transmission and distribution of
• greater mechanical strength,
electric power are of various types including wooden poles,
• longer life and permit longer spans to be used.
steel poles, R.C.C. poles and lattice steel towers. The choice of
• used for distribution purposes in the cities. This type of
supporting structure for a particular case depends upon the line
supports need to be galvanised or painted in order to
span, X-sectional area, line voltage, cost and local conditions.
prolong its life.
1. Wooden poles. These are made of seasoned wood (sal or 3. RCC poles. The reinforced concrete poles have
chir) and are suitable for lines of moderate X-sectional area and become very popular as line supports in recent years.
of relatively shorter spans, say upto 50 metres. They have:
Such supports are cheap, easily available, provide insulating • greater mechanical strength,
properties and, therefore, are widely used for distribution • longer life.
purposes in rural areas as an economical proposition • permit longer spans than steel poles.
• They have give good outlook, require little
maintenance and have good insulating properties.
 Line Supports
(iv) The insulator material should be non-porous, free from
4. Steel towers. In practice, wooden, steel and reinforced impurities and cracks otherwise the permittivity will be lowered.
concrete poles are used for distribution purposes at low (v) High ratio of puncture strength to flashover.
voltages, say up to 11 kV. However, for long distance
transmission at higher voltage, steel towers are employed, They Types of Insulators
have: 1. Pin type insulators.
▪ greater mechanical strength, Pin type insulators are used for
▪ longer life, transmission and distribution of
▪ can withstand most severe climatic conditions electric power at voltages upto 33
▪ permit the use of longer spans. kV.
▪ Tower footings are usually grounded by driving rods into the
earth
Insulators
The insulators provide necessary insulation between line
conductors and supports and thus prevent any leakage current
from conductors to earth. In general, the insulators should have
the following desirable properties :
(i) High mechanical strength in order to withstand conductor
load, wind load etc.
(ii) High electrical resistance of insulator material in order to
avoid leakage currents to earth.
(iii) High relative permittivity of insulator material in order that
dielectric strength is high.
2 Suspension type insulators. For high voltages (>33 kV), it is
a usual practice to use suspension type insulators shown in Fig.
8.7.

3. Strain insulators used when there is a dead end of the line

or there is corner or sharp curve, the line is subjected to
greater tension.

4. Shackle insulators. Such insulators can be used either in a

horizontal position or in a vertical position. They can be directly
fixed to the pole with a bolt or to the cross arm. Fig. 8.9 shows a
shackle insulator fixed to the pole. The conductor in the groove
is fixed with a soft binding wire.
 Potential Distribution over Suspension Insulator String
A string of suspension insulators consists of a number of The following points may be noted regarding the potential
porcelain discs connected in series through metallic links. distribution over a string of suspension insulators :
(i) The voltage impressed on a string of suspension insulators
does not distribute itself uniformly across the individual discs
due to the presence of shunt capacitance.
(ii) The disc nearest to the conductor has maximum voltage
across it. As we move towards the cross-arm, the voltage across
each disc goes on decreasing.
(iii) The unit nearest to the conductor is under maximum
electrical stress and is likely to be punctured. Therefore, means
must be provided to equalise the potential across each unit.
This is fully discussed in Art. 8.8.
(iv) If the voltage impressed across the string were d.c., then
voltage across each unit would be the same. It is because
insulator capacitances are ineffective for d.c.
String Efficiency The ratio of voltage across the whole
string to the product of number of discs and the voltage across
the disc nearest to the conductor
Mathematical expression of the equivalent circuit for
a 3-disc string.
C - self capacitance of each disc is. From expressions (i), (ii) and (iii), we get,
C1 -shunt capacitance is some fraction K of self
capacitance i.e., C1 = KC. V1,V2 and V3 , are the
voltage across each unit
Applying Kirchhoff’s current law to node A, we get,

Applying Kirchhoff’s current law to node B, we get,

The following points may be noted from the above mathematical
analysis :
(i) If K = 0·2 (Say), then from exp. (iv), we get, V2 = 1·2 V1 and V3 = 1·64
V1. This clearly shows that disc nearest to the conductor has maximum
voltage across it; the voltage across other discs decreasing progressively
as the cross-arm in approached.
Voltage between conductor and earth (i.e., tower) is (ii) The greater the value of K (= C1/C), the more non-uniform is the
potential across the discs and lesser is the string efficiency.
(iii) The inequality in voltage distribution increases with the increase of
number of discs in the string. Therefore, shorter string has more
efficiency than the larger one.
 Methods of Improving String Efficiency
The various methods for this purpose are :
(i) By using longer cross-arms The value of string
efficiency depends upon the value of K i.e., ratio of
shunt capacitance to mutual capacitance. The lesser the
value of K, the greater is the string efficiency and more
uniform is the voltage distribution. The value of K can
be decreased by reducing the shunt capacitance. In
order to reduce shunt capacitance, the distance of
conductor from tower must be increased i.e., longer
cross-arms should be used.
(ii) By grading the insulators. insulators of different
Important Points While solving problems relating to string
dimensions are so chosen that each has a different
efficiency, the following points must be kept in mind:
capacitance. Since voltage is inversely proportional to
(i) The maximum voltage appears across the disc nearest to
capacitance, this method tends to equalize the
the conductror (i.e., line conductor).
potential distribution across the units in the string.
(ii) The voltage across the string is equal to phase voltage i.e.,
(iii) By using a guard ring. guard ring which is a metal ring Voltage across string = Voltage between line and earth = Phase
electrically connected to the conductor and surrounding the Voltage
bottom insulator as shown in the Fig. 8.13. (iii) Line Voltage
Corona when the applied voltage exceeds a certain value, called Important Terms of corona
critical disruptive voltage, the conductors are surrounded by a faint The phenomenon of corona plays an important role in
violet glow called corona. the design of an overhead transmission line.
The phenomenon of violet glow, hissing noise and production of ozone Therefore, it is profitable to consider the following
gas in an overhead transmission line is known as corona. terms much used in the analysis of corona effects:
Factors Affecting Corona:
(i) Atmosphere. In the stormy weather, the number of ions is more than (i) Critical disruptive voltage. It is the minimum
normal and as such corona occurs at much less voltage as compared phase-neutral voltage at which corona occurs.
with fair weather. Consider two conductors of radii r cm and spaced d cm
(ii) Conductor size. The corona effect depends upon the shape and apart. If V is the phase-neutral potential, then potential
conditions of the conductors. The rough and irregular surface will give gradient at the conductor surface is given by:
rise to more corona because unevenness of the surface decreases the
value of breakdown voltage. Thus a stranded conductor has irregular
surface and hence gives rise to more corona that a solid conductor. In order that corona is formed, the value of g must be
(iii) Spacing between conductors. If the spacing between the conductors made equal to the breakdown strength of air. The
is made very large as compared to their diameters, there may not be any breakdown strength of air at 76 cm pressure and
corona effect. It is because larger distance between conductors reduces temperature of 25ºC is 30 kV/cm (max) or 21·2 kV/cm
the electro-static stresses at the conductor surface, thus avoiding corona (r.m.s.) and is denoted by go. If Vc is the phase-neutral
formation. potential required under these conditions, then,
(iv) Line voltage. The line voltage greatly affects corona. If it is low,
there is no change in the condition of air surrounding the conductors and
hence no corona is formed. However, if the line voltage has such a value go = breakdown strength of air at 76 cm of mercury and
that electrostatic stresses developed at the conductor surface make the 25ºC = 30 kV/cm (max) or 21·2 kV/cm (r.m.s.)
air around the conductor conducting, then corona is formed.
Critical disruptive voltage, (ii) Visual critical voltage. It is the minimum phase-neutral
voltage at which corona glow appears all along the line
The above expression for disruptive voltage is under standard conductors. It has been seen that in case of parallel
conditions i.e., at 76 cm of Hg and 25ºC. However, if these conductors, the corona glow does not begin at the disruptive
conditions vary, the air density also changes, thus altering the voltage Vc but at a higher voltage Vv, called visual critical
value of go. The value of go is directly proportional to air density. voltage. The phase-neutral effective value of visual critical
Thus the breakdown strength of air at a barometric pressure of b voltage is given by the following empirical formula :
cm of mercury and temperature of tºC becomes o where

where mv is another irregularity factor having a value of 1.0

for polished conductors and 0.72 to 0.82 for rough
conductors.
Correction must also be made for the surface condition of the (iii) Power loss due to corona. Formation of corona is
conductor. This is accounted for by multiplying the above always accompanied by energy loss which is dissipated in the
expression by irregularity factor mo. form of light, heat, sound and chemical action. When
disruptive voltage is exceeded, the power loss due to corona
is given by :
 Advantages and Disadvantages of Corona
Advantages
(i) Due to corona formation, the air surrounding the conductor Methods of Reducing Corona Effect
becomes conducting and hence virtual diameter of the
(i) By increasing conductor size. By increasing conductor size,
conductor is increased. The increased diameter reduces the
the voltage at which corona occurs is raised and hence corona
electrostatic stresses between the conductors.
effects are considerably reduced. This is one of the reasons that
(ii) Corona reduces the effects of transients produced by surges.
ACSR conductors which have a larger cross-sectional area are
Disadvantages used in transmission lines.
(i) Corona is accompanied by a loss of energy. This affects the (ii) By increasing conductor spacing. By increasing the spacing
transmission efficiency of the line. between conductors, the voltage at which corona occurs is
(ii) Ozone is produced by corona and may cause corrosion of raised and hence corona effects can be eliminated. However,
the conductor due to chemical action. spacing cannot be increased too much otherwise the cost of
(iii) The current drawn by the line due to corona is non- supporting structure (e.g., bigger cross arms and supports) may
sinusoidal and hence non-sinusoidal voltage drop occurs in the increase to a considerable extent.
line. This may cause inductive interference with neighbouring
communication lines
Sag in Overhead Lines The difference in level between points of
supports and the lowest point on the conductor is called
The following points may be noted :
(i) When the conductor is suspended between two supports at the same level, it
takes the shape of catenary. However, if the sag is very small compared with
the span, then sag-span curve is like a parabola.
(ii) The tension at any point on the conductor acts tangentially. Thus tension
TO at the lowest point O acts horizontally as shown in Fig. 8.23. (ii).
(iii) The horizontal component of tension is constant throughout the length of
the wire.
(iv) The tension at supports is approximately equal to the horizontal tension
acting at any point on the wire. Thus if T is the tension at the support B, then T
= TO.

Calculation of Sag: In an overhead line:

➢ The sag should be so adjusted that tension in the conductors is within safe limits.
➢ The tension is governed by conductor weight, effects of wind, ice loading and temperature
variations.
➢ It is a standard practice to keep conductor tension less than 50% of its ultimate tensile
strength i.e., minimum factor of safety in respect of conductor tension should be 2.
The sag should be calculated when:
(i) supports are at equal levels
(ii) supports are at unequal levels.
 (i)Calculating the sag when supports are at equal levels.

l = Length of span
w = Weight per unit length of conductor
T = Tension in the conductor.
❑ Consider a point P on the conductor with the co-ordinates x
and y
❑ Taking the lowest point O as the origin,
❑ Assuming that the curvature is so small that curved length is
equal to its horizontal projection (i.e., OP = x),
❑ the two forces acting on the portion OP of the conductor are :
(a) The weight wx of conductor acting at a distance x/2 from O.
(b) The tension T acting at O.
Equating the moments of above two forces about point O, we get,

or
The maximum dip (sag) is represented by the value
of y at either of the supports A and B.
At support A,
The maximum dip (sag) is represented by the
value of y at either of the supports A and B.
At support A,
(ii) When supports are at unequal levels

Fig. 8.25 shows a conductor suspended between two supports A and B

which are at different levels. The lowest point on the conductor is O.

Let
l = Span length
h = Difference in levels between two supports
x1 = Distance of support at lower level (i.e., A) from O
x2 = Distance of support at higher level (i.e. B) from O
T = Tension in the conductor
 If wis the weight per unit length of the conductor, then,

and also

But or

Having found x1 and x2, values of S1 and S2 can be easily calculated

 Effect of wind and ice loading: The above formulae for sag are true only in still air and at
normal temperature when the conductor is acted by its weight only. However, in actual practice,
a conductor may have ice coating and simultaneously subjected to wind pressure.

Total weight of conductor per unit length is

When the conductor has wind and ice loading also, the following points may be noted :
(i) The conductor sets itself in a plane at an angle to the vertical where
(ii) The sag in the conductor is given by :
Hence S represents the slant sag in a direction making an angle to the vertical. If no specific mention is made in the
problem, then slant slag is calculated by using the above formula.

(iii) The vertical sag = 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃

 Some Mechanical Principles
Mechanical factors of safety to be used in transmission line design should depend to some extent
on the importance of continuity of operation in the line under consideration. In general, the
strength of the line should be such as to provide against the worst probable weather conditions.
We now discuss some important points in the mechanical design of overhead transmission lines.
(i) Tower height : Tower height depends upon the length of span. With long spans, relatively few
towers are required but they must be tall and correspondingly costly. It is not usually possible to
determine the tower height and span length on the basis of direct construction costs because the
lightning hazards increase greatly as the height of the conductors above ground is increased. This
is one reason that horizontal spacing is favored inspite of the wider right of way required.
(ii) Conductor clearance to ground : The conductor clearance to ground at the time of greatest
sag should not be less than some specified distance (usually between 6 and 12 m), depending on
the voltage, on the nature of the country and on the local laws. The greatest sag may occur on the
hottest day of summer on account of the expansion of the wire or it may occur in winter owing to
the formation of a heavy coating of ice on the wires. Special provisions must be made for
melting ice from the power lines.
(iii) Sag and tension : When laying overhead transmission lines, it is necessary to allow a
reasonable factor of safety in respect of the tension to which the conductor is subjected. The
tension is governed by the effects of wind, ice loading and temperature variations. The
relationship between tension and sag is dependent on the loading conditions and temperature
variations. For example, the tension increases when the temperature decreases and there is a
corresponding decrease in the sag. Icing-up of the line and wind loading will cause stretching
of the conductor by an amount dependent on the line tension. In planning the sag, tension and
clearance to ground of a given span, a maximum stress is selected.
It is then aimed to have this stress developed at the worst probable weather conditions ( i.e.
Minimum expected temperature, maximum ice loading and maximum wind). Wind loading
increases the sag in the direction of resultant loading but decreases the vertical component.
Therefore, in clearance calculations, the effect of wind should not be included unless
horizontal clearance is important.
(iv) Stringing charts : For use in the field work of stringing the
conductors, temperature-sag and temperature tension charts are plotted
for the given conductor and loading conditions. Such curves are called
stringing charts (see Fig. 8.33). These charts are very helpful while
stringing overhead lines.

(v) Conductor spacing : Spacing of conductors should be such so as to provide safety against
flash-over when the wires are swinging in the wind. The proper spacing is a function of span
length, voltage and weather conditions.
The use of horizontal spacing eliminates the danger caused by unequal ice loading. Small wires
or wires of light material are subjected to more swinging by the wind than heavy conductors.
Therefore, light wires should be given greater spacings.
(vi) Conductor vibration : Wind exerts pressure on the exposed surface of the
conductor. If the wind velocity is small, the swinging of conductors is harmless
provided the clearance is sufficiently large so that conductors do not approach within
the sparking distance of each other. A completely different type of vibration, called
dancing, is caused by the action of fairly strong wind on a wire covered with ice, when
the ice coating happens to take a form which makes a good air-foil section. Then the
whole span may sail up like a kite until it reaches the limit of its slack, stops with a jerk
and falls or sails back. The harmful effects of these vibrations occur at the clamps or
supports where the conductor suffers fatigue and breaks eventually. In order to protect
the conductors, dampers are used.