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Examples of Transmission Line Tower Configurations and Solutions such as

765 kV insulated Cross Arms to minimize the Impact of new EHV Lines

D. LAKHAPATI A. FURRER HR. GASSMANN F. SCHMUCK

Jyoti Americas LLC Pfisterer Sefag AG
USA Switzerland

SUMMARY
The most challenging issues of the today`s transmission sector are the Right of Way (ROW), land acquisition,
regulatory and environmental clearances. Taking India as example, for many years transmission lines have
been constructed without any major ROW issues. However with the increased awareness of formers, land
owners, reserved forest, bird centuries, religious structures, it has become increasingly difficult to get smooth
and timely ROW clearances. Narrow corridors like chicken neck, multiple EHV lines have created congestion
around existing substations, leaving almost no space for the future expansion. Engineers have been, therefore
left with no option but to work on EHV lines or use the existing corridors for upgrading to higher voltages,
such that cost of MW power transfer/metre of ROW is the most optimum. Compact lines are a well-accepted
solution to solve right-of-way constraints and to provide a technical solution to reduce the electromagnetic
field on ground. Insulated cross arms with composite insulators have been commissioned for voltage levels
up to 420 kV so far. With the availability of high strength cores with relatively large diameters, solutions
with a single post became the preferred option, because of the better aesthetic appearance. For higher voltage
classes and/or the desirable corresponding long spans, the use of hollow cores or double beams offers the
opportunity to design technical solutions for these cases. Experiments have shown that the mechanical per-
formance of the high strength cores have to be balanced with the strength of the steel hardware, which is used
for the attachment of the conductors and to the pole or tower. This paper summarizes briefly the state-of-the-
art of line compacting and describes the development steps of a horizontal Vee arrangement for 765 kV. In
a first stage, initial digital mechanical simulations were conducted to deduce basic designs of a solid core
single or double beam as well as a hollow core insulator. The solutions of the single post and of the double
post both with solid cores were favoured and corresponding finite element simulations of various load sce-
narios and post arrangements carried out. From the simulation results, the two technically most feasible prin-
ciples were selected and full-scale specimen have been installed in a high strength test frame. The real tests
have shown that a destructive testing was not possible when using the forces of the loading tree. For this
reason, the post deflection by buckling was in the main focus of the testing. Basing on the results measured,
a third design was then simulated taking into account a larger core diameter that was developed recently.

KEYWORDS
EHV - Extra High Voltage, Right of way (ROW), insulated cross arm, horizontal Vee, deflection

frank.schmuck@sefag.ch
1 INTRODUCTION
Transmission lines have been built worldwide over the last decades mostly in a traditional way using steel
lattice towers. Facing ambitious expansion plans, several thousands of kilometres of new transmission lines
will be built in the near future. Line designers have a great challenge to protect the environment, minimize
the visual impact, and optimize the use of ROW. Transmission lines need to carry power for long distances
from power generating stations to the distribution centres, which encounters difficult terrains like mountains,
deserts, forests and long river crossings to name a few. AC transmission voltages have increased in stages
from 66 kV to 765 kV, a test line of 1200 kV has been commissioned in India and is under study. And in
2010, a new mile stone was achieved with the commissioning of an 800 kV DC transmission line in China.
The experience has shown that it is possible to lessen or mitigate potential environmental, landowner and
community impacts by adjusting the proposed route, choosing different type of structures and, using different
construction methods. Solutions exist for future new lines for minimizing the impact such as the use of ex-
isting corridors for voltage upgrade of transmission lines, reduced ROW in forest sections, construction of
lines along the highways or on the central verge of the highways and the use of insulated cross arms for
compacting the ROW of the transmission lines. The installation of new or the voltage upgrade of existing
transmission lines through urban areas is often a special challenge in respect to constraints of ROW aspects,
regarding the threshold values of audible noise, radio interference, electrical and magnetic field determined
by the local rules and authorities and to aesthetic impact. Compact line arrangements are well accepted solu-
tions to solve such situations /1-4/. The first installations of compact lines were reported during the 70s from
Canada /5/ and Greece /6/, at these days still using porcelain insulators. With the progress in the composite
insulator technology, optimized solutions were developed /7/ and the introduction of composite phase spacers
additionally to insulated cross arms was considered for further line compaction /8/. The concept of compact
line installations was always accompanied by the development of appropriate computer simulation models
/9, 10/. The available design knowledge and field experience was summarized in an IEEE guide, published
in 2008 /11/. In 1998, the first 420 kV compact line section was erected in Switzerland /12/. This line required
a high buckling load resistance of the post. Due to the size limitation of the available diameter rods at this
time, a solution with a single hollow core was preferred instead of using two parallel rods. The experiences
from testing and later from service with this first generation has triggered further developments of the con-
cept, and today the 3+ generation is available with single, high strength rods of larger diameters up to 130
mm, larger diameters are under development /13, 14, 15, 16/. In terms of attachment to the pole or the tower
it is differentiated into braced line post (rigid) or horizontal Vee (pivoted) /17/. Rigid solutions with double
posts and non-circular post cross section are in field trials /18/.

2 ROW UTILISATION BY THE EXISTING TRANSMISSION LINES /19/

2. 1 420 kV Single, Double and Quad Circuit Towers
The progress of maximizing ROW utilization will be presented in the following taking India as an example,
where a huge expansion of the EHV/UHV transmission line network has taken place. In India, single circuit
lines have been constructed during the seventies on horizontal configuration (Fig. 1). Double circuit lines
were then developed with twin and four conductor bundle for interstate lines (Fig. 2). Quad circuit lines were
specially introduced in cases when multiple lines could not be utilized because of passing through a forest
(Fig. 3).

Fig. 1: Single circuit tower Fig. 2: Double circuit tower Fig. 3: Quad circuit tower

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2. 2 765 kV Single Circuit Horizontal & Vertical Configuration and Double Circuit Towers
From a traditional horizontal configuration (Fig. 4), a delta configuration compacts the line considerably
(Fig. 5), but the erection of the top girder is more challenging and costly. However, a delta on vertical con-
figuration of tower (Fig. 6) is much more erection friendly and also lighter, being built for the first time in
India. 800 kV double circuit lines (Fig. 7) are also under construction.

Fig. 4: Conventional tower Fig. 5: Delta shape Fig. 6: “Vertical” delta Fig. 7: 800 kV DC

2. 3 500 kV and 800 kV HVDC Towers

500 kV bipolar HVDC lines (Fig. 8) have been in operation for long distances in India and 800 kV HVDC
lines (Fig. 9) are currently under construction. Also in India prototypes for 1200 kV single circuit have been
already tested and a 1200 kV transmission line is under construction. This line will be initially commissioned
at 420 kV.

Fig. 8: 500 kV HVDC tower Fig. 9: 800 kV HVDC tower

2. 4 Use of insulated Cross Arms to reduce ROW Demand and to provide Line Compaction
Compact lines with insulated cross arms can be constructed with conventional lattice towers or tubular poles.
The last solution is often preferred because the aesthetic appearance of the transmission line can be improved.
Recent erections are designed with composite insulators. Examples are as follows: Compact line with con-
ventional insulators (Fig. 10), compact lines with composite insulators and tubular poles (Fig. 11 and 12).

Fig. 10: 420 kV line in Italy Fig. 11: 420 kV line in Dubai Fig. 12: 420 kV line in Holland /20/

2
3 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ON PROS AND CONS OF COMPACT LINES
The existing experience with compact line is thoroughly positive. This can also be attributed to the redun-
dancy aspect, since a braced line post or horizontal Vee is a string of at least two insulators. Furthermore, the
non-brittle nature of a large-diameter composite post provides additional safety in the case of a failing bracing
longrod. The pros and cons result from by the experience and can be summarized in Table 1 as follows:

Table 1: Pros and cons of compact lines with braced line post or horizontal Vee arrangements

Pros
Less ROW consumption, cost savings in property re-
quired and time needed for permissions
Cost savings for tower and foundation construction be-
cause of smaller bending moments due to the shorter insu-
lated cross arms compared to conventional steel lattice
cross arms
Aesthetically pleasing tower configurations possible
(landmark art concept)
Reduced electro-magnetic field at ground /21, 22/
Higher power transfer capacity because of lower surge
impedance /18/
Fail-safe redundancy because of the use of two insulators.
Cons
Often but not necessarily shorter span lengths
Increased RIV or corona level possible because of shorter
distances between phase conductors, if conductor configu-
ration is inappropriate and/or inadequate hardware is in-
stalled.
More demanding conductor stringing process
Life-line-work can be an issue for double circuit towers.
Mechanical stability problems, when the number of hori-
zontal Vees becomes too high in relation to in-situ wind
scenarios.
Braced line posts or horizontal Vees are not a commodity
and so more costly to conventional strings but additional
costs are negligible in regard to the savings.

It has been shown in various projects that the “Cons” can be solved by individual engineering solutions
having a close cooperation between utility, line designer, tower and insulator manufacturer and architect. For
example, in 1998 when the 420 kV line with compact section in Switzerland was erected, no installation rules
existed for the insulated cross arm made of composite material and silicone rubber housing on which the
linesman should not walk on. The easy solution was the pre-assembly of the insulated cross arm on the ground
and the temporal attachment of aluminium frames during installation and conductor stringing /12/. In another
example, the tubular poles had a modular structure and the insulated cross arms were pre-assembled on the
ground and fixed to the tower segments, in order to simplify the erection process with considerable cost
savings in comparison to a lattice tower /14/.

4 HORIZONTAL VEE ARRANGEMENT FOR A 765 KV COMPACT LINE

With increasing transmission voltages, it was to prove whether the insulated cross arm concept would be
applicable to voltages > 420 kV as well. The attractiveness of a 765 kV insulated cross arm can be seen in
Fig. 13, which shows the space saving opportunities as principle. On the left hand side, the 765 kV double
circuit tower used at KEPCO /21/ is shown as reference. On the right hand side, there is one possible solution

(Scale is identical for both towers)

Fig. 13: Comparison between standard lattice and compact tower for a 765 kV double circuit line

3
for a compact tower. The ROW distances are formed by the phase-to-phase distances, plus the swing of the
I-string (conventional tower) and plus a distance of 13.213 m. The phase-to-phase distances on the compact
tower has been an assumption and are typically determined by the mid span conductor swing and the related
in-situ isolation coordination requirements. It is obvious, that the savings in the line corridor arise from the
reduced cross arm width since the insulator string swing has not to be considered. If the span length could be
shorter for the compact tower, less sag would occur and the height of attachment of the lower phases could
be further reduced (below the 49.190 m in the example).

4. 1 Technical Considerations for the Selection of the principal Design

The attachment between the insulated cross arm and the tower or pole is differentiated into the mentioned
two variants, which determine the stresses by the various loads significantly and by this, the choice of the
rod diameters, especially of the post:

 In the case of a rigid attachment, no movement of the post arrangement is possible; hence an unbalanced
longitudinal conductor situation can be the critical load case because causing a bending load to the post.
 For a non-rigid or pivoted attachment, an unbalanced longitudinal load would cause a rotation about the
cross arm axis, hence no bending load occurs, the load is a tensile load after the end position of rotation
is reached. It is of critical importance that then the horizontal Vee arrangement can freely move, other-
wise a bending will occur to the attachment hardware, which will bend and very likely fail.

So far, in most applications, the pivoted attachment has been used, in this case however the stability of the
line requires special considerations to prevent a snap-through of some Vee post members along the line /11,
22/. The important forces to be considered are displayed in Fig. 14, which shows the interaction of the forces
of the loading tree simulations (FX, FY, FZ) and the corresponding force reactions in the insulators of the cross
arm arrangement (FPB, FPP). In the case of a pivoted arrangement, the force FZ can be neglected in terms of
bending stress consideration.

-FX = Transverse tension force

+FX = Transverse compression force
FY = Vertical force
FZ = Longitudinal force
FPB = Projected force in the brace
FPP = Projected force in the post

NOTE: -FPB is possible and would cause

buckling of the brace insulator.

Fig. 14: Load relations of an insulated cross arm

The experience has shown that the force FPP as the resulting force of +FX and FY is the main design parameter
of the insulated cross arm. The E-Modulus of a glass-fibre reinforced rod is approximately half of the value
of an equivalent porcelain insulator. Hence, the composite rod starts with an elastic buckling at lower values
than the porcelain equivalent, however without the risk of a breakage. So, depending on the post insulator
length and magnitude of the compression force, different solutions exist from the view of a 765 kV solution:

4
1) Single post made of a massive core,
2) Composite hollow core,
3) Hybrid post,
4) Double single post, both as massive cores,
5) Post with non-circular cross section.

The solutions 1) - 4) are compared in Table 2 in regard to their different properties/characteristics. The use
of a single post is the preferred technical solution, however if the forces are too high for the rod diameter
available, one of the other solutions has to be considered. Positive experience is available with hollow core
insulators, when their internal space is filled in a way that no cracks are formed in the interface between the
filler and the internal tube wall and the filler itself is free of partial discharges /12/. This becomes the critical
part of the production process, especially when large dimensions are required as for voltage applications
higher than 420 kV. In the case of a double single post, its flashover value under pollution conditions will be
smaller in comparison to a single unit, because the power arc can develop on both units. However, if a housing
material with hydrophobicity transfer mechanism such as silicone rubber is employed, this situation is not
very likely.

Table 2: Technical ranking of post solutions in a cross arm arrangement

Property/characteristics Single post Composite hollow Hybrid post* Double single post
core
Weight 1 2 3 2
Pollution performance 1 2 2 3**
Torsion and buckling 3 2 1 2
strength
Brittleness (vandalism re- 1 1 3 1
sistance, shock load behav-
iour )
Technical demand in insula- 1 3*** 1 1
tor manufacturing
1 = best, 3 = worst, * = fully covered by silicone rubber housing, ** lower flashover values as a single post because of
possible proximity effect, *** internal space requires filler

From the analysis of the table, two designs of a 765 kV prototype were chosen, with double single post
(Design A) and single post (Design B). The inclination of the post over the horizontal axis was one variable,
which was investigated as well. An E-shaped yoke was introduced to carry 6 conductors. For the development
of new cross arm configurations, the course of action is split into mechanical and electrical design work.
Applicable standards provide sufficient guidance for the electrical design in terms of striking distances re-
quired for the withstand voltage specified. In the electrical field simulation, the dimensions and position of
the corona and power arc rings are defined. And for composite insulators, it is critically important to limit
the field stress at the housing. A value of 4.5 kV/cm has been recommended /23/. The mechanical design is
more challenging, because an insulated cross arm arrangement is a tailor-made solution in the most cases.
When the insulator length is defined, a finite element (FEM) simulation will provide the first results of the
rod diameters required and the deformation under buckling stress. Different load cases have to be investi-
gated, which are typically derived from line design requirements - the so-called loading trees. It has been

Possible shapes of the

post cross section

Fig. 15: Specially formed post cross section to enhance stiffness

5
shown that the following load cases are reasonable to be investigated in the FEM simulation: Normal load
condition, broken wire condition, longitudinal cascade and maintenance case. Subsequently, a full scale test-
ing is used to verify the simulation results. The empirical results are used to optimize the FEM model if
needed. All the time, the full scale testing is recommended to prove the strength of the hardware components
as well as whether the arrangement can rotate freely in the load case of broken wire conditions (for horizontal
Vee). The solution with post(s) having non-circular cross section have been presented recently as technical
solution to increase the bending stiffness of the post for angle and tension towers and as option to improve
line stability if needed (Fig. 15 /18/).

4. 2 Mechanical Testing of the 765 kV Prototype

Different rod diameters were used in the tests. The results of two tests is shown, Design A (Fig. 16) and
Design B (Fig. 17). The rod diameters of Design A were 65 % of Design B and the testing of Design B was
performed in a way that the load contribution due to the lever arm of the yoke length was considered by
adding a rod extension. The force applied was the resulting force from FX and FY and the deflection in the
middle of the post(s) was measured.

4. 2. 1 Design A
For Design A, each post leg was assembled of three individual insulators. Intermediate metal flanges were
used to connect the two legs with each other to provide additional stiffening. As shown in Fig. 16, the con-
nection plates provided no significant contribution to the buckling strength. For this design and with a con-
servative approach of 40 mm maximum deflection, a maximum force of 60 kN can be deduced.

140

β = 50° with connecting plate Position of

120 connecting plate
β = 50° without connecting plate
α
Buckling deflexion in mm

100 β = 33° without connecting plate β

F

80

60

40

20

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Resulting force in kN

Fig. 16: Deflection over compression load of double post arrangement

4. 2. 2 Design B
The test of Design B showed a different behaviour to Design A (Fig. 16 and 17): The post showed a vertical
and horizontal deflection. Two cases were specifically investigated, with two different angles α1 = 50° and
α2 = 66° (β = 33° in both cases). Hence the post was inclined by 16°, which reduces the buckling load
especially in vertical direction. Taking the 40 mm as maximum deflection again, a force of 90 kN can be
deduced.

4. 2. 3 Design C
With the ongoing development of pultrusion technology for rod manufacture, larger diameters with circular
cross section will become available. This is considered as important step for insulated cross arm arrangements

6
to achieve longer span length. Basing on the results measured, a FEM simulation (Fig. 18) was conducted
for a rod diameter of 30 % larger than of Design B. The result for a post inclination of 16° shows a significant
increase of the buckling performance in comparison to Fig. 17 (to approximately 170 kN for 40 mm of de-
flection). Mechanical full scale testing is scheduled for early spring 2014 to verify the results of the simula-
tion. It is worth noting from the figures above, that because of the material characteristics of the FRP rod of
the insulator (high ultimate bending strength and strain, elastic limit in the region of ultimate strength, not
brittle), the post-buckling performance of the strut is stable, i.e. the structure will not show a permanent
deformation even after considerable deflections, which can be considered as an additional safety margin /22,
5.4.4., p. 149 ff /.

160

140 Horizontal post, vertical deflexion

Horizontal post, horizontal deflexion

120 α1
Buckling deflexion in mm

Inclined post, vertical deflexion β

100 Inclined post, horizontal deflexion
F

80

60

40

α2
20
β
0 F

0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Resulting force in kN

Fig. 17: Deflection over compression load of single post arrangement

Fig. 18: Deflection over compression load for large diameter rod

5 CONCLUSION
The development of rod diameters with very large diameters produced in one step by pultrusion provides the
fundament that the braced line post or horizontal Vee concepts can be employed for voltage above 420 kV
for economical span length. Initial physical and electrical material tests of such large rod diameter specimens
have proven the suitability of the material. Full scale testing of horizontal Vee configurations is scheduled
for spring 2014, hence results should be available in summer 2014.

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