Probabilistic wind loadings on

transmission line structures in

India
M. J. Alam and A. R. Santhakumar

Department of Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering Division, Anna

University, Madras--600 025, India
(Received September 1992; revised version accepted April 1993)

An evaluation of probabilistic wind Ioadings on transmission line

structures in India according to the recommendations of International
Electrotechnical Commission/Technical Committee 11 (IEC/TC 11) is
presented in order to promote international unification. The wind loads
thus obtained are compared with relevant Indian, German and other
European specifications. Typical towers are then analysed for these
loads considering critical load cases using the developed software,
TLEXPERT. There are considerable differences in certain details when
Indian Standard (IS): 802-1977, Indian Standard (IS): 802-1989
(proposed) and German Standard DIN VDE 0210 are compared. As a
whole, however, the design according to IS and VDE lies within the
bandwidth which is outlined by the IEC recommendations. The exam-
ple discussed illustrates the difficulties encountered during the practical
application of probabilistic design and provides a pointer towards
desirable improvements.

K e y w o r d s : overhead line, design wind speeds, probabilistic analysis,

reliability level, Indian Standards (IS), International Electrotechnical
Commission recommendation

The design of overhead transmission lines in India is
covered by the specifications IS : 802-19771 (Indian Stan-
dard code of practice for use of structural steel in
overhead transmission line towers), IS: 802-1989
(proposed) 2 (Draft Indian Standard code of practice for
use of structural steel in overhead transmission line
tower), IS: 875-19873 (Indian Standard code of practice
to design loadings for buildings and structures, part-3-
wind loads-2nd revision) and the Indian Electricity Rules
(1956) 4. The most recent version of IS: 802-1989 ap-
peared as a draft code CED7 (4724)-1989. The funda-
mental concepts of IS: 802-1977 are fully deterministic.
But the concepts that have been incorporated in
IS: 802-1989 are semiprobabilistic, taking into account
the probabilistic concepts of loadings as specified by
American Society of Civil Engineers' (ASCE) man-
ual--74-1991, British Standards (BS): 8100-1986 and
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)/
Technical Committee 11-1986. In general, in India, the
deterministic procedure has proved successful over a
number of decades. However, damage has occurred to
overhead lines in India from time to time as a result of
extreme wind loadings 5. Many failures of varying magni-
tude have also been reported by Ahluwalia6. Damage to
overhead transmission lines has therefore aroused lively
discussion amongst the utilities in India. Consequently, it
is important to design overhead lines so as to avoid such
damage. This led to detailed investigations on the prob-
able occurrence of extreme wind loadings and the econ-
omic consequences if lines are designed in accordance
with these wind loads.
Proposals for the design of overhead transmission lines
on a probabilistic basis have been elaborated by CIGRE 7
and the International Electrotechnical Commission
(IEC) 13 in the IEC publication 826. The IEC has
expressed the wish that in order to promote international
unification, all national committees should adopt the text
of the IEC recommendations for their national rules so
far as national conditions permit. Due to the fundamen-
tal significance of these recommendations, their possible
effect on the design of overhead lines in India are
examined in this paper. The improvements obtained by
probabilistic design over conventional procedures are
pointed out.
It is beyond the scope of this paper to describe the
fundamentals of the probabilistic design of structures in
general and of overhead lines in particular. For the sake
of better understanding of this text, however, it should be
mentioned that the IEC-826 specifies three reliability
levels for overhead lines in accordance with the load
return periods of 50, 150 and 500 years. In relation to a
service life of 50 years for an overhead line, the probabil-

0141-0296/94/030181-09
© 1994 ButtenNorth-HeinemannLtd Engng Struct. 1994, Volume 16, Number 3 181
Wind Ioadings on transmission line structures. M. J. A/am and A. R. Santhakumar
ity of occurrence of the design load during this period is
64~o, 28~o and 10~, respectively. The yearly probabilities
of failure for the three reliability levels considered are
10-2, 10- 2.5 and 10- 3, respectively, which are equivalent
to the reliability factor, G, defined by ASCE lz as 1.0, 3.0
and 10.0, respectively. The aim of applying the IEC
recommendations to overhead lines in India can there-
fore be to compare the effects of the individual reliability
levels in relation to the current code practices.
Brief review of parallel activities
The IEC have already attempted to prepare the codes of
practice incorporating the concepts of reliability and
security for the design of overhead lines in several
countries.
In the United K i n g d o m
(1) BS 8100: part 1-1986: lattice towers and masts-part
1 : code of practice for loading
(2) BS 8100: part 2-1986: lattice towers and masts part
2: guide to the background and use of part 1 code of
practice for loading
(3) DD 133: 1989-Draft for development code of prac-
tice low strength assessment of members of lattice
towers and masts.
In the United S t a t e s
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE),
through its Committee on Electrical Transmission Struc-
tures has published 'Guidelines for transmission line
structural loading' as ASCE Manuals and Reports on
Engineering Practice No. 74, 1991.
A comparison of the UK and USA documents with the
IEC recommendations was made. They have the follow-
ing aspects in common:
• They accept a distribution of loads (Gumbel type 1)
• They accept that the strength can be represented by a
distribution (usually Gaussian)
• The resultant risk is calculated in the same way
• The load applied to a component is a function of the
response of that component
However, they differ in the following respects
• The averaging times for wind speeds are different e.g.
IEC 10 min
BS 8100 1h
ASCE fastest mile
• The reference reliabilities are different
• There is another important difference between the
objectives of the IEC and ASCE 12'13. The IEC pro-
poses to control the reliability of an entire line, where-
as ASCE limits its goal to the control of the reliability
of structural components in the line.
Transmission line structure loadings
Few other structures are as sensitive to meteorological
loads (e.g. wind, ice and temperature loads) as transmis-
sion line structures. Probabilistic load factors are depen-
dent on the statistical parameters that define the
182 Engng Struct. 1994, Volume 16, Number 3
probability distributions for annual extreme events of
wind speeds, ice accumulation and combinations of wind
and ice. In India, at present, meteorological data for ice
are rare and are not generally the governing load and
only wind loads i.e. extreme annual wind speeds are
taken into account for the present probabilistic load
analysis.
Evaluation of wind speed measurements
The basis for determining the wind loadings according to
IEC 826-29 was the measurements obtained from 46
observation stations. It has been observed that most of
the DPT anemograms are located near the airports
outside the city which come under the B terrain
category 14. The highest annual hourly averages are avail-
able from India Meteorological Department (IMD) be-
tween 1948 and 1984, in other words over 36 years of
observation.
The IEC assumes that the measuring points are gener-
ally at a height of 10 m above the ground. The measuring
points of the 46 stations considered, however, are at
heights of between 6 m and 34 m above the ground.
Although the IEC provides no procedure for conver-
sion to the standard height of 10 m, the exponential law
Vn = I/lo (H/10) = (1)
where H is the height above ground, has been adopted by
most of the codes of practice for wind loadings in USA,
UK, Australia, Canada etc. There is no direct correspon-
dence with the ground roughness categories proposed by
the IEC. The Indian Standard (IS) has derived the value
of ~ for the four ground roughness categories A, B, C, D
as 0.07, 0.09, 0.14 and 0.203 , respectively. In Germany,
DIN VDE 0210 has derived the values of~ as 0.12, 0.16,
0.22 and 0.28 for the four ground roughness categories A,
B, C and D is, respectively. Under these conditions, the
10 min wind velocities were first determined at the height
of the measuring points and then at the reference height
10m.
Probabilistic analysis of extreme wind speeds
The probability models that are generally used in India
to describe the annual maximum wind speed are type 1
extreme (largest) distribution, called the Gumbel distri-
bution.
In the present investigation, according to the IEC
recommendation, a Gumbel extreme type 1 distribution
is considered for probabilistic analysis of wind speeds in
all the regions. The cumulative distribution function
(CDF) is given by
F ( x ) = exp[ -- exp{ - ~ (x - u)}]
for-~<x<~ (2)
where x is the extreme wind speed, u and ~ are the
location and scale parameters, respectively, which can be
evaluated from the following relations
= C1/a u = ~ - C2/ct
where C 1 and C z are functions of sample size, ~ and a are
the mean and standard deviation, respectively. The
choice of the distribution of extreme type 1 is made after
the investigation of fitting closeness to the data. Thorn
 Wind Ioadings on transmission line structures." M. J. Alam and A. R. Santhakumar

proposed type 2 distribution for wind speeds based on and 0.29 for wind speeds. However, the IEC have stated
the extensive analysis of the data in USA 16. Schueller and that in Europe, a COV of 0.12 has been observed to be
Panggabean 17 suggested type 1 and type 2 for maximum valid for several countries, even though some have re-
yearly gust and average wind speed, respectively, from ported values greater than 0.16. The above variations of
the analysis of the data collected in Germany. Further COV with respect to the IEC specified value are shown in
investigations of the data collected in USA showed that Figure 1 for different countries.
the type 1 distribution was an appropriate model for
extreme wind speed is. In India, Alam et al. x9 suggested
type 1 for the maximum cyclonic wind speed from the High wind speed (Vu)
analysis of the data collected. Ito and Fujino 2° reported The choice of the high wind speed depends upon the
that in Japan in most of cases, type 1 was found to be reliability level. The IEC specifies the values of VM/PM
appropriate to represent the probabilistic behaviour of only for the three values of COV (0.12, 0.16 and 0.20). In
wind speeds. Statistical analysis of wind speed carried out India, the values of COV vary between 0.10 to 0.24. So a
in Australia by Dorman 21 indicated that type 1 distribu- computer data base, WlNDDATA was automated to
tion was suitable. Hence, the literature review shows that generate the values of COV between 0.05 and 0.65
type 1 is generally found to better describe the annual incorporating the same theory and VMis thus obtained. A
maximum wind speed. comment on the determination of the high wind speed,
A sample size of at least 35 is generally recommended VM-the number specified by the IEC-presume data re-
to fit a probability distribution for a random variable. cords of an infinite number of years. If the record length
Observations on annual maximum wind are available for of 36 years is used in the same theory, we obtain instead
more than 35 years for only a few stations in India. the Vu values (see Table 2). According to the theory of
Histograms of all these stations are drawn and mean extremes, the IEC rules thus underestimate the high wind
rank plottings are used to decide whether type 1 is speeds in India.
applicable or not. The good straight line fit encourages
the use of this type of distribution. The suitability of the
model is arrived at after applying the chi-square test. It is Reference wind speed for the design, g~
found that type 1 satisfies the test at a 5~ level of The reference wind speed, VR for the design is the wind
significance for the wind speed observed at all these speed on the site of the line. VRis obtained from the high
stations in India. The parameters of the distributions (u. wind speed, VM by the relationship
ct) are calculated using the method of moments both for
the IEC specified sample size as infinity and the observed VR= K,, V,,, (3)
sample size and are tabulated in Table 1. It should be
noted from Table 1 that there is a variation of u between
0.4~ to 0.6~ and that of ~ between 11~ to 13~o with 0.SG
respect to the sample size. 1- FOR INDIA
2- FOR aERMANY
The standard deviations and the coefficient of varia- 3- FOR U.S.A.
tions (COVs) that are important for the determination of O.,~-- &- FOR POLAND
design values can be obtained directly from the measure-
ments or alternatively by appropriate conversion of the
10 min mean values. The COVs vary between 0.11 and 0.3(] -

0.24, which is beyond the bandwidth of values as speci-

fied by the IEC 9. In Germany, Ruhnau et al. 22 reported
that statistical analysis of 35 years of wind speed data
confirm extreme type 1 distribution as having the value
COY

t 0"2C -- ~ I| 0.20
IEC
,>O~'O wIDTH
of COV between 0.10 and 0.12 for five areas of different 0.12
o.~o - ~ ~///~;'~
terrain categories. In Poland, Zmuda et al. 23 reported
that the statistical analysis of 15 years of maximum speed
data from 44 weather stations yield a Gumbel distribu-
tion (extreme type 1) having the value of COV between
IL 2

0.12 and 0.14. In the USA, the COV varies between 0.10 Figure I Variation of C O V w i t h respect t o ICE values

Table I Estimated statistical parameters for m a x i m u m annual w i n d speed

n = sample size n=~asperlEC

X n V m s -1 SD(cr) U C( U O(

Bangalore 31 22.96 2.96 21.53 0.376 21.63 0.433

Kodaikanal 30 24.21 3.17 22.68 0.351 22.78 0.404
Pune 37 22.97 4.39 21.20 0.304 20.99 0.292
Bombay 37 23.89 2.83 22.54 0.402 22.62 0.454
Nagpur 31 26.39 5.54 23.72 0.201 23.89 0.231
New Delhi 36 29.50 5.31 26.96 0.213 27.10 0.241
Calcutta 35 25.25 5.88 22.44 0.192 22.60 0.218
Madras 31 25.19 4.30 23.12 0.260 23.25 0.298
Visakapatnam 30 27.80 4.92 25.43 0.226 25.58 0.260

Engng Struct. 1994, Volume 16, Number 3 183

W i n d Ioadings on transmission line structures. M. J. A l a m a n d A. R. S a n t h a k u m a r

Table 2 Evaluation of design wind speed, VR, (m s - 1) and dynamic wind pressure qo, (N m 2)

IEC reliability level, I IEC reliability level, II IEC reliability level, Ill

X VM = VR qo VM = VR qo VM = VR qo

Bangalore 31.90 623.30 34.85 743.90 38.05 886.78

Kodaikanal 33.80 699.75 36.95 836.25 40.38 998.70
Pune 34.03 709.30 37.67 869.15 41.64 1062.00
Bombay 32.24 636.64 35.00 750.31 38.00 884.45
Nagpur 43.13 1139.37 48.63 1448.50 54.63 1827.97
New Delhi 45.27 1255.24 50.47 1560.17 56.13 1929.73
Calcutta 42.76 1120.00 48.52 1441.94 54.80 1839.36
Madras 38.13 890.51 42.39 1100.61 47.03 1354.74
Visakapatnam 42.70 1116.77 47.59 1387.20 52.93 1715.97

KR is a coefficient which takes into account the rough- Dynamic wind pressure
ness of the ground at the location of the line and the The dynamic reference pressure qo is given in terms of the
surrounding area. The IEC specifies the values of KR, reference wind velocity, Ve at the location of the line:
according to the roughness of the ground crossed by the
line and also specifies the option to interpolate for the site qo = (1/2) P V~ (4)
of intermediate roughness. The Ke values given in the
where p is the air density = 1.225 kg m -3 at 15 °C and
IEC correspond to 10 min average wind speeds. As the
under normal atmospheric pressure of 1013 mbar, VR is
ground roughness, as mentioned earlier, is of category B,
the reference wind velocity, m s- 1; and qo is the dynamic
kR = 1.0 and VR = VM. The values of Ve are calculated for
reference pressure, N m- z. The values of qo for all nine
all these stations both according to the IEC sample size
stations are calculated and listed for the three IEC
as infinity, and sample size of the observed stations and
reliability levels in Table 2.
these are listed for the three reliability levels in Table 2.
It should be noted that the variation of VR with the IEC
and present sample is about 6 ~ - 1 0 ~ and is shown in
Figure 2. Wind pressure on tower

qr = qoCxTGr (5)
where,

I[ --
~1
qr = load on tower, n m-2
60 I ~i ~.a I / n= 08SERVED
i >~ -to /
SAMPLE
SIZE
qo = dynamic wind pressure, N m-2
CXT = drag coefficient for tower element
GT = gust response factor for tower
In Table 3, the reference wind pressures for ground
- .i category B for a 40 m tower height for the three IEC
50--
reliability levels are derived from the wind observations
of these nine stations. They are compared with IS: 802-
1977 and IS: 802-1989 (proposed). Table 3 shows that the
IS specified values for qr are within the bandwidth of the
I IEC values specified, with a few exceptions for ground
40 t
l II Ill category A. Three reliability levels of the wind pressure
RISK ( % ) on a tower at New Delhi are drawn in Fi#ure 3 showing
Figure 2 Variation of wind speed with respect to sample size at their variation with height compared with values given in
New Delhi site IS: 802-1977 and DIN VDE 0211. It can be seen from

Table 3 Wind pressure on tower (qT)' Nm-2" Tower height, 40 m; terrain category, B

IEC reliability level IS :802- Security class as per IS:802-1989 (proposed)

1977

X GT I II III I II III IV

Bangalore 2.40 1496 1786 2128 1340 811 1123 1176 1251
Kodaikanal 2.40 1680 2007 2397 1340 1646 2365 2564 2806
Pune 2.40 1702 2086 2549 1340 1133 1598 1703 1839
Bombay 2.40 1528 1801 2123 2020 1443 2072 2227 2421
Nagpur 2.40 2735 3477 4387 2020 1133 1598 1703 1839
New Delhi 2.40 3013 3744 4632 2020 1646 2365 2564 2806
Calcutta 2.40 2688 3461 4415 2680 1863 2726 2954 3231
Madras 2.40 2137 2642 3251 2680 1863 2726 2954 3231
Visakapatnam 2.40 2680 3329 4118 2680 1863 2726 2954 3231

184 E n g n g S t r u c t . 1 9 9 4 , V o l u m e 16, N u m b e r 3
 Wind Ioadings on transmission line structures: M. J. Alam and A. R. Santhakumar

where qo is the dynamic reference pressure; Cxc is the drag

CURVE t IEC RELI/~ILI'rY LEVEL I coefficient for the conductor; and Gc is the gust response
CURVE 2 -do- - d o - -- I1 factor for the conductor. In Figure 4, the variation of the
CURVE 3 -do- -do- - nl
ratio of the dynamic wind pressure on conductors to the
A DIN VDE 0210
B I S : 802 --1977
wind pressure on towers in terms of their gust response
factors GJGr is shown and is within the bandwidth of the
60 ~. II ')
IEC values except for some values for ground category A.
In Germany, practical experience with damage to over-
head lines led to the conclusion that the ratio of wind
loading on conductors to wind loading on towers accord-
5C--
ing to DIN VDE corresponds to the actual conditions

/ / i encountered. Hence, it is recommended that gust re-

sponse factors for wind loadings in the overhead conduc-
A 40-- ff" "-- ' " tors in the IEC are defined so that the same relationships
E are obtained according to DIN VDE 0210 and BS 8100.
3[:

30--
/: / t
IEC design wind loading cases and typical example
tkl
:¢
solved
lQ--

10--
/7/ The IEC 826-2 specifications for the different loading
combinations for the wind load design to be adopted for
the transmission structures, considering various practical
aspects are given in Table 4.
Analysis of a 230 kV, barrel type tangent tower with
Pratt and diamond bracing, shown in Figure 5 was
carried out both for the IEC and IS specified load
I I /II I I combinations24 as shown in Figure 6, using a computer
1.5 2.0 ~.s 3.o 3.s t,..o 4..S
program TLEXPERT. The flowchart of the computer
¢~1" (KN/'fit2 )
program TLEXPERT is shown in Figure 7. The output
Figure 3 W i n d pressure on t o w e r w i n d data at N e w Delhi site of the analysis reveal that all these different loading cases
as specified in the IEC recommendations become critical
at least for any one of the members of the tower for wind
Figure 3 that these values are overestimated with respect
to codal values and they need an improvement for the
gust response factors for the tower. Whereas the assump-
tions according to the VDE method are based on both
1.1
measurement and theoretical investigations, there is no
indication whatsoever in the IEC as to how the gust
factors were determined.
It should be noted that the IS: 802-1977 specification is 1,0 -- ~ . . . . -O . . . . ~

fully based on the deterministic approach. The design

methodology and specifications that have been proposed
in IS: 802-1989 are partially based on the IEC recom- 0-9
mendations. The major modifications in the draft IS:
802-1989 compared to the IS: 802-1977 are in the deter-
mination of wind pressure on towers, insulators and 0,8
conductors. The draft code introduces security levels, risk
coefficients, terrain coefficients, topography coefficients,
gust response factors and a number of loading cases, 0.7
thereby accounting for a semiprobabilistic approach
which is in line with the IEC recommendations. The
design dynamic wind pressure on tower structures thus
z 0.6
obtained using IS: 802-1989 is within 5-7~o variation for
a yearly probability of failure of 0.01 with respect to the
IEC procedures. The variation of wind pressure on the
0.5 CURVE 1-1S:802--19~jCATEeORY A
tower with respect to IS: 802-1977 is much more signifi- CURVE 2 - I E C j CATEGORY A
cant because IS: 802-1977 is based on the factor of safety CURVE 3 - I S : 802-19119 AND [EC~ CATEGORY B
of 2.0 for normal loading conditions. CURVIE~-|S'- 802-1589 ANO [EC~ CATEEORV C
0.4 m CURVEr-IS: 802-1~8S AND IEC~ CATEeORY 0
CURVEr-OIN VDE 0210
Wind pressure on conductor
According to the IEC method, the wind pressure on a o.3 I I I I I
100 200 300 400 500 600 700
conductor is calculated as SPAN L (m)

q~ = qoCx~Gc (6) Figure 4 qc/qr in terms of Gc/G T d e p e n d i n g on span length

Engng Struct, 1994, Volume 16, Number 3 185

Wind Ioadings on transmission line structures. M. J. A/am and A. R. Santhakumar

Table 4 Transmission t o w e r loads and load combinations

Load description

IEC load cases Wind pressure" Applied circuitsf Vertical Transverse Longitudinal

1 A DC Normal 90 ° wind .....

2 A SC Normal 90 ° wind
3 B DC Normal 45 ° w i n d 45 ° w i n d
4 B SC Normal 45 ° w i n d 45 ° wind
5 A DC Minimum 90 ° wind --
6 A SC Minimum 90 ° w i n d
7 B DC Minimum 45 ° w i n d 45 ° w i n d
8 B SC Minimum 45 ° wind 45 ° w i n d
9 -- DC 2 x normal No wind
10 -- SC 2 x normal No wind
11 C DC Normal I and 2 Unbalanced 90 ° wind
12 C DC Normal I and 5 Unbalanced 90 ° wind
13 C DC Normal I and 3 Unbalanced 90 ° w i n d
14 C DC Normal I and 6 Unbalanced 90 ° w i n d
15 C DC Normal I and 4 Unbalanced 90 ° w i n d
16 C DC Normal I and 7 Unbalanced 90 ° wind
17 D DC Normal I and 2 Unbalanced 45 ° w i n d
18 D DC Normal I and 5 Unbalanced 45 ° w i n d
19 D DC Normal I and 3 Unbalanced 45 ° wind
20 D DC Normal I and 6 Unbalanced 45 ° w i n d
21 D DC Normal I and 4 Unbalanced 45 ° w i n d
22 D DC Normal I and 7 Unbalanced 45 ° wind
23 C DC Minimum I and 2 Unbalanced 90 ° w i n d
24 C DC Minimum I and 5 Unbalanced 90 ° wind
25 C DC Minimum I and 3 Unbalanced 90 ° wind
26 C DC Minimum I and 6 Unbalanced 90 ° w i n d
27 C DC Minimum I and 4 Unbalanced 90 ° wind
28 C DC Minimum I and 7 Unbalanced 90 ° w i n d
29 D DC Minimum I and 2 Unbalanced 45 ° w i n d
30 D DC Minimum I and 5 Unbalanced 45 ° wind
31 D DC Minimum I and 3 Unbalanced 45 ° w i n d
32 D DC Minimum I and 6 Unbalanced 45 ° wind
33 D DC Minimum I and 4 Unbalanced 45 ° wind
34 D DC Minimum 1 and 7 Unbalanced 45* w i n d
35 -- DC Normal Cascade Collapsed. No w i n d
36 -- DC Minimum Cascade Collapsed. No w i n d

*Wind pressures for A - D are s h o w n in Figure 6

I"SC, single circuit; DC, double circuit

loading. Hence, it is essential to consider all these loading Conclusions

cases for a practical realistic analysis of any tower.
Omission of any of these loading cases may lead to an
unsafe design. In Germany, Ruhnau e t al. 24 have also
reported that the physical fundamentals for the loading
cases according to IEC are the same as for the loading
cases according to VDE and will be the governing load
cases for the design of the transmission line structures.
A series of tower designs are carried out using the IEC
and IS draft code recommended loading conditions. In
the case of the double circuit towers designed with IEC
recommendations, the main leg members below the mid-
dle cross-arm and some diagonals required increased
cross-sections compared to those designed with the IS
draft code. The tower designed according to IEC rules,
considering a probability of failure of 0.01 is shown in
Fioure 8, as a typical example. The weight increase,
considering IEC reliability level I (50-year return period),
for double circuit 230 kV tangent tower is just under 7%
with respect to the tower designed according to IS: 802-
1989. On the other hand, the weight increase for the same
tower is about 20% when compared with the tower
designed using IS: 802-1977 code (factor of safety ap-
proach).
Evaluation of the observation of wind speeds showed
that observations are available at measuring heights
other than 10 m. There is no procedure for conversion to
this standard height in IEC 826-2.
The allocation of observation sites according to the
IEC ground roughness categories raises problems and
can lead to unreliable results over large areas. The IEC
publication therefore appears less suited to the design of
individual lines on the basis of locally measured data
than for the preparation of national standards.
The numbers given in IEC 826-2 regarding the COV
presume data records of an infinite number of years.
According to the theory of extremes, the IEC rules thus
underestimate the high wind velocities by 6-10%.
The IEC specifies the values of COV between 0.12 and
0.20. But the values of COV for many countries lie
between 0.10 and 0.30. Thus, the IEC bandwidth for the
COV for wind loading has to be extended to facilitate
international unification.
In the evaluation of wind speed measurements, a series
of deterministic parameters are taken into consideration,
such as the allocation to the ground roughness and

186 Engng Struct. 1994, Volume 16, Number 3

 -~'------ ?.g5 ~

33.60
6)
® ®
- 30.10
® ®
- - 28.80 @ ®
~ 2"/- SO
-- 26.20
-- 24-- 90
EARTHWIRE AND CONDUCTOR ATTACHMENT POINTS
~ 23.4.0
c~
22. "tO ®1
20.90 c3
19.70

"t8 • 00
I PXSIN

m NORMAL 90° WIND NORMAL ,k,Ji° WIND

--I 12.00
®J
¢3

2
. . . . SECONDARY 6.00
(.o BRACINGS Px 0.6XSIN 48 °
(D I c.
NDT E :
< UNBALANCED 90 ° WiND UNBALANCED ~ o WIND
0 A L L DIMENSIONS
-- WIND PRESSURE
t- ARE IN METRES
3 0.00

..a i 5.40
o~
Z Figure 5 2 3 0 kV t a n g e n t t o w e r c o n f i g u r a t i o n Figure 6 W i n d pressure on t o w e r
t-

3o"

oo
rl-i

,i ~.,s - 1.
T

2.65. o
2 'L ,ir

33-60
~o
fl |

< ]0.10

Z8,80
I: x
3 [ :, 27 . ~ 0
X 26 • 20
P
X 2 4 • ~O

Z z~./,,0
r-" E"
X 22,10
X ZO. ~0
19 -70
X 18-00
" f • F
F
° L :i1~,,~.,,,o11 N 12,00

[
× S-
=0
.... SECONDARY 6.00

NOTE, BRACI N6S ~ . ~

• ALL DIMENSIONS
ARE IN METRES
• THICK LINES IN TOWER 0,0o
Bo~, MEA.s INC,~S~D
sE~r,oNs ~ S.4O - +

Figure 8 230 kV tangent tower as per IEC specifications

Figure 7 Flow chart for TLEXPERT

 Wind Ioadings on transmission line structures: IV/. J. Alam and A. R. Santhakumar
c o n v e r s i o n o f the m e a s u r e m e n t height to s t a n d a r d height
which h a v e g r e a t e r influence t h a n the different reliability
levels. T h e p r a c t i c a l a p p l i c a t i o n o f the p r o c e d u r e a c c o r d -
ing to I E C 826-2 thus needs to be i m p r o v e d .
T h e w i n d l o a d a s s u m p t i o n s a c c o r d i n g to the I E C differ
from the values a c c o r d i n g to IS: 802-1977 a n d IS: 802-
1989 ( p r o p o s e d ) , for a m o n g s t o t h e r things, the r a t i o of
w i n d l o a d i n g o n c o n d u c t o r s to the w i n d l o a d i n g o n
towers. T h e w i n d l o a d i n g o n the c o n d u c t o r a p p e a r s to be
t o o high in r e l a t i o n to the w i n d l o a d i n g o n towers. T h e r e
is n o i n d i c a t i o n in the I E C as to h o w the gust factors were
derived. These are i m p o r t a n t for w i n d l o a d i n g o n the
c o n d u c t o r a n d are d e p e n d e n t on the s p a n length. It is
a d v i s a b l e to define the gust factors such t h a t the r a t i o of
w i n d l o a d i n g on c o n d u c t o r s to t h a t o n towers agree with
the values as c o m p a r a b l e to o t h e r countries. M a i n l y in
G e r m a n y , the r a t i o s of w i n d l o a d i n g o n c o n d u c t o r s to
w i n d l o a d i n g o n t o w e r s are b e t w e e n 0.56 a n d 0.75, which
can be t a k e n as a r e a s o n a b l e value. I n the U K , the
r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s of BS 8100 with respect to gust
r e s p o n s e factors c a n be m o r e realistic. I n o t h e r words, the
r a t i o s of the w i n d pressure o n c o n d u c t o r s in r e l a t i o n to
t h o s e o n towers need to be i n v e s t i g a t e d in o r d e r to assess
h o w closely the t h e o r e t i c a l m o d e l s c o n f o r m with reality.
C o n s i d e r a b l e differences exist b e t w e e n the a s s u m p -
tions b a s e d o n IS a n d I E C , especially in l o a d i n g c o m b i n -
a t i o n s a n d the n u m b e r of l o a d cases considered.
G e n e r a l l y , the l o a d i n g cases c o n s i d e r e d b y I E C will be
critical for the design of towers a n d f o u n d a t i o n s in India.
T h e weight increase if I E C r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s are fol-
l o w e d is a b o u t 20% when c o m p a r e d with the design
m a d e a c c o r d i n g to IS codes.
T h e k n o w n inconsistencies in the design c o d e IS: 802-
1989 ( p r o p o s e d revision, CED7(4727)-1989) to t r a n s m i s -
sion line t o w e r s i n d i c a t e a definite need for a p r o b a b i l i t y
b a s e d design m e t h o d o l o g y i n c o r p o r a t i n g I E C a n d
C I G R E r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s on the basis of locally m e a s -
u r e d data.
References
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Engng Struct. 1994, Volume 16, Number 3 189