IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery ,Vol. 6, No.

3, July 1991

1264

AEOLIAN VIBRATIONS : WIND ENERGY INPUT EVALUATED FROM MEASUREMENTS

ON AN ENERGIZED TRANSMISSION LINE
M. Kraus

P. Hagedorn
Institut fur Mechanik, TH Darmstadt
Hochschulstrasse 1
6100 Darmstadt, W. Germany

Abstract

Field tests carried out in Buren in

a completely automated test station are described. From

these measurements the wind power input in an actual

transmission line is estimated. A comparison with results from wind tunnel data is carried out. It corroborates the method now being used for the calculation of
aeolian vibrations in transmission lines, so that i t
can be used in the future with more confidence.
1. INTRODUCTION

Aeolian vibrations are caused by the shedding of

vortices from a body exposed to laminar or turbulent
flow [l].
In the case of overhead transmission lines,
wind leads to vortex shedding and vibrations in the
frequency range from 5 to 100 Hz with amplitudes sometimes as large as the conductor diameter. These vibrations can cause severe damage o r even breakdown of the
conductor due to material fatigue. Dampers of different
kinds are therefore being used to reduce the aeolian
vibrations and to increase the conductors' life time.
Both knowledge of the wind data and the corresponding
wind power input and of the mechanical behavior of conductor and damper are required in estimating the vibration levels. Calculations using an energy balance method [ 2 ] are often done to predict the vibration amplitudes and bending strains at different frequencies. These
results are then used for damper design. Together with
statistical meteorological data and appropriate models
for damage accumulation they can possibly be used for
life-time estimation in the future.
In this paper. computed vibration levels are compared to results obtained by vibration measurements on
an energized transmission line. From these measurements
the "wind forces" acting on an actual overhead conductor are estimated and compared to the data obtained by
wind tunnel experiments.

between the frequency fS of the vortex shedding and the

wind velocity v perpendicular to the wire, D being the
diameter of the wire and S the Strouhal number
(S = 0.2).

2.2The Energy Balance Method

Using a simplified model C2.31, the conductor
vibration amplitudes can be approximately computed as a
function of the wind speed perpendicular to the conductor or of the frequency using the energy balance
Pw = PD + Pc.

(2)

In (2) steady state vibrations are assumed, Pw is the

power of the aerodynamic forces, P

the power dissipa-

ted in the damper and Pc the power dissipated in the

conductor. In this balance the energy exchange between
neighboring spans and towers is neglected. If no dampers are present, the term PD in (2) vanishes and the
amplitude can then be calculated from Pw = Pc for given
wind speeds or vibration frequencies.
In these calculations i t is assumed that the conductor is always vibrating in resonance, i.e. that each
frequency is an eigenfrequency of the conductor. Due to
this assumption the method does not give the actual
vibration levels, but only the largest possible values
(see [2,3]). This is in good agreement with the design
philosophy of the safe borderline. The actual vibration
levels depend on additional parameters changing in time
(e.g. wind speed distribution, turbulence level, conductor length and tension).

2.2.1 Power Dissipated in the Conductor

2. GENERAL REMARKS ON AEOLIAN VIBRATIONS

2.1 The Strouhal-Relation

For vortex-excited vibrations
Strouhal found the relation

of

taut

wires

The power dissipation in conductors ("self damping") can be measured in laboratory spans as a function of the frequency f and the amplitude A or the vibration angle p. It is usually approximated by formulas
such as

f s = SDX

P
or

fnpmTEL

- K

c -

T t

1265

2.2.2Wind Power Input

With k = w/c the power spectrum of (7)is

The power imparted to the conductor by the aerodynamic forces is estimated on the basis of wind tunnel
experiments, which are usually carried out with rigid
cylinders rather than conductors. Not only do the results differ considerably from author to author, but
the test conditions are obviously much different from
the ones at an overhead line [4,5.6,7,8].

Equation (8) is valid for w

>

0 and Gm(.)

is an even

function.
In the energy balance method the calculations are
carried out with monofrequent vibrations and we therefore wish to substitute ( 6 ) by a monofrequent vibration
with the same mechanical energy and with a certain amplitude A and a nominal, dominating circular frequency

w(x, t) = A sin(-Od x) sin(wdt).

(9)

Equating the total mechanical energies of (6) and (9)

leads to

w.

A2=1[-$]

AT
i

If we multiply G

mm

Fig.l: Normalized wind power input, obtained by

Farquharson Mc Hugh and Diana & Falco
C(0)

Pw

L f3 D4 F(A/D)

(4)

by the correction f a c t o r

:=

w2
Using laboratory results obtained in wind tunnels the
"wind-power" can be written as

.(U)

0;

(11)

sin2(% C O

we obtain
G

AA

(w)

:=

mm

(U)

C(O) =

over a wide range of Reynolds-numbers. In Fig.1 the

is
experimentally determined wind power input F(.)
shown as a function of 2A/D (see [9] 1.
and according to (10) A is given by

2.3The Vibration Amplitude

The energy balance (2) can be used to predict approximately the maximum vibration amplitude or bending
strain as a function of the vibration frequency. On the
other hand, using data from the field tests the amplitude can be calculated directly from the measurement
data [lo].
For monofrequent planar free vibrations of a taut
string with fixed ends, the displacement can be written
as
w.(x.t) = Ai sin(kix) sin (wit)
with the frequency w

= i s/L

and the wave number

In the field measurements, the cable vibrations

can be approximated as a superposition of the different
modes, so that w(x,t) is of the form

1Ai sin (kix) sin(wit)

The cable acceleration is measured at locations x = x0,

so that the measurement signal is

=-

1Ai "4 sin(kixo)

i

sin(wit).

the centroid of the spectrum

as shown in Fig.3. This gives better results than

defining wd by the maximum of GAA(w). due to the
roughness of
the spectra. Of course all the
calculations are carried out with FFT. i.e. a
discretized version of the Fourier transform [ll].

3. DESCRIPTION OF THE TEST FACILITY

m(t)

In the experiments, the time functions are not

monofrequent but correspond to narrow band signals, S O
that the power spectra are no longer singular. The
dominating circular frequency wd can then be defined by

(5)

k . = is/L.

w(x,t) =

(12)

(7)

A fully automated test facility was built for the

measurement of the vortex-induced vibrations in Biiren
(Westfalen). Germany, by a consortium formed by the power utilities Vereinigte Elektrizitatswerke Westfalen
(VEW) Dortmund, PreussenElektra and Bayernwerke and by
Richard Bergner GmbH and the Institut fur Mechanik of
the Darmstadt Technical University. In this test station, data are collected on the conductor vibrations
and on meteorological conditions in an actual transmis-

1266

sion line.
The earth wire (conductor 240140 (similar to HAWK
conductor, diameter 21.9 mm, weight 0.987 kg/m, T-=

86400 N, T = 14000 N, 26 x 3.45 mm aluminium. 7 x 2.86

mm steel) of the 220 kV transmission line Lippborg-Buren is used for the measurements between the towers 113
and 114; Fig.2 shows location and elevation of the test
site. It is situated in a hilly terrain steadily ascending from northwest to southeast up to 300 m above

requent, a nominal "dominating" frequency is calculated using the centroid of the acceleration spectrum
(see Fig.3) for all four acceleration channels. This
gives more reliable results than the frequency with the
maximum amplitude because of outliers. The data resulting from these computations are then stored on a
disk - the real time data are not stored - and later
analyzed and evaluated in the Institut fur Mechanik in
Darmstad t .

/Paderborn

Testsite

113

I N

BUREN

114

Fig.3:

Computation of the "dominating" frequency

4. RESULTS OF FIELD MEASUREMENTS

4.1 Wind Conditions

Fig.2: Location and elevation of the test site

sea level over the town of Biiren with only some low industrial buildings in the neighborhood of the site. The
following variables are measured:

- air temperature on top of one tower,

- wind speed perpendicular and parallel to
the transmission line on top of one tower,
- tension in the conductor,
- vertical acceleration at four discrete
points of the conductor (distance from the
clamps approx. 2-4m).
The wind speed is measured by means of an ultrasonic anemometer on tower 1 1 4 . the tension in the conductor is registered with a force transducer at the
clamp on tower 113 and the vertical acceleration is determined by means of accelerometers. The analog signals
obtained by these transducers are amplified and transmitted to a cabin, where they are filtered and digitized. These data are then evaluated on a HP 9000/310
computer system with programs written in HP BASIC 4.0.
After a set-up procedure concerning the choice,
description and calibration of the data channels. FFT
parameters, A/D converter adjustments, trigger parameters, etc., the variables described above are sampled
with prespecified time intervals (5-10minutes) between
two measurements. With the chosen parameters (number of
channels (8). FFT block size (512). sampling frequency
(250 Hz), number of required averages (10)) the recording of the data frames takes about 20 seconds. These
data are then further processed in a second phase taking approx. 300 seconds. The mean value, minimal and
maximal values are computed from the recorded time history together with the standard deviation for each
channel. averaged over the chosen number of frames.
Since the measured vibrations are not exactly mono-

tdsl

Wind speed

Fig.4: The Strouhal-Relation (mean value and standard

deviation)
The first measurement series, taken in October
and November 1987. was used mainly for checking the
test facility. After that a total of 51 measurement series was registered during 1988 between May and December with more than 30 000 single measurements. Some of
the results are given below.
To check the Strouhal relation, the measured "dominant frequency" was plotted versus the wind speed in
Fig.4 and a linear regression was performed using these
data.

Wind speed Wsl

18

Fig.5: Statistical distribution of wind speed and

"dominating" frequency

1267

No correlation was found between the wind speed

and time of the day (Fig.9).
The statistical density of the total wind speed
is shown in Fig.10 (the maximum wind speed is about 20
d s ) together with the distribution of the wind velocity component perpendicular to the conductor. It can
be noted that the overall wind speed follows a Rayleigh
distribution but this is not the case for the perpendicular component.

Fig.6: Statistical distribution for the Strouhal

number

885

-I

Fig.9: Time dependence of the wind speed

(Mean value and standard deviation)
A

Fig.7: The Strouhal number as a function of the wind

speed (Mean value mS and standard deviation)

The correlation coefficient r = 0.93 shows that there

is indeed a strong linear dependence between the
frequency and the wind speed in the examined range of
wind speeds between 1 and 10 m / s . Fig.5 shows the twodimensional statistical distribution with relation to
the wind speed and the "dominant frequency". Fig.6
gives the one-dimensional statistical distribution for
the Strouhal number and Fig. 7 shows the relation
between the Strouhal number and the wind speed
perpendicular to the conductor.The turbulence level of
the wind flow

ze
Fig.10: Statistical distribution for the overall wind
speed and the wind speed perpendicular to
the conductor

4.2Vibration Amplitudes
S

t = L

(15)

is depicted in Fig.8. s

being the standard deviation

and mv the mean value of the wind velocity (both taken

Because of the exposed situation of the test

site, vibrations with significant amplitudes did not
occur very often; approximately. 500 measurements with
amplitudes larger than 0.01 Am could be registered.
Additional measurements using optical devices showed
similar results

for the time of the individual measurement of about 20

seconds). This is an important result since i t contains
information about the laminarity of the wind flow. During our measurements the turbulence level was of the
order of 5 1 5 % (Fig.8). a value much larger than in
most wind tunnel experiments (1-2%), but realistic f o r
real transmission lines.

I
Fig.lla: Comparison between amplitudes computed from
measurements and from the energy balance

16

Fig.8: Mean value and standard deviation of the

turbulence level

Using only those data, the vibration amplitude

was calculated from the field measurements as described
in 2 . 3 . These amplitudes obtained from the field tests
are shown in Fig.lla together with the results of the
energy balance using the RIBE 11 wind power model. This

1268

wind power model corresponds with the coefficients given in [2,p.264]. which were obtained by averaging the
results of [5] for standing harmonic waves. The cable's
self-damping was measured in the lab and the coefficients in (3a) were found as K1 = 6*10 E-7, n = 2.91.

B All measurements
1Measurements with A/D

> 0.01
66.0

m = 2.47, t = 1.56. For all frequencies the amplitudes

in the field are always smaller than the ones computed
with this wind power model.
In the further computations we used the maximum
amplitudes in 1 or 2 Hz intervals as an envelope
(Fig.llb) for the amplitude. At a given wind speed perpendicular to the conductor the vibration level may
reach this envelope but remains far below i t in many
cases.

mean value std.dev

Wind speed (component
parallel t o cable1

Fig.13:

mean value std.dev.

Turbulence level

Influence of the longitudinal wind velocity

and the turbulence level

The probability of a given wind speed perpendicular to

the cable leading or not leading to high vibration amplitudes does therefore strongly depend on the two factors mentioned above. This explains at least to some
extent the "cloudiness" of the data in Fig.lla.
The envelope does however represent the worst case observed in the experiments and can therefore be compared
to curves calculated using the safe borderline concept.
Statistical correlations with different meteorological
data may possibly give more insight.
Fig.llb:

Envelope of computed amplitudes

4.3 Wind Power input

The existence o r non-existence of high vibration
amplitudes is obviously affected by additional factors.
During the evaluation of the data i t was observed, that
the high level vibrations did not occur at random in
time, but they would typically persist for time intervals from some minutes up to several hours and vanish
then again. To explain this phenomenon a comparison
between filtered data with Am > 0.01 and the complete
data set was carried out. In Fig.12 the registered vibration amplitude was plotted as a function of the wind
speed component longitudinal to the cable and the turbulence level. It was found that measurements with large amplitudes were associated to low turbulence levels
and small wind velocity components in the direction
longitudinal to the cable. In the bar chart of Fig.13
the mean values and standard deviations of the longitudinal wind speed component and the turbulence level of
the complete data set and of the measurements with
A/D > 0.01 are compared. It can be seen, that there is
a significant difference between the corresponding values of the two data sets.

Using the envelope of the amplitude described in

the previous section and the energy balance method, the
normalized wind power shown in Fig.14 was calculated
from the field tests.

__

I
Fig.14: Function F(A/D)

Wind speed arallel t o cable

in

ds

Fig.12: Vibration amplitude versus longitudial wind

velocity and turbulence level
Fig.15: Comparison between wind power input calculated
from the measurements and laboratory results

1269

In Fig.15 the normalized wind power inputs previously

obtained and based on wind tunnel experiments are compared with the measurement results. Although the test
conditions in both cases are quite different and also
the turbulence levels are of a different order. the results are quite similar.

ERVIK. M.: Estimating Aeolian Vibration Level Eased on the Energy Balance Principle, CIGRE. Study
Committee 22, WG1. 1975

KRAUS. M.; Messung der Windeingangsleistung bei

wirbelerregten Schwingungen elektrischer Freileitungen. Diplomarbeit. Institut fur Mechanik 11,
TH Darmstadt. 1987

The field tests therefore showed that the methods

presently being used for the estimation of vibration
levels in conductors of overhead transmission lines are
in good overall agreement with practical observations.

PAFOULIS. A.: Signal Analysis, McGraw-Hi11 Book

Company, 1984

7. USED SYMBOLS
5. CONCLUSION
Amplitude signal
Correction factors

In this paper. first a short review is given of

the energy balance method used in the computation of
the amplitudes of aeolian vibrations in conductors of
overhead transmission lines. It is pointed out, that
the wind power input obtained from wind tunnel experiments should be verified for an actual line.
Field tests carried out in Buren in a completely
automated test station are described. From these measurements the wind power input in an actual transmission
line is estimated. A comparison with results from wind
tunnel data is carried out. This corroborates the
method now being used for the calculation of aeolian
vibrations in transmission lines, so that it can be
used in the future with more confidence. In addition
the field tests showed that the wind power input
strongly depends on the turbulence level and the component of the wind velocity parallel to the cable.
The authors thank the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
for their support of this work.

6. REFERENCES

c11

EPRI; Transmission line reference handbook, wind

induced conductor motion, Electric Power Research
Institute, Palo Alto, California, 1979

121

HAGEDORN. P.; On the Computation of Damped WindExcited Vibrations

of Overhead Transmission
Lines, Journal of Sound and Vibration 83 (19821,

Conductor diameter
F(WD) Normalized wind power
,G
Autospectrum of the acceleration
K1.K2 Self-damping coefficients

L
Pw
P,,

Span length

Pc

Power dissipated in conductors

Power of aerodynamic forces

Power dissipated in dampers

S
Strouhal number
T.T-Conductor
tension
aeff Effective value of acceleration

a(t)

f
fd

Acceleration signal
Vibration frequency
Dominating frequency

fS

Strouhal frequency

ki

Wave number

m
Mean value
m,n,tExponents
S
S t&dard
deviation
Turbulence level
t
Wind velocity
V
Location of accelerometer
xO
Displacement of conductor
W
Vibration angle
17
Mass densitiy
w
Eigenfrequency
w.

265-271
c31

c41

HAGEDORN, P.: KRAUS. M.; Vibrations of Overhead

Transmission Lines: Computations and Experiments,
Proceedings of the European Conference on Mathematics in Industry (ECMI), Glasgow, 1988
FARQUHARSON. F. B.; Mc HUGH, R. E.; Wind Tunnel
Investigation on Conductor Vibration Using Rigid
Models, IEEE Transaction Paper October 1956.

871-877
c51

DIANA. G.: FALO3. M.: On the Forces Transmitted

to a Vibrating Cylinder by a Blowing Fluid,
Meccanica Vol.VI, No.1. 1971

C6l

RAWLINS. C. B.; Recent Developments in Conductor

8. BIOGRAPHY
Professor Peter Hagedorn,
born in Berlin, April 1941
received a doctors degree
in mechanical engineering
at the Escola Politecnica
da Universidade da Sa0 PauIo, Brazil. He taught in
Karlsruhe and Rio de Janeiro, and as a visiting professor at other universities. Since 1975 he is
professor of mechanics at
the TH hrmstadt. W. Ger-

Vibration Research. Electric Products Division,

Alcoa Laboratories, Massena, N.Y., 1958

-Y.

c71

RAWLINS. C. B.; Power Imparted by Wind to a Model

of a Vibrating Conductor, Electric Products
Division,
Alcoa
Laboratories.
Massena.
N.Y..Report No. 93-82-1.1982

CSl

RAWLINS. C. B.; Model of Power Imparted by Turbu-

Dip1.-Ing. Michal Kraus,

born in Prague, May 1961
a
degree
in
received
engineering at the TH Darmstadt. Presently he is working as a doctoral student
in the Institut fur Mechanik at the TH hrmstadt.

lent Wind to Vibrating Conductor, Electric Products Division, Alcoa Laboratories. Massena,
N.Y., Report No. 93-83-3,1983

1270

Discussion
C. B. Rawlins (Alcoa, Massena, NY): Id like to congratulate the authors
for their report on a careful and innovative program. The question,
whether the power balance method is well enough advanced to permit
accurate prediction of aeolian vibration levels in the field, is fundamental.
We like to assume that it is, but previous efforts to prove it have yielded
mixed results. Reports by Tompkins et al. [l], and Diana et al. [2] are
worth noting.
Part of the difficulty in validating the power balance method is that its
predictions rely on two data bases, that on power from the wind and that
on conductor self damping. There is a variety of sources on each of these,
and there is considerable dispersion among the various sources. By a
careful selection of source data on wind power and on self damping, it is
possible to obtain quite a variety of predictions of the severity of vibration.
The authors have dealt with the dispersion among sources on wind
power by comparing their field data with several, four, of these sources.
However, they appear to have used only one source of data on self
damping. It isnt quite clear what the relationship is between the sample of
conductor used to measure self damping in the laboratory, and the
conductor actually in the line. Were the cables from the same factory?
How long had the field conductor been in service, and was the laboratory
sample vibrated for an extended period to simulate the effect of aging upon
self damping? Would the authors please expand on this point?

Relationships in Conductor Vibration Damping, Trans. AIEE

Power Apparatus & Systems, Vol. 1 5 , Pt. 111, 1956, pp. 819-94.
G. Diana, M. Gasparetto, F . Tavano and U. Cosmai, Field Measurement and Field Data Processing on Conductor Vibration (Comparison between experimental and analytical results), CIGRE, Proc.
ofthe29th Session, Paper No. 22-11, Sept. 1982.
Manuscript received July 25, 1990

M. Kraus, P. Hagedorn (Institut fuer Mechanik 11, Technical University

Darmstadt): It is known, not only to the authors, that there exists not only
differences between wind power inputs, but also between the measurements of self-damping. In order to minimize the possible error in the
measurement of self-damping the sample of conductor used for the measurement was cut from the transmission line not far from the location
where the measurements of wind power input were taken. Therefore the
conductor and the sample are identical. The field conductor is in use for
about 13 years in the 220 kV transmission line Lippborg-Buren as an earth
cable. Because of the identity of field conductor and sample no artificial
aging was necessary.
The measurement of the self-damping of the conductor were carried out
twice, with different samples from the cable in the vibration laboratory of
Richard Bergner GmbH, Schwabach. The two measurements showed only
minor differences in the measured self-damping.

References

[l] J. S. Tompkins, L. L. Merrill and B. L. Jones, Quantitative

Manuscript received October 19, 1990.