Limiting windstorm effects on tower by the « low drag » cable

Hurricane winds affect the flow around electrical conductor in a way that it may reach the critical (Drag crisis) and postcritical states. It is thus important to introduce the cable aerodynamic drag as Reynolds-dependent when calculating the response of the power transmission line under hurricane. To represent the respective wind loading on cable, the turbulent, spatially non-uniform wind model is used. In order to assess the behaviour and cyclic fatigue loads under hurricane conditions of different transmission line conductors, the time response analyses were done. Results of comparative study of the smooth cable AERO-Z and classical multistrand cable, including the percentage of load reduction offered to supporting structure, are presented.