On the bending stiffness of transmission line conductors

This paper presents a new model for conductors under simultaneous tensile and bending loads. The proposed conductor model takes into account the interlayer friction and the interlayer slip in the conductor during bending and leads to a variable bending stiffness, Le. a stiffness which changes with the bending displacement and the tension applied to the conductor. The theoretical concept is validated by extensive tests using an innovative measurement setup, the “cable-scanner”, which detects, by non-contact scanning of the conductor surface, the displacement and the curvature of the conductor axis.