Flexural self-damping in overhead electrical transmission conductors

Internal damping of tensioned cables during flexure by transverse vibration is analyzed. The flexure causes relative movements between the wires or strands of the cable, movements which are constrained by friction between them. Under conditions common to vibration of overhead transmission line conductors the friction is great enough to prevent gross sliding. However, there is microslip at the edges of the interstrand contacts, so there is frictional dissipation. In addition, the frictional forces cause shear strains at the contacts with resulting material damping. An analysis is presented that connects the bodily flexure of the conductor with the internal interstrand movements and forces, and with the amounts of dissipation that occur—self-damping. Comparison of estimates based on the analysis with measured data on self-damping reveals reasonable agreement, for a limited range. Cases lying outside that range appear to be associated with treatments applied to cable samples involved in the measurements prior to testing. Possible mechanisms activated by these treatments are discussed.