Seismic failure analysis on substation equipment interconnected by flexible conductor

Substation porcelain equipment interconnected by flexible conductor are vulnerable to severe earthquake. Field investigation on the substation equipment during the 5.12 Great Wenchuan Earthquake, China, was introduced in this paper firstly. Through finite element modeling of disconnect switch-current transformer-circuit breaker coupling system interconnected by flexible conductor, seismic responses of the coupling system were analyzed under earthquake inputs with different peak ground accelerations. The responses of the coupling system were then compared with that of the independent equipment. Analysis results show that the seismic responses are different between the coupling system and the independent equipment. Tension in the flexible conductor can transfer between the equipment interconnected by conductor in the coupling system, which is one of the main reasons for substation equipment failure under earthquake attack. The coupling effects of the switch equipment interconnected by flexible conductor should be considered in seismic design and performance analysis.