2011 Electrical Insulation Conference, Annapolis, Maryland, 5 to 8 June 2011

Experimental Investigation Of Dry Band Arcing On

ADSS Cables When Spiral Vibration Dampers Are
Installed
Kumaraguru Prabakar and George G. Karady
School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering
Arizona State University
Tempe, USA
kprabak1@asu.edu, karady@asu.edu

AbstractIn order to damp wind induced Aeolian vibration and capacitive coupling between the high voltage lines and the
to avoid damage in all dielectric self-supporting (ADSS) fiber ADSS cables, a leakage current starts to flow in this newly
optic cables, spiral vibration dampers (SVD) are used. Dry band formed conductive layer. When the cable dries, the conductive
arcing is a phenomenon observed in ADSS cable, which damages path along its length will break and dry bands will be formed
the outer surface of the cable. Damages due to dry band arcing and there will be a voltage drop across the dry band. If there is
damper and cable are observed in the field. Effect of spiral vibra- sufficient voltage, air will break down and dry band arc will be
tion dampers on dry band arcing is investigated by performing formed.
experiments on cable samples. Leakage current measurements
from the experiments are recorded. Simulation is performed to ADSS cables have low self-damping characteristics be-
reproduce the experimental samples using commercially availa- cause of which they tend to vibrate at severe levels [2]. Dam-
ble software and the electric field distribution on the surface of pers are used by the utilities to minimize these vibrations. Im-
the cable for two models is simulated. The simulation result is pact dampers reduce Aeolian vibration through dissipation of
used to analyze the behavior of the arc. When the dampers are vibration energy by impacting the cable. SVD is a type of im-
installed, an increase in the leakage current and electric field pact damper used not only for damping vibrations in ADSS
distribution is observed. A possible remedy could be to move the cables but also in overhead shield wires.
dampers near the middle of the span without reducing its effec-
tiveness.
II. AEOLIAN VIBRATION ON ADSS CABLES
Keywords-All dielectric self-supporting fiber optic cable, dry When a smooth stream of air passes across a cylindrical
band arcing, spiral vibration damper, electric field distribution, structure like ADSS cable, eddies are formed on the rear end
electric field simulation.
of the structure. These eddies develop alternating pressure that
tends to move the structure at right angles to the direction of
I. INTRODUCTION the flow of air. This causes Aeolian vibration. At mid span, the
Fiber optic cables are used by the utilities for data acquisi- strain imposed by the vibration is negligible.
tion for the control centers and leased to others for data trans-
mission. Typical fiber optic cables used are optical ground wire
(OPGW), wrap-type and all dielectric self-supporting (ADSS).
ADSS cables are popular because of its reduced cost compared
to OPGW and the availability of more number of fibers than
wrap-type. Failure of ADSS cables was observed due to aging
and dry band arcing is believed to be the one of the prime rea-
sons of these aging related failures [1]. The outer layer of Figure 1. Mechanism of Aeolian vibration[3]
ADSS cables is hydrophobic in nature and this prevents dry
band arcing. When ADSS cables are installed in the transmis-
sion towers, pollution settles in the outer insulation layer. Pol-
lution typically includes particles settling due to industrial ex-
haust and salt layer forming when they operate near coastal
areas.
Under dry condition, dry band arcing is usually absent, as
the pollution is non-conductive. However, in the presence of
moisture, the contamination changes the outer layer from hy-
drophobic to hydrophilic. The wet layer formed is conductive
and has a resistance associated with it. Due to the presence of Figure 2. Damper model

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978-1-4577-0276-1/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE 226
 Figure 3. Experimental setup[6]
Figure 4. Dry band arcing on ADSS cable samples with and without damper
However, at suspension and supports where the cable is re-
strained from free movement, the strain can be significant and
can lead to fatigue failure [4]. Fig. 1 shows the mechanism of
Aeolian vibration. Spiral vibration dampers are favored by the
industry to effectively damp such Aeolian vibrations. Fig. 2
shows a spiral vibration damper and the damper installed on a
cable. Usually, the dampers are installed near the tower ends
typically a foot away from the armor rods [5]. These dampers
are made out of dielectric material, typically poly-vinyl chlo-
ride. Spiral vibration dampers have a gripping section on one
end and a damping section on the other. The helix in the grip-
ping section is smaller than that of the damping section to
have an effective grip on the cable. The number of dampers
installed between any tower sections ranges from two to four
depending on the span.
As these cables are installed along high voltage lines phe-
nomena like dry band arcing, corona discharge and micro
sparking were observed and many mitigation methods have
been suggested [6]. The above mentioned phenomena also
accelerate the aging process of ADSS cable. A test method to
evaluate aging related problems has been proposed [7]. Kaida-
nov et. al show in [5] the presence of dry band arcing in the
field and also indicates dry band arcing in the cables where the
dampers are installed. Mitigation methods like supporting the
armor rod assembly on silicone rubber composite insulators
[8] and arc arrest system [9] have been proposed and field
results for the latter method have been published in the litera-
ture. Experimental work to analyze dry band arcing near armor
rod installation has been presented in [10] and [11]. Investiga-
tion on the impact of dampers on dry band arcing has not been
performed in detail. This is the main objective in this paper
and is obtained by comparing the leakage current and electric
field distribution with and without the damper.
227
Figure 5. Leakage current measured in the absence of damper
Figure 6. Leakage current measured when the damper is installed
III. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP TO TEST DRY BAND ARCING
Fig. 3 shows the experimental setup used for observing dry
band arcing on ADSS cable. In the experimental setup the
electrodes are supplied from a potential transformer with a
current limiting series RC circuit of resistance 4.2 M and
capacitance 650 pF. Aluminum foil electrodes are wrapped
around the cable and the damper as shown by Fig. 3 and Fig.
4. Distance between the aluminum electrodes is six inches in
length. Fig. 4 shows that a small part of the damper is used as
a sample and is three inches in length. Three misting devices
are used to spray water over the samples. The aluminum
around the gripping section and the cable is grounded through
a series resistor of resistance 100 ohms. The current through
this resistor is measured using a digital oscilloscope. The cur-
rent measured across this resistor is the leakage current flow-
ing on the surface of the cable. The salinity of the water used
is 1 percent.
Water is sprinkled for two minutes with the voltage ap-
plied and is allowed to dry for thirteen minutes with the vol-
tage applied. Above mentioned fifteen minutes constitutes a
cycle and is repeated for various voltage levels. Voltage is
increased in increments of five from 5 kV till the cable is
compromised. When experiment is carried out with damper on
the cable, cable length of 3 meters is used and the damper is
installed on the cable to reproduce real time simulation of the
working environment. First set of experiments were performed
on ADSS cable in the absence of damper.
 Figure 7. Unstable arcs on the outer layer of ADSS cable

Figure 9. Models used in simulation

Figure 8. Dry band arcing between cable and the damper

For this set of experiments a cable sample of length twelve

inches is used with six inch separation between the electrodes.
Second set of readings were carried out using the damper on
the cable. The grounding electrodes are placed around the
gripping section of the damper. This is grounded together with
the electrode around the cable as shown in Fig.3 and Fig. 4.
IV. LEAKAGE CURRENT MEASUREMENTS
Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 show the results obtained from the expe-
riments carried out. When the samples were prepared the outer
layer of the cable and the damper was hydrophobic. Due to
gravity the water droplets on the layer of the cable will tend to
move towards the lower part of the cable. Arc will begin when
Figure 10. Electric field distribution on the surface of the ADSS cable in the
the resistance between the droplets is low enough to drop the absence of damper
voltage applied and will extinguish as soon as the water drop-
lets are disengaged from the outer layer. If this happens when Damaged cable and damper is shown in Fig. 8(b). The wa-
the hydrophobicity is high, the arc is unstable. This unstable ter droplets in between the damper and the cable create a con-
nature of the arc makes it less dangerous. Fig. 5 shows that the ducting layer for the stable arc and due to this stable arc the
leakage current exceeded 0.5 mA a few times during the expe- cable is damaged. The presence of water droplet during the arc
riment. But the cable was not affected by it because the arc could be verified from Fig. 8(b). The region marked by red
developed was not stable. The effect of water movement on circle shown in Fig. 8(b) remains undamaged because of the
stability of arc could be observed from Fig. 7. Even though, water droplet. The cable in the absence of the damper was
the leakage current flowing through the surface of the cable compromised on the onset of 25 kV and at 15 kV in the pres-
did not reach 1 mA for all the cycles, reduction in the hydro- ence of damper. The heat developed due to the arc burns the
phobicity made the arcs more stable and damaged the cable. In insulation of the cable sample. The sample is considered com-
the second set of experiments electrodes are placed in gripping promised when the cable insulation starts to burn.
section of the damper as shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. Fig.6
shows the leakage current flowing through the cable and the V. SIMULATION OF CABLE AND DAMPER
damper assembly. When water is sprinkled over the cable and
damper setup, the presence of water is found to be more than Electric field distribution around the cable influences dry
in the absence of damper. The reason for this increase is be- band arcing in the cable. Electric field distribution for the expe-
rimental setup was investigated using commercially available
cause of the presence of water droplets on the surface of the
COULOMB software. Fig. 9(a) and (b) shows the models used
damper and also in between the damper and the cable. Due to
for simulation. The models are similar to the cable samples
this, the leakage current is more which could be observed from used in the experiments. The cable has the outer jacket made
Fig. 6. Fig. 8(a) shows the arc which damaged the cable. out of polyethylene and is reproduced in COULOMB by using
a relative permittivity of 2.25.

228

Figure 11. Electric field distribution on the surface of the ADSS cable in the
presence of damper and water strip
The damper is made out of Poly-vinyl chloride and is in-
cluded in the model II by using a relative permittivity of 3.18.
The cylinder in the middle represents the central strength
member. The five cylinders surrounding the central strength
member represents the fiber optical cable with the buffer tube.
The aluminum electrodes are placed at the two ends with six
inches apart. In order to minimize the error, 8000 triangular
elements are used in the simulation. Voltage is varied form 5
kV to 25 kV in increments of 5 kV and is applied at one of the
electrodes. The electrode over the damper is grounded together
with the grounded aluminum electrode over the cable for model
II. Water strip is placed over the damper by defining a volume
for the water strip indicated in model II and using a relative
permittivity of 80 for the volume. Fig. 10 and Fig. 11 show the
electric field distribution along the surface of ADSS cable
segment between 4 to 7 inches from the high voltage electrode
end for the models in Fig. 9 (a) and (b) respectively. The elec-
tric field distribution shown is on the surface of the ADSS ca-
ble samples. The water strip in the model starts at 4.5 inches
from the high voltage electrode end and ends at 7 inches from
the high voltage electrode. Electric field distribution in Fig. 11
shows that at 4.5 and 7 inch the electric field distribution in-
creases. The increase in electric field distribution is due to the
presence of water strip around the damper.
VI. DISCUSSIONS
Visual observation indicates that unstable arcing is present
even in low voltage levels. This unstable arcing damaged the
cable at a slower rate than when the cable was tested with a
damper installed in it. The increased rate of damage due to dry
band arcing is because of the stable nature of the arc. Arc in-
stability is usually influenced by insufficient voltage to break-
down the gap and to drive the leakage current. The presence of
water droplets in the damper reduces the arc length, thereby
reducing the voltage needed to breakdown the gap. The water
droplets between the cable and the damper provide the stability
needed by the arc.
Hamptons criterion states that the arc will extend over the
adjacent moisture, if the field on the surface exceeds that in the
229
arc [12]. From Fig. 10 and Fig. 11, it could be observed that
there is a difference in electric field on the surface. The electric
field distribution on the surface of the cable when the damper is
installed is five times more than a cable without damper. This
increase extends the arc from the cable surface to the water
droplet in between the damper and cable. Fig. 8 shows that dry
band arcs extend from the surface of the cable to the edge of
the damper where water droplets were present. The arc had one
of its roots in the cable and the other in the damper because of
which the outer layer of the cable and the damper are damaged.
VII. CONCLUSION
It is observed from the experiments conducted that in the
absence of the damper ADSS cable gets damaged when a vol-
tage of 25 kV is applied. In presence of the damper, ADSS
cable gets damaged when 15 kV is applied. Also, from the lea-
kage current measurements, an increase in leakage current is
also observed when the damper is installed on the cable. The
simulation results show that there is an increase in the electric
field distribution at the edge of the damper and this causes the
arc to jump from the cable surface to the damper. The water
droplets in the damper stabilize the arc roots, which eventually
damages the cable. Results from the experiments and simula-
tion verify the finding that the damper increases the probability
of dry band arcing. This deteriorates the cable faster. Damper
with increased hydrophobicity could be used to reduce the sta-
bility of the arc. The dampers could also be moved to 10 to 20
feet from the tower ends, where the presence of leakage current
is reduced.
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230
George G. Karady was born in Budapest, Hungary.
He received the B.S.E.E. and Doctor of Engineering
degree in electrical engineering from Technical
University of Budapest in 1952 and 1960,
respectively. Dr.Karady was appointed to Salt River
Project Chair Professor at Arizona State University in
1986, where he is responsible for the electrical power
education and performs research in power electronics,
high voltage techniques and electric power.
Previously, he was with EBASCO services where he
served as chief engineer ofcomputer technology. He was electrical task
supervisor for the Tokomak fusion test reactor project in Princeton. From
1969 to 1977, he worked for the Hydro Quebec institute of research as a
program manager and in 1976 was elected to research fellow. Between 1952
and 1969 he worked for the Technology University of Budapest where he
progressed from post doctoral student to deputy department head.
Tel: 480-965-6569
E-mail: karady@asu.edu
Kumaraguru Prabakar received his B.Tech in
Electrical and Electronics Engineering from SRM
University in India. He is currently pursuing his M.S.
from Arizona State University. He was one of the
reviewers for graduate and professional student
association at Arizona State University. His research
interests are outdoor insulators and high voltage
engineering.
Tel: 480-286-5290
E-mail: kprabak1@asu.edu