Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2019
25th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
ALUMINUM ALLOY CONDUCTOR CABLE: FATIGUE AND FAILURE ANALYSIS
Submission Author:
Gustavo Reinke , DF
Co-Authors:
Gustavo Reinke, Remy Kalombo Badibanga, RICARDO LENON DA RODRIGUES, JORGE FERREIRA, JOSE ALEXANDER ARAUJO, Cosme Roberto Moreira da Silva
Presenter: Gustavo Reinke
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2019.COB2019-1441
Abstract
The objective of this work is to generate experimental data to compare two types of All Aluminum Alloy Conductors (“A” and “B”), manufactured from the same material and, theoretically, submitted to the same heat treatment, with regard to their fatigue life and their failure. Wind-induced fatigue failure occurs with some regularity in conductors cables, causing loss of reliability in the electrical distribution system. A broken cable can result in significant damage to both the power company and its customers. A battery of eighteen fatigue tests was carried out in order to generate their S-N curves. The results showed that the fatigue life of cable “A” was around three times shorter than that of cable “B”, with a higher dispersion of results. Cable “A” wires also exhibited lower hardness and tensile strength than cable “B” wires. Scanning electron microscopy analyses of fracture wires surfaces demonstrated that failures were caused by fretting fatigue. The lower hardening and tensile strength values of cable “A” wires compared to cable “B” cables are associated with supposed differences in the heat treatment process applied to each cable during manufacturing process. The heat treatment inefficiency led to the formation of fewer hardening precipitates, resulting in mechanical properties far from ideal, thereby shortening its fatigue life.
Keywords
Aluminum Conductor, Heat treatment, fatigue, failure analysis
