• Wind and Structures
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.339-359
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• 2019

Pre-stressed concrete poles are among the supporting systems used to support transmission lines. It is essential to protect transmission line systems from harsh environmental attacks such as downburst wind events. Typically, these poles are designed to resist synoptic wind loading as current codes do not address high wind events in the form of downbursts. In the current study, the behavior of guyed pre-stressed concrete Transmission lines is studied under downburst loads. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first investigation to assess the behaviour of guyed pre-stressed concrete poles under downburst events. Due to the localized nature of those events, identifying the critical locations and parameters leading to peak forces on the poles is a challenging task. To overcome this challenge, an in-house built numerical model is developed incorporating the following: (1) a three-dimensional downburst wind field previously developed and validated using computational fluid dynamics simulations; (2) a computationally efficient analytical technique previously developed and validated to predict the non-linear behaviour of the conductors including the effects of the pretension force, sagging, insulator's stiffness and the non-uniform distribution of wind loads, and (3) a non-linear finite element model utilized to simulate the structural behaviour of the guyed pre-stressed concrete pole considering material nonlinearity. A parametric study is conducted by varying the downbursts locations relative to the guyed pole while considering three different span values. The results of this parametric study are utilized to identify critical downburst configurations leading to peak straining actions on the pole and the guys. This is followed by comparing the obtained critical load cases to new load cases proposed to ASCE-74 loading committee. A non-linear failure analysis is then conducted for the three considered guyed pre-stressed concrete transmission line systems to determine the downburst jet velocity at which the pole systems fail.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.481-494
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• 2007

Downbursts are transient phenomena that produce wind profiles that are distinctly different from synoptic boundary layers. Wind field data from Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of isolated downburst-like impinging jets, are used to investigate structural loads of tall buildings due to these high intensity winds. The base shear forces and base moments of tall buildings of heights between 120 and 250 m produced by downburst winds of various scales are compared with the forces from the equivalent boundary layer gust winds, with matched 10-metre wind velocity. The wind profiles are mainly functions of the size of the downburst and the radial distance from the centre of the storm. Wind forces due to various downburst profiles are investigated by placing the building at different locations relative to the storm center as well as varying the size of the downburst. Overall it is found that downbursts larger than approx. 2,000 m in diameter might produce governing design wind loads above those from corresponding boundary layer winds for tall buildings.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.177-188
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• 2012

The meteorological events that cause most strong winds in Brazil are extra-tropical cyclones, downbursts and tornadoes. However, one hurricane formed off the coastline of southern Brazil in 2005, a tropical storm formed in 2010 and there are predictions that others may form again. Events such as those described in the paper and which have occurred before 1987, generate data for the wind map presented in the Brazilian wind loading code NBR-6123. This wind map presents the reference wind speeds based on 3-second gust wind speed at 10 m height in open terrain, with 50-year return period, varying from 30 m/s (north half of country) to 50 m/s (extreme south). There is not a separation of the type of climatological event which generated each registered velocity. Therefore, a thunderstorm (TS), an extra-tropical pressure system (EPS) or even a tropical cyclone (TC) are treated the same and its resulting velocities absorbed without differentiation. Since the flow fields generated by each type of meteorological event may be distinct, the indiscriminate combination of the highest wind velocities with aerodynamic coefficients from boundary layer wind tunnels may lead to erroneous loading in buildings.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.249-268
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• 2007

Past experience indicates that the majority of failures of electrical transmission tower structures occurred during high intensity wind events, such as downbursts. The wind load distribution associated with these localized events is different than the boundary layer wind profile that is typically used in the design of structures. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study represents the first comprehensive investigation that assesses the effect of varying the downburst parameters on the structural performance of a transmission line structure. The study focuses on a guyed tower structure and is conducted numerically using, as a case study, one of the towers that failed in Manitoba, Canada, during a downburst event in 1996. The study provides an insight about the spatial and time variation of the downburst wind field. It also assesses the variation of the tower members' internal forces with the downburst parameters. Finally, the structural behaviour of the tower under critical downburst configurations is described and is compared to that resulting from the boundary layer normal wind load conditions.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.211-229
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• 2016

In recent years, the frequency and duration of supply interruption in electric power transmission system due to flashover increase yearly in China. Flashover is usually associated with inadequate electric clearance and often takes place in extreme weathers, such as downbursts, typhoons and hurricanes. The present study focuses on the wind-induced oscillation of conductor during the process when a downburst is passing by or across a specified transmission line. Based on a revised analytical model recently developed for stationary downburst, transient three-dimensional wind fields of moving downbursts are successfully simulated. In the simulations, the downbursts travel along various motion paths according to the certain initial locations and directions of motion assumed in advance. Then, an eight-span section, extracted from a practical 500 kV ultra-high-voltage transmission line, is chosen. After performing a non-linear transient analysis, the transient displacements of the conductors could be obtained. Also, an extensive study on suspension insulator strings' rotation angles is conducted, and the electric clearances at different strings could be compared directly. The results show that both the variation trends of the transient responses and the corresponding peak values vary seriously with the motion paths of downburst. Accordingly, the location of the specified string, which is in the most disadvantageous situation along the studied line section, is picked out. And a representative motion path is concluded for reference in the calculation of each string's oscillation for the precaution of wind-induced flashover under downburst.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.65-87
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• 2016

The wind velocity profile over the height of a structure in high intensity wind (HIW) events, such as downbursts, differs from that associated with atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) winds. Current design codes for lattice transmission structures contain only limited advice on the treatment of HIW effects, and structural design is carried out using wind load profiles and response factors derived for ABL winds. The present study assesses the load-deformation curve (capacity curve) of a transmission tower under modeled downburst wind loading, and compares it with that obtained for an ABL wind loading profile. The analysis considers nonlinear inelastic response under simulated downburst wind fields. The capacity curve is represented using the relationship between the base shear and the maximum tip displacement. The results indicate that the capacity curve remains relatively consistent between different downburst scenarios and an ABL loading profile. The use of the capacity curve avoids the difficulty associated with defining a reference wind speed and corresponding wind profile that are adequate and applicable for downburst and ABL winds, thereby allowing a direct comparison of response under synoptic and downburst events. Uncertainty propagation analysis is carried out to evaluate the tower capacity by considering the uncertainty in material properties and geometric variables. The results indicated the coefficient of variation of the tower capacity is small compared to those associated with extreme wind speeds.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.685-701
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• 2016

Downbursts are of great harm to transmission lines and many towers can even be destroyed. The downburst wind field model by Chen and Letchford was applied, and the wind loads of two typical transmission towers in inland areas and littoral areas were calculated separately. Spatial finite element models of the transmission towers were established by elastic beam and link elements. The wind loads as well as the dead loads of conductors and insulators were simplified and applied on the suspension points by concentrated form. Structural analysis on two typical transmission towers under normal wind and downburst was completed. The bearing characteristics and the failure modes of the transmission towers under downburst were determined. The failure state of tower members can be judged by the calculated stress ratios. It shows that stress states of the tower members were mainly controlled by 45 degree wind load. For the inland areas with low deign wind velocity, though the structural height is not in the highest wind velocity zone of downburst, the wind load under downburst is much higher than that under normal wind. The main members above the transverse separator of the legs will be firstly destroyed. For the littoral areas with high deign wind velocity, the wind load under downburst is lower than under normal wind. Transmission towers are not controlled by the wind loads from downbursts in design process.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.331-343
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• 2012

Thunderstorm downbursts are responsible for numerous structural failures around the world. The wind characteristics in thunderstorm downbursts containing vortex rings differ with those in 'traditional' boundary layer winds (BLW). This paper initially performs an unsteady-state simulation of the flow structure in a downburst (modelled as a impinging jet with its diameter being $D_{jet}$) using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method, and then analyses the pressure distribution on a solar updraft tower (SUT) in the downburst. The pressure field shows agreement with other previous studies. An additional pair of low-pressure region and high-pressure region is observed due to a second vortex ring, besides a foregoing pair caused by a primary vortex ring. The evolutions of pressure coefficients at five orientations of two representative heights of the SUT in the downburst with time are investigated. Results show that pressure distribution changes over a wide range when the vortices are close to the SUT. Furthermore, the fluctuations of external static pressure distribution for the SUT case 1 (i.e., radial distance from a location to jet center x=$D_{jet}$) with height are more intense due to the down striking of the vortex flow compared to those for the SUT case 2 (x=$2D_{jet}$). The static wind loads at heights z/H higher than 0.3 will be negligible when the vortex ring is far away from the SUT. The inverted wind load cases will occur when vortex is passing through the SUT except on the side faces. This can induce complex dynamic response of the SUT.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.133-149
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• 2009

This paper outlines the results of a physical simulation (at a 1:700 - 1:1000 geometric scale) of a thunderstorm downburst. Three different methods are examined in order to generate the time dependent nature of a downburst: directly controlling the fans and via two different types of opening apertures. Similarities are shown to exist between each method, although the results obtained from one approach are favoured since they appear to be independent of the downdraft velocity. Significant run-to-run variations between each experiment are discovered and in general it is found beneficial to interpret the results in terms of 10 run ensemble averages. An attempt to simulate a translating downburst is also undertaken and the results are shown to compare favourably with full-scale data.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.135-151
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• 2007

This paper examines the extreme gust profiles obtained by conditionally sampling full-scale velocity data obtained in the lower part of the atmospheric boundary layer. It is demonstrated that three different types of behaviour can be observed in the streamwise component of velocity. In all cases the corresponding vertical velocity component illustrates similar behaviour. An idealised horseshoe vortex model and a downburst model are investigated to examine if such structures can explain the behaviour observed. In addition, an empirical model is developed for an isolated gust corresponding to each of the three types of behaviour observed. It is possible that the division of the gust profile into three different types may lead to an improvement in the correlation of extreme gust events with respect to type.