Surface Area of the Conductors in OHL and Contact Networks

Abstract

A method of determining for braided and shaped conductors the perimeter and surface area used in calculations of the temperature of the conductors, admissible currents, sag, de-icing regimes, and other thermal calculations is presented and validated. It is shown that the existing practice of determining this area in the same manner as for round conductors of the same diameter cannot be recommended because it leads to inadmissibly large errors (about 40%), which strongly affects the accuracy of thermal calculations.