Flexural Properties of Flexible Conductors Interconnecting Electrical Substation Equipment

This paper presents the results of quasi-static bending tests on two different flexible conductors (cables) used to interconnect electrical substation equipment. The main objectives were to observe the flexural response of flexible conductors and to determine their moment–curvature relationships under axial tension. The results of the tests indicate that the force–displacement behavior of the conductors is linear-elastic with negligible hysteretic response. For most combinations of axial tension and lateral displacement, the flexural stiffness is very small, and tends toward the minimum possible flexural stiffness, corresponding to the situation where all the strands are slipping past each other, and are unable to transfer any shear force. Only for very large axial tension values does the flexural stiffness approach the maximum possible flexural stiffness, corresponding to the situation where all the strands are able to transfer longitudinal shear forces over one another, and the conductor section acts as a solid cross section.