Seismic performance evaluation of high‐voltage disconnect switches using real‐time hybrid simulation: II. Parametric study

Abstract

SUMMARY This paper presents the results of a parametric study that consists of real‐time hybrid simulation tests of electrical insulator posts on a smart shaking table. A companion paper presents the details of the development and validation of the real‐time hybrid simulation system used for conducting the tests of this parametric study. The purpose of the parametric study presented in this paper is to evaluate the effect of support structure damping and stiffness on the response of disconnect switches with two different insulator materials, namely porcelain and polymer insulator posts. Various global and local response parameters including accelerations, forces, displacements, and strains are considered in this evaluation. The data obtained from the conducted tests show that the maximum insulator response corresponds to the case where the support structure frequency is close to the insulator frequency. An incorporated evaluation of all the response parameters indicates that the stiff support structures constitute the most suitable configuration for both material types of the tested insulator posts. It is also observed that support structure damping has an effect on the response of both insulator types. However, this effect is secondary compared with the effect of support structure stiffness. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Seismic vulnerability assessment of a high voltage disconnect switch

“…In the past, the National Italian Electric Authority (ENEL) carried out an experimental campaign on some of these apparatuses, [10], showing their high vulnerability; more recently, in California, a wide analytical and experimental campaign on the seismic response of electrical substation equipment has been performed, in which many aspects, including the fragility curves evaluation of a disconnect switch have been treated, [11,12]. Very recently the hybrid simulation technique has been applied to a disconnect switch for the evaluation of its seismic response, [13,14].…”

Probability‐based seismic reliability assessment method for substation systems

“…Because of the great extent of damage to equipment and structures observed after recent earthquakes, [1][2][3] substations are often considered to be the most vulnerable components in a power grid. 4 The seismic performance of individual pieces of equipment and structures has recently undergone extensive study, [5][6][7][8][9][10] and some modern techniques have been developed and applied to improve their seismic performance. [11][12][13] Nevertheless, the seismic reliability of the entire substation system remains unclear because of its high degree of redundancy and physical interaction.…”

Hybrid Simulation Theory for Continuous Beams

“…This is not always the case for an experimental setup of hybrid simulation. For example, many hybrid simulation setups are for many bars and beams at the same time, each interacting with the whole system; Günay and Mosalam 2014). In such cases analytic response solutions are likely to not be available but one does not expect the observed general trends to be altered.…”