PERFORMANCE OF UTILITY POWER CONNECTIONS … · PERFORMANCE OF UTILITY POWER CONNECTIONS IN A...
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PERFORMANCE OF UTILITY
POWER CONNECTIONS IN A
SALINE ENVIRONMENT
B. Johnson Tyco Electronics,20 Esna Park Drive
Markham, Ontario, Canada, L3R 1E1
M. Braunovic MB Interface, 5975 Place de l’Authion, Suite 503
Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H1M 2W3
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BACKGROUND
• Connector is generally a weak link in the distribution
system.
• Some connector designs lack the ability to provide
effective long-term performance.
• Corrosion is considered as one of the most significant
reliability concern.
• Corrosion is particularly severe in some areas when
connections has to be made between dissimilar metals.
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OBJECTIVES
• To conduct a control field study of examining the long-term effect of a worst-case operating environment on the performance of power connection systems.
• To obtain an even more basic appraisal of the chemical severity of the exposure environment.
• Emphasis was placed on the comparative evaluation of compression, bolted and fired wedge connector systems.
• The program was initiated in 1995.
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EXPERIMENTAL
• Test Site
• Battelle Florida Marine Research Facility located in
Daytona Beach.
• The location is characterized by a high salt deposition
rate from the Atlantic Ocean and a high humidity in
the range of 55-60% annual average.
• Seasonal temperature vary from approximately 0oC
in winter to max. 40oC in summer.
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EXPERIMENTAL
• Test Samples
• Compression, bolted and fired wedge overhead power
connectors.
• Sample size was 50 connectors of each type.
• AWG 2/0, 19 strand bare AAC aluminum or copper
conductors.
• All connectors supplied with a corrosion inhibitor in
place.
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EXPERIMENTAL
Types of overhead power connectors used in this study
COMPRESSION BOLTED FIRED WEDGE
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EXPERIMENTAL
• Electrical Measurements
• Voltage drop was measured periodically using a custom-designed and computer-controlled data acquisition system.
• The resolution of voltage measurement was 10 µV giving resistance resolution of 2 µΩ.
• Current of 5 A DC was used throughout the entire exposure test.
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EXPERIMENTAL
• Installation
• Connectors were installed at the site according to the practices recommended by the respective manufactures.
• Prior to the assembly of each connector, the surfaces of all conductors were wire brushed.
• Separate brushes were used for the copper and aluminum conductors.
• After brushing, connections were typically made within 3-5 minutes.
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EXPERIMENTAL
• Failure Criterion
• Connector was deemed to have failed when the
resistance between the two corresponding
equalizers increased by 1000 µΩ above its initial
value.
• The initial value of each connector was
determined as an average resistance measured
for the first 100 days of exposure.
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EXPERIMENTAL
• Corrosion Monitoring
• The chemical severity of the exposure environment was monitored using Battelle reactivity monitoring coupons.
• Coupons were specially finished and cleaned pieces of silver, copper, 1010 steel and 7075 and 6061 aluminum.
• Corrosion rate was determined by measuring the weight gain on a microbalance.
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RESULTS
• Connector Performance
Compression Connector
EXPOSURE TIME (DAYS)
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800
RE
SIS
TA
NC
E C
HA
NG
E (
µ)
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
2 FAILED 19 FAILED 29 FAILED
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RESULTS
• Connector Performance
Bolted Connector
EXPOSURE TIME (DAYS)
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800
RE
SIS
TA
NC
E C
HA
NG
E (
µ)
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
2 FAILED 18 FAILED 27 FAILED
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RESULTS
• Connector Performance
Fired Wedge Connector
EXPOSURE TIME (DAYS)
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800
RE
SIS
TA
NC
E C
HA
NG
E (
µ)
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1FAILED 2 FAILED1FAILED
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RESULTS
• Connector Performance
Cumulative failures over the entire exposure period
TIME TO
FAILURE
FIRED WEDGE
CONNECTOR
BOLTED
CONNECTOR
COMPRESSION
CONNECTOR
300 DAYS
600 DAYS
900 DAYS
1200 DAYS
1600 DAYS
0
0
1
1
2
0
2
18
27
-
0
2
19
29
-
TOTAL FAILED 4 47 50
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RESULTS
• Connector Performance
Variations of average connector resistance with exposure time
EXPOSURE TIME (DAYS)
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800
AV
ER
AG
E R
ES
IST
AN
CE
(µ
)
0
400
800
1200
1600
2000
COMPRESSION
BOLTED
FIRED WEDGE
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RESULTS
• Connector Performance
Compression Connector Bolted Connector Fired Wedge Connector
Photos of compression, bolted and fired wedge connectors after 3 years of
exposure at the test site
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RESULTS • Connector Performance Compression Connector
Cross section of failed compression connector with close-up view of Al and Cu conductor-connector interface regions affected by corrosion
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RESULTS • Connector Performance
Bolted Connector
Cross section of failed bolted connector with close-up view of Al and Cu conductor-connector interface regions affected by corrosion
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RESULTS • Connector Performance
Fired Wedge Connector
Cross section of failed fired wedge connector with close-up view of Al and Cu conductor-connector interface regions affected by corrosion
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RESULTS
• Connector Performance
Corrosion rates of different metals at exposure site
EXPOSURE TIME (DAYS)
10 100 1000
CU
MU
LA
TIV
E W
EIG
HT
GA
IN (
µg
/ c
m2 )
101
102
103
104
105
106
STEEL
SILVER
AL 6061
AL7075
COPPER
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DISCUSSION
• The results show that there is a considerable difference in
the performance of the three connector populations used.
• Difference is manifested not only by the number of failed
connectors but also by the onsets of connector failure.
• First failures occurred in compression and bolted
connectors after 600 days and after 1000 days in fired
wedge connectors.
• By the end of field exposure test all of the compression
connectors failed, only three from bolted survived
whereas only four fired wedge connectors failed.
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DISCUSSION
• Plausible Failure Mechanisms
• Loss of mechanical contact force due to metal loss at
the contact interfaces.
• Compression and bolted connectors are prone to
this degradation since their design does not provide
an elastic-energy storing capability.
• The spring action of the C-member design of fired
wedge connector maintains not only steady contact
load but also uniform stress distribution and large
metal-to-metal contact
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DISCUSSION
• Plausible Failure Mechanisms
• Growth and accumulation of corrosion products in the interspaces between conductor and connector can provoke separation of conductor from the connector.
• Compression connectors are particularly prone to this type of degradation due to the action of mechanical forces generated by the build-up of corrosion products, that pry open the connector.
• Bolted and fired wedge connectors showed no such susceptibility to deformation by the corrosion product build-up.
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DISCUSSION
• Plausible Failure Mechanisms
• Differential thermal expansion between copper and
aluminum caused by seasonal temperature variations.
• Differential thermal expansion results in large lateral
movement of the contact interface (fretting).
• Direct result of fretting is rupture of metallic
conducting bridges, significant loss of contact area
and formation of an insulated layer of debris at the
contact interface.
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DISCUSSION
• Economical Consequences
• The result of this study show that exposure to a harsh environment resulted in sharp increase in the connector resistance.
• Increase in contact resistance affects not only connector performance but creates serious economical consequence on the network as a whole.
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DISCUSSION
• Economical Consequences
Calculation of cost of energy loss due to increase
in connector resistance
C = ( R/ t) * I2 * f * t2 * (8760/2000)*G
R/ t – increase in resistance per year (x10-6)
I – operating current=400A f – load factor (40%)
t – time (years) G – generation cost/kWh = $ 0.05
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DISCUSSION
• Economical Consequences
TIME (YEARS)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
CO
ST
OF
EN
ER
GY
LO
SS
(U
S$
)
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
FIRED WEDGE CONNECTOR
BOLTED CONNECTOR
COMRESSION CONNECTOR
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CONCLUSIONS
• Differences in design, installation procedure and inhibitors exert major effect on the connector performance in a saline environment.
• Galvanic corrosion was the main cause for the connector failure.
• Build-up of corrosion products at the conductor-connector interface was the major factor controlling connector life.
• Connector life is largely determined by the connector design and the loss of mechanical contact load.
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CONCLUSIONS
• Ever increasing load on the network will accelerate connector degradation and accentuate the importance of connector design in mitigating deleterious effects resulting from increasing connector temperature.
• The superior performance of fired-wedge connector is due to the “spring action” of the connector C-member.
• The C-member design resists loss of contact load, maintains uniform stress distribution over contact interface and assures large metal-to-metal contact area.