Composite Core Conductor Monitoring for Crack and Bend Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing monitoring systems for overhead power line conductors with composite cores face limitations such as damage during production, inability to monitor during installation, and limitations in detecting cracks and mechanical stresses.
Innovation Solution
A continuous, non-invasive monitoring system integrated within the conductor, using at least two optical fibers arranged externally along the composite core, interrogated by a BOTDR system to provide real-time structural integrity assessment during production and installation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a single-wire composite core is used in the conductor, then the conductor achieves sufficient mechanical strength and reduced weight, but the core is vulnerable to catastrophic structural failure from cracks during production or installation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the single-wire composite core into multiple independent strength members (multiple carbon fiber rods) stranded together to form a multistrand composite core. This segmentation ensures that a crack in one rod does not propagate to other rods, preventing catastrophic failure and maintaining structural integrity while preserving mechanical strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates a monitoring system with optical fibers and sensors during the production phase to detect cracks and mechanical stresses before they propagate. This allows preemptive identification and mitigation of structural issues during production and installation, preventing catastrophic failures before they occur.
2Measurement precision
If optical fibers are embedded within the pultruded composite material for monitoring, then structural integrity can be assessed, but the fibers cannot be extracted during monitoring and may suffer damage during production at high temperatures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the optical fibers from the embedded position within the pultruded material and places them on the external surface of the composite core. This allows the fibers to be monitored and extracted if needed, while avoiding damage from high-temperature production processes. The fibers remain in contact with the core for monitoring purposes without being trapped inside the material.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a protective coating or sheath as an intermediary layer between the optical fibers and the composite core. This protective layer allows the fibers to be in contact with the core for monitoring while protecting them from thermal damage during production and handling during installation.
3Measurement precision
If multiple optical fibers are used for monitoring, then detection accuracy improves, but the system complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the monitoring system so that multiple optical fibers share common interrogation equipment and processing systems. Each fiber can be independently monitored for specific parameters, but they all use the same Brillouin scattering analysis infrastructure, reducing overall system complexity compared to having separate monitoring systems for each fiber.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the monitoring functions of multiple optical fibers into a unified interrogation system that analyzes Brillouin scattering signals from all fibers simultaneously. This merging approach maintains high detection accuracy through multiple measurement channels while reducing the complexity of having separate processing systems for each fiber.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively identifies defects and mechanical stresses along the conductor length, preventing structural failures by sending alarm signals before critical bending angles are reached, thus ensuring the integrity and safety of the conductor.
Implementation Method 1
interrogated by means of a BOTDR system
Implementation Method 2
provide information about the integrity of the core and about the position of any defects that may be detected during both the production and the installation of the conductor
Data Source
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AI summary
Conductor (100) with a monitoring system, comprising: a load- bearing core (102), made of composite material; one or more electrically conductive layers (104), externally associated with said load-bearing core (102); two or more optical fibers (101), arranged longitudinally along said load-bearing core (102), on a radially external surface of the same; a BOTDR system (200), associated with said optical fibers (101) and configured for reading a bending radius of said load-bearing core (102) and/or for determining the presence of cracks on said load-bearing core (102) and/or for determining the position of said cracks; and/or for determining a maximum allowable bending radius; a processing unit (300) configured for generating, as a function of said reading, a notification signal in the event that critical parameters are reached.