Thermal and Sag Databases in SESLibrary

This article presents two new databases in SESLibrary that provide material data for thermal analysis and overhead conductor sag calculations, expanding SESLibrary’s capabilities for more efficient and accurate modeling in SES applications.

The Thermal Properties Database provides thermal conductivity, thermal resistivity, specific heat capacity, and density for a wide range of power system materials organized into five categories: Cable Materials, HVDC Cable & Electrode Materials, Converter Transformer Materials, Converter Station Materials, and Surrounding Environment (soils, backfill, concrete, and air).

Data should be used with caution: properties vary with temperature, composition, moisture, manufacturing process, aging, pressure, and crystallinity. Converter data is reserved for future computation modules.

Integrated into the existing Conductor database, the Sag database covers eight conductor types (ACSR, AAC, AAAC, ACAR, Alumoweld, Steel, Stranded Copper, and Copperweld) with four key properties: conductor weight (kg/m), breaking load/RTS (kg), modulus of elasticity (kg/cm²), and coefficient of thermal expansion (/°C).

These properties are influenced by conductor construction, temperature, creep, ice/wind loading, manufacturing tolerances, and aging. Sag data also supports accurate electric and magnetic field computations.

See the article entitled “Thermal and Sag Databases in SESLibrary” in these Proceedings for further details.