SEISMIC RESPONSE OF CIRCUIT BREAKERS

P.Surya Teja, Sandeep Kumar. D.S, Chethan Kumar.B, Chethan.K

Abstract: The performance of substation equipment during an earthquake depends on their configuration, strength of construction, ductility and dynamic properties. Substation equipment’s are lightly damped structures having one or more natural modes within the frequency band of ground excitation. The satisfactory operation of substation during and after an earthquake depends on the survival, without malfunction, of many diverse type of equipment. Porcelain components are identified as most vulnerable parts against earthquake vibrations than any other components of the substation. In this present work, substation equipment i.e., circuit breaker is used for analytical procedure. Electrical equipment is mounted on support structure. Support structure and porcelain insulator amplify the ground acceleration at the base of porcelain components. Dynamic characteristics of substation equipment are considered by carrying out finite element analysis. In the present work, maximum response spectral accelerations & displacements of supporting structures, equipment and for both equipment placed on support structures are evaluated with respect to the zone factors. Furthermore, dynamic amplification factor (DAF) of substation support structures and along with its electrical equipment are obtained and effect of different parameters (e.g. support mass, height and stiffness) are discussed along with the recommendations available in International standards.

Keywords: Substation equipment, Porcelain Components, Circuit Breaker, Ground motion amplification, Dynamic Amplification Factor.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2014.0307081