The liberalization of the energy market and the need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels have made it important to optimize the efficiency of existing electrical transmission lines. To address this challenge, a promising solution is the progressive replacement of line conductors with high-temperature conductors (HTLS – High Temperature Low Sag).

HTLS conductors are designed to withstand higher temperatures than traditional conductors, allowing for an increase in transferred power without the need to build new power lines. This is possible thanks to the construction characteristics and special materials used for HTLS conductors, which prevent issues such as premature material aging and reduced mechanical strength.

Furthermore, HTLS conductors can better handle elongation, reducing the risk of dielectric failures and ensuring safer and more reliable operation of transmission lines. This way, the capacity of existing lines can be increased, contributing to the reduction of climate-altering gas emissions and enhancing energy supply security.

This result is also achieved through the use of composite material cores (with carbon fibers, for example) that provide superior mechanical strength even compared to special steels, ensuring better performance even under exceptional loads (such as ice sleeves or extreme winds).

In order to elaborate the mechanical behavior of conductors for high temperatures, tests were carried out to determine, using the strain gauge method, the distribution of the mechanical load on the various layers of the conductor at room temperature.
The evaluations focused on the methodology for the creation of the mechanical supports for carrying out the test and the technique for carrying out the measurement.

The data obtained, despite the use of various configurations, did not yield results consistent with those expected. For this reason, we reserve the right to analyze and delve further into the topic in the future by modifying the test configuration, which likely altered the mechanical behavior of the conductor. The report also includes a description of accelerated climate aging tests on samples of hydrophobic and anti-pollution paints to be applied on components of high voltage lines.

The document is available on the site in Italian