Abstract The conductors disclosed herein each comprise a hollow tube of aluminum supported on a steel cable received within the tube. The cable has a smaller outside diameter than the inside diameter of the aluminum tube. The latter need not be integral; it may be fabricated from flat strips, wires or rods, shaped or round. Strips, wires or rods are stranded over the cable; integral tubes are extruded over the cable or folded over the cable from a broad strip and longitudinally welded. Soft aluminum wires may be stranded radially between the steel cable and the hard-drawn aluminum conductor, then crushed by the application of radial pressure to provide internal space between the aluminum covered steel core and the hard-drawn aluminum conductor. Under operating conditions, substantially all mechanical tension on the steel supported aluminum overhead conductor is borne by the steel cable and the conductor is largely immune to hazards of galloping, aeolian vibration, loss of strength as a result of high operating temperatures, and creep at normal and high operating temperatures.
A method for manufacturing steel supported aluminum overhead conductor comprising providing a steel core, forming an intermediate layer of soft aluminum upon the steel core, fabricating a tubular aluminum conductor about said intermediate layer of soft aluminum, applying circumferentially spaced radially inwardly directed forces upon the tubular aluminum conductor of sufficient magnitude to crush the intermediate layer into greater intimacy with the steel core and to thereby provide radial spacing between the exterior of the steel core and the interior of the tubular aluminum conductor that when the steel supported aluminum overhead conductor is strung overhead with consequent reduction in diameter of the steel core and the tubular aluminum conductor as both elongate, substantially all mechanical tension is borne by the steel core.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
123 words
A method for manufacturing steel supported aluminum overhead conductor comprising providing a steel core, forming an intermediate layer of soft aluminum upon the steel core, fabricating a tubular aluminum conductor about said intermediate layer of soft aluminum, applying circumferentially spaced radially inwardly directed forces upon the tubular aluminum conductor of sufficient magnitude to crush the intermediate layer into greater intimacy with the steel core and to thereby provide radial spacing between the exterior of the steel core and the interior of the tubular aluminum conductor that when the steel supported aluminum overhead conductor is strung overhead with consequent reduction in diameter of the steel core and the tubular aluminum conductor as both elongate, substantially all mechanical tension is borne by the steel core.