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Phone: 608.238.2171 Fax: 608.238.9241
Email:info@powline.com URL: http://www.powerlinesystem.com

Elevated Temperature Creep of AAC, AAAC, ACAR, AACSR, & ACSR Conductors
The purpose of this technote is to explain elevated temperature creep (ETC), its impact on the
sag of conductors, and how the calculations are performed in PLS-CADD. All ETC calculations in
PLS-CADD are based on IEEE standard 1283.

ETC is a phenomenon that occurs in conductors, primarily with high percentages of aluminum,
that after subjected to periods of high temperature operation which causes additional permanent
elongation beyond that of typical creep elongation. The ETC feature in PLS-CADD allows you to select a
wire and subject it to hypothetical high temperature events by specifying the temperature and duration
of each event. PLS-CADD uses the predictor equations documented in the IEEE 1283 standard to derive
an equivalent change in temperature to reflect the additional creep stretch your conductor will see from
elevated temperature operation. Using the results of this calculation you can modify existing weather
cases in the criteria file, or make new ones that account for the equivalent change in wire temperature.
This modification of the existing wire temperature simulates the additional elevated creep stretch. Note
that the IEEE 1283 standard is not intended to be used to calculate typical creep elongations, nor is it
intended to be used for calculating time dependent creep.

In order to use ETC in PLS-CADD, your cable files must meet certain requirements. The IEEE
1283 standard only supplies predictor equations for the following conductor types: AAC, AAAC, ACAR,
AACSR, & ACSR, and only for strandings listed in Table A.3.1.5. Using any other type of cable or
stranding will not yield any results from the ETC calculation in PLS-CADD. Further, IEEE 1283 states that
for any steel reinforced conductor the ratio of steel strand area needs to be less than 7.5% of the total
area, otherwise the effects of ETC can be ignored. So in order for a PLS-CADD wire file to be eligible for
use in the ETC function you must specify an appropriate cable type as shown below, and if using an
AACSR or ACSR the ratio of steel strand area to total area must be less than 7.5%.

An example of an ACSR cable file that meets these criteria would be 636 Kcmil Kingbird with 18
strands of aluminum around 1 strand of steel. Both the aluminum and steel strands have individual diameters of
4.7752mm. This yields a total cross sectional area of 340.332mm2.

𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 = 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 ∗ 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑑𝑑 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 + 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 ∗ 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴

4.7752 2 4.7752 2
𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 = 18 ∗ 𝜋𝜋 ∗ � � + 1 ∗ 𝜋𝜋 ∗ � � = 340.332𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚2
2 2

4.7752 2
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 = 1 ∗ 𝜋𝜋 ∗ � � = 17.909𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚2
2
17.909
𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 = ∗ 100 = 5.26%
340.332

Copyright © Power Line Systems 2020 1

An example of an ACSR cable file that doesn’t meet these criteria would be 636 Kcmil Grosbeak with 26
strands of aluminum around 7 strand of steel. The aluminum strands have individual diameters of 3.9726mm.
The steel strands have individual diameters of 3.0886mm. This yields a total cross sectional area of 374.711mm2.

𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 = 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 ∗ 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 + 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 ∗ 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝐴𝐴𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟

3.9726 2 3.0886 2
𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 = 26 ∗ 𝜋𝜋 ∗ � � + 7 ∗ 𝜋𝜋 ∗ � � = 374.711𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚2
2 2

3.0886 2
𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 = 7 ∗ 𝜋𝜋 ∗ � � = 52.446𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚2
2
52.446
𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃𝑃 𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 𝑡𝑡𝑡𝑡 𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 = ∗ 100 = 14.00%
374.711

Once you configure the appropriate cable file with a compatible cable type and string it in your PLS-
CADD model you can now run the ETC command by navigating to Sections/Thermal Calculations (IEEE, CIGRE
and TNSP)/Elevated Temperature Creep... which results in the Section Elevated Temperature Creep table
shown below.

Copyright © Power Line Systems 2020 2

In this table you’ll enter the initial ambient conditions for the state of the wire before the high temperature
operation. Typically the ambient temperature is assumed to be an average annual temperature like 60 Deg F or
15-16 Deg C. You’ll also enter the amount of time the conductor was at normal ambient conditions to establish
the approximate creep elongation until that point. A common choice is to enter a time period of 3650 days or 10
years, which is a typical industry accepted value for how long a wire takes to achieve its full natural creep
elongation. You’ll also select the cable condition which is commonly set to Creep RS. And the last input you’ll
need is to check the box for if the strands are cast rod. If you do not select this check box then PLS-CADD will use
the IEEE 1283 equations for hot-rolled rod instead. After this the various periods of elevated temperature
operation are input, such as the temperature of the cable, length of operation at that temperature, and cable
condition (typically Creep RS).

Below are 2 detailed example calculations in which the results are interpreted based on the calculation
from PLS-CADD. To start we are going to look at a 795 kcmil AAC 37/0 Strands Arbutus continuous cast wire that
as a total cross sectional area of 402.8mm2. It will be a 243.8 m (800 ft) ruling span and a maximum light loading
tension of 25.1 kN (5644 pounds-force). The conductor will operate for 1000 hours at 100ºC (212°F), 100 hours
at 125ºC (257°F) and 10 hours at 150ºC (302°F). Assuming that the conductor was installed at 16ºC and existed
there for the majority of its lifetime, a simple PLS-CADD/Lite model was developed, and the following
sag/tension table was generated for Creep RS.

Temperature Sag Tension

(°C) (m) (kN)
16 5.85 13.90892
100 8.57 9.55190
125 9.26 8.85760
150 9.91 8.29339

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These values represent the typical baseline creep conditions before any sustained elevated temperature
operation where ETC would occur. From here we look to equation A.1 of the IEEE 1283.

𝜀𝜀𝑐𝑐 = 𝐾𝐾𝜎𝜎1.3 𝑡𝑡 0.16 (A.1)

K is the constant for calculating room temperature creep which varies depending on the stranding of our
conductor per Table A.1 of the IEEE 1283 where K1 is the constant for hot-rolled rods and K2 is the constant for
continuous cast rods.

Constant 7 Strands 19 Strands 37 Strands 61 Strands

K1 1.36 1.29 1.23 1.16
K2 0.84 0.77 0.77 0.71
M1 0.0148 0.0142 0.0136 0.0129
M2 0.0090 0.0090 0.0084 0.0077
G 0.71 0.65 0.77 0.61

So from this table we can see that our constant K is equal to 0.77 since our conductor is 37 strands and
continuous cast rods.

σ is the stress in the cable, tension / cross sectional area. So for our cable stress at room temperature is:

13.90892𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 𝑁𝑁
𝜎𝜎 = = 34.5305859
402.8𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 2 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚2

t is the time in hours which, if we assume the wire has fully crept before elevated temperature operation, will
equal 10 years:

𝑡𝑡 = 24ℎ𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟 ∗ 365𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑 ∗ 10𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦𝑦 = 87,600ℎ𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟

So now we have all the terms calculated and we can substitute them into equation (A.1)

𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 − 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝜀𝜀𝑐𝑐 = 0.77 ∗ 34.53058591.3 ∗ 876000.16 = 475.29
𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

Now that we know the creep strain at full general creep before any elevated temperature operation, we can
start looking at elevated temperature operations. This is done using equation (A.7) from IEEE 1283.

𝜀𝜀𝑐𝑐 = 𝑀𝑀𝑇𝑇1.4 𝜎𝜎1.3 𝑡𝑡 0.16 A.7

M is our elevated creep temperature constant obtained from table A.1 above, which since we have continuous
cast rods we use M2 , which for 37 stranded conductor is 0.0084.

T is the temperature the conductor operated at for the elevated temperature event and we have 3 different
events.

T1 = 100°C T2 = 125°C T3 = 150°C

σ again is the stress in the cable, tension / cross sectional area. So for our cable the stress at the 3 temperatures
is:

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 9.55190𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 𝑁𝑁
𝜎𝜎1 = = 23.71375372
402.8𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚2 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚2

8.85760𝑘𝑘𝑘𝑘 𝑁𝑁
𝜎𝜎2 = = 21.99006951
402.8𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚2 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚2

8.29339𝑁𝑁 𝑁𝑁
𝜎𝜎3 = = 20.58934955
402.8𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚2 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚2

And the t for the various time periods is: t1 = 1000 hrs t2 = 100 hrs t3 = 10 hrs

Now we can calculate the elevated creep strain for all 3 events.
𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚−𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝜀𝜀𝑐𝑐 (𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 1) = 0.0084 ∗ 1001.4 ∗ 23.713753721.3 10000.16 = 981.25
𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑟

Now because these high temperature events aggregate we need to be able to add the creep strain of each event
sequentially together. So before we can calculate the creep strain after event 2 we need to figure out what the
equivalent time under event 2’s conditions to get the 981.25 micro-meters/meter strain we just calculated. To
do this we utilize equation A.7 again but we substitute the creep strain we just solved at event 1 and change the
temperature to condition 2 and solve for the time equivalent.

𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚−𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝜀𝜀𝑐𝑐 (𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 1) = 981.25 = 0.0084 ∗ 1251.4 ∗ 21.990069511.3 ∗ 𝑡𝑡 0.16
𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

Solving for t we get: t = 262.0135 hours

Now we can solve for the creep strain at event 2 while adding in the 262.0135 hours of equivalent time from
event 1.

𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚−𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝜀𝜀𝑐𝑐 (𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 2) = 0.0084 ∗ 1251.4 ∗ 21.990069511.3 (100 + 262.0135)0.16 = 1033.34
𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

Now we’ll figure out the equivalent time at event 3’s conditions to get the 1033.34micro-meters/meter strain so
that we can add that in when calculating the strain after event 3.

𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚−𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝜀𝜀𝑐𝑐 (𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 2) = 1033.34 = 0.0084 ∗ 1501.4 ∗ 𝑡𝑡 0.16
𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

Solving for t we get: t = 125.3516 hours

And now we can take the final step of calculating the creep strain after event 3.

𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚−𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝜀𝜀𝑐𝑐 (𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 3) = 0.0084 ∗ 1501.4 ∗ 20.589349551.3 (10 + 125.3516)0.16 = 1046.11
𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

We have the creep strain calculated for the base line prior to elevated temperature operation and the creep
strains for all elevated temperature events so we can now calculate the equivalent change in temperature to
simulate the additional sag in the span attributed to elevated temperature operation using equation A.16.

(𝜀𝜀ℎ𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖ℎ − 𝜀𝜀𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 )
Δ𝑇𝑇 = A.16
𝛼𝛼

The α term is the coefficient of thermal expansion. Although the IEEE 1283 has a table of values for α, PLS-
CADD uses the input thermal expansion coefficient in the cable file. *Note that for steel reinforced wires PLS-
CADD will use the composite thermal expansion coefficient. The value of α for the cable in this example is
23.0*10-6. Substituting this we get the corresponding ΔT values for the various high temperature events.

Copyright © Power Line Systems 2020 5

 (981.25−475.29) (1033.34−475.29) (1046.11−475.29)
Δ𝑇𝑇1 = = 22.00°𝐶𝐶 Δ𝑇𝑇2 = = 24.26°𝐶𝐶 Δ𝑇𝑇3 = = 24.82°𝐶𝐶
23 23 23

With the equivalent changes in temperature, the wire temperatures in the criteria weather cases can be
modified so the impacts in sag/tension can be evaluated. By running the ETC report in PLS-CADD we can see the
same values.

For the second example use a 636 kcmil ACSR 18/1 Strands Kingbird continuous cast wire with a total cross
sectional area of 340.332mm2. It will be a 243.8 m (800 ft) ruling span and a horizontal install tension of
16000.9N (3597.1 pounds-force). The conductor will operate at the same conditions as the previous example;
1000 hours at 100ºC (212°F), 100 hours at 125ºC (257°F) and 10 hours at 150ºC (302°F). Assuming that the
conductor was installed at 16ºC and existed there for the majority of its lifetime a simple PLS-CADD/Lite model
was developed and the following sag/tension table was generated for Creep RS.

Temperature Sag Tension

(°C) (m) (kN)
16 5.55 13.56109
100 8.18 9.25034
125 8.85 8.56546
150 9.48 8.01078

These values represent the typical baseline creep conditions before any sustained elevated temperature
operation where elevated temperature creep would occur. From here we look to equation A.14 of IEEE 1283.

*Note the equation A.15 shown in this tech note does not match the currently published version of IEEE 1283.
We discovered a typo in the document during implementation into PLS-CADD.
Copyright © Power Line Systems 2020 6
𝜀𝜀𝑐𝑐 = 1.1 ∗ (%𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅)1.3 ∗ 𝑡𝑡 0.16 (A.14)

The 1.1 constant for calculating room temperature creep is for continuous cast rods. If this example was using
hot-rolled rods then a constant of 2.4 would be used as per equation A.13. The %RS term is the ratio of
conductor tension at the given conditions relative to the rated conductor strength. In this example the 636 Kcmil
Kingbird ACSR conductor has a rated breaking strength of 69837.1N. So with this we can now calculate the
general creep prior to elevated temperature elevation.
1.3
13561.09 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 − 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝜀𝜀𝑐𝑐 = 1.1 ∗ � ∗ 100� ∗ 876000.16 = 321.2656285
69837.1 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

Now that we know the creep strain at full general creep before any elevated temperature operation we can now
start looking at elevated temperature operations. This is done using equation (A.15) from IEEE 1283.

𝜀𝜀𝑐𝑐 = 0.24 ∗ (%𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅) ∗ 𝑇𝑇 ∗ 𝑡𝑡 0.16 A.15

Now we can calculate the elevated creep strain for all 3 events.

9250.34 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚−𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝜀𝜀𝑐𝑐 (𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 1) = 0.24 ∗ � ∗ 100� ∗ 100 ∗ 10000.16 = 960.0254374
69837.1 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

Again because these high temperature events aggregate we need to be able to add the creep strain of each
event sequentially together. So before we can calculate the creep strain after event 2 we need to figure out
what the equivalent time under event 2’s conditions to get the 960.0254374 micro-meters/meter of strain we
just calculated. To do this we utilize equation A.15 again but we substitute the creep strain we just solved at
event 1 and change the temperature to condition 2 and solve for the time equivalent.

𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚−𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 8565.46
𝜀𝜀𝑐𝑐 (𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 1) = 960.0254374 = 0.24 ∗ � ∗ 100� ∗ 125 ∗ 𝑡𝑡 0.16
𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 69837.1

Solving for t we get: t = 400.9648 hours

Now we can solve for the creep strain at event 2 while adding in the 400.9648 hours of equivalent time from
event 1.

8565.46 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚−𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝜀𝜀𝑐𝑐 (𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 2) = 0.24 ∗ � ∗ 100� ∗ 125 ∗ (100 + 400.9648)0.16 = 994.8437967
69837.1 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

Now we’ll figure out the equivalent time at event 3’s conditions to get the 994.8437967 micro-meter/meter
strain so that we can add that in when calculating the strain after event 3.

𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚−𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 8010.78
𝜀𝜀𝑐𝑐 (𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 2) = 994.8437967 = 0.24 ∗ � ∗ 100� ∗ 150 ∗ 𝑡𝑡 0.16
𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 69837.1

Solving for t we get: t = 243.584 hours

And now we can take the final step of calculating the creep strain after event 3.

8010.78 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚−𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚
𝜀𝜀𝑐𝑐 (𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 3) = 0.24 ∗ � ∗ 100� ∗ (10 + 243.584)0.16 = 1001.268578
69837.1 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

We have the creep strain calculated for the base line prior to elevated temperature operation and the creep
strains for all elevated temperature events we can now calculate the equivalent change in temperature to
simulate the additional sag in the span attributed to elevated temperature operation using equation A.16.

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 (𝜀𝜀ℎ𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖ℎ − 𝜀𝜀𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎 )
Δ𝑇𝑇 = A.16
𝛼𝛼

The α term is the coefficient of thermal expansion. Although the IEEE 1283 has a table of values for α, PLS-
CADD uses the input thermal expansion coefficient in the cable file. *Note that for steel reinforced wires PLS-
CADD will use the composite thermal expansion coefficient. The value of α for the cable in this example is
21.3178*10-6 which can be obtained from PLS-CADD by editing the cable file and selecting the composite cable
properties button at the bottom of the dialog. Substituting this we get the corresponding ΔT values for the
various high temperature events.
(960.0254374 −321.2656285)
Δ𝑇𝑇1 = = 29.96°𝐶𝐶
21.3178

(994.8437967−321.2656285)
Δ𝑇𝑇2 = = 31.60°𝐶𝐶
21.3178

(1001.268587 − 321.2656285)
Δ𝑇𝑇3 = = 31.90°𝐶𝐶
21.3178

With the equivalent changes in temperature, the wire temperatures in our criteria weather cases can be
modified so the impacts in sag/tension can be evaluated. By running the ETC report in PLS-CADD we can see the
same values.

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