Abstract:
A novel assessment method was developed for the in-situ galvanic corrosion testing of bare overhead transmission line conductors of various designs. The method can be used for real-time measurements of galvanic corrosion currents while retaining the original geometry of the conductors. A thin polymer mesh material that only allows ionic conduction between the materials that participate in the galvanic corrosion was inserted between the structural support core and the aluminum strands of standard ACSR and more advanced High-Temperature Low-Sag ACSS and ACCS conductor samples. The method has been successfully applied in this research first by subjecting bare conductors to aqueous NaCl solutions and second by testing salt-loaded conductors under varying relative humidity conditions. We have shown that the original geometry of the conductors cannot be ignored when measuring galvanic currents. It was also found that humid corrosive environments may generate higher galvanic corrosion rates than submerged conditions for the ACCS design.
