ELECTROTEHNIC, ELECTRONIC, AUTOMATIC, 60 (2012), nr.

14

Experimental, Analytical and Computational Approaches to

Bare Electric Wire Loading Characteristics
1

Michal VRY , Vladimr GOGA , Juraj PAULECH

Abstract

This article describes cooling analyses of horizontally arranged bare electric conductor using analytical and
numerical methods. Analytical solution results from Fourier differential equation of thermal conductivity
extended by radiation and convection effect. Two different numerical approaches will be considered. Results of
these analyses will be compared to the results obtained from experimental measurements. The proposed
elementary model consists of horizontally arranged bare electric copper conductor with diameter of 1,48 mm.
The conductor was loaded with AC current from 5 to 30 A RMS.
Keywords: electro-thermal analysis, free convection, radiation, cooling of a bare horizontal conductor, analytical
solution, ANSYS Workbench, ANSYS CFX, experimental measurement

1. Introduction
From time immemorial, the maximum
continuous operating performance and
current loading capacity of cables and wires
is important criterion in the design of cable
systems (materials, geometry, construction)
and design of power electrical installation
(e.g. deposit method).
The passing electrical current by means
of Joule losses heats up the conductor and
therefore its temperature and temperature of
its electrical insulation system exceeds the
ambient temperature. This temperature
depends quadratically on the passing
current. Long-term exceeding of projected
operating temperatures of cable conductors
causes
the
thermal
degradation [1],
especially in cooperation with electric field
causes significantly faster aging of power
cables [2] or HV cables [3, 4] insulation,
increased corrosion of cable cores and
terminals [5] in extreme cases and
deterioration of mechanical properties of
1

Michal VRY, Dipl. Ing., PhD., Department of Materials and

Technologies, Institute of Power and Applied Electrical
Engineering, Slovak University of Technology, Faculty of
Electrical Engineering And Information Technologies,
Bratislava 812 19, Slovak Republic, michal.vary@stuba.sk
2
Vladimr GOGA, Dipl. Ing., PhD., Department of Mechanics,
Institute of Power and Applied Electrical Engineering,
Slovak University of Technology, Faculty of Electrical
Engineering And Information Technologies, Bratislava 812
19, Slovak Republic, vladimir.goga@stuba.sk
3
Juraj PAULECH, Dipl. Ing., Department of Mechanics,
Institute of Power and Applied Electrical Engineering,
Slovak University of Technology, Faculty of Electrical
Engineering And Information Technologies, Bratislava 812
19, Slovak Republic, juraj.paulech@stuba.sk

insulation
and
interfacial
aging
performance [6], especially in composite
material systems [7]. Also synergic
cooperation of various degradation factors
have to be considered [8, 9].
In recent years, there has been rapid
development of computational methods,
models and simulations, which allows, as will
be shown, to determine the steady state
temperature of the current passing the bare
conductor. In this paper, two numerical
methods will be presented the Finite
Element Method (FEM), represented by
simulation in ANSYS Workbench and the
Finite Volume Method (FVM) represented by
analysis in ANSYS CFX.
2. Materials and Methods
The proposed elementary model consists
of horizontally arranged bare electric copper
conductor
(thermal
conductivity
401 Wm-1K-1) with diameter of 1,48 mm. The
conductor carried AC current according to
measurement order from 5 to 30 A RMS.
Cooling of the conductor was only due to
free convection and radiation effects
(ambient temperature was 22 C) [10].
Experimental
measurements
were
performed to determine reference surface
temperatures of the conductor under steady
thermal-electric state. These values were
compared to the temperatures obtained from
analytical
calculation
and
numerical
simulations.
In next chapters, four approaches to
determine cooling of electric conductor via

ELECTROTEHNIC, ELECTRONIC, AUTOMATIC, 60 (2012), nr. 3

free convection will be shown analytical,

two numerical solutions and experimental
measurement.
3. Results
The experimental results proposed in this
paper
were
achieved
by
loading
characteristic measurements for horizontal
Cu bare conductor, diameter 1,48 mm (see
Figure 1 for connection details).

15

The analytical solution results from

Fourier differential equation of thermal
conductivity that was extended by radiation
and convection effect [13]. Convection
coefficient was calculated according to
criterion equations and it was set up as
temperature dependent variable. The results
from analytical solution are showen in
Table 2.
Table 2. Conductor surface temperature the
analytical solution

Figure 1. Schematic illustration of the experimental

setup

Current in the measurement circuit (5, 10,

15, 20, 25 and 30 Amps AC) was regulated
by autotransformer (AT) and current
transformer (PT) and measured by analog
ammeter (A) (precision 0.5 %). Conductor
surface temperature was measured by
K-type thermocouple (chromel-alumel) [11]
and real time logged into computer by Fluke
289 multimeter (MT) and support logging
software Fluke View Forms (PC) [12]. The
time logging interval was set to 1 second.
The temperature measurement precision
was 1 %. Ambient temperature during
measurement was 22 C (see Figure 2 for
time evolution).

Figure 2. Time evolution of conductor surface

temperature (loading currents: 5, 10, 15, 20,
25, 30 A)

The results of measurements are showen

in Table 1.
Table 1. Conductor surface temperature
measurement
I[A]
5
10
15
20
25
30

Tmeasure[C]
24,60
30,00
38,30
50,40
65,62
84,24

I [A]
5
10
15
20
25
30

Tanalytical [C]
24,14
30,15
39,54
52,29
68,80
89,84

To obtain numerical solution ANSYS

Workbench program was used, where
steady-state electro-thermal (abbr. E-T)
simulation was performed. The model and all
boundary conditions were created according
to the analytical solution. This approach was
recently used for LV and MV cable
evaluation [14] and simulation of dielectric
losses in power cables [15]. Results from
steady state E-T analysis are in Table 3.
Table 3. Conductor surface temperature the
numerical solution
I [A]
5
10
15
20
25
30

TE-T [C]
24,10
30,12
39,51
52,32
68,85
89,80

The last approach of conductor cooling

presented in this paper is fluid CFD analysis
using ANSYS CFX code. This software is
leading programme for fluid analysis and
thermal distribution. For CFX analysis there
is no need to build analytical equations for
thermal field convection, radiation,
conduction in conductor. The solving
process is very hardware and time-intensive,
because it is necessary to model a relatively
large area of air around the conductor,
where air flow is simulated and the
computational
calculation
is
iterative
process. The final surface temperatures
results for ANSYS CFX analysis are in
Table 4.

ELECTROTEHNIC, ELECTRONIC, AUTOMATIC, 60 (2012), nr. 3

16

Table 4. Conductor surface temperature CFX

simulation

Nu0
Nu
Pr
r
R
Ra
S
t

TCFX [C]
25,25
32,45
42,65
55,65
71,85
90,35

I[A]
5
10
15
20
25
30

Figure 3 shows the calculated and

measured surface temperatures in graphic
form.

T
tamb
Tamb
T
V

air

air

Figure 3. Dependence of conductor surface

temperature for measurement and individual
solutions

In Table 5, there are differences of

temperature for the individual solutions in
comparison with measurement results.
Table 5. Differences of conductor surface
temperatures for the individual approaches
I
[A]
5
10
15
20
25
30

Tmeasure
[C]
24,60
30,00
38,30
50,40
65,62
84,24

Tanalytical [%]

TE-T [%]

-1,89
0,49
3,23
3,75
4,85
6,65

-2,03
0,40
3,15
3,81
4,92
6,60

TCFX
[%]
2,64
8,17
11,36
10,42
9,49
7,25

4. Discussion

Boundary conditions were Joule heat

generated in conductor by electric losses,
radiation and convection conditions. Finally,
surface temperature of the conductor was
obtained.
Used physical quantities are:

d
g
Gr
I
L

K
R
V

General equation for heat transfer in solid

materials is called Fourier-Kirchhoff law
(1)
For steady state temperature does not
depend on time
(2)

Analytical solution

c
cp air

air
air

e
air

Nusselt number (starting value) [-]

Nusselt number [-]
Prandtl number [-]
radius of conductor [m]
conductor resistivity []
Rayleigh number [-]
2
cross-section area of conductor [m ]
surface temperature of conductor
[C]
surface temperature of conductor [K]
ambient temperature [C]
ambient temperature [K]
temperature difference between
conductor surface and ambient [K]
3
volume of conductor [m ]
convective heat transfer coefficient
-2 -1
[Wm K ]
-1
air expansion coefficient [K ]
emissivity [-]
thermal conductivity of conductor
-1 -1
material [Wm K ]
air thermal conductivity
-1 -1
[Wm K ]
-2
air dynamic viscosity [Nsm ]
2 -1
air kinematic viscosity [m s ]
-3
density of conductor material [kgm ]
electric resistivity [m]
-3
air density [kgm ]
Stephan-Boltzman constant
-8
-2 -4
[5.670410 Wm K ]
time [s]
heat flux from the surface of
-2
conductor [Wm ]
-2
heat flux for convection [Wm ]
-2
heat flux for radiation [Wm ]
-3
heat generated in conductor [Wm ]

-1

-1

specific heat of conductor [Jkg K ]

air specific heat (constant pressure)
-1 -1
[Jkg K ]
diameter of conductor [m]
-2
gravity [ms ]
Grashoff number [-]
electric current [A]
characteristic dimension of
conductor [m]

Applying (2) into the (1) we obtain

Poisson equation
(3)
Our conductor that carries the electric
current is horizontally arranged cylinder, so it
is necessary to transform (3) into the
cylindrical coordinate system
(4)
Solution of this second-order differential
equation has form

ELECTROTEHNIC, ELECTRONIC, AUTOMATIC, 60 (2012), nr. 3

(5)
where temperature is primary unknown.
Cross-section area of conductor is solid
circle, therefore r ranges from 0 to final
radius, therefore the logarithmic term ln(r)
has to be eliminated. We determine c1 = 0.
Then (5) is altering into (6).
(6)
Integration constant c2 is evaluated
according to known heat flow from surface of
conductor. This heat flow is defined by sum
of convective and radiation heat flows from
conductor surface. For convection it is
defined:
(7)
For radiation it is defined:
(8)
Heat transfer from conductor surface is
described by Fourier law
(9)
Boundary condition for surface of conductor
is
(10)
After some math operations we get
iterative rule for calculation surface
temperature (indices [i], [i+1] represent
iterative steps)
(11)
Heat generated in conductor is calculated
according to Joule heat looses, so it is
necessary to calculate resistance of
conductor
(12)
Resistivity is temperature depended
variable. For cooper conductor (e 20C =
1,6910-8 .m) we obtained temperature
dependency in following form [16]:
(13)
Then heat generated in conductor is
calculated as follows:
(14)
Calculation of convective heat transfer
coefficient is more complicated. This
calculation is based on empirical equations

17

based on Nusselt number and

temperature dependent variable:

it

is

(15)
Characteristic dimension for horizontal
cylinder is [17]:
(16)
Nusselt number is the ratio of convective
to conductive heat transfer across the
boundary and it is calculated using next
equations [17]:

(17)

The Rayleigh number is defined as the

product of the Grashof number, which
describes the relationship between buoyancy
and viscosity within a fluid, and the Prandtl
number, which describes the relationship
between momentum diffusivity and thermal
diffusivity. Hence the Rayleigh number itself
may also be viewed as the ratio of buoyancy
and viscosity forces times the ratio of
momentum and thermal diffusivities. For free
convection around horizontally arranged
cylindrical conductor these equations can be
formulated:

(18)

Air kinematic viscosity is based on

dynamic viscosity and density of air and all
these material properties including air
thermal
conductivity
are
temperature
dependent variables
(19)
Air properties for t = 20 C are presented
in Table 6.
Table 6. Air properties for t = 20 C
cp air [Jkg-1K-1]
1.007103
air [m2s-1]
1.52710-5
air [Nsm-2]
1.81110-5

Pr [-]
0.7083
air [Wm-1K-1]
2.58910-2

air [K-1]
3.4310-3
air [kgm-3]
1.186

ELECTROTEHNIC, ELECTRONIC, AUTOMATIC, 60 (2012), nr. 3

18

Temperature dependencies for these air

properties were calculated for specified
temperature range 22-127 C (see Figure 4).
40

Numerical solution ANSYS CFX code

38

Geometry for CFX analysis:

air area around the conductor: block
with dimensions 200010001 mm
(this area represents room with the
conductor, thickness 1 mm is due to
symmetry
boundary
condition
mentioned below),
conductor geometry: cylindrical surface
with diameter 1,48 mm and length 1
mm,
position of conductor: a = 1100 mm,
see Figure 6.

36
[Wm-2K-1]

Number of elements for this simulation

was 3 160. Results from this numerical
solution are in Table 3.

34
32
calculated

30

approximated

28
26
24
20

40

60

80

100

120

140

t [C]

Figure 4. Calculated and approximated values of

According to (15) convective heat transfer

coefficient was calculated as temperature
dependent variable. Approximation function
for approx was sufficiently achieved, in
defined temperature range, by logarithmic
regression (20).
(20)
Next unknown parameter in (11), that
describes conductor surface temperature, is
coefficient of emissivity . For our case, the
value of emissivity was chosen for cooper
polished surface = 0,07.
Now it is possible to calculate iterative
rule (11) for conductor surface temperature
in chosen range of electric currents, see
Table 2 for results.
Numerical solution ANSYS Workbench
The model and all boundary conditions
were created according to the analytical
solution. Material properties of conductor
and convective heat transfer coefficient were
set as temperature dependent variables [18].
Mesh of finite electro-thermal 3D elements
was created in the software. Surface
temperature of the conductor was obtained
directly from the software, see Figure 5.

Figure 6. Conductor position in air area

Mesh

Figure 5. Mesh of the conductor (left), temperature of

the conductor (right)

We need to create mesh of volume

elements in the air area. The mesh around
the conductor surface and walls must be
very fine (called inflation) because of nearwall boundary flow has to be modeled, see
Figure 7. Final number of elements was
208 664.

ELECTROTEHNIC, ELECTRONIC, AUTOMATIC, 60 (2012), nr. 3

19

the conductor was obtained as average

temperature on the conductor surface (see
Figure 8).

Figure 7. Mesh of air area around the conductor

Boundry conditions
Boundaries of the air area were set to
adiabatic walls conditions. Air properties
were chosen according to ANSYS CFX
material library. The model was set up to
solve free convection.
The body of conductor itself was not
modeled. Joule heat generation was
converted to heat flux from surface of the
conductor into the air area. The reason why
the thickness of the model is only 1 mm is
that there are symmetry conditions on the
front and back surface of the model. That
means the model itself represents infinite
region in this direction (infinite length of the
conductor).
The boundary conditions for this model
were:
heat flux from the surface of conductor
based on electric losses (see
Table 7);
Table 7. Heat flux from conductor surface
I [A]
5
10
15
20
25
30

[Wm-2]
52,9
211,8
476,5
847,1
1323,6
1906,0

emissivity coefficient on the surface of

conductor = 0.07;
emissivity coefficient on the walls
w = 0.1.
Solution:
The simulation was calculated as steadystate analysis using cluster computer
16 4.4 GHz cores, 64 GB of RAM. Iterative
solution took approximately 4,5 hours for
every load step. Final surface temperature of

Figure 8. Conductor surface temperature ANSYS

CFX

But this average temperature is not

constant value during fictive iteration time
(real behaviour of air flow around conductor
is oscillating transient stream, called von
Krmn stream) [19, 20], therefore the
average
temperature
was
obtained
according to chosen number of iterations at
the end of simulation (see Figure 9).

Figure 9. Temperature changes during iterative

process

5. Conclusions
Results from individual solutions were
compared to measured temperature data.
Deviations
between
calculations
and
measurement were in acceptable range.
Analytical solution was relatively accurate
and simple but unusable for models with
complex geometry.
More appropriate way to calculate surface
temperature of the conductor is using the
ANSYS Workbench environment. There is
possibility to create complex geometry (if the
convective heat transfer coefficient is
possible to define adequately). The most
robust solution is CFD analysis because
there is no need to build analytical equations
and calculate convective heat transfer
coefficient [21, 22]. Solving process is
relatively more hardware- and time-intensive

ELECTROTEHNIC, ELECTRONIC, AUTOMATIC, 60 (2012), nr. 3

20

than ANSYS Workbench solution, though.

Results presented in this paper show that
there are acceptable differences between
measurement data and results of analytical
and numerical solutions. That is the reason
for using numerical analyses for this purpose
first. The advantages of these analyses are
in time- and cost-effectiveness and in the
possibility of optimization of given issue.
Currently, this approach, based on
diagnostic measurement input data, can be
used for thermal field simulations in cables
and electric machines, wchich results can be
used for faulty states and spots evaluation
and life time predictions [23].
It is important to mention that this
computational approaches may also have
limited application and relevance of results in
very complex cases (cable with multiple
loaded cores, vertical cable/wire) or in cases
when the values of constants and their
temperature dependancies for calculation of
heat transfer are not given or known
(underground cables, cables with so called
airbag or similar). In this cases the loading
capacitance could be better determined by
experimental approach.
6. Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Grant
Agency KEGA, grant No. 015STU-4/2012
and grant VEGA 1/0534/12.
7. References
[1] BHUIYAN
M,
MUSILEK
P,
HECKENBERGEROVA
J,
KOVAL
D.
Evaluating thermal aging characteristics of
electric power transmission lines. In
Proceedings of the IEEE 23rd Canadian
Conference on Electrical and Computer
Engineering (CCECE 2010); 2010, May 2-5;
Calgary, Canada; p. 14.
[2] SIMONI L, A general phenomenological life
model for insulating materials under
combined stress. In IEEE Transactions on
Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation. 1999,
vol. 6 (no. 2): p. 250 258.
[3] MAZZANTI G, MONTANARI GC, SIMONI L,
Insulation Characterization in multistress
Conditions by Accelerated Life Tests: An
Application to XLPE and EPR for HV Cables.
In IEEE Insulation Magazine. 1997, vol. 13
(no. 6): p. 24 34.
[4] MONTANARI GC, MAZZANTI G, SIMONI L,
Progress In Electrothermal Life Modeling of
Electrical Insulation during the Last
Decades. In IEEE Transactions on

Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation. 2002,

vol. 9 (no. 5): p. 730 745.
[5] KOPA M, POLJOVKA P, VRY M, LELK
J. Electrochemical Corrosion of Contact
Areas of Electric Terminals. In Proceedings
of 5th International Conference Study and
Control of Corrosion in the Perspective of
Sustainable
Development
of
Urban
Distribution Grids; 2006, June 18-20; Trgu
Mures, Romania; p. 119-123.
[6] TANAKA T, Aging of Polymeric and
Composite Insulating Materials. In IEEE
Transaction on Dielectrics and Electrical
Insulation. 2002, vol. 9 (no. 5): p. 704-716.
[7] KOPA M, VRY M, DOSOUDIL R,
URMAN V, LELK J, Long-Term Stability
of
Plastic-Ferrite
Composites
Using
Accelerated Thermal Ageing Method. In
Electrotehnica,
Electronica,
Automatica.
2011, vol. 59 (no. 3): p. 7-10.
[8] LELK J, URMAN V, KOPA M, PACKA J,
VRY M, KOZA E. Effect of Various
Degradation Factors on the Properties of
PVC
Insulated
Power
Cables.
In
Proceedings of 5th International Conference
Study and Control of Corrosion in the
Perspective of Sustainable Development of
Urban Distribution Grids; 2006, June 18-20;
Trgu Mures, Romania; p. 99-103.
[9] VERBICH O, SULOV J, PACKA J,
URMAN V, LELK J, VRY M, Effect of a
Long-Term Flooding on the Dielectric
Properties of Flame Retarding Cables. In
Electrotehnica,
Electronica,
Automatica.
2008, vol. 56 (no. 1-2): p. 14-16.
[10]PYTLAK P, MUSILEK P, LOZOWSKI E,
TOTH J, Modelling precipitation cooling of
overhead conductors. In Electric Power
Systems Research. 2011, vol. 81 (no. 12): p.
2147-2154.
[11]The Omega Temperature Measurement

and
Encyclopedia.
Vol.
Handbook
MMXIV, 7th Edition. Omega Engineering
Inc.; 2010.
[12]KOPA
M,
VRY
M,
Bezpenos
elektrickch zariaden [Safety of Electrical
Appliances]. FEI STU in Bratislava, ISBN
978-80-227-3462-2; 2011; p. 35 49.
[13]KALOUSEK M, HUKO B, Prenos tepla
[Heat transfer]. FEI STU in Bratislava, ISBN
80-227-0881-X; 1996.
[14]ANDREOU GT, LABRIDIS DP, Experimental
Evaluation of a Low-Voltage Power
Distribution Cable Model Based on a FiniteElement Approach. In IEEE Transactions on
Power Delivery. 2007, vol. 22 (no. 3): p. 1455
1460.
[15]IDIR N, WEENS Y, FRANCHAUD JJ, Skin
Effect and Dielectric Loss Models of Power
Cables. In IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics
and Electrical Insulation. 2009, vol. 16 (no.
1): p. 147 154.

ELECTROTEHNIC, ELECTRONIC, AUTOMATIC, 60 (2012), nr. 3

[16]ANSYS, Theory manual for Workbench.

2011.
[17]BENNETT CO, Momentum, Heat and Mass
Transfer. McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0070046670;
1962.
[18]DULUC MC, XIN S, LUSSEYRAN F, LE
QUR P, Numerical and experimental
investigation of laminar free convection
around a thin wire: Long time scalings and
assessment of numerical approach. In
International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow.
2008, vol. 29 (no 4): p 1125-1138.
[19]MAAS
WJPM,
RINDT
CCM,
VAN
STEENHOVEN AA, The influence of heat on
the 3D-transition of the von Krmn vortex
street. In International Journal of Heat and
Mass Transfer. 2003, vol. 46 (no 16): p.
3069-3081.
[20]GODARD G, WEISS F, GONZALEZ M,
PARANTHON P, Heat transfer from a line
source located in the periodic laminar near
wake of a circular cylinder. In Experimental
Thermal and Fluid Science. 2005, vol. 29 (no.
8): p. 947-956.
[21]BLOCKEN B, DEFRAEYE T, DEROME D,
CARMELIET
J,
High-resolution
CFD
simulations for forced convective heat
transfer coefficients at the facade of a lowrise building. In Building and Environment.
2009, vol. 44 (no. 12): p. 2396-2412.
[22]KIM HT, RHEE BW, PARK JH, CFX
simulation of a horizontal heater rods test. In
Nuclear Engineering and Design. 2008, vol.
238 (no. 3): p. 522-529.
[23]CHENG S, XIE Y, LI W, LI S. Analysis of
Electromagnetic and Thermal Fields in an
Induction Motor with Broken-bars Fault. In
Proceedings of IEEE 2008 World Automation
Congress.; 2008, September 28 October 2;
Waikoloa, USA; p. 1-6.

8. Biography
Michal VRY was born in Nitra
th
(Slovakia), on December 9 ,
1979.
He
graduated
the
Slovak
University of Technology in
Bratislava (Slovakia), Faculty of
Electrical Engineering and
Information Technologies, in 2004.
He received the PhD degree in electrical
engineering, materials and technologies, from
the Slovak University of Technology in

21

Bratislava (Slovakia), in 2009. He is the

assistant and teacher at Institute of Power and
Applied Electrical Engineering, Department of
Materials and Technologies, Slovak University
of Technology in Bratislava (Slovakia).
His research interests concern: cable insulation
systems aging, polarization processes in
dielectric materials, monitoring of photovoltaic
systems performance, aging of photovoltaic
systems encapsulation materials.
Vladimr GOGA was born in
trovo (Slovakia), on March
th
12 , 1981.
He graduated the Slovak
University of Technology in
Bratislava (Slovakia), Faculty of
Mechanical
Engineering,
in
2004.
He received the PhD degree in applied
mechanics, from the Slovak University of
Technology in Bratislava (Slovakia), in 2009.
He is the assistant and teacher at Institute of
Power and Applied Electrical Engineering,
Department of Applied Mechanics and
Mechatronics, Slovak University of Technology
in Bratislava (Slovakia).
His research interests concern: dynamics of
mechanical systems, structural mechanics,
material testing, computational mechanics and
mechatronics.

Juraj Paulech was born in

Trnava
(Slovakia),
on
th
September 25 , 1984.
He graduated the Slovak
University of Technology in
Bratislava (Slovakia), Faculty of
Electrical
Engineering
and
Information
Technologies, in 2009.
He is PhD. student at Institute of Power and
Applied Electrical Engineering, Department of
Applied Mechanics and Mechatronics, Slovak
University of Technology in Bratislava
(Slovakia).

His research interests concern: thermalfluid flow dynamics, FEM elements for
FGM materials, computer simulations for
renewable energy sources.