Seismic Analysis of a 500-kV Power Transformer of the

Type Damaged in the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake

Guo-Liang Ma, S.M.ASCE 1; and Qiang Xie, M.ASCE 2

Abstract: As indispensable electric power equipment in substations, high-voltage power transformers have experienced severe damage in
past earthquakes. This paper illustrates an earthquake-damaged 500-kV power transformer: all three 550-kV bushings fractured, oil con-
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Edinburgh University on 01/21/18. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.

servator supports were sheared off, and leaked transformer oil caused a fire. A detailed finite-element model of the power transformer was
developed. The modal and response-history analyses using the finite-element model were conducted to investigate possible reasons for the
power transformer earthquake damage. The results indicated that the local modes of the transformer components, such as bushings and
turrets, and the oil conservator dominate the power transformer vibration. Spectral accelerations at the top flange plates of the turrets
on the transformer tank were significantly amplified for the transformer bushings. Peak resultant bending moments at the bottoms
of the air-side insulators of the 550-kV bushings subjected to the Wenchuan earthquake motions exceeded their bending capacities.
Accelerations for the oil conservator were also greatly amplified, thus the oil conservator supports suffered large translational and torsional
deformations to the earthquake motions. It is concluded from the earthquake damage and seismic analyses that this type of power transformer
is vulnerable to strong earthquakes because the earthquake effect is not adequately considered in the power transformer structural design.
DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0001145. © 2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
Author keywords: Earthquake damage; Power transformer; Finite-element analysis; Response-history analysis; Acceleration response
spectral amplification.

Introduction transformers from their foundations, breakage of bushing air-side

High-voltage power transformers, whose function is to step up
and down the rated voltages in the electric power transmission
and distribution systems, are key pieces of substation equipment.
However, high-voltage power transformers have suffered severe
damage in past earthquakes, including the 1971 San Fernando
earthquake (Palk et al. 1975), the 1994 Northridge earthquake in
the United States (Schiff 1997), the 1999 Kocaeli earthquake in
Turkey (Sezen and Whittaker 2006), the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake
in Taiwan (Schiff and Tang 2000), the 2010 Sierra El Mayor
earthquake in North America (Cochran 2015), the 2008
Wenchuan earthquake in China (Yu et al. 2008; Xie and Zhu 2011),
the 2010 Haiti earthquake (Fujisaki et al. 2014), the 2011 Tohoku-
Oki earthquake in Japan (Eidinger et al. 2012), and the 2013
Lushan earthquake in China (You and Zhao 2013). Take the
Wenchuan earthquake, for example, a surface wave magnitude
Ms 8.0 earthquake caused widespread earthquake damage to the
power grid of Sichuan, a southwest province of China. More than
85 high-voltage power transformers with rated voltage of 110 kV
and greater, including two 500-kV power transformers, 20 220-kV
power transformers, and 63 110-kV power transformers, were
damaged in the earthquake (Yu et al. 2008; Xie and Zhu 2011).
The earthquake damage and failure included overturning of the
1 high-damping rubber bearings, and Friction Pendulum bearings)
Ph.D. Candidate, Dept. of Structural Engineering, Tongji Univ.,
A806 Civil Bldg., Shanghai 200092, China. E-mail: mgldut@163.com
2
Professor, Dept. of Structural Engineering, Tongji Univ., A807 Civil
Bldg., Shanghai 200092, China (corresponding author). E-mail: qxie@
tongji.edu.cn
Note. This manuscript was submitted on October 25, 2016; approved on
September 21, 2017; published online on January 18, 2018. Discussion
period open until June 18, 2018; separate discussions must be submitted
for individual papers. This paper is part of the Journal of Performance
of Constructed Facilities, © ASCE, ISSN 0887-3828.
insulators, fracture of bushing flanges, and oil leakage from bush-
ings, oil conservators, and power transformer tanks.
The seismic vulnerability of power transformers and bushings
was known long ago. Therefore, many studies have been conducted
to evaluate and improve the seismic performance of high-voltage
power transformers. Historical earthquake records, generated arti-
ficial earthquake motions, sine beats, and steady-state sines were
used to test substation equipment (Palk et al. 1975) after the 1971
San Fernando earthquake. Klopfensein et al. (1976) proposed the
seismic requirements on substation equipment by experimental and
analytical studies. The IEEE in the United States developed and
updated IEEE 693 (IEEE 2006) for seismic test and qualification
of electric equipment. The ASCE Electric Power and Communica-
tions Committee gave specific guidelines to improve the earthquake
performance of electric power equipment (Schiff 1998). Seismic per-
formance of 196-, 220-, and 550-kV porcelain transformer bushings
were evaluated by tests and analyses (Gilani et al. 1998, 1999a, b;
Whittaker et al. 2004; Fahad 2013). The seismic performance of
high-voltage power transformer-bushing systems was studied by
earthquake simulator tests and numerical analysis (e.g., Bellorini
et al. 1998; Villaverde et al. 2001; Ersoy et al. 2008; Filiatrault
and Matt 2005, 2006; Kong 2010; Płatek et al. 2010; Reinhorn
et al. 2011; Koliou et al. 2013a, b; Zareei et al. 2016). Seismic iso-
lation devices (e.g., sliding bearings, rubber bearings, segmented
were also used to seismically protect high-voltage power transform-
ers (Murota et al. 2006; Ersoy et al. 2008; Saadeghvaziri et al. 2010;
Oikonomou et al. 2016). All these studies only focused on evaluating
and improving the seismic performance of high-voltage power trans-
former bushings and transformer-bushing systems. But detailed
earthquake damage to a high-voltage power transformer in an actual
earthquake and a preliminary analysis of the earthquake damage to
the power transformer are scarce.

© ASCE 04018007-1 J. Perform. Constr. Facil.

J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 2018, 32(2): 04018007

 This paper illustrates structural details and detailed earthquake
damage to a 500-kV power transformer that was seriously damaged
in the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. The main objectives are to
evaluate the seismic response and preliminarily analyze the pos-
sible failure reasons of the power transformer, and to appeal to
professional practitioners to pay due attention to the seismic design
of high-voltage power transformers. An earthquake reconnaissance
trip acquired the detailed information on the damaged power
transformer and the ground motions in the vicinity of the Maoxian
substation. A detailed finite-element analysis model of the power
transformer was established. Modal and linear response-history
analyses were performed on this model to evaluate the seismic
response of the power transformer to the given earthquake
motions. Possible failure reasons of the power transformer are dis-
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cussed to take the lessons from the earthquake-damaged power
transformer.
(a)
(c)
Fig. 1. Structural details of the power transformer: (a) plan; (b) front elevation; (c) side elevation; (d) cross section
© ASCE 04018007-2
J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 2018, 32(2): 04018007
500-kV Power Transformer
Description of the Power Transformer
The power transformer mainly consisted of an oil-filled tank, cores
and coils in the tank, radiators and fans attached to the two ends of
the tank, porcelain bushings with four different rated voltages, and
an oil conservator above the tank. Figs. 1(a–d) show the structural
configuration of the 500-kV power transformer. The top plate, bot-
tom plate, and front and rear walls of the tank were stiffened by steel
channels. The tank walls and channels were made from steel plates
with a typical thickness of 16 mm. The total mass of the power
transformer was 510 t, with the internal cores and coils of 284 t,
transformer oil of 137 t, and transformer tank as well as its append-
ages of 92 t. Hence, the internal cores and coils as well as the trans-
former oil accounted for the majority of the power transformer mass.
(b)
(d)
J. Perform. Constr. Facil.
 Table 1. Details of the Power Transformer Bushings
Dimensions (m)
Air-side insulator
Rated Upper outer Upper internal Lower outer Lower internal
voltage (kV) diameter diameter diameter thickness
550 0.38 0.33 0.43 0.37
252 0.31 0.26 0.31 0.26
72.5 0.18 0.13 0.18 0.13
The 500-kV power transformer was a three-phase autotrans-
former with 750 MVA capacity. Each phase had four bushings
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corresponding to 550-, 252-, 72.5-, and 52-kV rated voltages, re-
spectively, so there was a total of 12 porcelain bushings in the
power transformer. Table 1 tabulates key physical details of the
power bushings with three different rated voltages. The bushings
were all bolted on the top flange plates of the turrets that protruded
from the top plate and one tank sidewall. The three bushings and
turrets, respectively on the tank sidewall, one side of the tank top
plate, and one end of the tank top plate, were denoted as A (B, C)
phase high-voltage (AH, BH, CH), A (B, C) phase medium-voltage
(AM, BM, CM), and A (B, C) phase-neutral point (AN, BN, CN)
bushings and turrets. The three bushings installed on an oval-
shaped turret on one side of the tank top plate were denoted a–c
bushings [Fig. 1(a)]. Each transformer bushing was mainly com-
posed of a dome, an air-side porcelain insulator, a metal flange with
a sleeve, and an oil-side porcelain insulator. The insulators were
filled with transformer oil and a kraft paper condenser wrapped
around the center copper tube. The porcelain flexural strength of
30 MPa and the modulus of elasticity of 80 GPa were provided
by the transformer manufacturer.
All these bushings were bolted on the top flange plates of
their turrets, and all oil-side insulators of the bushings were inserted
into their oil-filled turrets rather than directly into the transformer
tank. The 550-kV bushings were mounted on the L-shaped
turrets (AH, BH, and CH) with outer diameter of 1.1 m and wall
thickness of 10 mm. The outer diameter and wall thickness of the
inclined turrets for the 252-kV bushings (AM, BM, and CM)
were 0.7 m and 6 mm, respectively. The 72.5-kV bushings were
installed on the vertical turrets (AN, BN, and CN) with outer
diameters of 0.6 m and wall thicknesses of 6 mm. The inclination
angles of the 550- and 252-kV bushings and turrets are shown in
Figs. 1(b and c).
The oil conservator, 8.1 m in longitudinal axis and 1.5 m in
diameter, was propped by four 2.6-m-high angle supports from
the transformer top plate. The distance from the longitudinal axis
of the oil conservator to the transformer top plate was 3.3 m. The
four angle supports braced the conservator along the transformer
longitudinal direction asymmetrically.
The power transformer was bolted to its concrete foundation
beams, which were mounted on the top of an underground oil con-
tainment. The oil containment under the power transformer was
used to gather the transformer oil for the sake of the serious oil
leakage from the power transformer, causing serious environmental
contamination.
Earthquake Damage to the Power Transformer
The studied power transformer was one of the two main 500-kV
power transformers in the Maoxian substation. Both transformers
were damaged in the earthquake. Figs. 2(a–e) show the earthquake
damage to the 500-kV power transformer components in detail.
© ASCE 04018007-3
J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 2018, 32(2): 04018007
Oil-side insulator Height
Outer insulator
diameter Total Air side Oil side Mass (kg)
0.39 7.88 5.9 1.72 1,960
0.27 4.33 2.73 1.27 410
0.16 2.44 1.12 0.90 165
All three 550-kV bushings were destroyed. Two air-side insulators
of the 550-kV bushings (BH and CH) were entirely broken
[Fig. 2(a)], leaving porcelain debris on the ground [Fig. 2(b)]. The
flange of the third 550-kV bushing (AH) fractured [Fig. 2(c)].
The transformer oil from the CH bushing spilled on the radiators
and cables. Subsequently, the radiators and cables caught fire.
The kraft paper condenser of the CH bushing was also burnt
[Figs. 2(d and e)]. The upper tips of the 550-kV bushings were
connected to cables that overhung insulators from a high portal
frame, and these cables had enough slack to allow the bushing
upper tips to move in the earthquake, so no interaction damage be-
tween the transformer bushings and other substation equipment
was observed in the earthquake reconnaissance.
Two angle supports of the oil conservator were sheared off due
to large deformations between the oil conservator and the tank
top plate.
No dislodgement, overturning, or collapse of the power trans-
former tank was observed in the earthquake reconnaissance.
Ground Motion Shaking in the Vicinity of Maoxian
Substation
The 500-kV substation had a latitude of 31.696°N and longitude
of 103.867°E and was located in Maoxian County, Aba Tibetan
and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, China. Fig. 3
identifies the locations of the Wenchuan earthquake epicenter,
strong earthquake motion observation stations, and the Maoxian
substation. The Maoxian substation was to the northeast of the
epicenter (Yingxiu Town, Wenchuan County). There is no ground
motion recorded right in the substation, so ground motions re-
corded in the vicinity of the Maoxian substation from the Diban
and Nanxin stations in Maoxian County, the Wonglong station
in Wenchuan, the Bajiao station in Shifang, the Qingping station
in Mianzhu, and the Zengjia station in Guangyuan could be used
for the response-history analysis of the power transformer (Li et al.
2008; Zhou et al. 2010). Properties of the ground motions recorded
in these observation stations are listed in Table 2. The peak ground
acceleration (PGA) for the substation was estimated at 3.5 m=s2
from the ground motions recorded at the nearest stations, Diban
and Nanxin stations in Maoxian County. Figs. 4 and 5 plot accel-
eration histories recorded in the Diban and Nanxin stations, respec-
tively. Fig. 6 shows the 2% damped response spectra of the
recorded ground motions, modified Joshua Tree station ground
motions (1992 Landers earthquake), to match the ultrahigh voltage
required response spectrum (UHV RRS) (Ma et al. 2017a) and
the three-component IEEE spectrum-compatible Construction
Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL)–generated motions
[CERL histories and spectra are presented in Gilani et al. (1999a)]
for the response-history analysis.
The recorded ground motions in the Wenchuan earthquake have
different frequency properties. For example, the main frequency
contents of the horizontal ground motion records at the Zengjia,
J. Perform. Constr. Facil.
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Fig. 2. (Color) Seriously damaged 500-kV power transformer: (a) panorama of the damaged power transformer; (b) porcelain debris and oil leakage;
(c) flange breakage of the AH bushing; (d) burnt oil-immersed kraft paper condenser of the CH bushing; (e) burnt radiators

100° E 104° E 108° E Finite-Element Analysis of the Power Transformer

34° N

34° N

Modeling and Assumptions

Zengjia station
A detailed finite-element model was developed using the commer-
Diban station cial finite-element analysis software ABAQUS for the power
transformer.
Qingping station
Maoxian substation Fig. 7 shows the finite-element analysis model of the power
Nanxin station transformer, which includes the transformer tank, all 550-,
Bajiao station 252-, and 72.5-kV bushings and turrets, the oil conservator, and
Wolong station
30° N

30° N

radiators. The transformer tank, channel stiffeners, turrets, and con-

Ground motion station
0 90 180 270 360 km
Earthquake epicenter
100° E 104° E
Fig. 3. (Color) Locations of the epicenter, strong motion observation
stations, and Maoxian substation (figure courtesy of X. J. Li)
Bajiao, and Wolong stations concentrates at 2–4 Hz, while
the main frequency contents at the Qingping station are approxi-
mately 10 Hz and more. The mean horizontal response spectrum
of these normalized ground motions can envelop the high-
performance level RRS of IEEE 693 (IEEE 2006) beyond the
2 Hz shown (Fig. 6).
servator were discretized by the 4-node reduced integration shell
element S4R in ABAQUS, which could consider the bending
and membrane effect simultaneously. The 2-node linear beam
element B31 with a tubular section in ABAQUS was used to model
108° E the bushings.
Several assumptions were made before the development of the
finite-element analysis model. The power transformer appendages,
such as radiators, turrets, angle supports of the oil conservator, and
channel stiffeners, were assumed to be rigidly connected to the
tank. The radiators were simplified as plates with equivalent mass
and the same centroid to avoid modeling their complicated geom-
etries. The transformer tank and turrets were assumed to be full of
the transformer oil. The oil-sloshing effect in the tank, turrets, and
oil conservator was neglected. Therefore, the oil in the tank, turrets,
and oil conservator was evenly distributed to their sidewalls as
additional masses, which led to a proper modeling of the centroid

© ASCE 04018007-4 J. Perform. Constr. Facil.

J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 2018, 32(2): 04018007

 Table 2. Locations of the Earthquake Epicenter, Maoxian Substation, and Strong Motion Observation Stations with Recorded PGAs
Locations Recorded PGA (m=s2 )
Stations or epicenter Latitude Longitude Surface rupture distance (km) East-west North-south Up-down
Earthquake epicenter 31.0°N 103.4°E — — — —
Maoxian substation 31.7°N 103.9°E 22 — — —
Diban, Maoxian 31.7°N 103.9°E 25 3.07 3.02 2.67
Nanxi, Maoxian 31.6°N 103.7°E 20 4.21 3.49 3.53
Wolong, Wenchuan 31.0°N 103.2°E 23 9.58 6.58 9.48
Qingping, Mianzhu 31.5°N 104.1°E 3 8.24 8.03 6.23
Bajiao, Shifang 31.3°N 104.0°E 10 5.49 5.86 6.33
Zengjia, Guangyuan 32.6°N 106.1°E 86 4.25 4.11 1.83
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5.0
2
Diban EW (Peak:-3.1 m/s )
Acceleration [m/s ]

2.5
2

0.0

-2.5

-5.0
0 20 40 60 80 100
(a) Time [sec]

5.0
2
Diban NS (Peak:-3.0 m/s )
Acceleration [m/s ]

2.5
2

0.0

-2.5

-5.0
0 20 40 60 80 100
(b) Time [sec]

5.0
2
Diban UD (Peak:-2.7 m/s )
Acceleration [m/s ]

2.5
2

0.0

-2.5

-5.0
0 20 40 60 80 100
(c) Time [sec]

Fig. 4. Acceleration histories recorded at the Diban station in Maoxian County: (a) east-west component; (b) north-south component; (c) up-down
component

and thus the dynamic effect of the transformer oil. The massive
cores and coils were not considered in the model because the cores
and coils inside the transformer tank were firmly rested on the tank
base plate. The power transformer was pinned to the foundation
beams to model the bolted connections. The cables connected to the
upper tips of bushings had enough slack, so the dynamic interaction
between bushings and other equipment was not included in
the model. An 11-kg shield ring was fixed on the top of every
550-kV bushing to consider the masses of the cables. Finally, this
research was only in the linear range because the linear seismic
response-history analysis could provide possible design defects
and valuable lessons for the future seismic design of high-voltage
power transformers, at the same time avoiding the complicated
simulation of the progressive failure of the power transformer
components.
Modal Analysis
The natural frequencies, corresponding mode shapes, and effective
modal masses of the power transformer were obtained using the

© ASCE 04018007-5 J. Perform. Constr. Facil.

J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 2018, 32(2): 04018007

 5.0
2
Nanxi EW (Peak:-4.2 m/s )

Acceleration [m/s ]
2
2.5

0.0

-2.5

-5.0
0 20 40 60 80 100
(a) Time [sec]

5.0
2
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Nanxi NS (Peak:3.5 m/s )

Acceleration [m/s ]
2

2.5

0.0

-2.5

-5.0
0 20 40 60 80 100
(b) Time [sec]

5.0
2
Nanxi UD (Peak:-3.5 m/s )
Acceleration [m/s ]

2.5
2

0.0

-2.5

-5.0
0 20 40 60 80 100
(c) Time [sec]

Fig. 5. Acceleration histories recorded at the Nanxi station in Maoxian County: (a) east-west component; (b) north-south component; (c) up-down
component

block Lanczos method (Nour-Omid and Clough 1985; Clough and
Penzien 2003). The sum of the effective masses of all modes in
every global translational direction should give the total mass of
the power transformer. Thus, if the effective masses of some modes
add up to a value that accounts for the majority of the total mass of
the power transformer, it means that these modes have a significant
participation in a certain excitation direction. Summed modal ef-
fective mass participation ratios (summed modal effective masses
normalized by the total mass of the power transformer) were used
to evaluate whether some modes have a significant participation in
a certain excitation or not.
Response-History Analysis
A linear response-history analysis was performed on the power
transformer using the Hilber-Hughes-Taylor time integration
method (Hilber et al. 1977) to evaluate the seismic response of
the power transformer. The previously mentioned eight sets of
earthquake records were used as earthquake excitations in the
analysis. The east-west, north-south, and up-down components
of these ground motions with PGAs of 0.35g, 0.35g, and 0.8 ×
0.35g excited the power transformer along the transformer tank
in transverse, longitudinal, and vertical directions, respectively.
Then the horizontal components of these ground motions were
rotated 90° and excited the power transformer again. In accordance
with the experimental results of power transformer–bushing
systems by Koliou et al. (2013a, b) and Ma et al. (2017b), 2% criti-
cal damping ratio was employed in the response-history analysis.
Analysis Results
The seismic responses of interest are the modal properties of the
power transformer, accelerations (and amplification), and displace-
ments at key locations of the power transformer (e.g., tank sidewall,
tank top plate, top flange plates of turrets, and the oil conservator
supports) and the internal forces in the transformer bushings. The
results for the bushings and turrets labeled BH and BM are con-
sidered representatives of all the 550- and 252-kV bushings and
turrets.
Modal Properties
Table 3 tabulates the modal properties of the power transformer.
Fig. 8 displays typical mode shapes of the power transformer.
The power transformer’s appendages had many low-frequency
modes. The mass participation factors of these modes were

© ASCE 04018007-6 J. Perform. Constr. Facil.

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 5 5
Diban EW Nanxin EW
Diban NS Nanxin NS

Spectral acceleration [g]

Spectral acceleration [g]

4 Diban UD 4 Nanxin UD

3 3

2 2

1 1

0 0
0.1 1 10 100 0.1 1 10 100
(a) Frequency [Hz] (b) Frequency [Hz]

5 5
Wolong EW Qingping EW
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Wolong NS Qingping NS

Spectral acceleration [g]

4
Spectral acceleration [g]

4 Wolong UD Qingping UD

3 3

2 2

1 1

0 0
0.1 1 10 100 0.1 1 10 100
(c) Frequency [Hz] (d) Frequency [Hz]
5 5
Bajiao EW Zengjia EW
Bajiao NS Zengjia NS
Spectral acceleration [g]
Spectral acceleration [g]

4 Bajiao UD 4 Zengjia UD

3 3

2 2

1 1

0 0
0.1 1 10 100 0.1 1 10 100
(e) Frequency [Hz] (f) Frequency [Hz]
5 5
Modfied Joshua Tree EW CERL EW
Modfied Joshua Tree NS CERL NS
4 Modfied Joshua Tree UD 4 CERL UD
Spectral acceleration [g]
Spectral acceleration [g]

3 3

2 2

1 1

0 0
0.1 1 10 100 0.1 1 10 100
(g) Frequency [Hz] (h) Frequency [Hz]

5
Mean Horizontal Spectrum
Mean Vertical Spectrum
Spectral acceleration [g]

4 IEEE high performance level RRS

0
0.1 1 10 100
(i) Frequency [Hz]

Fig. 6. Response spectra of ground motions for the analysis, 2% damping: (a) Diban records; (b) Nanxin records; (c) Wolong records; (d) Qingping
records; (e) Bajiao records; (f) Zengjia records; (g) modified Joshua Tree records; (h) CERL records; (i) mean spectra

© ASCE 04018007-7 J. Perform. Constr. Facil.

J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 2018, 32(2): 04018007

 transformer bushings. The amplified accelerations would easily in-
duce large bending moments at the bottoms of the bushing air-side
insulators, which could fracture the bushing air-side porcelain
insulators. The acceleration response spectral amplifications at dif-
ferent locations of the transformer (such as the tank top plate, tank
sidewall, turret top flange plates, and the tops of the oil conservator
supports) were compared to determine where the power transformer
would amplify the acceleration strongly. The acceleration response
spectral amplification is equal to the ratio of the 2% damped re-
sponse spectrum of acceleration at different locations of the trans-
former to the 2% damped response spectrum of acceleration at the
base of the transformer for a given ground motion and for a given
direction. The peaks of the acceleration response spectral amplifi-
cations occur at the natural frequencies of the power transformer
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Fig. 7. (Color) Finite-element model of the power transformer
much smaller than 100% because these modes were the local
modes of the power transformer appendages (bushings, turrets,
and the oil conservator) rather than the transformer tank, and these
appendages had small masses relative to the total mass of the power
transformer.
Acceleration Amplification for the Transformer
Bushings and the Oil Conservator
It is generally acknowledged that the transformer tank and the tur-
rets that support transformer bushings amplify accelerations for the
components.
Fig. 9 shows the mean spectral amplifications generated from
the acceleration histories at the top and bottom flange plates of
the BH turret along the transformer tank in transverse, longitudinal,
and vertical directions, respectively. The spectral amplifications at
the top flange plate of the BH turret exhibit two major peaks in all
three directions, which occur at the first and second natural
frequencies of the BH bushing and turret assembly on the trans-
former tank sidewall. However, the spectral amplifications at the
bottom flange plate of the BH turret, namely, the tank sidewall,
do not exhibit such large peaks in any direction and they are much
smaller than those at the top flange plate of the BH turret. The dif-
ferences between the top and bottom flange plates of the BH turret
indicate that the accelerations the BH bushing suffered are mainly
amplified by the interaction between the L-shaped turret and the
tank sidewall in all directions (Ma et al. 2017a).

Table 3. Computed Modal Properties of the 500-kV Power Transformer

Modal mass participation (%)
Mode Natural frequency (Hz) X-direction Y-direction Z-direction Mode shape
1 2.3 5.5 0.0 0.6 CHbushing and turret
2 2.4 0.8 0.0 0.1 AHbushing and turret
3 2.4 0.1 0.0 0.0 BHbushing and turret
4 2.7 0.0 2.3 0.1 CHbushing and turret
5 2.7 0.0 1.9 0.1 AHbushing and turret
6 2.8 0.0 2.0 0.0 BHbushing and turret
7 2.9 0.0 5.1 0.0 Oil conservator
8 3.2 4.2 0.0 0.0 Oil conservator
9 3.6 1.1 0.0 0.0 Oil conservator
10 7.1 0.0 0.5 0.0 CM bushing and turret
11 7.7 0.0 0.6 0.0 BM bushing and turret
12 8.7 0.2 0.0 0.0 BN bushing and turret
13 8.7 7.7 0.0 0.7 CM bushing and turret
14 8.9 0.1 0.2 0.2 BN bushing and turret
15 9.2 0.8 0.2 0.0 BM bushing and turret
16 9.3 0.0 0.5 0.0 BH bushing and turret
17 9.3 0.0 1.3 0.0 CH bushing and turret
18 9.3 0.0 0.9 0.0 AH bushing and turret
19 9.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 AM bushing and turret
20 9.9 6.7 0.1 0.2 AH, BH, CH, and AM bushings and turrets
21 10.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 CH bushing and turret
22 10.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 AH, BH bushings and turrets
23 10.4 0.4 0.3 0.1 AM bushing and turret
24 11.6 4.7 0.0 0.2 Oil conservator
25 11.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 CN bushing and turret
26 11.9 0.1 0.1 0.1 AN bushing and turret
27 12.9 0.1 0.0 1.1 CM bushing and turret, oil conservator
28 13.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 AN, BN, and CN bushings and turrets
29 13.2 26.4 0.0 0.0 Tank
30 14.8 7.7 0.0 0.0 AN, BN, and CN bushings and turrets
Total — 67.6 16.5 3.5 —

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J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 2018, 32(2): 04018007

Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by Edinburgh University on 01/21/18. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
Fig. 8. (Color) Typical mode shapes of the power transformer: (a) Mode 1, frequency ¼ 2.4 Hz; (b) Mode 4, frequency ¼ 2.7 Hz; (c) Mode 7,
frequency ¼ 2.9 Hz; (d) Mode 8, frequency ¼ 3.2 Hz
Fig. 10 shows the mean spectral amplifications calculated from
the acceleration histories at the top flange plate of the BM turret, the
top of one oil conservator support, and the tank top plate along the
transformer tank in transverse, longitudinal, and vertical directions,
respectively. The bottoms of the BM turret and the oil conservator
support were bolted on the tank top plate. The spectral amplifica-
tions at the top flange plate of the BM turret exhibit two prominent
peaks in the transverse and longitudinal directions and only one
peak in the vertical direction. The two peaks of the spectral ampli-
fications in the transverse and longitudinal directions occur at the
first and second natural frequencies of the BM bushing and turret
assembly, while the peak of the spectral amplification in the vertical
direction happens at the fundamental frequency of the tank top
plate. The spectral amplifications at the top of one oil conservator
support also have peaks at its fundamental frequencies in all direc-
tions. These indicate that the accelerations at the top flange plates of
the inclined turrets and at the tops of the oil conservator supports
were also largely amplified due to the interaction between them and
the tank top plate because accelerations at the tank top plate are
only slightly magnified at its fundamental frequencies (Ma et al.
2017b).
© ASCE 04018007-9
J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 2018, 32(2): 04018007
Moment and Displacement Responses of the
Transformer Bushings
Due to the previously mentioned acceleration amplification, the
transformer bushings generated large inertial forces in the earth-
quake. Consequently, large bending moments accumulated at the
bottoms of the air-side insulators of the transformer bushings.
Table 4 lists the normalized peak resultant moments at the bottoms
of the air-side insulators of the BH and BM bushings. The peak
moments were normalized by theoretical bending capacities of
the bushings, which were the products of the porcelain flexural
strength and the bending modulus at the bottoms of the bushing
air-side insulators. The normalized peak resultant moments at
the bottom of the BH bushing air-side insulator were all larger than
1.0, which suggested the failure of the air-side porcelain insulators
of the 550-kV bushings. However, the normalized peak resultant
moments at the bottom of the air-side insulator of the BM bushing
were much smaller than 1.0, which meant that the air-side insula-
tors of the 252-kV bushings were safe in the earthquake.
Table 4 also lists the peak resultant displacements (vector result-
ant of displacements in the transverse, longitudinal, and vertical
J. Perform. Constr. Facil.
 20 20
Top flange plate of the BH turret
Transverse direction Top flange plate of the BM turret
Botttom flange plate of the BH turret
16 Transverse direction A top of the oil conservator supports
Spectral amplification

Spectral amplification
16
Tank top plate

12 12

8 8

4 4

0 0
1 10 100 1 10 100
(a) Frequency [Hz] (a) Frequency [Hz]
20 20
Top flange plate of the BH turret Top flange plate of the BM turrret
Longitudinal direction
Botttom flange plate of the BH turret A top of the oil conservator supports

Spectral amplification
16
Spectral amplification

16
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Tank top plate

Longitudinal direction
12 12

8 8

4 4

0 0
1 10 100 1 10 100
(b) Frequency [Hz] (b) Frequency [Hz]

20 10
Top flange plate of the BH turret Vertical direction Top flange palte of the BM turret
Botttom flange plate of the BH turret 8 A top of the oil conservator supports
Spectral amplification

Spectral amplification
16
Tank top plate
Vertical direction
12 6

8 4

4 2

0 0
1 10 100 1 10 100
(c) Frequency [Hz] (c) Frequency [Hz]

Fig. 9. Acceleration spectral amplifications for the BH bushing and Fig. 10. Acceleration spectral amplifications for the BM bushing and
turret: (a) transverse direction; (b) longitudinal direction; (c) vertical turret and the oil conservator: (a) transverse direction; (b) longitudinal
direction direction; (c) vertical direction

directions) at the upper tips of the BH and BM bushings relative
to the tank base. The peak displacement at the upper tip of the BH
reached 190 mm, which was a very large value for a 550-kV por-
celain bushing.
The peak resultant moments and displacements of the bushings
varied greatly because the bushings and turrets suffered resonant
vibration to some ground motions. For example, the 550-kV
bushings and turrets had a large seismic response subjected to
the Wolong, Baojiao, and Zengjia ground motions, but a small seis-
mic response subjected to the Qingping ground motions.
Amplified Seismic Response of the 550-kV Bushing
and Turret Assembly
The 550-kV bushing and turret assemblies on this power trans-
former had much lower fundamental frequencies in comparison
with the 550-kV bushing fundamental frequency of 8 Hz acquired
by Gilani et al. (1999b). These low frequencies coincided with
predominant frequencies of some Wenchuan earthquake ground
motions. The analysis indicated that the 550-kV bushing and turret
assemblies suffered large amplified vibrations subjected to the
Wolong, Bajiao, and Zengjia earthquake ground motions. Fig. 11
shows the acceleration histories at the top and bottom flange plates
of the BH turret and at the tank base subjected to the Wolong
ground motions. The accelerations at the top flange plate of the
BH turret began to increase significantly with the Wolong ground
motion at approximately 10 s, while the accelerations at the bottom
flange plate of the BH turret did not have this resonant response.
Fig. 12 shows the displacement histories at the upper tip of the
BH bushing and the top and bottom flange plates of the BH turret
relative to the tank base in response to the Wolong ground motions.
The upper tip of the BH bushing and the top flange plate of the BH
turret had large displacements, but the bottom flange plate of the
BH turret only had small displacement. The displacements at the
upper tip of the BH bushing and turret also began to resonate with
the Wolong ground motions at approximately 10 s. The displace-
ment histories at the BH bushing top were similar to those at the
top flange plate of the BH turret, which further indicated that the
BH bushing and turret assembly mainly rocked around the bottom
flange of the BH turret.
Seismic Response of the Oil Conservator
Table 5 lists the mean peak translational and rotational displace-
ments and the drift angles of the oil conservator supports relative
to the transformer tank top plate. The translational displacements

© ASCE 04018007-10 J. Perform. Constr. Facil.

J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 2018, 32(2): 04018007

 Table 4. Normalized Peak Resultant Moments and Peak Resultant Displacements of the BH and BM Bushings
Normalized peak resultant moments at the bottoms Peak resultant displacements at the upper tips
of the bushing air-side insulators of the bushings relative to the tank base (mm)
Bushing Mean − 1 standard deviation Mean Mean þ 1 standard deviation Mean − 1 standard deviation Mean Mean þ 1 standard deviation
550 kV, BH 1.22 2.07 2.92 100 190 280
252 kV, BM 0.28 0.46 0.65 15 24 32

300
20
Top flange plate of the BH turret Top of the BH bushing
Botttom flange plate of the BH turret Top flange plate of the BH turret
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15 200 Bottom flange plate of the BH turret

Tank base
10 Transverse direction Transverse direction

Displacement [mm]
Acceleration [ m/s ]
2

100
5

0 0

-5 -100

-10
-200
-15

-20 -300
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
(a) Time [sec] (a) Time [sec]

300
20
Top flange plate of the BH turret Top of the BH bushing
Longitudinal direction Longitudinal direction
15 Bottom flange plate of the BH turret Top flange plate of the BH turret
200
Tank base Bottom flange plate of the BH turret
10
Displacement [mm]
Acceleration [ m/s ]
2

100
5

0 0

-5
-100
-10
-200
-15

-20 -300
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
(b) Time [sec]
(b) Time [sec]

300
20
Vertical direction Top of the BH bushing
Vertical direction Top flange plate of the BH turret Top flange plate of the BH turret
15 Bottom flange plate of the BH turret 200 Bottom flange plate of the BH turret
Tank base
10
Displacement [mm]
Acceleration [ m/s ]

100
2

5
0
0

-5 -100

-10
-200
-15
-300
-20 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
(c) Time [sec]
(c) Time [sec]
Fig. 12. (Color) Displacement histories at the top of the BH bushing,
Fig. 11. (Color) Acceleration histories at the top flange plate of the BH top and bottom flange plates of the BH turret relative to the power
turret in response to Wolong ground motions: (a) transverse direction; transformer base in response to Wolong ground motions: (a) transverse
(b) longitudinal direction; (c) vertical direction direction; (b) longitudinal direction; (c) vertical direction

© ASCE 04018007-11 J. Perform. Constr. Facil.

J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 2018, 32(2): 04018007

 Table 5. Peak Deformations of the Oil Conservator Supports Caused by
Earthquake Shaking
Seismic response Mean
Peak displacement (mm): transverse direction 21.3
Peak displacement (mm): longitudinal direction 38.1
Peak displacement (mm): torsion 23.4
Torsion-to-translation ratio 1.1
Drift angle: transverse direction (rad) 1/121
Drift angle: longitudinal direction (rad) 1/68
were the average of the peak translational displacements at the tops
of two pairs of the oil conservator supports along the transformer
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tank in the transverse and longitudinal directions. The torsional dis-
placements were the peak differences of the translational displace-
ments between the two pairs of the oil conservator supports along
the tank in the transverse direction. Drift angles of the two pairs of
the oil conservator supports were the ratios of the mean peak trans-
lational displacements to the height of the supports. The torsion-to-
translation ratio was the mean peak torsional displacements to the
mean peak translational displacements along the tank transverse
direction.
The mean peak drift angles of the oil conservator supports along
the transformer tank in the transverse and longitudinal directions
were 1/121 and 1/68 rad, respectively, which demonstrated that
the oil conservator supports suffered from significant shear defor-
mations under earthquake motions. This agreed well with the shear
deformations in the oil conservator supports observed in the earth-
quake reconnaissance. The mean peak torsion to translation ratio
was larger than 1.0, which revealed that the oil conservator supports
suffered from large torsional displacements due to their asymmet-
rical structural configuration along the tank longitudinal direction.
For the lack of the lateral stiffness, the supports significantly mag-
nified the accelerations for the oil conservator. The large horizontal
inertial forces made the oil conservator suffer huge torsional and
translational displacements, which caused large deformations in
the oil conservator supports.
Conclusions
This paper presented detailed earthquake damage to a 500-kV
power transformer and associated seismic analyses. The main
conclusions of the study are summarized as follows:
• This type of 500-kV power transformer was seriously damaged
in the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. The 550-kV bushings
installed on the top flange plates of the L-shaped turrets were
destroyed, the oil conservator supports were sheared off, and
leaked transformer oil caused a fire.
• The first few modes of the power transformer were the local
modes of its appendages, such as bushings and turrets and
the oil conservator. These modes had low frequencies and small
modal mass participation ratios.
• Accelerations at the top flange plates of the turrets were signif-
icantly amplified for the transformer bushings. The amplified
accelerations caused large resultant moments at the bottoms
of the air-side insulators of the bushings. Moreover, the tensile
strength of the transformer bushing insulators was relatively
low. The resultant moments at the bottoms of the air-side
insulators of the 550-kV bushings greatly exceeded their
bending capacities.
• The 550-kV bushings and turrets resonated with some
Wenchuan ground motions. Moreover, the 550-kV bushings
and turrets rocked around the tank sidewall. The resonated
© ASCE 04018007-12
J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 2018, 32(2): 04018007
and rocking vibrations of the 550-kV bushings and turrets
generated large accelerations and displacements.
• The accelerations for the oil conservator were also strongly
amplified. The amplified accelerations resulted in large transla-
tional and rotational vibrations of the oil conservator, and thus
large shear deformations in the oil conservator supports.
• The earthquake damage to the transformer bushings and oil
conservator supports indicated this type power transformer was
designed without due considerations for the earthquake effect.
The acceleration amplifications for the transformer bushings
and oil conservator were much larger than the level of high-
voltage bushings required by the standards of IEEE 693 (IEEE
2006) and the Chinese code GB 50260-2013 (Code of China
2013). The structural configuration of the 500-kV power trans-
former was insufficient to resist the strong earthquake shaking.
It is recommended that the standards (e.g., IEEE 693 and GB
50260-2013) should give specific requirements for the seismic
design and qualification of high-voltage power transformer
components, e.g., bushings, oil conservator supports, turrets,
and transformer tanks.
Acknowledgments
This study was financially supported by the China Scholarship
Council (Grant No. 201606260225). The support is greatly appre-
ciated. Professor Andrew S. Whittaker in the Department of Civil,
Structural, and Environmental Engineering, State University of
New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, is gratefully acknowl-
edged for hosting the first author as a visiting scholar and giving
specific advice on revising the manuscripts.
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