The Flow Dynamics of Stranded Cables

Abstract

Only a few studies of the flow dynamics of stranded cables have been made despite their wide applications. This paper studies in detail the wake flow dynamics of two stranded cables using Particle Image Velocimetry at Reynolds number of 1,500. First and second order statistics were obtained for both cables. Besides, Proper Orthogonal Decomposition of the velocity and vorticity fields was used to determine the effect of the strands on the coherent structures. Results showed that wake flow dynamics are significantly affected by cable strands, specially as the ratio of cable overall diameter to strand diameter increases. Finally, this study provides detailed stranded cables wake flow dynamics. Such understanding could be used in optimizing cable design for different applications, to allow, for example, overhead transmission lines to passively increase their current carrying capacity.