Study on Seismic Isolation of Electrical Transformer by Lead Rubber Bearing

Electric transformer is an important part in electrical substation. In Ultra High Voltage (UHV) grid, a 1000 kV transformer is nearly 11 meters in length, 16 meters in height and 570 tons in weight. Previous seismic studies of transformer were usually conducted on those that were much lower in voltage level and smaller in geometry. This paper provides an insight into seismic performance of a 1000 kV transformer. Finite Element model was built to simulate the dynamic properties and seismic response the transformer. Isolation technique is seemed to be an economical method for seismic enhancement of transformer. In this paper, seismic isolation which makes use of lead rubber bearing is designed for the 1000 kV transformer with numerical validation. The acceleration at the bottom of transformer has been decreased and the safety margin for high voltage bushing has been elevated.