The IEEE 693: Recommended Practice for Seismic Design of Substations. [1] is a Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers standard. This standard is recognized also by American National Standards Institute, and is used mainly in the American Continent. [2]
The goal of the standard is to provide a single set of rules and regulations that cover the seismic design of both new and existing electrical substations, hence leading to standardization. [3] The standard provides the minimum requirements that the design of an electrical substation (except nuclear power plants) must adhere to. The norm includes the design of circuit breakers, transformers, disconnect and grounding switches, instrument transformers, circuit switches, surge arresters, and other equipment. [4]
The norm contains the 8 chapters named below: [5]
The norm specifies 3 seismic qualification levels (high, medium, low). [6] The Zero Period Acceleration (ZPA) (a.k.a. Peak Ground Acceleration) for the high and the medium qualifications levels are set to be 0.5g and0.25 respectively (no calculation is required for equipment with "low" qualification), where g stands for acceleration due to gravity. The Peak Acceleration (i.e. the peak of the Response Spectrum) at 2% damping is lower than 1.65g and 0.85g for high and medium qualification respectively, with the cutoff frequency defined as 33Hz. [3]
The qualification is allowed through one of the following: [7]
The norm suggests that most equipment in the same area be given the same qualification level (for interchangeability and redundancy).
There are a total of 22 annexes in the standard, 19 of which are normative, and the other 3 are informative. [5]
The first version of the standard was released in 1997, with a revised version released in 2005 and later in 2018. [9]
Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) is the ability of electrical equipment and systems to function acceptably in their electromagnetic environment, by limiting the unintentional generation, propagation and reception of electromagnetic energy which may cause unwanted effects such as electromagnetic interference (EMI) or even physical damage to operational equipment. The goal of EMC is the correct operation of different equipment in a common electromagnetic environment. It is also the name given to the associated branch of electrical engineering.
In mechanics and physics, shock is a sudden acceleration caused, for example, by impact, drop, kick, earthquake, or explosion. Shock is a transient physical excitation.
Nondestructive testing (NDT) is any of a wide group of analysis techniques used in science and technology industry to evaluate the properties of a material, component or system without causing damage. The terms nondestructive examination (NDE), nondestructive inspection (NDI), and nondestructive evaluation (NDE) are also commonly used to describe this technology. Because NDT does not permanently alter the article being inspected, it is a highly valuable technique that can save both money and time in product evaluation, troubleshooting, and research. The six most frequently used NDT methods are eddy-current, magnetic-particle, liquid penetrant, radiographic, ultrasonic, and visual testing. NDT is commonly used in forensic engineering, mechanical engineering, petroleum engineering, electrical engineering, civil engineering, systems engineering, aeronautical engineering, medicine, and art. Innovations in the field of nondestructive testing have had a profound impact on medical imaging, including on echocardiography, medical ultrasonography, and digital radiography.
A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or perform any of several other important functions. Between the generating station and consumer, electric power may flow through several substations at different voltage levels. A substation may include transformers to change voltage levels between high transmission voltages and lower distribution voltages, or at the interconnection of two different transmission voltages. They are a common component of the infrastructure. There are 55,000 substations in the United States.
In an electric power system, a switchgear is composed of electrical disconnect switches, fuses or circuit breakers used to control, protect and isolate electrical equipment. Switchgear is used both to de-energize equipment to allow work to be done and to clear faults downstream. This type of equipment is directly linked to the reliability of the electricity supply.
A response spectrum is a plot of the peak or steady-state response of a series of oscillators of varying natural frequency, that are forced into motion by the same base vibration or shock. The resulting plot can then be used to pick off the response of any linear system, given its natural frequency of oscillation. One such use is in assessing the peak response of buildings to earthquakes. The science of strong ground motion may use some values from the ground response spectrum for correlation with seismic damage.
Seismic analysis is a subset of structural analysis and is the calculation of the response of a building structure to earthquakes. It is part of the process of structural design, earthquake engineering or structural assessment and retrofit in regions where earthquakes are prevalent.
Earthquake engineering is an interdisciplinary branch of engineering that designs and analyzes structures, such as buildings and bridges, with earthquakes in mind. Its overall goal is to make such structures more resistant to earthquakes. An earthquake engineer aims to construct structures that will not be damaged in minor shaking and will avoid serious damage or collapse in a major earthquake. A properly engineered structure does not necessarily have to be extremely strong or expensive. It has to be properly designed to withstand the seismic effects while sustaining an acceptable level of damage.
Distributed Network Protocol 3 (DNP3) is a set of communications protocols used between components in process automation systems. Its main use is in utilities such as electric and water companies. Usage in other industries is not common. It was developed for communications between various types of data acquisition and control equipment. It plays a crucial role in SCADA systems, where it is used by SCADA Master Stations, Remote Terminal Units (RTUs), and Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs). It is primarily used for communications between a master station and RTUs or IEDs. ICCP, the Inter-Control Center Communications Protocol, is used for inter-master station communications. Competing standards include the older Modbus protocol and the newer IEC 61850 protocol.
NFPA 70E(Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace) is a standard of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The document covers electrical safety requirements for employees. The NFPA is best known for publishing the National Electrical Code.
MIL-STD-810, U.S. Department of Defense Test Method Standard, Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests, is a United States Military Standard that emphasizes tailoring an equipment's environmental design and test limits to the conditions that it will experience throughout its service life, and establishing chamber test methods that replicate the effects of environments on the equipment rather than imitating the environments themselves. Although prepared specifically for U.S. military applications, the standard is often applied for commercial products as well.
In electrical engineering and mechanical engineering, a transient response is the response of a system to a change from an equilibrium or a steady state. The transient response is not necessarily tied to abrupt events but to any event that affects the equilibrium of the system. The impulse response and step response are transient responses to a specific input.
Ground–structure interaction (SSI) consists of the interaction between soil (ground) and a structure built upon it. It is primarily an exchange of mutual stress, whereby the movement of the ground-structure system is influenced by both the type of ground and the type of structure. This is especially applicable to areas of seismic activity. Various combinations of soil and structure can either amplify or diminish movement and subsequent damage. A building on stiff ground rather than deformable ground will tend to suffer greater damage. A second interaction effect, tied to mechanical properties of soil, is the sinking of foundations, worsened by a seismic event. This phenomenon is called soil liquefaction.
Earthquake-resistant or aseismic structures are designed to protect buildings to some or greater extent from earthquakes. While no structure can be entirely impervious to earthquake damage, the goal of earthquake engineering is to erect structures that fare better during seismic activity than their conventional counterparts. According to building codes, earthquake-resistant structures are intended to withstand the largest earthquake of a certain probability that is likely to occur at their location. This means the loss of life should be minimized by preventing collapse of the buildings for rare earthquakes while the loss of the functionality should be limited for more frequent ones.
Pyroshock, also known as pyrotechnic shock, is the dynamic structural shock that occurs when an explosion or impact occurs on a structure. Davie and Bateman describe it as: "Pyroshock is the response of a structure to high frequency, high-magnitude stress waves that propagate throughout the structure as a result of an explosive event such as an explosive charge to separate two stages of a multistage rocket." It is of particular relevance to the defense and aerospace industries in that they utilize many vehicles and/or components that use explosive devices to accomplish mission tasks. Examples include rocket stage separation, missile payload deployment, pilot ejection, automobile airbag inflators, etc. Of significance is the survival and integrity of the equipment after the explosive device has activated so that the vehicle can accomplish its task. There are examples of flight vehicles Boeing-The Aerospace Corp which have crashed after a routine explosive device deployment, the cause of the crash being determined as be a result of a computer failure due to the explosive device. The resultant energies are often high g-force and high frequency which can cause problems for electronic components which have small items with resonant frequencies near those induced by the pyroshock.
The Triaxial Earthquake and Shock Simulator (TESS) is an experimental 3-dimensional "shake table," is used to test the ability of systems and facilities to survive under realistic conditions of weapons-induced shock and vibration, and earthquake ground motion. TESS serves in a wide variety of testing roles, including testing shock survivability of computer equipment (shown below), computer floors, and shock isolation systems in military facilities; studying the behavior of structural building models and components in seismic environments with a focus on ways to increase the seismic resistance of steel, reinforced concrete, and masonry structures; subjecting full-size electronic systems to simulated transportation and seismic environments; and determining the effects of shipboard vibrations on naval systems.
Incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) is a computational analysis method of earthquake engineering for performing a comprehensive assessment of the behavior of structures under seismic loads. It has been developed to build upon the results of probabilistic seismic hazard analysis in order to estimate the seismic risk faced by a given structure. It can be considered to be the dynamic equivalent of the static pushover analysis.
In electrical engineering, a vacuum interrupter is a switch which uses electrical contacts in a vacuum. It is the core component of medium-voltage circuit-breakers, generator circuit-breakers, and high-voltage circuit-breakers. Separation of the electrical contacts results in a metal vapour arc, which is quickly extinguished. Vacuum interrupters are widely used in utility power transmission systems, power generation unit, and power-distribution systems for railways, arc furnace applications, and industrial plants.
Contained earth (CE) is a structurally designed natural building material that combines containment, inexpensive reinforcement, and strongly cohesive earthen walls. CE is earthbag construction that can be calibrated for several seismic risk levels based on building soil strength and plan standards for adequate bracing.