# US 2024/0201042 A1 · Methods and systems for predicting conductor health > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2024/0201042 A1 - Document ID: US20240201042A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 17/923,524 - Filed: 2021-05-04 - Published: 2024-06-20 - Earliest claimed: 2020-05-04 - Assignees: Lindsey Manufacturing Company - Applicants: Lindsey Manufacturing Co. - Inventors: Ryan Bliss - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20240201042A1 ## CPC - G01M 5/0041: {by determining deflection or stress} - G01R 31/58: Testing of lines, cables or conductors (testing of electric windings G01R31/72) - G01K 13/00: Thermometers specially adapted for specific purposes - G01M 5/0025: {of elongated objects, e.g. pipes, masts, towers or railways (G01M5/0058 takes precedence)} - G01M: TESTING STATIC OR DYNAMIC BALANCE OF MACHINES OR STRUCTURES; TESTING OF STRUCTURES OR APPARATUS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - G01R: MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES (indicating correct tuning of resonant circuits H03J3/12) - G01K: MEASURING TEMPERATURE; MEASURING QUANTITY OF HEAT; THERMALLY-SENSITIVE ELEMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR (radiation pyrometry G01J5/00) ## Abstract Embodiments of the application relate to methods and systems for monitoring and predicting a conductor's health using original manufacturer conductor specifications (1), in-use conductor clearance (6), in-use conductor temperature (5), and perhaps even in-use conductor tilt (15) to calibrate a conductor health model and continuing to recalibrate a conductor health model throughout the life of a conductor. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for monitoring and predicting power line conductor health comprising the steps of: providing original manufacturer conductor specifications for a conductor; installing said conductor in a power line system; preparing an initially designed conductor health model using said original manufacturer conductor specifications; continually measuring an in-use temperature and an in-use clearance of said conductor after installation to provide in-use conductor health data; calculating a creep of said conductor from said in-use conductor health data; calibrating said initially designed conductor health model with said in-use conductor health data to provide a calibrated conductor health model; evaluating a strength of a conductor based on said calibrated conductor health model; and predicting the remaining strength of said conductor. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method as described in claim 1 wherein said step of calculating said creep of said conductor data comprises the step of calculating the effective high temperature conductor creep of said conductor. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method as described in claim 2 wherein said step of calibrating said initially designed conductor health model with said in-use conductor health data comprises the step of computing a corresponding strength loss of said conductor from said effective high temperature conductor creep. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method as described in claim 1 wherein said original manufacturer conductor specifications are chosen from an original sag chart of said conductor, an original plan and profile chart of said conductor, original LiDAR survey data from said conductor, and any combination thereof. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method as described in claim 1 wherein said initially designed conductor health model using said original manufacturer conductor specifications is chosen from: a PLS-CADD file based on said original manufacturer conductor specifications for said conductor; a drawing file based on said original manufacturer conductor specifications for said conductor; a finite element model using PLS-CADD based on original LiDAR survey data from said conductor; a ruling span model using PLS-CADD based on original LiDAR survey data from said conductor; a ruling span model using PLS-CADD based on an original plan and profile chart of said conductor and an original sag chart of said conductor; a ruling span model using drawings based on an original plan and profile chart of said conductor and an original sag chart of said conductor; a single span model using drawings based on an original plan and profile chart of said conductor; a single span model using PLS-CADD based on an original plan and profile chart of said conductor; and any combination thereof. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method as described in claim 1 and further comprising a step of analyzing said conductor and collecting data when said conductor is initially installed and including said data in said initially designed conductor health model. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The method as described in claim 6 wherein said data from said analyzing of said conductor when initially installed comprises different stress and strain data used to calibrate creep of the initially installed conductor. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method as described in claim 1 wherein said step of continually measuring an in-use temperature and an in-use clearance of said conductor after installation to provide in-use conductor health data comprises the step of continually measuring an in-use temperature and an in-use clearance of said conductor after installation to provide in-use conductor health data throughout a life of the conductor. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method as described in claim 1 wherein said in-use clearance comprises an inverse of sag data. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method as described in claim 1 wherein said step of continually measuring an in-use temperature and an in-use clearance of said conductor after installation to provide in-use conductor health data comprises a step of measuring said in-use clearance of said conductor with three hour running averages of said in-use clearance. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method as described in claim 1 and further comprising a step of continually measuring an in-use tilt of said conductor after installation. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method as described in claim 11 wherein said step of continually measuring an in-use tilt of said conductor comprises a step of measuring said in-use tilt of said conductor with specified running averages of said in-use tilt. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The method as described in claim 11 and further comprising a step of comparing said in-use clearance measurement data with said in-use tilt measurement data. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method as described in claim 13 and further comprising a step of when said in-use clearance measurements do not correlate to said in-use tilt measurements, evaluating an event for an artificial ground event or a validated event. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The method as described in claim 13 wherein said validated event comprises calculating a new conductor creep and recalculating said calibrated conductor health model. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The method as described in claim 13 wherein said artificial ground event is chosen from snow, vegetation on the ground, and a mobile vehicle. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The method as described in claim 13 wherein said validated event comprises a twist in a conductor or a conductor blowout event. ### Claim 18 (depends on 11) The method as described in claim 11 and further comprising a step of creating a secondary calibrated conductor health model from said in-use tilt measured data and said in-use temperature measured data. ### Claim 19 (depends on 11) The method as described in claim 11 and further comprising a step of using said in-use tilt data to replace missing clearance data. ### Claim 20 (depends on 1) The method as described in claim 1 and further comprising a step of determining an effective wind on said conductor and incorporating said effective wind into a recalibrated conductor behavior model. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The method as described in claim 20 and further comprising a step of using said effective wind when an effective ambient temperature cannot be used. ### Claim 22 (depends on 1) The method as described in claim 1 and further comprising a step of recalibrating said calibrated conductor health model with new in-use conductor health data. ### Claim 23 A system for monitoring and predicting power line conductor health comprising: an initially designed conductor health model using original manufacturer conductor specifications for a conductor in a power line system; continual in-use temperature and an in-use clearance measurement data of said conductor after installation; a calibrated conductor health model based on said initially designed conductor health model calibrated with said continual in-use temperature and an in-use clearance measurement data; a conductor strength based on said calibrated conductor health model; and a predicted remaining strength of said conductor. ### Claim 24 (depends on 23) The system as described in claim 23 and further comprising a creep calculation of said based on a calculated effective high temperature conductor creep of said conductor. ### Claim 25 (depends on 24) The system as described in claim 24 and further comprising a computed corresponding strength loss of said conductor from said effective high temperature conductor creep. ### Claim 26 (depends on 23) The system as described in claim 23 wherein said original manufacturer conductor specifications are chosen from an original sag chart of said conductor, an original plan and profile chart of said conductor, original LiDAR survey data from said conductor, and any combination thereof. ### Claim 27 (depends on 23) The system as described in claim 23 wherein said initially designed conductor health model using said original manufacturer conductor specifications is chosen from: a PLS-CADD file based on said original manufacturer conductor specifications for said conductor; a drawing file based on said original manufacturer conductor specifications for said conductor; a finite element model using PLS-CADD based on original LiDAR survey data from said conductor; a ruling span model using PLS-CADD based on original LiDAR survey data from said conductor; a ruling span model using PLS-CADD based on an original plan and profile chart of said conductor and an original sag chart of said conductor; a ruling span model using drawings based on an original plan and profile chart of said conductor and an original sag chart of said conductor; a single span model using drawings based on an original plan and profile chart of said conductor; a single span model using PLS-CADD based on an original plan and profile chart of said conductor; and any combination thereof. ### Claim 28 (depends on 23) The system as described in claim 23 wherein said initially designed conductor health model comprises initially tested conductor data. ### Claim 29 (depends on 28) The system as described in claim 28 wherein said initially tested conductor data comprises different stress and strain data used to calibrate creep of said initially installed conductor. ### Claim 30 (depends on 23) The system as described in claim 23 wherein said continual in-use temperature and an in-use clearance measurement data comprises continual in-use temperature and an in-use clearance measurement data collected throughout a life of the conductor. ### Claim 31 (depends on 23) The system as described in claim 23 wherein said in-use clearance measurement data comprises an inverse of sag data. ### Claim 32 (depends on 23) The system as described in claim 23 wherein said in-use clearance measurement data of said conductor comprises three hour running averages of said in-use clearance measurement data. ### Claim 33 (depends on 23) The system as described in claim 23 and further comprising continual in-use tilt measurement data of said conductor after installation. ### Claim 34 (depends on 33) The system as described in claim 33 wherein said continual in-use tilt measurement data comprises three hour running averages of said in-use tilt measurement data. ### Claim 35 (depends on 33) The system as described in claim 33 and further comprising a comparison of said in-use clearance measurement data with said in-use tilt measurement data. ### Claim 36 (depends on 35) The system as described in claim 35 wherein said comparison of said in-use clearance measurements with said in-use tilt measurements is not correlated comprises an event evaluation of an artificial ground event or a validated event. ### Claim 37 (depends on 36) The system as described in claim 36 wherein said validated event comprises a new conductor creep. ### Claim 38 (depends on 36) The system as described in claim 36 wherein said artificial ground event is chosen from snow, vegetation on the ground, and a mobile vehicle. ### Claim 39 (depends on 36) The system as described in claim 36 wherein said validated event comprises a twist in a conductor or a conductor blowout event. ### Claim 40 (depends on 23) The system as described in claim 23 and further comprising a secondary calibrated conductor health model from said in-use tilt measured data and said in-use temperature measured data. ### Claim 41 (depends on 23) The system as described in claim 23 and further comprising an effective wind measurement data of said conductor and a recalibrated conductor behavior model based on said effective wind measurement data. ### Claim 42 (depends on 41) The system as described in claim 41 wherein said effective wind measurement data replaces effective ambient temperature. ### Claim 43 (depends on 23) The system as described in claim 23 wherein said calibrated conductor health model is recalibrated with new continual in-use temperature and an in-use clearance measurement data of said conductor. ### Claim 44 (depends on 11) The method as described in claim 11 and further comprising a step of using said in-use tilt measurement data to validate dynamic line ratings.