Project Team
Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering;
University at Buffalo
Current Graduate Students
all Ph.D. candidates, Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering; University at Buffalo
Maria Koliou
Fahad Muhammad
Konstantinos Oikonomou
Nicholas Oliveto
Ki Pung Ryu
Recent Graduates
all Ph.D.’s, Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering; University at Buffalo
Gian Paolo Cimellaro, 2007
Dohwan Kong, 2010
Hwasong Roh, 2007
Xioyuan Shao, 2007
Sponsors
www.bpa.gov
www.energy.ca.gov
Partners
Anshel Schiff
Precision Measurement Instruments
Leon Kempner, Jr.
Bonneville Power Administration
Resilience of Electric Power Substation Equipment
MCEER’s multi-year effort to evaluate and improve the resilience of current and future electric power substation equipment has resulted in a series of recommended changes to the IEEE Standard 693-2005 - IEEE Recommended Practice for Seismic Design of Substations. Research work focuses on identifying the shortcomings of current design practices and developing new standards for qualification testing of seismically vulnerable substation equipment, primarily transformers and bushings.
The studies are supported by $1.2 million from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and the California Energy Commission (CEC). The research continues a long-time MCEER focus on the seismic resilience of electric power substation equipment. The projects are led by Andrei Reinhorn, in collaboration with Andre Filiatrault and Michael Constantinou, all from the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering at the University at Buffalo. They also include a project advisory committee comprising industry participants that provide continuing guidance to the research program.
Individual projects focus on the following:
- Evaluation and Improvement of Substation Equipment, specifically transformers – including computational finite element modeling of substation transformers, and the testing of composite post insulators. This project is funded by BPA.
- Improved Seismic Performance of Transformer Bushings – experimentally evaluate high-voltage transformer-bushing interaction and enable their future analysis and physical seismic qualification. Current IEEE 693 qualification procedures consider both the bushing and the transformer, but fail to recognize the interaction between the two. This project is funded by the CEC.
- Reducing Disruption of Power Systems in Earthquakes – develop and execute a multi-year research program to improve seismic resilience of substation equipment through development of advanced methods for protecting substation equipment. This project is funded by BPA.
The new recommendations have been submitted to the California Energy Commission’s Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program as a final project report authored by the team members.
The IEEE Standard 693-2005 discusses seismic design recommendations for substations, including qualification of each equipment type. Design recommendations consist of seismic criteria, qualification methods and levels, structural capacities, performance requirements for equipment operation, installation methods, and documentation.
Electrical Utilities Consortium
The MCEER Electrical Utility Consortium (EUC) was created in response to the needs of electrical utilities and focuses specifically on the seismic behavior of electrical substation equipment. The EUC was established through collaboration with and matching funds from the Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI), which regroups electrical utilities in North America (US, Canada and Mexico). The Consortium investigates unresolved issues related to the IEEE-693 Standard on Recommended Practice for Seismic Design of Substations.
Research involves shake table testing of large and potentially vulnerable substation equipment such as transformer bushings and disconnect switches.
A technical oversight committee sets overall strategy, goals and schedule for the EUC research program. The committee is composed of one representative from each participating utility.
Selected Publications
Roh, H., Reinhorn A.M. and Oliveto N., 2012, "Mechanical Behavior and Modeling of Composite Electric Post Insulators," Nonlinear Dynamics, 69(4), 1651-1663.
MCEER Reports
Workshops
Earthquake Response of Substation Equipment
October 24, 2008 | Buffalo, New York
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Working Group IEEE 693 Fall Meeting
October 22-23, 2008 | Buffalo, New York
Articles from MCEER's Research Progress and Accomplishments Volumes
Seismic Perfrmance Analysis of Electric Power Systems (1997-1999) (PDF 0.58 MB)
Masanobu Shinozuka, Tsen-Chung Cheng, Maria Q. Feng and Sheng-Taur Mau
Advances in Seismic Performance Evaluation of Power Systems (2001-2003) (PDF 4.52 MB)
Masanobu Shinozuka, Maria Feng, Xuejiang Dong, Stephanie Chang, Tsen-Chung Cheng, Xianhe Jin and M. Ala Saadeghvaziri
Experimental and Analytical Study of Base-Isolation for Electric Power Equipments (2000-2001) (PDF 0.58 MB)
M. Ala Saadeghvaziri and Maria Q. Feng
Articles from MCEER's Student Research Progress and Accomplishments Volumes
Issues of Seismic Response and Retrofit for Critical Substation Equipment (2002-2003) (PDF 0.62 MB)
Ali Ashraf, New Jersey Institute of Technology; advisor: M. Ala Saadeghvaziri
Analytical Study on Rehabilitation of Critical Electric Power System Components (2001-2002) (PDF 0.25 MB)
Seyed Ai Ashrafi, New Jersey Institute of Technology; advisor: M. Ala Saadeghvaziri
Estimating Indirect Economic Losses from Electricity Lifeline Disruption Following Catastrophic Earthquake in Memphis, TN. (2000-2001) (PDF 0.13 MB)
Gauri-Shankar Guha, Pennsylvania State University
Student Research Posters
Seismic Design and Rehabilitation Strategies for Power Systems with Considerations to Other Extreme Events (2006) (PDF 2.31 MB)
Navid H. Allahverdi Pur; New Jersey Institute of Technology; advisor: M. Saadeghvaziri
Qualification Test of 230kV Vertical-Break Disconnect Switch System (2006) (PDF 4.84 MB)
D. Kong; University at Buffalo; investigators: A.M. Reinhorn; A. Filiatrault; A. Schiff
Analytical Study on Rehabilitation of Critical Electric Power System Components (2005) (PDF 0.37 MB)
Navid H. Allahverdi, New Jersey Institute of Technology; advisor: M. Ala Saadeghvaziri
Post-Earthquake Restoration Modeling for Electric Power Systems (PDF 2.84 MB)
Zehra Cagnan, Cornell University; advisor: Rachel Davidson
Seismic performance measures for Water and Electric Power Systems (2005) (PDF 3.95 MB)
Sanjay Coelho, University of British Columbia; advisor: Stephanie Chang
Two-Dimensional Shaking Table Test of Transformer Bushing with Seismic Isolation Device (2005) (PDF 3.3 MB)
Thu Pham, University of California at Irvine; advisor: Maria Feng
