Structural analysis of failsafe insulator assemblies: Q9A, Q9B and Q7A

Three types of failsafe guy insulator assemblies of the OMEGA navigation station guyed tower were load-tested statically to about twice the actual operating working load (AOWL). The primary purpose of the tests was to determine the behavior of the insulator cluster when the centerpost insulator was removed from the pentapost configuration. The tests showed that all pentapost and quadrapost configurations tested were safe at twice the AOWL; however, the Q9a quadrapost insulator system seemed to be headed toward the instability range beyond this load. Computer solutions were obtained and compared well with the experimental data. Finite element solutions can be used with economy to obtain the stress concentration factors between the sheds of the insulator and to predict the load distribution in the failsafe guy insulator system.