Abstract: The test and evaluation of lightning damage characteristics of optical fiber overhead ground wires (OPGWs) is important to ensure the safe operation of power system. The lightning test system including a tension mechanism was established to study the characteristics and influencing factors of lightning damage to OPGWs under consecutive lightning strikes composed of current impulse and continuous current. The damage modes were quantitatively studied via damage morphology observation and damage mechanism analysis. Based on the definition of lightning damage parameters, the influences of electrode materials, transferred charge, and load tension on lightning damages were experimentally discussed. Results illustrate that OPGW lightning damage can be divided into arc sweep damage, melting damage, and ablation damage. When using a W-Cu electrode, the lightning energy is most concentratively injected, causing the most severe damage; while OPGW has the least damage with a Cu electrode. With the increase of transferred charge and external tensile force, the number of broken strands and melting damage volume continues to increase. The established OPGW lightning damage simulation model, which combines the arc magnetohydrodynamics model and the OPGW finite element model, can well simulate the lightning melting damage.When 1 500 ℃, around the melting point of steel, is selected as the criterion temperature, the deviations between the simulation and the experiment are less than 8%.