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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY, VOL. 49, NO. 3, AUGUST 2007

Computation of Transient Overvoltages in Low-Voltage Installations During Direct Strikes to Different Lightning Protection Systems
Ibrahim A. Metwally, Senior Member, IEEE, and Fridolin H. Heidler
AbstractThis paper presents a numerical electromagnetic analysis of loop-termination voltages inside an outer lightning protection system (LPS) resulting from direct lightning strikes. The method of moments is combined with the transmission line model, and employed to model the whole structure in three dimensions and the lightning channel, respectively. Three distinct standard LPS classes and a nonstandard LPS are modeled, namely, LPS1, LPS2, and LPS4, and LPS0, respectively. All cases are simulated using the negative subsequent stroke current at lightning protection level II according to IEC 62305-1. Three distinct current waveforms are selected in order to simulate the variety of different current rises. Three single-phase parallel vertical loops are simulated inside the struck LPS. The results reveal that reducing the LPS mesh width improves its shielding performance, where this may be a basic method to damp the lightning-induced voltages with little dependency on the strike location, and without any appreciable effect of the LPS material. The variation of the lightning-current front shows that the loop-termination voltages are altered within a factor of about 2. Existence and interconnection of extra protective earthing, e.g., via information technology cables, and the value and type of the loop-termination impedance also have signicant inuence on such voltages. Index TermsDirect strike, lightning-induced voltage, lightning protection system (LPS), loop termination, negative subsequent current, transient analysis.

t t f , tt v x, y z z i f t 1 , 2 EM EMC EMFs IT LEMP LRF LV LPS MoM pu PE SPD TT, TI, TN TL VL-N VN-PE VL-PE

NOMENCLATURE c f i(z, t (z z )/v) Speed of light (m/s). Frequency (Hz). Time-varying current propagating along the return stroke channel in z-direction (kA). Time-varying lightning current (kA). Peak of the simulated lightning current waveform (kA). Current in the th segment of the lightning channel (kA). Live line wire. Neutral wire. Length of segment on the lightning channel (m).

il (t) Il I L N s

Time (s). Front and tail times (s). Return stroke velocity (m/ s). Coordinates in a horizontal plane (m). Coordinate directed outward from the ground (m). Height of the striking point (m). Incremental current (kA). Frequency step (Hz). Incremental time (s). Constant. Wavelength (m). Front and tail time constants, respectively (s or ns). Angular frequency (r/s). Electromagnetic. Electromagnetic compatibility. Electric and magnetic elds. Information technology. Lightning electromagnetic pulses. Linear rising front. Low voltage. Lightning protection system. Method of moments. Per unit. Protective earthing wire. Surge protective device. Types of LV power distribution system. Transmission line. Potential difference between the line and neutral (kV). Potential difference between the neutral and protective earthing (kV). Potential difference between line and protective earthing (kV). I. INTRODUCTION

Manuscript received October 20, 2006; revised December 14, 2006 and February 14, 2007. I. A. Metwally is with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat 123, Sultanate of Oman (e-mail: metwally@squ.edu.om). F. H. Heidler is with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of the Federal Armed Forces, D-85577 Munich, Germany (e-mail: fridolin.heidler@unibw.de). Digital Object Identier 10.1109/TEMC.2007.902192

ECENTLY, there has been an increase in the unpredictable threat of transient overvoltages in all low-voltage (LV) power installations [1], [2]. The new trend in the electronic industry inherently causes increased sensitivity to overvoltages and effort in protecting delicate electronic components adequately [3]. This is attributed to the fact that the new generations of integrated circuits have very thin layers with thickness

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of just several nanometers, which makes the equipment to be more susceptible to electromagnetic (EM) interferences. Moreover, overvoltages can cause resetting of microprocessor-based electronic systems, temporary disturbance, or internal data corruption [3], [4]. The control of EM interferences has become the dominant task of lightning protection. The lightning phenomenon involves frequencies up to several megahertz [5], [6]. The evaluation of the electric and magnetic elds (EMFs) inside a struck structure is essential for the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) of the electrical and electronic systems [7], [8]. In spite of the shielding efciency of the lightning protection system (LPS), the interference voltages may be of magnitudes that are dangerous for control units and instruments [9]. The impact of lightning overvoltages on distribution systems is of great concern, especially for LV power installations. The severity of lightning-induced overvoltages in LV power installations inside a building protected by outer LPS can be classied into the following descending order [10], [11]: 1) direct strike to the building, 2) direct strike to overhead LV distribution lines or other utilities outside of the building, 3) nearby strike to the building, 4) indirect/distant cloud-to-ground lightning, and 5) cloud-to-cloud lightning. The lightning strikes produce the socalled lightning electromagnetic pulses (LEMPs) that induce overvoltages on wires and cables inside the installations of the outer LPS. The lightning strikes may involve a variety of current waveforms, from slow rising impulse currents of positive strokes with amplitudes up to 200 kA to fast rising currents of negative subsequent strokes with front times in the range of a few 100 ns and current peak values up to 50 kA [10], [12][16]. Nearby lightning strikes radiate EMF whose effects are similar to those of the direct strikes but with lower amplitudes [12][16]. Knowing the characteristics of the LEMP is very important because of the sensitivity of modern electronic equipment [17], [18]. Analyses of the EM environment inside building/LPS during a lightning event were addressed by many authors in different ways. The fundamental works of Uman et al. [19] and Uman and Rubinstein [20] are based on the eld radiation of a nite antenna, whereas the EM eld produced by the lightning channel is taken into account knowing the current distribution along the channel. The model is also adopted to compute the EM eld radiated by the down conductors [8], [21]. In case of direct strikes to a building, the EM eld depends signicantly on the currents owing in the down conductors of the LPS. Prediction models for the current sharing in the down conductors include numerical [22] and analytical models [23], e.g., based on transmission line (TL) models [24] and lumped circuit models [25]. For nearby lightning strikes, electric eld integralequations-based methods are more suitable for the evaluation of the induced currents and EM eld inside the building [6], taking into account both the LPS conguration [26] and the shielding performances of pillars and reinforced concrete walls [27]. Previous studies of the coupling mechanisms of LEMP into electrical power systems have focused mainly on extended networks such as overhead electrical distribution lines [28], [29]. In fact, it is not only the return stroke to ground, but also the LEMP originated in the cloud that can be responsible for damages in very sensitive digital equipment. Several studies have been con-

ducted using different techniques to obtain the lightning-induced voltage of LV power installations. Some of these techniques are based on the electrical equivalent circuit of electrical networks, small dipole antenna theory, and the concept of black box description in the frequency domain [30], [31]. It is very difcult to predict the transient response of the LV power installations to LEMP [17]. These LV installations are complex, and have a great diversity of connected loads, the number and location of the conductors, the earthing impedance, the number of branches and bends, and the interconnection to each other and to other services. In the case of direct lightning strikes to LPS, the lightning current is divided between the earth termination system, the external conductive parts, and the lines, directly or via a surge protective device (SPD) connected to them [32]. The amplitude and waveform of the lightninginduced voltages in LV power installations are inuenced by the following factors [2], [33]: 1) the length and the characteristics of the cables, 2) different impedances of neutral and phase conductors, 3) different transformer impedances, 4) the conventional earthing resistances of the consumer, 5) the modality of LV neutral earthing by the distributor, 6) the presence of parallel consumers and services, and 7) the conguration of the protective earthing (PE) wires (equipotential bonding system). A comprehensive analysis and modeling of EMC problems is often difcult in dealing with different interferences and complex environments. This paper is restricted to the case that the air termination system is directly struck by lightning taking into account only the negative subsequent return stroke. The problem is split up into the modeling of: 1) the lightning channel and 2) the electrical structure of the struck building including the LPS and the installations inside. The lightning channel is simulated with the TL model [19], [34], while the struck building is simulated with the method of moments (MoM). The objective of the paper is to investigate the shielding effectiveness of diverse outer LPS taking into account different cable routings inside the building to be protected. The induced overvoltages are analyzed particularly at the terminations of the LV power installations, where the electrical equipment are typically located. The equipment are taken into account by a variety of different types of impedances consisting of resistive, capacitive, or inductive loads. Modern electronic devices such as computers are interconnected to each other by various service lines as information technology (IT) cables. These interconnections involve that extra PE connections are built up not only by bonding wires, but also by IT cables. Furthermore, the inuence of different strike locations and different outer LPS material is shown. According to IEC 62305-1 [11], the current front of lightning subsequent strokes is not dened for test purposes. In this standard, only the average current steepness i/t is xed via the given values of the incremental current and time, i and t, respectively. Therefore, any suitable current waveform can be adopted fullling the dened values of i and t. In this paper, three distinct current waveforms are selected where mostly the current waveform with linear rising front (LRF) is used in the calculations. The results of the linear-rising current waveform are compared to those of the double-exponential current

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TABLE I PARAMETERS OF THE SIMULATED NEGATIVE SUBSEQUENT LIGHTNING CURRENT

waveform is given by the following formula: il (t) =

Il

[exp( t/2 ) exp( t/1 )],

0,

t0 t < 0.

(3)

Further, the following current is dened for theoretical analysis in IEC 62305-1 [11]: il (t) =
Fig. 1. Traveling of a current wave along the return stroke channel.

Il

(t/1 )10 exp (t/2 ) . 1 + (t/1 )10

(4)

waveform and the formula used for theoretical analysis as given in IEC 62305-1 [11]. II. TRANSMISSION LINE MODEL The lightning channel is simulated by the TL model introduced by Uman et al. [34]. This model is well established in the area of the simulation of lightning return stroke channel. It is validated by various tests as comparison with both measured data and other models. Finally, it is proposed by CIGRE Working Group 33.01 to simulate the coupling processes to TLs [35]. This model provides only the interference source, i.e., there is no coupling back from the structure under study to the lightning channel. The TL model is based on the following assumptions. The lightning return stroke channel is straight and increases with a constant return stroke velocity v along the z-coordinate resulting in a time-dependent channel length vt (see Fig. 1). It uses a predened channel-base current, where a current source injects the current il (t) at the striking point at a height z . The current wave as a function of time t and coordinate z is given by i(z, t (z z )/v) = il (t (z z )/v). (1)

Equation (1) describes a current wave, which starts from the attachment/striking point z , and travels upward without any attenuation along the return stroke channel with the return stroke velocity v (see Fig. 1). The return stroke velocity v is a fraction of the speed of light c; its typical values range from c/5 to c/2. Throughout this paper, the return stroke velocity v is kept constant at c/3 = 100 m/s. The channel-based stroke current is simulated by the following LRF current: il (t) = Il (t/tf ), l , I 0 t tf t > tf (2)

In (3) and (4), Il is the peak value, 1 and 2 are the front and tail time constants, and is a dimensionless constant for the correction of the peak current. Assuming the lightning protection level II (LPL2) [11], the values of the parameters are summarized in Table I, where tf and tt denote the front time and the decay time to half value, respectively. For nonlinearly rising currents, the front time tf can be dened as (t90% t10% )/0.8 [11]. Because the calculations are performed in the frequency domain, the TL model is transferred to the frequency domain using the time shifting theorem of Fourier analysis. The basic assumption of the TL model and the link to the MoM computer code for the numerical computation of EM processes for thin wire and thin shell structures including dielectrics (CONCEPT) are both summarized in [36]. MoM approach permits the incorporation of the treatment of large free-space regions with very high efciency. The goal of the hybrid method is to combine the advantages of the space discretizing TL method and the advantages of the MoM, thereby overcoming the limitations of both the methods and a signicant reduction of computation time, which enables the analysis of complex structures. The overvoltages are mainly generated during the fast rising front of the negative return stroke current. Therefore, the maximum computing time is limited to 9 s whereas the lightning channel increases to the height of 900 m. This height of the lightning channel is kept constant throughout the calculations. III. COMPUTATIONAL APPROACH The CONCEPT computer code is used to model the electrical structure of the struck building including the LPS and the installations inside. This computer code is based on the so-called MoM [37], and is written in FORTRAN 77. This computer code solves the Maxwells equations in the frequency domain. Therefore, the time-domain solutions (transient quantities: currents, voltages, and EMF) are obtained from the inverse Fourier transformation [12][15], [36]. The fundamental assumptions of the computer code and the handling of the program package are described in [38].

where Il is the peak value and tf is the front time. Two additional current waveforms are used to investigate the inuence of the rising current front. The considered double-exponential current

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For modeling of electrical structures, several features are available to simulate metallic surfaces and rods, and insulating materials. In the present simulation, however, only the so-called cylindrical thin wire approach is used. In this approach, triangles are employed as expansion functions for the currents and the Dirac delta functions as testing functions (point matching). The whole electrical structures (e.g., the LPS conductors and loops inside the LPS) are simulated by cylindrical straight wires subdividing them into segments, where the length of each segment is much longer than its radius. Further, the length of a segment is generally limited to /8, where is the wavelength of the highest frequency considered. The segment itself may be ideal conducting or loaded, e.g., by a nite conductivity or an inductive or a capacitive load in order to simulate resistors, inductances, or capacitors, respectively. The structure can be excited by an incident wave, or by current or voltage sources. In this paper, the soil resistivity is ignored, and the ground is considered as ideal conducting plane, taken into account by the method of electrical images. Based on the thin-wire approach, the lengths of the segments have to be much longer than their radii to improve the computation accuracy. Therefore, the considered highest frequency of 20 MHz is a compromise between the requirements of the computer code and the necessity to limit the computation time and the memory to a suitable size. The chosen upper limit of the computation frequency (20 MHz) corresponds to a wavelength of 15 m. However, the frequency has to be increased at least to some tens of megahertz in order to cover the whole frequency regime when simulating the fast rising current of the subsequent negative stroke or when calculating the looptermination voltages. The increase in frequency leads to an increase in the number of segments to fulll the aforementioned condition, where the segment length < /8. Therefore, the considered highest frequency of 20 MHz is a compromise between the requirements of the computer code and the necessity to limit the computation time and the memory to a suitable size. The chosen upper limit of computation frequency of 20 MHz is also based on the fact that the rise of the negative subsequent is sometimes characterized by a damped oscillation of 1 MHz [39]. Consequently, the maximum segment length is limited to about 2 m. Three different frequency regimes are chosen in order to minimize the number of frequencies. Starting with a lowest frequency of 1 kHz, the frequency is increased in steps of f = 2 kHz up to 99 kHz. Then, in the second frequency regime, the frequency step is increased to f = 3 kHz up to 2 MHz. In the highest frequency regime between 2 and 20 MHz, the frequency step is further increased to f = 4 kHz. The computation errors may arise from: 1) relative length of the segments and their corresponding radii and 2) the inverse Fourier transformation to get the time-domain solutions (transient quantities: currents, voltages, and EMF). The former can be improved by using segments having length much longer than their radii, while the computation errors of the latter (round-off and aliasing errors) can be reduced by using linear interpolated functions [40].

Fig. 2. (a) Conguration of LPS2 struck at the corner with three loops inside. (b) Arrangement and connection of all lines of one loop in the three oors.

IV. ASSUMPTIONS FOR THE STRUCK BUILDING Depending on the earthing, the LV power distribution system can be realized as TI-system, TT-system, or TN-system (including TN-S, TN-C, and TN-C-S). In most of the countries, the TT-system or TN-system is used where the difference lies in the mode of earthing the neutral [10], [41]. For the TT-system, the neutral is earthed only at the distribution transformer, and the protective earth in a building is obtained from a local earth electrode. On the other hand, the TN-system has its neutral earthed at any available opportunity outside of a building, including the distribution transformer secondary, some or all poles, and the service entrance [10], [41]. In the present simulation, the TN-S system is used, where the neutral (N) and the PE are separated [41]. The building is protected by an outer LPS with 10 m height and 20 m length and width [see Fig. 2(a)]. This outer LPS is modeled by three distinct standard classes of LPS [42] and a

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nonstandard LPS, namely, LPS1, LPS2, and LPS4, and LPS0, respectively. LPS4 represents the simple standard class IV of LPS according to IEC 62305-3 [42], where the square mesh side of the air termination system is 20 m, and the interspacing of the down conductors is also 20 m. According to the standard class II [42], for LPS2, the mesh width is reduced to 10 m, and the interspacing of the down conductors is also reduced to 10 m [see Fig. 2(a)]. LPS1 represents the highest standard class I [42], where the mesh width of the air termination system is reduced to 5 m, but the interspacing of the down conductors is kept as 10 m. In the nonstandard LPS0, both the interspacing of the down conductors and the side length of the square mesh of the air termination are chosen to be 5 m. The lightning strike to the outer LPS is taken into account at three locations. Fig. 2(a) shows the strike locations of LPS2, namely, the center, the mid-edge, and the corner. The whole metallic structures including the cylindrical wires (air termination, down conductors, and loops inside the LPS) are considered to consist of copper having a conductivity of 56.2 106 S/m. Both the air termination and the down conductors have a cross-sectional area of 5 105 m2 , i.e., 0.008 m diameter (see IEC 62305-3 [42]). Three single-phase parallel vertical loops, consisting of a three-horizontal-wire TN-S system, are simulated inside the struck LPS, where each loop has three oors of the three-wire system, as shown in Fig. 2(b), namely, the live line (L), the neutral (N), and the PE. The horizontal interspacing between L, N, and PE wires is 0.01 m. All loops are separated by 0.5 or 1.0 m from the LPS walls, where the latter interspacing is left at the loop termination. The loop-termination voltages (potential differences between the line and neutral, the neutral and PE, and the line and PE: VL-N , VN-PE , and VL-PE , respectively) are computed. To calculate the loop-termination voltages, the lines L-PE and NPE are always shunted by 1 M. The lines L-N are shunted by 1 M for open-loop case (OFF state of the connected equipment) or by different values of resistive, inductive, or capacitive (R, L, or C) loads (ON state of the connected equipment) [see Fig. 2(b)]. The line L is connected to the ideal conducting ground plane via the surge impedance of the cable feeding the building (R0 = 50 ). On the other hand, the other two lines (N and PE) are directly earthed at the entrance to simulate the TN-S system [41]. It is also assumed that cable feeding the building is long enough to neglect any current waves reected from the nearest power transformer. It is well known that if a lossless TL is terminated by a purely resistive load that is equal to the line surge impedance, a voltage surge introduced to the sending end of the line would be absorbed completely at the receiving end, i.e., no reection. In this paper, the surge impedance simulates the characteristic impedance of the power line entering the LPS. As for the worst case, the LPS is not protected by an SPD. The characteristic impedance is taken into account for power cable having a typical value of 50 . Modern electronic devices are often interconnected to each other by various service lines including IT cables. These interconnections inherently involve the buildup of extra PE connections, e.g., by the screens of IT cables. The sheath/screen

of IT cables is normally connected to the equipment enclosure at the entrance, i.e., to the PE, or sometimes there exists an interconnection of PE in the same oor, as can be seen in Fig. 2(a). Additionally, the electric equipment may be bonded by extra PE connections to ground. Such connections may also exist via IT cables between the PE of each oor and the ground plane, as shown in Fig. 2(b). The various routes of bonding and interconnections are taken into account by the following two congurations. 1) Conguration 1: Extra PE Connections to Ground. Extra PE connections are inserted between the PE lines at the loop terminations of different oors and the ground [see Fig. 2(b)]. In this conguration, only the middle loop (loop 2) is considered, while loops 1 and 3 are disregarded. If all oors are connected to ground, this case is referred to as all oors in the following discussion. If only one of the oors (ground, rst, or second) is connected to the ground, these cases are denoted as ground oor, rst oor, and second oor, respectively. If the extra PE connections are disregarded, it is called without extra PE connection, otherwise with extra PE connection. 2) Conguration 2: PE Interconnections at the Same Floor. In the second conguration, the three loops are considered, and PE interconnections are assumed between the PE lines of the three loops at each oor individually, but not to ground and not between different oors [see Fig. 2(a)]. If the PE interconnections are disregarded, in the following, it is called without PE interconnection, otherwise with PE interconnection. V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION All results have been obtained for LPL2, LPS2, copper material, corner strike, and for the LRF current, except where it is mentioned. In all tables and charts, the peak values in kilovolts of the loop-termination voltages (VL-N , VN-PE , and VL-PE ) are presented. It is generally assumed that the equipment is installed at the terminations of the loops (see Fig. 2). A. Existence and Interconnection of PE Connections The inuence of the extra PE connection to ground is investigated with conguration 1. The LV power distribution system is considered to have open-loop terminations, where the terminations between N and PE, between N and L, and between L and PE are simulated by high ohmic resistances of R = 1 M. Fig. 3(a) and (b) shows the voltage waveforms of VN-PE in the second oor without and with extra PE connection to ground for all oors of loop 2. It can be clearly seen that the addition of extra PE connections increases the loop-termination voltage VN-PE signicantly. Table II summarizes the open-loop-termination voltages (VL-N , VN-PE , and VL-PE ) for different congurations of extra PE connections. Fig. 4 shows the special case that the PE lines at all oors are connected to ground by extra PE cables. For all cases, the peak value of the loop-termination voltages increase when moving from the ground oor to the second oor. In the case without extra PE connection, VL-N and VL-PE are roughly equal, while VN-PE is always very small. The small value of VN-PE is due to the fact that the lines N and PE are solidly earthed at the ground oor and running upward from

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Fig. 4. Dependence of the peak voltages at open-loop terminations (R = 1 M) of loop 2 considering conguration 1 and extra PE connection to all oors. TABLE III PEAK VOLTAGE IN KILOVOLTS WITH AND WITHOUT PE INTERCONNECTIONS FOR CONFIGURATION 2 (THREE LOOPS IN EACH FLOOR INDIVIDUALLY WITH R = 1 M) AND LPS2

Fig. 3. Voltage waveforms of V N-PE in the second oor considering LPS2 and conguration 1 with open-loop termination (R =1 M). (a) Without extra PE connection to ground for all oors of loop 2. (b) With extra PE connection between all oors of loop 2 and ground. TABLE II PEAK VOLTAGE IN KILOVOLTS ASSUMING DIFFERENT EXTRA PE CONNECTIONS AND CONFIGURATION 1 WHERE LOOP 2 IS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT WITH OPEN-LOOP TERMINATION (R = 1 M)

there in a very small interspacing distance of 1 cm [see Fig. 2(b)]. On the contrary, the line L is connected to the ideal conducting ground plane via R0 = 50 producing much higher voltage drop between L and PE, and between L and N. It is worth mentioning that all recorded peaks of the loop-termination voltages do not occur instantaneously. From Table II, it can be noticed that the peak value of all loop-termination voltages signicantly increase when using extra PE connections irrespective of the oor, where the extra PE connection to the ground exists. From Table II and Fig. 4, it can also be seen that the use of extra PE connections reduces VL-N slightly as a result of the currents owing through them produce a magnetic eld opposing the

original magnetic eld from the lightning channel. Generally, VL-N signicantly increases when moving to the higher oors because of increasing the loop areas formed by the extra PE cable. On the other hand, VL-N for some cases of the ground oor is slightly higher than that of the rst oor, which is of less importance because the second oor voltages are always the highest. Now, the PE interconnections of conguration 2 are considered [see Fig. 2(a)]. Table III summarizes the loop-termination voltages for all oors with and without PE interconnections at the end of the three open loops considering open-loop termination [see Fig. 2(a) for R = 1 M]. From the comparison between the results of Tables II and III, it can be concluded that such PE interconnections at the same oor may create much more severe overvoltages for VN-PE compared to those of conguration 1, where the extra PE is connected to ground. This means that conguration 2 gives higher loop-termination voltages compared to conguration 1. For the considered case of conguration 2, the middle loop (loop 2) has the highest values of VN-PE and VL-PE compared to loop 1 and loop 3. On the other hand, VL-N is slightly affected by such PE interconnections, where it varies within 20%. Fig. 5(a) and (b) illustrates the voltage waveforms of VL-PE for loop 1 (R = 1 M) in the second oor without and with PE interconnection in this oor, respectively. It can be seen that the PE interconnection leads to an increase in VL-PE by 271% because of forming new loops having larger areas. B. LPS Class and Material In the rst example, the inuence of the LPS class on the loop-termination voltages is investigated with conguration 1

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Fig. 6. Dependence of the peak voltages at open-loop terminations (R =1 M) of loop 2 considering conguration 1. (a) V L-N V L-PE without extra PE connection. (b) V N-PE with extra PE connection at all oors.

TABLE V PEAK VOLTAGE IN KILOVOLTS CONSIDERING LPS2 AND CONFIGURATION 2 WITHOUT EXTRA PE INTERCONNECTIONS AND WITH OPEN-LOOP TERMINATION (R = 1 M)

Fig. 5. Voltage waveforms of V L-PE for loop 1 (R =1 M) in the second oor using LPS2 and conguration 2. (a) Without PE interconnection in the same oor. (b) With PE interconnection in the same oor. TABLE IV PEAK VOLTAGE IN KILOVOLTS WITHOUT AND WITH EXTRA PE CONNECTIONS CONSIDERING CONFIGURATION 1 WITH OPEN-LOOP TERMINATIONS (R = 1 M)

considering open-loop termination (R = 1 M). Table IV gives the loop-termination voltages for all oors without and with extra PE connection at all oors. Without extra PE connection, it can be seen that VL-N VL-PE , while VN-PE is very small, being in the order of few kilovolts. On the contrary, when using extra PE connection, it is obviously seen that VN-PE is much higher with the highest values for the second oor. Fig. 6 presents the most important results, where Fig. 6(a) shows the VL-N values without extra PE connections, while Fig. 6(b) depicts the VN-PE values with extra PE connections at all oors. There is a general

trend that the lightning EM couplings are reduced by decreasing the mesh size, i.e., LPS0 gives the lowest overvoltages, contrary to LPS4. The loop-termination voltages are signicantly lowered by a factor of 2, if the interspacing of the down conductors and of the air termination mesh is reduced from 20 m (LPS4) to 10 m (LPS2). In contrast, a further reduction of the interspacing to 5 m (LPS1, LPS0) has only slight inuence. For the sake of comparison, conguration 2 is considered without PE interconnection, where the three loops are terminated by R = 1 M each and located inside LPS2. Table V gives the peak value of the loop-termination voltages. The comparison of the loop-termination voltages reveals that peak voltages roughly occur at outer loops 1 and 3, while peak voltages are slightly lower at the middle loop (loop 2). Obviously, the existence of the two outer loops lowers the voltages at the middle loop (loop 2) slightly up to 20%. This is attributed to the fact that part of the incoming radiated EMF energy is lost due to the coupling to the other two loops. Fig. 7 shows the inuence of different LPS classes on VL-PE VL-N . For LPS4, the loop-termination voltages are about a factor 2 higher compared to LPS2, while the differences between LPS2 and LPS1/LPS0

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TABLE VII PEAK VOLTAGE IN KILOVOLTS OF LOOP 2 (R = 1 M) CONSIDERING LPS2 AND CONFIGURATION 1 WITH AND WITHOUT EXTRA PE CONNECTIONS AT ALL FLOORS

Fig. 7. Inuence of LPS class on V L-PE V L-N for conguration 2 without extra PE interconnection and considering open-loop termination (R = 1 M). TABLE VI PEAK VOLTAGE IN KILOVOLTS FOR DIFFERENT LOCATIONS OF LIGHTNING STRIKE TO LPS2 CONSIDERING CONFIGURATION 1 WITH OPEN-LOOP TERMINATION (R = 1 M) AND WITHOUT AND WITH EXTRA PE CONNECTIONS AT ALL FLOORS OF LOOP 2

are rather lower corroborating the aforementioned results for conguration 1. According to IEC 62305-1 [11], copper, aluminum, mild steel, and stainless steel can be used as outer LPS material. Copper, aluminum, and stainless steel are investigated for LPS2, and it is found that there is no effect of the LPS material on the looptermination voltages. This can be interpreted as the following. The lightning channel is modeled by a predened channel-base current, and therefore, the current distributions in the air termination and the down conductors remain the same irrespective of changing the LPS material. Hence, there is no effect of LPS material on the induced voltages. C. Strike Location The inuence of different strike location is investigated for conguration 1, where loop 2 is considered with open-loop termination (R = 1 M). Table VI gives the peak value of the loop-termination voltages of loop 2 with and without extra PE connections from all oors to ground. For the case without extra PE connection, there is no signicant inuence of the strike location on the induced voltages. The voltages between L an N, VL-N , and between L and PE, VL-PE , and between N and PE, VN-PE , vary slightly within 20%. For the case of extra PE connection, there is also only a very small inuence on the induced voltages, where mid-side strike gives the highest value because of its close proximity to loop 2. D. Time Functions of Negative Subsequent Lightning Currents Table VII gives the peak value of the loop-termination voltages of loop 2 considering different time functions of the negative subsequent lightning [see (2)(4)]. The calculations are based on the open-loop termination (R = 1 M), and for con-

guration 1, with and without extra PE connections to all oors. The results of the LRF current [see (2)] are compared to those of both the double-exponential current [see (3)] and the formula proposed for theoretical analysis [see (4)] [11]. In this comparison, the calculated peak voltages are related to the corresponding peak voltage obtained with LRF. Taking the average of these relative voltages, the relative averages are also given in Table VII. For both cases, with and without extra PE connections, the formula used for theoretical analysis [see (4)] gives a relative average close to 1. This means that this current waveform produces approximately the same peak voltages as those of the LRF current. On the other hand, the use of the doubleexponential current [see (3)] is associated with the relative average of 2. This value indicates that double-exponential current produces doubled values of the induced loop-termination voltages. This is attributed to the fact that the maximum current steepness is about a factor 2.7 higher compared to that of the LRF current [11]. Therefore, it can be concluded that the results of the linear-rising current are in good agreement with those of the proposed IEC formula given by (4) [11], whereas the use of the double-exponential current produces unrealistic overvoltages. It is worth mentioning that: 1) the double-exponential current produces unrealistic overvoltages due to the unmatched shape of the wavefront to actual lightning wavefronts, 2) the inuence of the time to half-value is expected to be much lower than that of the front time, and 3) to focus on very fast transient overvoltages up to 5 s, the highest frequency of 20 MHz is considered without losing the computation accuracy . E. Load Termination The connected electrical devices are taken into account as loads located at the loop terminations between L and N of the LV power installation. Further, the loops are terminated by R = 1 M between L and PE, and N and PE, respectively [see Fig. 2(b)]. Different resistive, inductive, and capacitive loads are selected in order to simulate the variety of anticipated electrical equipment. The investigations are exclusively based on LPS2, and on conguration 1, with and without extra PE connections from loop 2 to the ground. F. Resistive Load The loop-termination resistance R (between L and N) is varied between 100 and 1 M in order to simulate the variety of resistive equipment. Table VIII gives the peak values of the induced loop-termination voltages without extra PE connection. Fig. 8 shows the variations of the loop-termination

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TABLE VIII PEAK VOLTAGE IN KILOVOLTS CONSIDERING DIFFERENT RESISTIVE LOAD TERMINATIONS, LPS2, AND CONFIGURATION 1 WITHOUT EXTRA PE CONNECTION TO GROUND

TABLE IX PEAK VOLTAGE IN KILOVOLTS CONSIDERING DIFFERENT RESISTIVE LOAD TERMINATIONS, LPS2, AND CONFIGURATION 1 WITH EXTRA PE CONNECTIONS AT ALL FLOORS

Fig. 8. Variations of the loop-termination voltages of the second oor with the load-termination resistance considering conguration 1 without extra PE connection to the ground.

Fig. 9. Variations of V N-PE at all oors with the load-termination resistance considering LPS2 and conguration 1 with extra PE connection at all oors.

voltages of the second oor with the load-termination resistance. It can be seen that VL-PE VL-N + VN-PE , where this approximation originates from the fact that the peak values of all loop-termination voltages do not occur simultaneously as a result of different reection effects. VL-N increases with R up to 10 k, while for higher values of R, there is only a slight increase. In addition, VN-PE just shows the opposite behavior with decreasing R. From lightning protection point of view, the maximum of these voltages have to be considered irrespective of the value of R. Similar trend is found for the ground and the rst oors but with reduced amplitudes, as can be seen in Table VIII. Therefore, it can be concluded that the maximum of the potential difference between all lines, i.e., L and PE, L and N, and N and PE, must be considered. Now, extra PE connections are used from all oors to ground [see Fig. 2(b)]. Table IX gives the corresponding peak values of the induced loop-termination voltages for different oors. Except for the ground oor, the highest peak values are found for the voltage between N and PE, i.e., VN-PE . Adding these extra PE connections creates large PE loops, and hence, higher VN-PE values given in Table IX compared to those in Table VIII (without extra PE connections to ground). Both the P and N wires are solidly grounded at the ground oor, while the L wire is grounded via a 50 resistor [see Fig. 2(a)]. Therefore, VL-PE is higher than VN-PE at the ground oor. On the contrary, for the rst and second oors, VL-PE is lower than VN-PE because of the successive reections coming from the bottom oor(s) and the increase in the PE loop areas, i.e., enhancing the EM coupling to the lightning channel.

It can be seen from Fig. 9 that VN-PE depends very slightly on the value of the load-termination resistance. Comparing Tables VIII and IX, it can be noticed that the maximum looptermination voltages at different oors are somewhat higher in the case of extra PE connections to ground. Further, there is a general trend that the maximum loop-termination voltages increase with height. In a rough estimation, it is found that for R greater than about 10 k, the maximum values of VN-PE increase linearly with height. G. Inductive Load The electrical equipment installed at LV power installation often have transformers at their power entrance. These transformers act like inductances with values in the range from millihenry up to even henry. In this part, the load inductance L is varied from 100 H to 100 mH to show its effects on the induced loop-termination voltages. Table X shows the peak values of the induced loop-termination voltages of loop 2 considering LPS2 and conguration 1 without extra PE connection to ground. The existence of inductances produces peak value for VL-N and VL-PE similar to the termination with high ohmic resistances (see Table VIII). This is attributed to the fact that the fast rising front of the negative subsequent stroke current is associated with frequencies up to the megahertz range [5], [6]; hence, the corresponding inductive reactance for L is in the kilohms range up to the megohms range, respectively. For the same reason, the peak value of VN-PE is rather low, as shown in Fig. 10, except for L < 1 mH where the inductive reactance for L decreases to considerable smaller impractical values.

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TABLE X PEAK VOLTAGE IN KILOVOLTS CONSIDERING DIFFERENT INDUCTIVE LOAD TERMINATIONS, LPS2, AND CONFIGURATION 1 WITHOUT EXTRA PE CONNECTIONS TO GROUND

Fig. 10. Inuence of the load-termination inductance on V N-PE considering LPS2 and conguration 1 without extra PE connection to ground. TABLE XI PEAK VOLTAGE IN KILOVOLTS CONSIDERING DIFFERENT CAPACITIVE LOAD TERMINATIONS, LPS2, AND CONFIGURATION 1 WITHOUT EXTRA PE CONNECTIONS TO GROUND

H. Capacitive Load Capacitive loads have to be considered even if the equipment under switch-off conditions are connected to LV power installation. Under lightning condition, the entrance behavior of the equipment can also, often, be represented by capacitive loads, e.g., given by the stray capacitances of entrance transformers. The variety of capacitances is taken into account by varying the capacitive load between 10 pF and 10 nF. Table XI summarizes the peak values of the loop-termination voltages considering conguration 1 without extra PE connection. Fig. 11 shows the voltage waveforms of VL-N in the ground oor for loop 2. It is obviously seen from Fig. 11(b) that the increase in the load-termination capacitance leads to resonance condition. Otherwise, the voltage waveform has a damped oscillation nature, as can be seen in Fig. 11(a) and (c). The resonances are originated by the combination of the capacitances and inductances of the LV power installation. It can be noticed from Figs. 3, 5, and 11 that before the zero time, the computational voltages are very small (3%), corroborating the good results of the computer code including the numerical Fourier transformation.

Fig. 11. Voltage waveforms of V L-N in the ground oor considering LPS2 and conguration 1 without extra PE connection to ground. (a) C = 10 pF. (b) C = 100 pF. (c) C = 1 nF.

Fig. 12 illustrates the effect of the load-termination capacitance on loop-termination voltages of the ground oor using loop 2, where the resonance of all voltages is activated at about C = 100 pF. These resonance effects may lead to an enhancement of the loop-termination voltages even for terminations with comparably low capacitive loads. For example, due to this resonance

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6) If the entrance circuit of the equipment represents a capacitive load, the resonance effect may enhance the overvoltages even for considerably low capacitances in the order of some 10 pF. REFERENCES
[1] D. Paul, Low-voltage power system surge overvoltage protection, IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 223229, Jan./Feb. 2001. [2] Protection Against LightningPart 4: Electrical and Electronic Systems Within Structures, IEC Standard 62305-4, (Ed. 1, 2006-01, 2006). [3] P. Osmokrovic, B. Loncar, and S. Stankovic, The new method of determining characteristics of elements for overvoltage protection of lowvoltage system, IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas., vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 257265, Feb. 2006. [4] W. Hadrian, Research into the electromagnetic disturbances caused by lightning in buildings, in Proc. 4th Int. Wrocaw Symp. Electromagn. Compat., Poland, 1978, pp. 511519. [5] A. Orlandi and F. Schietroma, Attenuation by a lightning protection system of induced voltages due to direct strikes to a building, IEEE Trans. Electromagn. Compat., vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 4350, Feb. 1996. [6] C. Buccella, S. Cristina, and A. Orlandi, Frequency analysis of the induced effects due to the lightning stroke radiated electromagnetic eld, IEEE Trans. Electromagn. Compat., vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 338344, Aug. 1992. [7] A. Sowa, Induced voltages in electronic systems within the buildings which are struck by lightning, in Proc. 18th Int. Conf. Lightning Protection, Munich, Germany, 1985, pp. 239243. [8] M. Feliziani and A. Orlandi, Lightning stroke to a structure protection systemPart II: Electromagnetic elds analysis, in Proc. 6th Int. Symp High-Voltage Eng., New Orleans, LA, Aug. 28Sep. 1, 1989, pp. 109112. [9] J. P. Bruhin, Shielding efciency of reinforced steel in concrete against lightning, in Proc. 6th Int. Wrocaw Symp. Electromagn. Compat., 1982, Poland, pp. 475484. [10] A. Mansoor and F. Martzloff, The effect of neutral earthing practices on lightning current dispersion in a low-voltage installation, IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 783792, Jul. 1998. [11] Protection Against LightningPart 1: General Principles, IEC Standard 62305-1, (Ed. 1, 2006-01) 2006. [12] I. A. Metwally and F. H. Heidler, Improvement of the lightning shielding performance of overhead transmission lines by passive shield wires, IEEE Trans. Electromagn. Compat., vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 378392, May 2003. [13] I. A. Metwally, W. J. Zischank, and F. H. Heidler, Measurement of magnetic elds inside single- and double-layer reinforced concrete buildings during simulated lightning currents, IEEE Trans. Electromagn. Compat., vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 208221, May 2004. [14] I. A. Metwally and F. H. Heidler, Mitigation of the produced voltages in AC overhead power-lines/pipelines parallelism during power frequency and lightning conditions, Eur. Trans. Electr. Power Eng., vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 351369, 2005. [15] I. A. Metwally, F. Heidler, and W. Zischank, Magnetic elds and loop voltages inside reduced- and full-scale structures produced by direct lightning strikes, IEEE Trans. Electromagn. Compat., vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 414 426, May 2006. [16] A. Orlandi, C. Mazzetti, Z. Flisowski, and M. Yarmarkin, Systematic approach for the analysis of the electromagnetic environment inside a building during lightning strike, IEEE Trans. Electromagn. Compat., vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 521535, Nov. 1998. [17] A. Galvan, V. Cooray, and A. Thottappillil, A technique for the evaluation of lightning-induced voltages in complex low-voltage power-installation networks, IEEE Trans. Electromagn. Compat., vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 402 409, Aug. 2001. [18] S. Silfverskiold, R. Thottappillil, M. Ye, V. Cooray, and V. Scuka, Induced voltages in a low-voltage power installation network due to lightning electromagnetic elds: An experimental study, IEEE Trans. Electromagn. Compat., vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 265271, Aug. 1999. [19] M. A. Uman, D. K. McLain, and E. P. Kreider, The electromagnetic radiation from a nite antenna, Amer. J. Phys., vol. 43, pp. 3338, 1975. [20] M. A. Uman and M. Rubinstein, Methods for calculating the electromagnetic elds from a known source distribution: Application to lightning, IEEE Trans. Electromagn. Compat., vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 183189, May 1988.

Fig. 12. Effect of the load-termination capacitance on loop-termination voltages of the ground oor considering LPS2 and conguration 1 without extra PE connection to ground.

phenomenon, the voltage between L and PE is enhanced to VL-PE = 75 kV in case of the rather low capacitance, C = 50 pF (see Table XI). VI. CONCLUSION Numerical EM analysis of loop-termination voltages is presented for direct lightning strikes to three distinct standard classes of LPSs and a nonstandard LPS, namely, LPS1, LPS2, and LPS4, and LPS0, respectively. The negative subsequent stroke current is simulated by three different time functions at LPL2. Three single-phase parallel vertical loops, consisting of three horizontal wires of the TN-S system, are simulated inside the struck LPS. The loop-termination voltages (potential differences between the line and neutral, the neutral and PE, and the line and PE: VL-N , VN-PE , and VL-PE , respectively) are computed under different loop loading conditions and interpreted in terms of induction effects and resonance phenomena. The major results can be summarized as follows. 1) If extra PE connections exist between the PE lines and ground, the voltage between N and PE, VN-PE , may increase signicantly. This effect is attributed to the induction loops built up by the extra PE connections to ground. 2) The comparison of the LPS classes reveals that the overvoltages are signicantly lowered by a factor of about 2, if the mesh size of the air termination system and the interspacing of the down conductors are reduced from 20 to 10 m. A further reduction to 5 m can lead to a minor reduction of the overvoltages. 3) No effect of outer LPS material is found on the looptermination voltages. 4) The location of the striking point is of minor inuence on the loop-termination voltages. 5) A current waveform with LRF produces roughly the same maximum overvoltages as the current formula of the IEC 62305-1 used for theoretical analysis. On the other hand, the use of the double-exponential current roughly gives doubled values.

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[21] S. Cristina, M. DAmore, and A. Orlandi, Lightning stroke to a structure protection systemPart I: Current distribution analysis, in Proc. 6th Int. Symp. High-Voltage Eng., New Orleans, LA, Aug. 28Sep. 1, 1989, pp. 104108. [22] O. Beirl and H. Steinbigler, Simplied and fast estimation of induced voltages caused by lightning currents, in Proc. 6th Int. Symp. HighVoltage Eng., New Orleans, LA, Aug. 28Sep. 1, 1989, pp. 635638. [23] A. Orlandi, G. B. Lo Piparo, and C. Mazzetti, Analytical expressions for current share by means of a lightning protection system model, Eur. Trans. Electr. Power Eng., vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 18, Mar./Apr. 1995. [24] C. A. F. Sartori and J. R. Cardoso, EMC aspects in a steel structure struck by lightning, in Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. Electromagn. Compat., Atlanta, GA, Aug. 1995, pp. 248252. [25] S. Cristina and A. Orlandi, Calculation on the induced effects due to a lightning stroke, Inst. Electr. Eng. Proc. B, vol. 139, no. 4, pp. 374380, 1992. [26] S. Cristina and A. Orlandi, EMC effects of the lightning protected system: Shielding properties of the roof-grid, in Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. Electromagn. Compat., 1991, pp. 7883. [27] S. Cristina and A. Orlandi, Electromagnetic penetration through reinforced concrete structures: An equivalent transmission line model, IEICE Trans. Commun., vol. E78-B, no. 2, pp. 218229, Feb. 1995. [28] N. Georgiadis, M. Rubinstein, M. A. Uman, P. J. Medelius, and E. M. Thomson, Lightning-induced voltages at both ends of a 448-m power-distribution line, IEEE Trans. Electromagn. Compat., vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 451460, Nov. 1992. [29] M. Rubinstein, M. A. Uman, and P. J. Medelius, Measurements of the voltage induced on an overhead power line 20 m from triggered lightning, IEEE Trans. Electromagn. Compat., vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 134140, May 1994. [30] H. P rez, Transient response of low-voltage power installations to natural e and simulated lightning electromagnetic elds Ph.D. dissertation, Inst. High Voltage Res., Uppsala Univ., Uppsala, Sweden, 1994. [31] H. K. Hoidalen, Lightning-induced overvoltages in low-voltage systems Ph.D. dissertation, Norwegian Univ. Sci. Technol., Trondheim, Norway, 1997. [32] G. L. Amicucci, F. Fiamingo, M. Marzinotto, C. Mazzetti, G. B. Lo Piparo, and Z. Flisowski, Protection against lightning overvoltages of electrical and electronic systems: Evaluation of the protection distance of an SPD, presented at the 27th Int. Conf. Lightning Protection (ICLP 2004), Avignon, France, Sep. 1316. [33] Surge Protective Devices Connected to Low-Voltage Power Distribution Systems: Part 1: Performance Requirements and Testing Methods, IEC Standard 61643, 1998. [34] M. A. Uman, R. D. Brantley, Y. T. Lin, J. A. Tiller, E. P. Krider, and D. K. McLain, Correlated electric and magnetic elds from lightning return strokes, J. Geophys. Res., vol. 80, pp. 373376, 1975. [35] Working Group 33.01 (Lightning), Lightning-induced voltages on overhead power lines. Part I: Return-stroke current models with specied channel-base current for the evaluation of the return-stroke electromag netic elds, Electra, no. 161, pp. 74102, 1995. [36] H. D. Br ns, H. Singer, and F. Demmel, Calculation of transient processes u at direct lightning stroke into thin wire structures, in Proc. 7th Symp. Electromagn. Compat., Zurich, Switzerland, 1987, pp. 8590, Paper 17D5 [37] R. F. Harrington, Field Calculations by Moment Methods. New York: Macmillan, 1968. [38] H. Singer, H.-D. Bruens, T. Mader, and A. Freiberg, CONCEPT II Programmer Handbook Hamburg, Germany: Univ. Hamburg-Harburg, 1994. In German. [39] Protection Against Lightning Electromagnetic Impulse (LEMP). Part 2: Shielding of Structures, Bonding Inside Structures and Earthing, IEC Standard 61312-2, 1999. [40] N. J. Higham, Accuracy and Stability of Numerical Algorithms. 2nd ed. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2002. [41] P. Hasse, Overvoltage Protection of Low-Voltage Systems. Institution of Electrical Engineers Power and Energy Series 33, 2nd ed. London, U.K.: Inst. Electr. Eng., 2000. [42] Protection Against Lightning Part 3: Physical Damage to Structures and Life Hazard, IEC Standard 62305-3, Ed. 1, 2006-01, 2006.

Ibrahim A. Metwally (M93SM04) was born in 1963. He received the B.Eng. degree (with honors) in electrical engineering, the M.Eng. degree in highvoltage engineering, and the Ph.D. degree in highvoltage engineering from Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt, in 1986, 1990, and 1994, respectively. He is a Professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Mansoura University, from where, he has been seconded to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman since August 2002. From 2000 to 2002 and in the summers of 2003 2007, he joined the University of the Federal Armed Forces, Munich, Germany, as a Visiting Professor. His current research interests include oil- and gas-ow electrication in both electric power apparatus and pipelines, measurements of fast impulse voltages and currents, line insulators and zinc-oxide surge arresters, coronas on overhead transmission lines, impulse voltage characterization and modeling of electrical machines, particle-initiated breakdown in gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) and gas-insulated transmission lines (GITL), power quality, stray-current corrosion in the oil industry, and hazards of lightning strikes to buildings, overhead power lines, and aircrafts. He is the author or coauthor of 100 published papers, with about half of them published in highly reputed international journals. He has completed 12 industrial projects in U.K., Egypt, Germany, and Sultanate of Oman, and eight support services (consultations) in the Sultanate of Oman. Prof. Metwally is a Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) Foundation, Bonn, Germany, and a Member of the International Electrotechnical Commission. He was awarded the First Rank of the National Prize in Engineering Sciences in 1998 and 2004, and the Late Prof. Dr.-Ing. M. Khalifas Prize in Electrical Engineering in 1999 and 2005 from the Egyptian Academy of Scientic Research and Technology. He has been a regular peer Reviewer for the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON DIELECTRICS AND ELECTRICAL INSULATION, the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER DELIVERY, and the IEEE TRANSACTIONS on ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY, the IET Generation, Transmission and Distribution, the Journal of Electric Power Systems Research, and the European Transactions on Electrical Power. His biographical prole was published in Whos Who in Science and Engineering in 2001.

Fridolin H. Heidler was born in 1955. He received the B.Eng. and the M.Eng. degrees in electrical engineering with special emphasis on high-voltage engineering from the Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany, in 1978 and 1982, respectively, and the Ph.D. and Dr.-Ing. habilitation degrees in high-voltage engineering from the University of the Federal Armed Forces, Munich, in 1987 and 1999, respectively. From 1987 to 1991, he was with the Industrial Engineering Company (IABG), where he was engaged in the eld of electrodynamic calculations in the frequency and time domains. In 1991, he joined the Institute of High Voltage Engineering, University of the Federal Armed Forces, where he is currently a Professor of high-voltage engineering. His current research interests include the elds of lightning research, lightning protection, and electromagnetic compatibility with main emphasis on numerical calculations of lightning discharge process, and the measurement of the electric or magnetic elds originated by lightning. He has authored or coauthored more than 120 scientic papers on lightning protection, lightning research, and electromagnetic compatibility. Prof. Heidler received the Second Prize Award at the Electromagnetic Compatibility Conference of Zurich, Switzerland, and the Verean Deutscher Elektrotechniker (VDE)/Power Engineering Society (ETG) Award in 1985 and 1997, respectively. He is a member of several national (VG) and international committees [European Cooperation in the eld of Scientic and Technical Research (COST), Conference Internationale des Grands Reseaux Electriques (CIGRE), and International Scientic Radio Union (URSI)] dealing with standardization, lightning research, and electromagnetic compatibility problems.