Fault Analysis Using Z-bus

1.0 Introduction
The previous notes on Z-bus resulted in
some useful knowledge: diagonal element
Z
kk
of the Z-bus is the Thevenin impedance
seen looking into the network from bus k.
Combining this knowledge with equation (4
from notes called !"#mmetrical $aults %&'
which was
Thev f
f
f
Z Z
V
I
+
=
((
enables us to efficientl# obtain the fault
current for an# bus in the network.
This is eas# if we have Z-bus and )
f
.
*owever' one other thing that we will
frequentl# need is the line currents' because
the circuit breakers are going to be in series
with the lines' not with the faults.
(
2.0 Fault calculations using Zbus
+ecall that
I Z V =
(%
"ince (% represents a set of linear equations'
superposition holds' and we ma# write:
I Z V =
(,
This sa#s that the change in voltage at all
buses -) ma# be computed if the change in
in.ections at all buses -/ are known. 0e can
write eq. (, in e1panded form as:

N
k
NN Nk N
kN kk k
N k
N
k
I
I
I
Z Z Z
Z Z Z
Z Z Z
V
V
V

(
(
(
( ( (( (
(4
2ow consider a fault at bus k' where the pre-
fault voltage at bus k is )
f
. 3et the fault
current be /44
f
' and assume that the fault
impedance Z
f
56 (this is t#picall# worst-case
scenario.
"ince a fault is a short circuit' then -)
k
5-)
f
.
%
7lso' since the fault current is out of bus k'
then -/
k
5- /44
f
. "ubstituting these into eq. (4
results in

6
6
(
(
( ( (( (
k

f
NN Nk N
kN kk k
N k
N
f
row
I
Z Z Z
Z Z Z
Z Z Z
V
V
V
(8
2oting that the right-hand-side results in' for
each row .' onl# the Z
.k
being multiplied b#
a non-9ero current. Therefore:

f Nk
f kk
f k
N
f
row
I Z
I Z
I Z
V
V
V

(
(
k
(:
0e observe from row k that:
f kk f
I Z V =
(;
"olving (; for /44
f
results in
kk
f
f
Z
V
I =
(<
,
2otice that eq. (< is consistent with eq. ((
when Z
f
56.
2ow substitute eq. (< into eq. (: to get:
( )
( )

f kk Nk
f
f kk k
N
f
row
V Z Z
V
V Z Z
V
V
V
=
=
(
(
k

(>
2ow eq. (> provides the change in the bus
voltages due to the fault. Change from what?
/t is the change from the voltage without the
fault' i.e.' it is the pre-fault voltage.
Consider an# bus' let4s sa# bus .' with a pre-
fault voltage of )
.
. Then we can compute
the bus . voltage under the faulted condition
as
j j jf
V V V + =
((6
4
$rom eq. (>' we know that
f
kk
jk
j
V
Z
Z
V =
(((
"ubstitution of ((( into ((6 results in
f
kk
jk
j jf
V
Z
Z
V V =
((%
2ow eq. ((% is useful for computing fault
currents in the circuits. Consider $ig. (.

Z
b
bus i bus .
$ig. (
0e can use eq. ((% to write down the
voltages under the faulted condition for
buses i and .' as
f
kk
ik
i if
V
Z
Z
V V =
((,
f
kk
jk
j jf
V
Z
Z
V V =
((4
2ow we can compute the subtransient
current flowing from bus i to bus . under the
fault condition as
b
jf if
ij
Z
V V
I

=
((8
8
"ubstituting eqs. ((, and ((4 into ((8
results in
kk b
jk ik
f
b
j i
b
f
kk
jk
j f
kk
ik
i
ij
Z Z
Z Z
V
Z
V V
Z
V
Z
Z
V V
Z
Z
V
I

=

=
((:
0e can use eq. ((: to get the fault current
in the circuits. These values provide us with
the appropriate information for selecting the
circuit breakers in the lines.
3.0 Some important comments
Zbus should be developed using
subtransient reactances in generator=motor
models.
@ecause fault currents are t#picall#
much larger than load currents' it ma# be
assumed that there are no loads.
o7ll pre-faults currents are 6.
o7ll buses have voltage (pre-fault equal
to )
f
.
oAquation ((: becomes:
kk b
jk ik
f ij
Z Z
Z Z
V I

=
((;
:
$rom ((: and ((;' we see that onl# the
k
th
column of the Z-bus is required to
anal#9e a fault at bus k.
The last observation can be utili9ed in an
effective fashion when performing fault
anal#sis. 3et4s assume that we want to
compute the short circuit currents for a fault
at onl# one bus k. "o we .ust want to get the
k
th
column of Z-bus' but we do not need the
entire Z-bus.
There is an efficient wa# to get the k
th
column of Z-bus. 3et4s stud# it.
Consider that the Z-bus and the B-bus are
inverses of each other' i.e.'
(
=Y Z
((<
This means that their product gives the
identit# matri1.
I Z Y =
((>
where / is given b# a matri1 of 9eros e1cept
the diagonal which contains all ones' i.e.'
;

=
( 6 6
6 ( 6
6 6 (

I
(%6
Cur approach will depend on two ideas:
(. Column of Z : 0e can .ust consider a
single column of Z' instead of the entire
matri1. Call it Z
k
D it is a column vector.
The right hand side of ((> will .ust be a
column of /. Call it /
k
. /t will also be .ust
a vector and will contain 9eros in ever#
row e1cept for row k. The resulting
relation is:
k k
I Z Y =
(%(
%. 3E-Fecomposition : /f #ou have taken
AA 48: or a linear algebra course in
math' then #ou are familiar with 3E
decomposition. 3E decomposition
provides a wa# to solve for the vector 1
in the matri1 relation
b x A =
(%%
where 7 is a nGn square matri1' 1 is an
unknown nG( vector' and b is an known
<
nG( vector. The advantage to 3E
decomposition is it does not require
inverting the matri1 7. The basis of 3E-
decomposition is that we ma# factor 7
into a matri1 product 3E' i.e.'
U L A =
(%,
where 3 is a lower diagonal nGn matri1
of the form

=
,, ,% ,(
%% %(
((
6
6 6
l l l
l l
l
L
(%4
and E is an upper diagonal nGn matri1 of
the form

=
( 6 6
( 6
(
%,
(, (%
u
u u
U
(%8
"ubstitution of eq. (%, in (%% #ields
b x U L =
(%:
Fefining
w x U =
(%;
provides that eq. (%8 becomes:
b w L =
(%<
/f we have 3 and E' then (%< is easil#
solved for w (without inverting 3 using
forward substitution' and then (%; can
>
be easil# solved for 1 (without inverting
E using backwards substitution. Hore
details on 3E decomposition ma# be
found in the notes called
!3EFecomposition.doc.&
2ow observe that eq. (%( and (%% are in the
same form. Therefore we want to solve the
following equations in the order the# are
given:
k
I w L =
(%>
w Z U
k
=
(,6
*omework I,: Fue $rida#' Januar# %;.
Consider the 4-bus s#stem shown below.
@oth machines have subtransient reactances
of 6.%6 pu (#ou can combine the machine
subtransient reactance with the transformer
impedance to get a single reactance
connecting the machine internal voltage
with the network.
(6

@us %
@us , @us (
@us 4
.6.%8 .6.(%8 .6.%6
.6.46 .6.%8
.6.(6 .6.(6
a. Construct the B-bus for this network
(should be a 4G4 matri1.
b. Consider that there is a three-phase
(s#mmetrical fault at bus %.
Ese 3E decomposition to obtain the
%
nd
column of the Z-bus.
Compute the subtransient fault
current.
Ese eq. ((% to find the voltages
during the fault.
Ese eq. ((; to find the subtransient
currents in lines ,-%' (-%' and 4-%.
((