5/1/2017 TravellingWaveLineModelOpenElectrical

TravellingWaveLineModel
FromOpenElectrical

Contents
1 Introduction
2 LosslessSinglePhaseLines
2.1 DerivationofVoltageandCurrentEquations
2.2 Significanceof+andEquations
3 GenericLossySinglePhaseLines
4 FrequencyDomainDerivation
5 MulticonductorLines
6 FrequencyDependencyofLineParameters
7 RelatedTopics

Introduction
Atravellingwaveonatransmissionlineisatransientdisturbancethat
thatmovesalongthelineataconstantspeedyetmaintainsitsshape
(seeFigure1).Examplesincludelightningsurges,switching
transients,faults,etc.

Inthisarticle,wewillderivevarioustimedomainmodelsfor
travellingwavesontransmissionlines,startingfromthesimplestcase
Figure1.Travellingwavealongaline ofthelosslesssinglephaseline,thenbuildingtoagenericlossy
(imagecourtesyofWikipedia(http://en.wi singlephaseline.Thederivationofthemodelisalsolookedatstarting
kipedia.org)) fromthefrequencydomain,showingthesymmetryofthefrequency
andtimedomainmodels.Finally,theconsiderationsrequiredtoextend
themodeltoamulticonductorlineisdiscussed.

Thisarticleprovidesthetheoreticalbackgroundforthetravellingwavemodel.Actualimplementationsofthe
modelsuitableforuseincomputersimulations(i.e.discretetime)canbefoundinthefollowingarticles:

BergeronLineModel
FrequencyDependentLineModel

LosslessSinglePhaseLines
Considerthesmallsegmentoflengthx metresfromalosslesssinglephasetransmissionlineshowninFigure2.

Noticethatthemodelissimilartothatoftheclassicaldistributedparameterlinemodel,exceptthatinthismodel,
thevoltagesandcurrentsarefunctionsofbothdistancex andtimet andarereal,notphasorquantities.Inthe
classicaldistributedparameterlinemodel,thevoltagesandcurrentsareevaluatedatsteadystateandareonly
functionsofdistancex .
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DerivationofVoltageandCurrent
Equations

AnalysingthiscircuitusingKirchhoff'svoltage
law(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirchhoff%27
s_circuit_laws#Kirchhoff.27s_voltage_law_.28
KVL.29)andKirchhoff'scurrentlaw(http://en.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirchhoff%27s_circuit_law
s#Kirchhoff.27s_current_law_.28KCL.29),we
cangetthefollowingpairofequations:

Figure2.TravellingwavelinemodelSmallSegmentfroma
losslesssinglephaseline

I (x + x, t)
V (x + x, t) = V (x, t) Lx
t

V (x, t)
I (x, t) = I (x + x, t) + C x
t

Notes:

di dv
1.Thevoltageacrossaninductorisv = L andthecurrentthroughacapacitorisi = C .
dt dt

2.Partialderivativesareusedbecausethevoltagesandcurrentsarefunctionsofbothtimeanddistance.

Rearrangingtheaboveequations,weget:

V (x + x, t) V (x, t) I (x + x, t)
= L
x t

I (x + x, t) I (x, t) V (x, t)
= C
x t

Takingthelimitasx 0 yieldsthewellknownTelegrapher'sequations(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegra
pher's_equations):

V (x, t) I (x, t)
= L ...Equ.(1)
x t

I (x, t) V (x, t)
= C ...Equ.(2)
x t

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Differentiatingthevoltageequationwithrespecttoxandthecurrentequationwithrespecttot:
2 2
V (x, t) I (x, t)
= L ...Equ.(3)
2
x x t

2 2
I (x, t) V (x, t)
= C ...Equ.(4)
2
x t t

NowsubstitutingEqu.(4)intoEqu.(3),weget:
2 2
V (x, t) V (x, t)
= LC ...Equ.(5)
2 2
x t

Similarly,wecouldhavedifferentiatedthecurrentequationwithrespecttoxandthevoltageequationwithrespect
totandthensolvedforthecurrentequation:
2 2
I (x, t) I (x, t)
= LC ...Equ.(6)
2 2
x t

Thepairofequations(5)and(6)abovearereferredtoasthetransmissionlinewaveequations.

Thegeneralsolutiontoeitheroftheseequationscanbefoundusingd'Alembert'sformula(http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/D%27Alembert%27s_formula):
+
I (x, t) = i (x vt) + i (x + vt)

+
V (x, t) = v (x vt) + v (x + vt)

1
wherev =

isthevelocityofpropagation(m/s).
LC

+
i andi (t) arearbitrarycurrentfunctionsoftime.
(t)
+
v (t) andv (t) arearbitraryvoltagefunctionsoftime.

Usingthecurrentequationabove,wecansolveforthevoltageequationasfollows(seehereforthefull
derivation):
+
v(x, t) = Zc [i (x vt) i (x + vt)]

1 LC L
whereZc = = = isthecharacteristicimpedance(Ohms)
vC C C

Significanceof+andEquations

Sowehavethepairofvoltageandcurrentequations:
+
I (x, t) = i (x vt) + i (x + vt)

+
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+
V (x, t) = Zc [i (x vt) i (x + vt)]

+
Whatisthesignificanceofi (x vt) andi (x + vt) ?
+
Considerthattimet=0s,thefunctioni (x) representsanarbitrarywaveform/shapedistributedinspacealong
thetransmissionline.Forexample,itcouldlooklikethis:

Figure3.Arbitrarywaveform i+ (x)attimet=0s

Nowconsiderwhathappensattimet=1s,thefunctioni+ (x v) hasthesameshapeasthefunctionabove,but
istranslatedtotherightbyv metres:

Figure4.Arbitrarywaveform i+ (x v) attimet=1s

+
Whatwecanconcludeisthatthefunctioni (x vt) isanarbitrarywaveformthatmaintainsitsshapebut
movesinthedirectionofthereceivingendwithincreasingtimeatspeedv m/s.Thisiscalledaforward
travellingwave.

Wecanusesimilarlogictoconcludethatthefunctioni (x + vt) isanarbitrarywaveformthatmovesinthe
oppositedirection(i.e.inthedirectionofthesendingend).Thisisreferredtoasabackwardtravellingwave.

GenericLossySinglePhaseLines
Considerthegenericsinglephasedistributedparameterlinemodeloflengthl metresshowninFigure5.
AnalysingthecircuitusingKirchhoff'slaws(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirchhoff%27s_circuit_laws)aswedid
previouslyinthelosslesscase,wecanget:

V (x, t) I (x, t)
= I (x, t)R L
x t

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Figure5.Agenericsinglephasedistributedparameterlinemodel

I (x, t) V (x, t)
= V (x, t)G C
x t

1
WhereG = istheshuntconductance.
R sh

Differentiatingthevoltageequationwithrespecttoxandthecurrentequationwithrespecttot:
2 2
V (x, t) I (x, t) I (x, t)
= R L ...Equ.(7)
2
x x x t

2 2
I (x, t) V (x, t) V (x, t)
= G C ...Equ.(8)
2
x t t t

SubstitutingEqu.(8)intoEqu.(7),weget:
2 2
V (x, t) I (x, t) V (x, t) V (x, t)
= R + LG + LC ...Equ.(9)
2 2
x x t t

IfweweretosetR=G=0intheequationabove,thenwewouldgetthesametransmissionlinewaveequationas
Equ.(5)inthelosslesscase.

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However,whilethereisageneralsolutiontothelosslesslineusingd'Alembert'sformula(http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/D%27Alembert%27s_formula)(asshownearlier),thegenericlossylinedoesnothaveaneat,closedform
solution.

FrequencyDomainDerivation
Intheprecedingsections,thetravellingwavemodelwasdevelopedpurelyinthetimedomain.Anotherwayof
lookingatthetravellingwavemodelistoderiveitfirstinthefrequencydomainandthenconvertittothetime
domain.Recallfromthesteadystate(frequencydomain)distributedparametermodelthatthesendingendvoltage
andcurrentcanberelatedtothereceivingendquantitiesasfollows:

cosh(l) Zc sinh(l)
Vs Vr

=



1
I
Is sinh(l) cosh(l)
r
Zc

where
= zy isthepropagationconstant(m1 )

z
Zc = isthecharacteristicimpedance()
y

z = R + jl andy = G + jC aretheseriesimpedanceandshuntadmittancerespectively

Withsomestraightforwardalgebraicmanipulation,thesteadystateequationsabovecanberepresentedinthe
followingform:
l
Vr + Zc I r = (Vs + Zc I s )e ...Equ.(10)

ThetimedomainmodelcanbederivedbycalculatingtheinverseFouriertransform(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F
ourier_inversion_theorem)ofEqu.(10).

Inthelosslesscase(i.e.R=G=0.),thepropagationconstantandcharacteristicimpedanceareasfollows:



= zy = (jL)(jC ) = jLC

z (jL) L
Zc = = =
y (jC ) C

ApropertyofFouriertransforms(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourier_transform#Functional_relationships)isthat
multiplyingbyacomplexexponentialinthefrequencydomainresultsinatimeshiftinthetimedomain.
Therefore,takingtheinverseFouriertransformofEqu.(10)forthelosslesscase,weget:

L L
vr (t) + ir (t) = vs (t LC l) + is (t LC l)
C C

Thelosslesscaseaboveshowsthatthereceivingendquantitiesareessentiallytimeshifted(past)versionsofthe
sendingendquantities,aswasderivedearlierusingd'Alembert'sformula.

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Inthegenerallossycase,thecharacteristicimpedanceisnotascalarconstant(butratherafunctionoffrequency
Zc () )andthepropagationconstantdoesnotleadtoasimpletimeshiftinthetimedomain.Therefore,the

inverseFouriertransformofEqu.(10)leadstoaseriesofmessyconvolutions(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convol
ution):

vr (t) + zc (t) ir (t) = [vs (t) + zc (t) is (t)] a(t)

wherea(t) istheinverseFouriertransformofe()l

zc (t) istheinverseFouriertransformofZc ()

Ascanbeimagined,theconvolutionintegralsintheequationabovearenotneatlysolvable.

MulticonductorLines
Thetravellingwavelinemodelforthesinglephaselosslesslinecanbeextendedtoamulticonductorlineofn
conductorsbyreplacingthevoltageandcurrentquantitieswithn 1 vectors,e.g.forathreephase,three
conductorline:

Va (x, t) I a (x, t)

V (x, t) = V (x, t)
b
,I (x, t) = I (x, t)
b

Vc (x, t) I c (x, t)

Andtheinductanceandcapacitance(perunitlength)withn n matricestocapturethemutualcouplingbetween
phases,e.g.forathreephase,threeconductorline:

Laa Lab Lac

[L] = L Lbb Lbc
ba

Lca Lcb Lcc

Caa Cab Cac

[C ] = C Cbb Cbc
ba

Cca Ccb Ccc

Thetransmissionlinewaveequationsforthesinglephasemodel(seeequations(5)and(6)above)cannowbere
writtenforthemulticonductormodelasfollows:
2 2
V (x, t) V (x, t)
= [L][C ] ...Equ.(10)
2 2
x t

2 2
I (x, t) I (x, t)
= [C ][L] ...Equ.(11)
2 2
x t

Unlikethesinglephasecase,thereisnogeneralsolutiontothesecondorderdifferentialequations(10)and(11)
sincethematrixproduct[L][C]istypicallyfull(i.e.offdiagonalsarenonzero).Tosolvethesedifferential
equations,amodaltransformationisrequiredtodecouplethephases(refertothissectionofthedistributed
parameterlinearticleformoredetailsonthemodaltransformation).

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Thevoltageandcurrentvectorsaretransformedfromthephasedomaintothemodaldomainbythen n
transformationmatrices[Tv ] and[Ti ] ,suchthat:

V (x, t) = [Tv ]V (x, t)

I (x, t) = [Ti ]I (x, t)

whereV (x, t) andI (x, t) arethemodalvoltageandcurrentvectors,i.e.

V0 (x) I 0 (x)

V

(x, t) = V (x)
1
,I
(x, t) = I (x)
1

V2 (x) I 2 (x)

Thetransformationmatrices[Tv ] and[Ti ] areselectedsuchthattheyaretheeigenvectors(http://en.wikipedia.or

g/wiki/Eigenvectors)of[L][C]and[C][L]respectively(notethattheyhavethesameeigenvalues).

Inthemodaldomain,equations(10)and(11)canberewrittenassetsofdecoupledequations,i.e.
2 2
d V0 (x,t) d V0 (x,t)

2
dx 2 dt


0

2 2
d V1 (x,t) d V1 (x,t)


=
1
2


...Equ.(12)
dx 2 dt

2


2 2
d V2 (x,t) d V2 (x,t)

dx 2 dt
2

2 2
d I0 (x,t) d I0 (x,t)

2
dx 2 dt


0

2 2
d I1 (x,t) d I1 (x,t)


=
1
2


...Equ.(13)
dx 2 dt

2


2 2
d I2 (x,t) d I2 (x,t)

dx 2 2
dt

Thesemodaldifferentialequationscanthenbesolvedindividuallyusingd'Alembert'sformula(http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/D%27Alembert%27s_formula).Forexample,thesolutionformode0is:
+
I0 (x, t) = i (x v0 t) + i (x + v0 t)
0 0

+
V0 (x, t) = v (x v0 t) + v (x + v0 t)
0 0

1
wherev0 =

isthevelocityofpropagationformode0(m/s)
0

+
i (t) andi (t) arecurrentfunctionsformode0
+
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v (t) andv (t) arevoltagefunctionsformode0

Oncemodaldomainquantitiesarecalculated,thenthephasedomainquantitiescanbefoundbyapplyingthe
inversetransformation.

Finally,itshouldbenotedthatthegeneralsolutionusingthemodaltransformationonlyappliestolosslessmulti
conductorlines.Thegenericlossylinesuffersfromthesameissuesasdescribedearlierforthelossysinglephase
line,i.e.multiplecrosscouplingtermsthatrenderd'Alembert'sformulaunusable.

FrequencyDependencyofLineParameters
Sofar,wehavedescribedtheperunitlengthinductance(L),capacitance(C),resistance(R)andconductance(G)
parametersofthelineasfixedandconstantforthefullrangeoffrequencies.However,thisisnotavalid
assumption,particularlyathighfrequencies.Forexample,theskineffect(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_effect)
leadstohigherresistancesathigherfrequencies.Itisthereforemorecorrecttocharacterisethelineparametersas
havingfrequencydependencies,i.e.L() ,C () ,R() andG() .

RelatedTopics
OverheadLineModels
DistributedParameterLineModel
BergeronLineModel
FrequencyDependentLineModel

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