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A Simple Substation
Grounding Grid Analysis
Using Autogrid Pro
2012 Release
REVISION RECORD
January 2001 9 0
November 2002 10 0
June 2004 11 0
December 2006 13 0
January 2012 14 0
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SPECIAL NOTE
Due to the continuous evolution of the Autogrid Pro software, you may find that some
of the screens obtained using the present version of the Autogrid Pro package are
slightly different from those appearing in this manual. Furthermore, small differences
in the reported and plotted numerical values may exist due to continuous
enhancements of the computation algorithms.
Copyright 2000-2012 Safe Engineering Services & technologies ltd. All rights reserved.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1-1
1.1 OBJECTIVE ............................................................................................................................................... 1-1
1.2 GROUNDING PROBLEM .......................................................................................................................... 1-2
1.3 COMPUTER MODELLING TOOL ............................................................................................................. 1-2
1.4 METHODOLOGY OF THE GROUNDING DESIGN .................................................................................. 1-2
1.5 ORGANIZATION OF THE MANUAL......................................................................................................... 1-3
1.6 SOFTWARE NOTE .................................................................................................................................... 1-4
1.7 FILE NAMING CONVENTIONS ................................................................................................................ 1-4
1.8 WORKING DIRECTORY ........................................................................................................................... 1-5
1.9 INPUT AND OUTPUT FILES USED IN TUTORIAL .................................................................................. 1-6
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DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM & DEFINITION OF THE SYSTEM DATA ................. 2-1
2.1 THE SUBSTATION GROUNDING SYSTEM ............................................................................................ 2-1
2.2 THE OVERHEAD TRANSMISSION LINE NETWORK ............................................................................. 2-2
2.3 THE SUBSTATION TERMINALS.............................................................................................................. 2-3
2.4 THE SOIL CHARACTERISTICS ............................................................................................................... 2-3
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PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS & USING AUTOGRID PRO ...................................................... 3-1
3.1 PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS ......................................................................................................................... 3-1
3.2 USING AUTOGRID PRO ........................................................................................................................... 3-2
3.2.1 STARTING AUTOGRID PRO ....................................................................................................... 3-2
3.2.2 WORKING WITH PROJECTS AND SCENARIOS ....................................................................... 3-3
3.2.3 SPECIFYING DATA FOR A SCENARIO ...................................................................................... 3-4
3.2.4 PROCESSING A SCENARIO ....................................................................................................... 3-5
3.2.5 ADDING NEW SCENARIOS......................................................................................................... 3-5
3.2.6 CLOSING A PROJECT ................................................................................................................. 3-6
3.2.7 ENDING YOUR AUTOGRID PRO SESSION ............................................................................... 3-6
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CREATING A PROJECT AND SCENARIO ....................................................................... 4-1
4.1 START-UP PROCEDURES ....................................................................................................................... 4-1
4.1.1 CREATING A NEW PROJECT ..................................................................................................... 4-4
4.1.2 OPENING AN EXISTING PROJECT ............................................................................................ 4-6
4.1.3 USING THE PROJECT ................................................................................................................. 4-6
4.1.4 FILES THAT ARE PART OF THE PROJECT ............................................................................... 4-7
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TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONT’D)
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SOIL RESISTIVITY DATA ENTRY .................................................................................... 5-1
5.1 A HORIZONTAL TWO-LAYER SOIL MODEL ......................................................................................... 5-1
5.2 SOIL RESISTIVITY DATA ENTRY ........................................................................................................... 5-2
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INITIAL GROUNDING GRID DESIGN ............................................................................... 6-1
6.1 DATA ENTRY ............................................................................................................................................ 6-1
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FAULT CURRENT DISTRIBUTION ANALYSIS ................................................................ 7-1
7.1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 7-1
7.2 PREPARATION OF THE INPUT DATA ................................................................................................... 7-2
7.2.1 DATA ENTRY ............................................................................................................................... 7-3
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PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF EAST CENTRAL SUBSTATION ............................ 8-1
8.1 SAFETY CRITERIA................................................................................................................................... 8-1
8.1.1 TOUCH VOLTAGES .................................................................................................................... 8-2
8.1.2 STEP VOLTAGES ........................................................................................................................ 8-2
8.1.3 GPR MAGNITUDE ....................................................................................................................... 8-3
8.1.4 GPR DIFFERENTIALS ................................................................................................................. 8-3
8.1.5 DETERMINING SAFE TOUCH AND STEP VOLTAGE LEVELS ................................................ 8-3
8.1.6 A SIMPLER WAY TO SPECIFY THE LOCATION OF OBSERVATION POINTS ....................... 8-5
8.2 PLOTS AND REPORTS ........................................................................................................................... 8-5
8.2.1 SELECTING PLOTS AND REPORTS ......................................................................................... 8-5
8.2.2 CUSTOMIZING PLOTS ................................................................................................................ 8-8
8.2.3 CARRYING OUT THE COMPUTATIONS AND PRODUCING THE PLOTS AND
REPORTS .................................................................................................................................... 8-9
8.3 ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS .............................................................................................................. 8-10
8.3.1 USING THE GRAREP UTILITY ................................................................................................. 8-10
8.3.2 GENERAL INFORMATION REPORTS ...................................................................................... 8-11
8.3.3 SOIL RESISTIVITY ANALYSIS .................................................................................................. 8-13
8.3.4 GROUND GRID PERFORMANCE AND SAFETY ANALYSIS .................................................. 8-15
8.3.5 COMPUTATION OF FAULT CURRENT DISTRIBUTION ......................................................... 8-21
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REINFORCING THE GROUNDING SYSTEM ................................................................... 9-1
9.1 EXPONENTIAL GRID DESIGN ................................................................................................................ 9-1
9.1.1 CREATING THE EXPONENTIAL GRID SCENARIO ................................................................... 9-1
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TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONT’D)
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Chapter 1. Introduction
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 OBJECTIVE
This How To… Engineering Guide shows you how to carry out a typical substation grounding
design using the AutoGrid Pro software package. The AutoGrid Pro package combines the
computational power of the engineering modules RESAP, MALT and FCDIST of the CDEGS
software package with a simple, largely automated interface. The result is an-easy-to use, yet
powerful, grounding analysis program. A step-by-step approach is used to illustrate how to use the
program to input your data, carry out the computation and explore the computation results.
If you are anxious to start entering data and running AutoGrid Pro you may do so by reading Section
1.5 of this chapter and skipping the rest of this chapter and Chapter 2. We strongly recommend,
however, that you refer to the skipped sections to clarify items related to input files, system
configuration and data, file sharing and design methodology.
Please call SES’ toll-free support line with any questions you may have, as you work through
this manual. Call us collect at +1-450-622-5000 if you do not have this number handy. You can
also E-mail us questions at Support@sestech.com.
Page 1-1
Chapter 1. Introduction
This software integrates all the tools required for such an analysis. It includes:
A soil resistivity analysis module to determine the soil structure from soil resistivity
measurements.
A fault current distribution analysis module to compute the fraction of the fault current that is
discharged in the grounding grid.
A grounding module that computes the response of the grounding grid to the fault current.
A safety analysis module that computes the touch and step potentials above the grid and
compares them to safety limits deduced from the relevant standards.
The results are presented in graphical and tabular form; several detailed reports are available.
Page 1-2
Chapter 1. Introduction
Step 1 The first step of the study is aimed at determining a soil model that is equivalent to the real
earth structure. This is done using the soil resistivity analysis module, RESAP. Any of
several soil type models can be selected by the design engineer as an approximation to the
real soil (uniform, two-layer, multilayer, etc.).
Step 2 Based on experience and on the substation ground bonding requirements, a preliminary
grounding system configuration is developed and a simulation is carried out (initial design).
Step 3 The configuration and characteristics of the transmission lines connecting this substation to
adjacent substations are defined. This allows the program to determine what fraction of the
total fault current actually flows into the grounding grid of the studied substation.
Step 4 The calculated results are analyzed and various computation plots and printout reports are
examined to determine if all design requirements are met. In particular, the safe touch and
step voltage thresholds are determined, based on the applicable standards and regulations,
and are compared to the computed values.
Step 5 If not all design requirements are met or if all these requirements are exceeded by a
considerable margin, suggesting possible significant savings, design modifications to the
grounding system or to the transmission line network are made and the design analysis is
restarted. This normally involves carrying out Step 2, then Steps 4 and 5.
Step 6 If seasonal soil resistivity variations must be taken into account, then the entire analysis is
repeated for every realistic soil scenario and the worst-case scenario is used to develop the
final design.
In accordance with the design methodology described above, the manual is organized as follows:
Chapter 2 outlines the problem being modeled and defines the system data required for the study.
Chapter 3 briefly introduces the components of the AutoGrid Pro program and also describes in
general how to work with Projects and Scenarios in AutoGrid Pro.
Chapter 4 shows how to get started with the program by creating a project and first scenario.
Chapter 5 describes the data entry for the soil measurements module (RESAP), which is used to
interpret the soil resistivity data based on measurements taken at East Central Substation (Step 1).
Chapter 6 presents the initial design of the grounding system. It describes in detail how to use
AutoGrid Pro to set up the initial design of the grounding grid at East Central Substation (Step 2).
Chapter 7 describes data entry for the fault current distribution module (FCDIST), which is used to
determine the fault current distribution (for the fault current simulations) between the transmission
line static wires, distribution line neutral wires, and the substation grounding grid (Step 3).
Chapter 8 presents the ANSI/IEEE safety criteria applicable to substation grounding. The fault
simulation results are presented in graphical and report formats. Grid potential (GPR), touch
voltages, and step voltages are provided in detail (Step 4).
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Chapter 1. Introduction
Chapter 9 presents the design of the reinforced grounding system. It describes how you can easily
repeat the computations from Chapters 6 and 7 to meet the safety criteria (Step 5).
Chapter 10 shows how to use the GRServer program to examine the computation results of AutoGrid
Pro in greater detail.
In Chapter 11, the conclusions of the study are summarized. Step 6 is not considered in this manual.
XY_JobID.Fnn
where XY is a two-letter abbreviation corresponding to the name of the program which created the
file or which will read the file as input. The JobID consists of string of characters and numbers that
is used to label all the files produced during a given CDEGS run. This helps identify the
corresponding input, computation, results and plot files. The nn are two digits used in the extension
to indicate the type of file.
The abbreviations used for the various CDEGS modules are as follows:
* The SICL module is used internally by the Input Toolbox data entry interface. The CSIRPS
module is used internally by the Output Toolbox and GRServer – graphics and report
generating interface.
The following four types of files are often used and discussed when a user requests technical support
for the software:
Page 1-4
Chapter 1. Introduction
.F05 Command input file (for engineering applications programs). This is a text file that can
be opened by any text editor (WordPad or Notepad) and can be modified manually by
experienced users.
.F09 Computation results file (for engineering applications programs). This is a text file that
can be opened by any text editor (WordPad or Notepad).
.F21 Computation database file (for engineering applications programs). This is a binary file
that can only be loaded by the CDEGS software for reports and graphics display.
.F33 Computation database file (for engineering applications programs MALZ and HIFREQ
only). This is a binary file that stores the current distribution to recover.
For further details on CDEGS file naming conventions and JobID, please consult CDEGS Help
under Help | Contents | File Naming Conventions.
Page 1-5
Chapter 1. Introduction
You may prefer to use a different working directory. Either way, you should take note of the full
path of your working directory before running AutoGridPro, as you will need this information to
follow this tutorial.
All input files used in this tutorial are supplied on your DVD. These files are stored during the
software installation under documents\Howto\AutoGrid Pro (where documents is the SES software
documentation directory, e.g., C:\Users\Public\Documents\SES Software\version, and version is the
version number of your SES Software) Note that this folder is a distinct folder than the SES software
installation directory, e.g, C:\Program Files\SES Software\version (where version is, again, the
version number of your SES Software).
For those who prefer to load the input files into the software and simply follow the tutorial, you can
copy all of the files from the documents\Howto\AutoGrid Pro directory to your working directory.
After the tutorial has been completed, you may wish to explore the other How To… Engineering
manuals which are available as PDF files on the SES Software DVD in the folder \PDF\HowTo.
If the files required for this tutorial are missing or have been modified, you will need to manually
copy the originals from the SES Software DVD.
Both original input and output files can be found in the following directories on the SES Software
DVD:
Note that the files found in project directory should be copied directly into the working directory.
Page 1-6
Chapter 2. Description of the Problem & Definition of the System Data
CHAPTER 2
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM &
DEFINITION OF THE SYSTEM DATA
The system being modeled is located in an isolated area (i.e., not in an urban area and not close to
any pipelines), where there are no
major geological disturbances
(ocean, rivers, valleys, hills, etc.). It
consists of the following three major
)
km
so V
1
Newhaven components (see Figure 2.1):
k
r1
0
23
Terminal
ile
m
.8 (Rg= 0.3 A) 1. The substation and
(6
Page 2-1
Chapter 2. Description of the Problem & Definition of the System Data
(100,60,0.5)
100 m
60 m
(0,0,0.5)
Figure 2.2 Initial Design of the Grounding System at the East Central Substation
Note that more complex grid shapes can easily be created: conductors may be modeled in any 3-
dimensional orientations.
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Chapter 2. Description of the Problem & Definition of the System Data
In this study, we assume that the highest fault current discharged into the earth by the East Central
Substation grid occurs for a 230 kV single-phase-to-ground fault at East Central Substation on Phase
B2 of Circuit 2 1 . Let us suppose that short-circuit calculations carried out by the power utility
provide the following fault current contributions from Phase B2 of each terminal substation for a
fault at East Central:
1
Note that it is usually conservative to model a fault occurring on the phase furthest from the static wires, since this
results in the lowest current pulled away from the substation grounding grid by means of magnetic field induction
between the faulted phase and the static wires. Other scenarios can of course be investigated with the software.
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Chapter 2. Description of the Problem & Definition of the System Data
1
Also known as the “a” spacing associated with the Wenner technique.
2
These values are used to determine soil resistivities close to the surface with better accuracy. Knowing these values is
therefore important only for the first few pin spacings. At larger spacings, as a practical matter, the current probes should
be driven deeper in order to increase the strength of the signal measured between two potential probes.
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Chapter 3. Program Highlights & Using Autogrid Pro
CHAPTER 3
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS & USING
AUTOGRID PRO
In this chapter, we will briefly describe the highlights and major functions of the program. A more
detailed description of the program’s capabilities will be given in the chapters that follow. The on-
line help provides further detailed descriptions about each module.
Soil resistivities: specify the measured resistivities or the soil layer resistivities and thicknesses
directly (if they are already known).
The grounding grid: use a grid creation wizard, import a preliminary design from a DXF file
created by a CAD package, or else draw the grid directly using the graphical tools of SESCAD
or combine these three methods.
Fault currents: directly specify the component of the fault current injected into the earth by the
grounding grid or let the program compute it based on the network specification. Use the
transmission line databases to quickly describe the network for this calculation.
Safety-related data: specify at what locations earth potentials (and therefore touch and step
voltages) should be computed or let the program decide automatically.
Desired reports and plots: select which reports and plots the program should generate, from an
extensive, predefined list.
Once the data has been entered, simply click Process and let the program do the rest. The program
will compute everything that is necessary, produce the requested reports and plots and display them.
AutoGrid Pro computes only what is needed. Changing the network configuration, for instance, can
affect the fault current component injected into the earth by the grounding grid and therefore the
safety-related quantities. Only these quantities will be recomputed before producing the output. On
the other hand, adding conductors to the grid can affect the grid’s impedance, the fault current
component injected into the earth and the earth potentials, in addition to the safety-related quantities.
All of these quantities are therefore recomputed before producing the output in such a case.
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Chapter 3. Program Highlights & Using Autogrid Pro
Figure 3.1 The Main Screen of Autogrid Pro and Some Auxiliary Screens.
The AutoGrid Pro screen also displays a Project toolbox, floating on the right-hand side of the
screen, which is not available in SESCAD. The Project menu item at the top of the screen also gives
access to this new functionality of AutoGrid Pro. (Note: this section will show how to use the
Project menu item to control the application; the same functionality is available most of the time,
from the Project Toolbox.)
The main screen is used to create, modify and view the grounding grid and acts as a controller for
the program. Several other screens are available, coordinated by the AutoGrid Pro Project Toolbox.
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Chapter 3. Program Highlights & Using Autogrid Pro
Before anything can be done with AutoGrid Pro, a project must be created (or an existing one must
be opened).
To create a new project, select Project | New Project. You will be prompted for the location and
name of the project as well as for the name and location of the first scenario of this project. The new
project is created under the filename ‘Project Name’.agp and the scenario under the filename
‘Scenario Name’.ags where ‘Project Name’ and ‘Scenario Name’ are the names provided for the
project and scenario, respectively. You may drag and drop existing directory to new project and
scenario file location text-boxes. (Note: Experienced CDEGS users may wonder what are the JobID
and Working Directory for the scenario. The answer is that the ‘Scenario Name’ will be used as the
JobID and the selected location for the scenario will be used as working directory. While the concept
of JobID and Working Directory is no longer used in AutoGrid Pro, it may help to know that the
database and output files are still produced using the traditional conventions. For example, the
database file for Malt will be produced in the scenario directory under the name mt_‘Scenario
Name’.f21.)
To open an existing project, select Project | Open Project. This will bring up a file browser that
allows you to select an existing project file (with extension “AGP”). You also can drag and drop
existing project directory to Project File Location or File Name text-boxes. Note that a demo project
(called ‘Demo 1’) is available in the folder ‘SES Software\<Version>\Examples\Autogrid
Pro\Demo 1’ (where <Version> is the version number of your SES Software) in your SES Software
Document Folder directory, e.g., C:\Users\Public\Documents. It is also available on your SES
SOFTWARE DVD: \Examples\Standard\Autogrid Pro\Demo 1.
Only a single project can be opened at a given time. Therefore, if you attempt to create a new project
or open an existing one while a project is currently open, you will be prompted to save changes to
this last project and the project will be closed before opening the new one.
To save a project, select Project | Save Project or Project | Save Project As. Note that a backup of
the original file is created under the name “Backup of ‘Project Name’”.agp.
Note that you can easily see the contents of the folder containing your project files and of several
other important folders by clicking on Browse to Project Folder on the main toolbar.
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Chapter 3. Program Highlights & Using Autogrid Pro
To specify the soil structure or the soil resistivity measurement data, select Project | Define Soil
Characteristics. This brings up a dialog that allows you to define the structure of the soil
(number of layers, resistivities of the layers, etc…) if it is known or to specify resistivity
measurement data and have the program deduce the soil structure.
To specify the grounding grid and (optionally) the location of the computation points, use the
functionality of the Edit and Tools menus of the main interface. The dialog obtained from
Advanced | Network Energizations and Buried Structures is also useful to specify the fault
current directly (or other forms of grid energization) and to create other structures besides the
main grounding grid.
To specify the circuit and fault current distribution data, use Project | Define Circuit
Characteristics. The data entered in the resulting screens will allow the program to determine
how much current should be injected in the main grounding grid as a result of the fault. You can
use the computed value of the main grounding grid’s resistance or a user specified resistance for
the impedance of the central site of the circuit.
To specify the safety criteria to be used when analyzing the grounding grid, select Project |
Define Safety Criteria. The safety screens allow you to enter the threshold values for safety
when analyzing touch and step voltages as well as some parameters defining the region around
the main grid that should be assessed for safety.
To define which reports and plots the program should produce, use Project | Report
Preferences. The resulting screen offers a wide variety of reports and plots that can be produced
whenever the scenario is processed, including safety reports, touch and step voltage plots, etc…
To control the appearance of the plots, use Project | Graphics Preferences. This allows you to
specify colors, font types and size, etc… that are used when plotting.
To save the scenario, select Project | Save Scenario. Note that a backup of the original file is
created under the name “Backup of ‘Scenario Name’.ags”. To save the scenario under a different
filename, choose Project | Save Scenario As and select an appropriate filename (with the AGS
extension). Note that this will automatically change the scenario name.
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Chapter 3. Program Highlights & Using Autogrid Pro
Computation of the earth potentials and grid GPR at the fault site
When the processing begins, a window appears and displays messages regarding the progress of the
computations.
To create a new scenario, select Project | New Scenario. You will be prompted to provide a name
for the new scenario as well as (optionally) the name of an existing scenario to be used as a
reference. When a valid reference scenario is provided, the program creates a copy of that scenario
under the new name. This is convenient when you want to examine small design variations from one
scenario to the next.
You can also open one of the project’s existing scenarios by choosing Project | Open Scenario. You
will be presented with a list of the scenarios that are presently in the project, from which you can
select the desired one.
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Chapter 3. Program Highlights & Using Autogrid Pro
When the project is closed, you can still use AutoGrid Pro much as you would SESCAD, i.e., the
project functionality is disabled but everything else is available. Use Project | Open Project to open
another project.
The most recently used projects are listed at the end of the Project menu and in the Open Project
dialog, for quick access.
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Chapter 4. Creating a Project and Scenario
CHAPTER 4
CREATING A PROJECT AND SCENARIO
In this chapter, we will describe in detail how to get started by creating a new project which contains
a first scenario.
Click here
In the SES Software <Version> group folder, where <Version> is the version number of the
software, you should see the icons representing Autogrid Pro, AutoGroundDesign, CDEGS,
Right-of-Way, SESEnviroPlus, SESShield-3D and SESTLC software packages, as well as four
folders. The Documentation folder contains help documents for various utilities and software
packages. The Program Folders provides shortcuts to programs, installation and projects folders.
The System folder allows you to conveniently set up security keys. Various utilities can be found in
the Tools folder. The main function of each software package and utility is described hereafter.
SOFTWARE PACKAGES
Autogrid Pro provides a simple, integrated environment for carrying out detailed grounding
studies. This package combines the computational powers of the engineering programs RESAP,
MALT and FCDIST with a simple, largely automated interface.
AutoGroundDesign offers powerful and intelligent functions that help electrical engineers
design safe grounding installations quickly and efficiently. The time devoted to design a safe and
also cost-effective grounding grid is minimized by the use of automation techniques and
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Chapter 4. Creating a Project and Scenario
appropriate databases. This module can help reduce considerably the time needed to complete a
grounding design.
SESShield-3D is a powerful graphical program for the design and analysis of protective
measures against lightning for substations and electrical networks. Its 3D graphical environment
can be used to model accurately systems with complex geometries.
SESTLC is a simplified analysis tool useful to quickly estimate the inductive and conductive
electromagnetic interference levels on metallic utility paths such as pipelines and railways
located close to electric lines (and not necessary parallel to them), as well as the magnetic and
electric fields of arbitrary configurations of parallel transmission and distribution lines. It can
also compute line parameters.
CDEGS is a powerful set of integrated engineering software tools designed to accurately analyze
problems involving grounding, electromagnetic fields, electromagnetic interference including
AC/DC interference mitigation studies and various aspects of cathodic protection and anode bed
analysis with a global perspective, starting literally from the ground up. It consists of eight
engineering modules: RESAP, MALT, MALZ, SPLITS, TRALIN, HIFREQ, FCDIST and
FFTSES. This is the primary interface used to enter data, run computations, and examine results
for all software packages other than Right-of-Way, Autogrid Pro, AutoGroundDesign, SESTLC,
SESShield-3D and SESEnviroPlus. This interface also provides access to the utilities listed
below.
TOOLS
AutoTransient automates the process required to carry out a transient analysis with the HIFREQ
and FFTSES modules
CETU simplifies the transfer of Right-of-Way and SPLITS output data to MALZ. A typical
application is the calculation of conductive interference levels in an AC interference study.
FFT21Data extracts data directly from FFTSES’ output database files (File21) in a spreadsheet-
compatible format or in a format recognized by the SESPLOT utility.
GraRep is a program that displays and prints graphics or text files. For more information on
GraRep see Chapter 6 of the Utilities Manual or invoke the Windows Help item from the menu
bar.
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Chapter 4. Creating a Project and Scenario
GRServer is an advanced output processor which displays, plots, prints, and modifies
configuration and computation results obtained during previous and current CDEGS sessions.
GRSplits plots the circuit models entered in SPLITS or FCDIST input files. This program
greatly simplifies the task of manipulating, visualizing and checking the components of a
SPLITS or FCDIST circuit.
GRSplits-3D is a powerful interactive 3D graphical environment that allows you to view and
edit the circuit data contained in SPLITS input files and to simultaneously visualize the
computation results.
ROWCAD is a graphical user interface for the visualization and specification of the geometrical
data of Right-of-Way projects. Its 3D graphical environment can be used to visualize, specify
and edit the path data of Right-of-Way, and to define the electrical properties of those paths.
SESAmpacity computes the ampacity, the temperature rise or the minimum size of a bare buried
conductor during a fault. It also computes the temperature of bare overhead conductors for a
given current or the current corresponding to a given temperature, accounting for environmental
conditions.
SESBat is a utility that allows you to submit several CDEGS engineering program runs at once.
The programs can be run with different JobIDs and from different Working Directories.
SESCad is a CAD program which allows you to create, modify, and view complex grounding
networks and aboveground metallic structures, in these dimensions. It is a graphical utility for the
development of conductor networks in MALT, MALZ and HIFREQ.
SESConductorDatabase gives access to the SES Conductor Database. It allows you to view the
electrical properties of conductors in the database, and to add new conductors to the database or
modify their properties.
SESGSE rapidly computes the ground resistances of simple grounding systems, such as ground
rods, horizontal wires, plates, rings, etc, in uniform soils. SESGSE also estimates the required
size of such grounding systems to achieve a given ground resistance.
SESPlot provides simple plots from data read from a text file.
SESScript is a simple programming language that automatically generates input files for
parametric analyses.
SESShield provides optimum solutions for the protection of transmission lines and substations
against direct lightning strikes and optimizes the location and configuration of shield wires and
masts in order to prevent the exposure of energized conductors, busses and equipment. It can also
perform risk assessment calculations associated with lightning strikes on various structures.
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Chapter 4. Creating a Project and Scenario
SESSystemViewer is a powerful 3D graphics rendition software that allows you to visualize the
complete system including the entire network and surrounding soil structure. Furthermore,
computation results are displayed right on the system components.
SoilModelManager is a software tool that automates the selection of soil model structures that
apply during various seasons.
SoilTransfer utility allows you to transfer the soil model found in several SES files into several
MALT, MALZ or HIFREQ input (F05) files.
TransposIT is a tool for the analysis of line transpositions on coupled electric power line
circuits. To ensure that voltage unbalance is kept within predefined limits, it allows the user to
determine the optimal number of power line transpositions and their required locations.
WMFPrint displays and prints WMF files (Windows Metafiles) generated by CDEGS or any
other software.
The Open Project dialog screen shown below is the starting point of every AutoGrid Pro session.
As mentioned in Chapter 3, a project must be created (or an existing one must be opened), before
anything can be done with AutoGrid Pro. The Open Project dialog allows you to open an existing
project (either from a list of recently used projects, by browsing to an AGP project file, or by
dragging directory to Project File Location text-box) or to create a new project. In this case, the
name and path of the project should be provided, as well as the name and path of its first scenario.
The program suggests default values for all these fields.
At this time, a new project should be created. If you prefer to load the finished project and follow
along, please follow the instructions of Section 4.1.2 instead.
Page 4-4
Chapter 4. Creating a Project and Scenario
from the Project Name. However, to keep things simple, it is usually recommended to keep the
same name for the Project File Location and the Project Name.
Page 4-5
Chapter 4. Creating a Project and Scenario
Wizard: Loads the AutoGrid Pro Wizard that guides you through a typical session (not yet
available).
Settings: Specify your general personal preferences here.
Circuit: Specify the power lines connected to the substation if you wish to have the program
calculate the split of fault current between the grounding grid and earth return conductors such as
Page 4-6
Chapter 4. Creating a Project and Scenario
static wires and neutral conductors. Note that conductive earth return wires can decrease fault
current injected into the earth by the grid by 50% or more.
Safety: Specify the criteria to be used in the safety analysis.
GRServer: Start the GRServer program (an advanced graphics processor program) to display
graphically the results of a scenario in greater detail.
Process: Initiate the computations, which end with the production of all requested plots and
reports.
The file AGP Tutorial.agp is a project file for the AGP Tutorial project. It contains the information
regarding all the scenarios defined under this project. Under the scenario subfolder Initial Design,
you will find a file Initial Design.ags, and two other files MT_Initial Design.F05 and FC_Initial
Design.F05. These files were created the moment the scenario Initial Design was created. The file
Initial Design.ags stores the data for the Scenario Initial Design. For those who have used CDEGS
software before, you may recognize that the two files MT_Initial Design.F05 and FC_Initial
Design.F05 are the input files for the MALT and FCDIST programs, respectively.
With a project and scenario defined, we are now ready to enter soil resistivity data (Chapter 5),
define the initial design of the grounding grid (Chapter 6), prepare the fault current data (Chapter 7),
evaluate the performance of the initial grid design (Chapter 8), and make final refinements to the
design.
Page 4-7
This page is intentionally left blank
Chapter 5. Soil Resistivity Data Entry
CHAPTER 5
SOIL RESISTIVITY DATA ENTRY
5.1 A HORIZONTAL TWO-LAYER SOIL MODEL
The data values listed in Table 2-1 at the end of Chapter 2 were entered as input to the soil resistivity
analysis module of the AutoGrid Pro package. This consists of the following information:
Spacing Between Probes: The distance between adjacent measurement probes.
Apparent Resistance (V/I): The apparent resistance measured at each probe spacing.
Current Probe Depth: The depth to which the current injection electrodes were driven
into the earth. This value influences the interpretation of soil resistivities at short
electrode spacings. It is an optional field data.
Potential Probe Depth: The depth to which the potential probes were driven into the
earth. This value also influences the interpretation of soil resistivities at short electrode
spacings. It is an optional field data.
The soil resistivity interpretation module RESAP is used to determine equivalent horizontally
layered soils based on the site measurements. Although RESAP is capable of producing multi-
layered soil models, it is preferable to try to fit the measured results to the simplest soil structure
(i.e., a two-layer model), at least initially. This minimizes the time required for the computations.
When a two-layer soil model is selected, the computation results lead to an equivalent two-layer soil
structure such as the one shown in Table 5-1. The “RMS Error” computed by RESAP (see Section
8.3.3) provides a quantitative indication of the agreement between the measurements and the
proposed soil model. The grounding system resistance computed by the grounding module MALT
(see Sections Chapter 6 and 8.3.4) is also shown. Note that the resistance shown here was computed
for the initial design of the grounding system of the East Central Substation.
The following section describes the steps required to determine the soil model shown in Table 5-1.
Page 5-1
Chapter 5. Soil Resistivity Data Entry
Page 5-2
Chapter 5. Soil Resistivity Data Entry
Project, or by pressing the Ctrl + S key combination as a shortcut. The data, entered up to that
point, will be saved in the RESAP input file RS_Initial Design.F05 in the “Initial Design” folder, in
addition to the project and scenario files.
If you intend to enter the data manually, proceed with this section; otherwise, you can import all the
data by proceeding as follows:
Importing Data
In the Soil Structure screen, click the Import button. Select the file “\Files For Import\RS_Initial
Design.F05” in the dialog, and then click OK. The data described in the next section will be loaded
and you will not have to enter it yourself.
You can enter comments for the other modules of the software, if you wish to, by clicking on the
buttons of the top of the screen; we will do this later, in other parts of the tutorial. (Here, enter “A
simple substation grounding grid analysis using AutoGrid Pro.” in the Project Level comment and
“Initial Design: a linearly spaced grid, without rods.” in the Scenario Level comment.)
A Run-ID Initial Design is automatically entered in the Run-Identification data entry field. The
Run-ID is useful in identifying all the plots which will be made later in Section 8.3.3.
Page 5-3
Chapter 5. Soil Resistivity Data Entry
Page 5-4
Chapter 6. Initial Grounding Grid Design
CHAPTER 6
INITIAL GROUNDING GRID DESIGN
In this chapter, we will show how to create a detailed computer model of a grounding system.
The determination of the grounding grid performance is carried out by the MALT engineering
program, which computes the grounding grid resistance, ground potential rise, earth potentials, and
thereby touch and step voltages. In fact, you can model several distinct grounding systems at the
same time, each energized with a different current or voltage: MALT will determine how they all
influence one another, allowing you to determine transferred potentials, touch voltages and step
voltages at any location. Each grounding grid (or “electrode”) consists of a group of cylindrical
conductors with any orientations and positions, although they must all be buried. All conductors you
identify as belonging to given grounding grid are automatically interconnected for you (by means of
invisible cables) and all conductors are assumed to have negligible longitudinal impedance - a fair
assumption for typical substation. As a rule of thumb, a computed ground resistance less than 0.5
indicates a possible need for modeling by other software which does account for conductor
impedance, such as SES’ MALZ software module.
At least one electrode (called “MAIN”) must be defined. It is normally used to model the main
grounding grid of the system under study (most studies only do examine a single grid). Other
electrodes (called “RETURN Ground” and “BURIED Structures”) can be defined; although they can
be used in many different ways, they are typically used to model a return electrode that collects all
the current injected in the main, (e.g., when simulating a ground impedance field test) and passive
buried structures (such as pipes or floating fences not connected to the main substation grid) which
are within the zone of influence of the main grounding grid.
In this tutorial, we will only need to define a MAIN electrode. It will be used to model the main
grounding grid at East Central Substation. For the initial design, a 100 m by 60 m grid will be
studied.
Importing Data
Select Project | Import File and select the file “\Files For Import\MT_Initial Design.F05”. The
data described in the next section will be loaded and you will not have to enter it.
Page 6-1
Chapter 6. Initial Grounding Grid Design
We will begin by defining some properties of the main grid. Select Project | Define Grounding
System Energization and Buried Structures to load the Grounding System Energization screen.
The data to be provided on this screen consists mainly of the current or voltage magnitude to be
impressed upon each grounding system modeled. It is also used to specify the presence of buried
metallic structures other than the MAIN grounding grid. Note that there is no fundamental difference
between the MAIN grounding grid, the RETURN ground, and any Buried Structures you may wish
to model. The only real differences are that the MAIN grounding grid must be defined, whereas the
other buried system are optional; furthermore this MAIN grounding grid must be energized by a
non-zero voltage or current, whereas the other buried systems, if they exist, may be either energized
or left floating.
By default, the option Use Value Calculated by the Fault Current Distribution Module (if
available) is selected. This instructs the program to use the fault current calculated in the Fault
Current Analysis module as the energization current for the grid. If the fault current distribution
calculation is not required, you can enter the magnitude of the fault current component to be injected
into the earth by the grounding grid: do this under the option Use Specified Value. The value
specified in the Magnitude field will also be used when the calculated value of the fault current is
not available yet (usually because the data specification for the fault current distribution module is
incomplete).
Page 6-2
Chapter 6. Initial Grounding Grid Design
To enter this data, select Create Object from the Edit menu. The Create Object dialog allows you
to define Conductors as well as observation Profiles (or observation points; more about those later).
Select the Detailed Grid option under Conductors and enter the coordinates of three corners of the
grid: a, b and c (as identified in the figure below). Nab indicates the total number of conductors
parallel to the x-axis, and Nac indicates the total number of conductors parallel to the y-axis. Note
that you should specify the Z coordinate as positive, to indicate that they are buried. This is generally
true in AutoGrid Pro, which considers the positive Z direction to be going down into the earth.
Page 6-3
Chapter 6. Initial Grounding Grid Design
Click the Characteristics button and assign a radius of 0.006 m (0.019 ft) to all conductors. The
value in Subdivision # specifies a minimum segmentation number for all the conductors. In this
tutorial, we leave the value of this field at 1 since the conductor segmentation generated by the node
subdivision feature is already adequate. This is explained in greater detail in the “Conductor
Subdivision” inset (see below).
The grid is now created. Click on Apply to transfer the grid to the main drawing window, then click
on Close to close the Create Object window. Note that, for simplicity, we have defined a grid with
uniformly spaced conductors in this example. However, in many cases, grids with uniformly spaced
conductors are not as efficient as grids with conductors more closely spaced towards the edge of the
grid than at its center as will be demonstrated later in this tutorial.
Conductor Subdivision
As with many computer models of physical systems, the theory behind the MALT
program requires a discrete representation of a continuous phenomenon, namely the
distribution of the current discharged to earth by the grid’s conductors. The assumption
made by the program is that every conductor segment discharges current uniformly along
its length. In order for this to represent reality accurately, the conductor segments must
be small enough.
There are several ways to generate conductor segments from the specified grid
conductors. First, the program automatically breaks all conductors at every conductor
intersection. This is called the node subdivision process. Usually, this is already enough
to guarantee accurate results, so that further intervention is unnecessary. A second,
simple way to generate the conductor segments is to enter the total number of segments
to be generated by the program in the Desired Number of Segments field of the
Grounding System Energization screen. If the total number of segments obtained after
the node subdivision is smaller than the desired number of segments, the program will
break the longer conductors into two equal length pieces, until the desired number of
segments is reached. Another way is to proceed as above, by specifying explicitly the
number of segments desired for each conductor individually. This method gives a very
fine control over the segmentation process.
Note also that it is often a good idea to do two sets of computations, the second one using
a larger number of segments (but otherwise identical to the first). The results should not
change by more than a few percent. This verifies explicitly if the number of segments
used in the computations is adequate.
To examine the touch and step voltages in and around the substation, the earth potentials should be
computed at observation points covering an area extending about 3 meters outside the substation. As
will be shown in the next section, you can let the program determine the location of suitable
observation points. On the other hand, for finer control you can also specify the observation points
explicitly. This is what we will do here.
Page 6-4
Chapter 6. Initial Grounding Grid Design
We will define a profile containing evenly spaced points and replicate this profile using the surface
entry fields. This will produce a grid of observation points at the surface of the earth above the
grounding system. Note that if you have already imported the data from a file, the computation
profiles are already specified in the Auto Grid Pro screen. Avoid generating a duplicate set of
profiles.
As for the grounding grid, the observation points can be defined using the Create Object command
under the Edit menu. Select the Detailed Surface option in the Create Object screen and enter the
data as shown in the screen below, then click on Apply and Close. This defines a rectangular surface
of observation points centered above the grid. The points are evenly spaced, being 1 meter apart both
along the x and y axes.
The data is specified by defining an observation profile, that is a linear group of NPoints evenly
spaced observation points, then by replicating this profile NProfiles times along the direction
defined in Profile Step. The original profile starts at (-3, -3, 0) and the profile points are separated
by 1 meter along the X axis.
Note that the values of NPoints and NProfiles always include the starting point and profile,
respectively. With a total of 107 points per profile and 67 profiles, the observation surface extends
from x = -3 m to x = + 103 m and from y = -3 m to y = 63 m, and therefore extends past the
perimeter of the grid by 3 meters.
Once the profiles are created, they are superposed on top of the grid already defined, which provides
a convenient way to check the positions of the observation points with respect to the grid. You can
also turn off the display of the observation points by unchecking the Profiles options in the View
menu.
Page 6-5
Chapter 6. Initial Grounding Grid Design
At this point, you have completed the data entry for the grid specification.
Page 6-6
Chapter 7. Fault Current Distribution Analysis
CHAPTER 7
FAULT CURRENT DISTRIBUTION ANALYSIS
7.1 INTRODUCTION
The touch and step voltages associated with the grounding network are directly proportional to the
magnitude of the fault current component discharged into the soil by the grounding network1. It is
therefore important to determine how much of the fault current returns to remote sources or external
grounding via the shield wires and neutral wires of the transmission lines and distribution lines
connected to the substation under study, in this case, East Central Substation. In other words, the
current discharged into the East Central Substation grounding system is smaller than the maximum
available fault current, because a portion of the fault current returns via the shield wires and neutral
wires of the power lines connected to the East Central Substation and local transformer contributions
are disregarded. In order to be able to determine the actual fault current split, a model of the
overhead transmission line network (and, when present, distribution neutrals and associated
grounding) must be built. Before this, however, it is necessary to calculate transmission and
distribution line parameters such as self and mutual inductive impedances, at representative
locations.
This work is described in the present chapter. In this study, we assume a single-phase-to-ground
fault. The engineering module FCDIST is used to compute the fault current distribution. For more
complicated fault scenarios, the engineering modules TRALIN and SPLITS of the CDEGS package
can be combined to complete the task: in this case, the line parameters are computed using the
TRALIN module, then the resulting parameters are used by the SPLITS module to compute the fault
current distribution. The How To… Engineering Guide entitled “Analysis of AC Interference
Between Transmission Lines and Pipelines” gives a detailed example on how to use TRALIN and
SPLITS to compute the fault current distribution.
As mentioned in Chapter 2, we assume that the highest fault current discharged by the East Central
grounding grid occurs for a 230 kV single-phase-to-ground fault at the East Central Substation on
Phase B2 of Circuit 2. Note that if autotransformers are involved it becomes particularly important to
examine the currents flowing into the substation in all phases of all circuits (at all voltage levels) for
the 230 kV fault in order to correctly assess the situation.
1
Strictly speaking, circulating currents flowing in grounding grid conductors from the fault location to local transformer
ground connections and to static and neutral wire ground connections also contribute to touch voltages, particularly in
large grounding grid in low resistivity soils. For typical substation applications, however, this component is relatively
small.
Page 7-1
Chapter 7. Fault Current Distribution Analysis
The impedance of the grounding grid under study. In the program, this grounding grid is
referred to as the Central Site.
The fault current sources: these are called Terminals in the program. The data to be specified
includes the magnitude and phase angle of the contribution of each terminal to the fault
current, as well as the impedance of the grounding grid at each terminal.
The electrical characteristics of the transmission lines connecting the Terminals to the
Central Site. This normally includes the geometrical configuration of the faulted phase
conductors and of the shield wires as well as the type of shield wires used; alternatively, the
line impedances can be specified explicitly. In addition, representative ground resistances of
the transmission, and distribution line towers and poles must be specified, in order to take
credit for the full benefit provided by these.
The model allows only a single-phase wire per power line; therefore, only the faulted phase and the
neutral conductors (or shield wires) are represented; the other phases are ignored. You may,
however, include an approximate of the contributions of the other phases by specifying the vector
sum of the currents flowing in the three phases of the circuit of interest as the current flowing in the
faulted phase. The average height and lateral position of the conductor bundle associated with the
faulted phase are specified in terms of their Cartesian coordinates. The positions of up to two static
or neutral wires per power line are specified in a similar manner. A concentric neutral can be
modeled instead of simple static or neutral conductors: this shield is modeled as a bundle of small
conductors arranged to form a cylinder resembling the concentric neutral.
The following input data can be extracted from the description of the circuit in Section 2.2.
Central Site
Ground Impedance: To be supplied automatically by the grounding module each time the grounding
system is modified and upon its initial creation.
Terminals
Page 7-2
Chapter 7. Fault Current Distribution Analysis
In this study, the static wires are located symmetrically with respect to the center line of the tower, at
a height of 35 m (115 feet) and at a distance of 7.3 m from the center of a tower (see Figure 2.3).
You will note that the primary purpose of the fault current analysis is to determine how much of the
fault current flows into the grounding system of the substation under study (i.e., the Central Station)
during a fault at that location and how much does not, because of alternate ground return paths
provided by static and neutral wires. The analysis will also determine the magnitude of the current
that returns to each power source, through the earth, via the terminal grounds and determine the
influence of the mutual impedances between the phase and static/neutral wires. This latter effect
manifests itself as a “trapped” current in the static/neutral wires. The computation results provide the
self-impedances of the static/neutral wires as well as the mutual impedances between the phase and
static/neutral wires for each power line modeled.
In this chapter, we will show how to set up the computer model of the transmission system
connected to East Central Substation
Importing Data
In the Network Fault Current Distribution screen, click on the Import button. Select the File
Name “\Files For Import\FC_Initial Design.F05”, then click OK. The data described in the
remainder of this chapter will be loaded and you will not have to enter it.
Page 7-3
Chapter 7. Fault Current Distribution Analysis
To begin entering the data, first type the name of the first terminal (“Greenbay”) in the Name field
and press Enter. The remaining fields on the screen should become active, allowing you to enter the
values listed in Table 7-1 for this terminal. First, enter a ground impedance of 0.2 + j 0.0 . Next, a
Page 7-4
Chapter 7. Fault Current Distribution Analysis
current of a 1226 – j 5013 Amps should be entered under Current Source, and 64 sections with a
length of 330 m and a tower ground resistance of 10 should be defined under Sections (see the
next illustration).
Page 7-5
Chapter 7. Fault Current Distribution Analysis
You can verify visually that the positions of the wires are correct by clicking on the Display button
on this screen. The resulting drawing shows a cross section of the power line defined so far. Use the
Zoom button to look at finer details of
the picture. You can click on Illustrate
to turn off the display of the power line
and return to the explanatory
illustration.
This completes the data specification for Terminal Greenbay. Click OK to return to the Network
Fault Current Distribution screen.
Since the other two terminals are very similar to the first, the simplest way to enter the
corresponding data is to create a copy of Terminal Greenbay and modify the copy to account for the
differences between the terminals. To do this, click on Copy, enter “Hudson” under Copy Terminal
Page 7-6
Chapter 7. Fault Current Distribution Analysis
To, then click OK. We must then correct the source current (722 – j 6453 Amps), grid impedance
(0.3 + j0.0 ) and number of sections for this terminal (25), as well as the ground resistances of the
towers (28 ); the other characteristics of the terminal are identical to those of Terminal Greenbay.
The remaining terminal (“Newhaven”) can be handled in a similar way.
From the Network Fault Current Distribution
screen, it is possible to view a schematic
representation of the circuit at any time by clicking
on View Circuit. This invokes the GRSplits screen,
which offers a subset of the standalone utility
GRSplits, which is shipped with AutoGrid Pro. You
can use the Help menu on this screen to obtain
more information about the plotting options.
Selecting all three terminals, then using Plot | Plot
circuit, yields the following plot, displayed in the
GraRep utility. Select File | Exit on this screen to
return to the Network Fault Current Distribution
screen.
The Display button on the Network Fault Current Distribution screen provides a quicker way to
obtain a plot of the circuit. When you click this button, a plot of the circuit appears directly on the
screen. This plot is generated using default settings for all plotting options. You can click on
Illustrate to recover the
original circuit illustration.
Page 7-7
Chapter 7. Fault Current Distribution Analysis
Finally, you can click the Properties button to bring up the screen shown below. This screen allows
you to provide comments under Case Description and to select the System of Units, as was the case
for the Soil Resistivity Data Entry in Section 0.
This concludes the data entry session for the Fault Current Analysis module. Click on OK to save
your changes.
Page 7-8
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
CHAPTER 8
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF EAST
CENTRAL SUBSTATION
Now that we have specified an initial design for our grounding grid and that we have entered the
data defining the soil structure and the characteristics of the circuit connected to the main grounding
grid, we are ready to evaluate if our proposed design is safe and adequate.
In this chapter, we will demonstrate how to carry out the computations and how to extract the
computation results. The first step consists in determining suitable safety criteria to evaluate the
performance of the grounding grid. Then, we will show how to select a few representative reports
and graphics among those offered by the program, and how to generate those reports and graphics.
These reports and graphics will then be analyzed in order to determine at what locations, if any,
mitigative measures are required.
One of the main concerns when designing grounding systems is to ensure that no electrical hazards
exist outside or within the substation during normal and fault conditions. In most cases, there are no
safety concerns during steady-state normal conditions because very little current flows in the neutral
and grounding system. This current, called residual current, rarely exceeds 10% of the nominal load
current in most electrical distribution systems. Therefore, safety is usually a concern only during
phase-to-ground faults.
In practice, most electric substations are fenced and the fence is quite often placed 1 m (3.28 feet)
inside the outer conductor loop of the grounding system. This way, a person contacting the fence
from the outside will be standing above or close to a ground conductor which will normally result in
lower touch voltages than in the case where the fence is not surrounded by such a ground conductor
loop. In this study, the fence at the East Central Substation is located 1 m inside the outer loop of the
grounding system. Furthermore a large portion of the fence is not metallic (concrete or bricks).
Therefore, unless there are concerns for transferred potentials to remote locations via overhead or
metallic paths, such as gas, oil or water pipes, railway tracks, etc., only the area delimited by the
grounding system outer loop conductor needs to be examined with respect to unsafe touch voltages.
However, step voltages must be explored everywhere inside and outside the substation site. In
general, however, step voltages are rarely a concern inside electric power substation grounding grids,
when touch voltages have been made satisfactory; outside the grid perimeter, however, step voltages
need to be checked.
Page 8-1
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
ANSI/IEEE Standard 80-2000 (North America) and IEC 479-1 (Europe) provide methodologies for
determining maximum acceptable touch and step voltages, based on the minimum current required
to induce ventricular fibrillation in a human subject. The touch and step voltage limits are a function
of shock duration (i.e., fault clearing time), system characteristics (for short fault clearing times),
body weight, and foot contact resistance (which depends on the electrical resistivity of the material,
such as crushed rock or soil, on which the person is standing, its thickness, and the subsurface soil
resistivity). The table below shows how the touch voltage limit computed in accordance with
ANSI/IEEE Standard 80 varies as a function of earth surface covering material, for a 0.3 s fault
clearing time, a system X/R ratio of 20, and a 50 kg body weight.
The crushed rock surface layer installed on the surface of the East Central Substation is 15 cm (6)
thick and has an estimated resistivity (when wet) of 3000 -m. The maximum total clearing time of
the backup relays and circuit breakers in this example is 0.3 s. The crushed rock surface layer
overlies a soil with a resistivity of 297 -m (as will be determined in Section 8.3.3). Resistivity
varies as a function of the type of rock, the size of the stones, the moisture content and the degree of
contamination (e.g., filling of the voids between stones by finer lower resistivity material). The
above table and similar ones can be produced using the Safety module, as explained in Section 8.1.5.
Inside a substation and within 1 m (3.28 ft) outside the perimeter fence, step voltages are usually
lower than touch voltages; furthermore, the maximum acceptable values are higher than for touch
Page 8-2
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
voltages. Consequently, satisfying the touch voltage safety criteria in this area normally ensures that
that the step voltage safety criteria will also be satisfied. The step voltages in the substation and in an
area extending 3 m (about 10 feet) outside the substation grounding grid will be examined. Outside
the extended area of the substation, no computations will be performed. However, it is unlikely for
hazardous step voltages to exist at such remote locations when they are safe closer to the substation.
Page 8-3
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
Page 8-4
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
As the screen indicates, the values shown on screen at this point will be modified later once the sub-
surface resistivity is known.
Moreover, the program will restrict the analysis of the touch and step voltages to the area defined by
the corresponding border offset. This means that, for the data as defined in the above screen, the step
voltages will be analyzed up to 3 meters outside the grid while the touch voltages will be analyzed
up to the edge of the grid, generally located 1 m outside the fence line.
Another advantage of using this automatic mode for the specification of the location of observation
points is that the program will automatically adjust the location of the points and of the safety
analysis areas whenever the grid is modified.
Page 8-5
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
summary of the plots and reports that were requested in this screen.
Resistivity Comparison: A report that lists the comparison of measured vs. computed apparent
resistivities (click the Advanced button to see this option).
List of Materials: A bill of materials report listing the characteristics of the conductors in the
grid.
Soil Resistivity Measurement Interpretation: A report showing the soil model deduced from
the provided measurements.
Ground Grid Performance: A report showing the resistance and other characteristics of the
main grounding grid and other grounding structures.
Fault Current Distribution: A report showing the results of the fault current distribution
analysis.
Safety Assessment: A report showing the safety table generated in Section 8.3.4.
Other reports are available, such as an ampacity assessment report, and a report listing the
computed self and mutual impedances of the conductors in the circuit (click the Advanced button
to see the options). They will not be generated in this tutorial.
On the Graphics tab, plots of touch and step voltage are selected, as well as a plot of the computed
and measured soil resistivities (as obtained from the Soil Resistivity analysis) and plots of various
quantities obtained from the Fault Current Distribution analysis. Other plots are available: the
Page 8-6
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
Scalar Potential plot shows the earth potentials above the grid, the Grounding System
Configuration plot shows the grounding system itself and the Electric Network Configuration
plot shows a schematic representation of the circuit (as was generated in Section 7.2.1). These plots
have not been requested in this tutorial.
Some of these selections can actually generate more than one plot. This, and other attributes of the
plots, can be controlled by clicking on View Options after having clicked on the pertinent item in
the window in the upper half of the screen: in this
case, click on the wording describing the option of
interest, not on the check box to the left of the
wording. For example, the options for touch voltage
plots are shown here. You can select to produce a
plot of all values of the touch voltages (Show All
Values) or a plot of only those values that are
above the safety limit for touch voltages (as defined
in the Safety screen, Section 8.3.4) or both of these
plots. For the latter plot, the regions where the
touch voltages are below the safety limits are left
transparent, making it easy to identify the
troublesome areas. Similar options are available for
step voltages. Click on Back to return to the
previous screen.
Several options are available for Fault Current
Distribution plots. You can choose to plot any
combination of the Section Span Current (i.e., the
current flowing in the shield and neutral wires
along the power lines modeled), the current
discharged into the earth by every tower and pole
along the power lines (Shunt Tower Currents)
and the ground potential rise of every tower and
pole (Shunt Tower Potentials). You can plot up to
two terminals at a time, and you can restrict the
plots to a range of towers and poles by defining the
Beginning Section and Ending Section fields
(leave these fields blank to plot all sections): recall
that each “section” represents one power line span.
Note that these plots can be helpful in gaining
insight into the behavior of the power system
modeled; however, the key data required for the
design study is to be found in the corresponding
report, as will be seen.
Page 8-7
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
The 2D Spot plots are generally the most useful for a safety analysis, since they display the touch
and step voltages above the grid as a color intensity plot superposed on a plan view of the grid:
these plots constitute contour plots, with the regions between the contour lines shaded in different
colors to make the voltage levels clearer.
Note that this selection of plot types applies only for some of the plots: those available under
Computation Plots apply only to plots of touch voltages, step voltages and scalar potentials, while
those under Configuration Plots apply only to plots of the grounding grid itself.
The plot and reports selection is now complete. Click OK to close this screen and return to the main
screen of AutoGrid Pro.
Page 8-8
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
8.2.3 Carrying Out the Computations and Producing the Plots and
Reports
Select Project | Process (or click Process on the Project Toolbar) to start the computations and
create the requested plots and reports. The program will analyze the changes you have made to the
data to determine which computations should be carried out. The following confirmation screen will
appear. This screen shows which computations the program thinks it should perform. You can
override the program’s decisions by explicitly selecting or deselecting the options. You can also use
this screen to restrict the production of plots and reports to a subset of those that were selected in the
Reports screen in the previous sections.
The computations begin once you click OK on this screen. A message screen details the progress of
the computations and shows any errors or warnings generated in the run.
You can cancel the run at any time by clicking Cancel on that screen or by choosing Project |
Cancel Processing. Once the computations are complete, the requested plots and reports are
produced and displayed in the GraRep utility, as illustrated in the next section. Copies of the plots
and reports are also stored in the ‘Results’ folder that can be found in the ‘Initial Design’ sub-folder
of your project folder. The following figure shows the content of this folder after the run. The files
with a “rep” extension are the report files and those with an “EMF” extension are the plot files. The
names of the report and plot files are pretty much self-explanatory. In case more details are desired,
the file “Results_Initial Design.txt” gives a short description of each file.
Page 8-9
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
The following section will examine each one of these files in greater detail.
Page 8-10
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
GraRep displays graphical output in its View Plots tab and textual output in its View Reports tab
(there is a third tab that can be used to display messages, but is not used in AutoGrid Pro).
Several plots can be displayed in the View Plots tab, although only one can occupy the main
viewing area. The other plots can be activated by clicking on the corresponding item in GraRep’s
Icon Queue, which appears along the right-hand edge of the screen. You can select several plots
simultaneously, and print them using File | Print Selected Plots. You can also preview the printing
using File | Print Preview.
You can zoom on any part of the plot by holding the Shift key down while dragging the mouse in
the main viewing area to create a rectangle enclosing the area of interest. To restore the picture to its
original size, select Options | Fit to Size. (Do not try to magnify any part of the plot too much: at
some point the magnification process will refuse to continue, a limitation of the operating system
control used by the software.)
The View Reports tab can also hold several text reports simultaneously. The reports are all
displayed in the same window, separated by markers like Report # 1, End Report # 1. The reports
can be printed (File | Print) and previewed before printing (File | Print Preview).
----------------------------------------------------------------
Input Data Summary Reports
----------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------
Graphics option chosen
----------------------------------------------------------------
Computation Plots
Touch Voltages
Show All Values
Show Unsafe Values Above Selected Safety Threshold
Step Voltages
Show All Values
Show Unsafe Values Above Selected Safety Threshold
Page 8-11
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
Configuration Plots
Grounding System Configuration
----------------------------------------------------------------
Types of plot selected
----------------------------------------------------------------
Computation Plots
2D Spot
Configuration Plots
Top View
The second report summarizes the input data entered for the computations. The Safety section shows
the computed touch and step voltage safety limits.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------
Project Summary
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------
Case Description ............................ A simple substation grounding grid analysis using
AutoGrid Pro.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------
Soil Structure (deduce soil structure from field resistivity measurements)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------
Measurement method...........................Wenner
Type of measurement..........................Resistance
Probe depth option...........................Account for Probe Depth
Page 8-12
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------
Network Fault Current Distribution
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------
Average soil characteristics along electric lines:
Resistivity(Ohm-m) .......................... 100
Relative Permeability (p.u.) ................ 1
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------
Safety
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------
Determine Safety Limits for Touch and Step Voltages
Safety Threshold for Touch Voltages ......... 933.1 V
Safety Threshold for Step Voltages .......... 3146.7 V
Automatic Generation of Observation Points.
Grid Border Offset for Touch Voltages ....... 0 m
Grid Border Offset for Step Voltages ........ 3 m
----------------------------------------------------------------
The computation results are written in the following reports:
----------------------------------------------------------------
Soil Resistivity Measurement Interpretation
D:\Projects\AGP Tutorial\Initial Design\Results\Soil Structure.rep
Ground Grid Perfomance
D:\Projects\AGP Tutorial\Initial Design\Results\Ground Grid Performance.rep
Fault Current Distribution
D:\Projects\AGP Tutorial\Initial Design\Results\Fault Current.rep
Safety Assessment
D:\Projects\AGP Tutorial\Initial Design\Results\Safety.rep
Resistivity Comparison
D:\Projects\AGP Tutorial\Initial Design\Results\Resistivity Comparison.rep
List of Materials
D:\Projects\AGP Tutorial\Initial Design\Results\Bill of Materials.rep
Report #2: System Input Data
Page 8-13
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
**WARNING** MORE THAN ONE SOIL MODEL CAN PRODUCE SIMILAR APPARENT RESISTIVITY
MEASUREMENT CURVES. IF YOU USE THE DEFAULT STEEPEST-DESCENT METHOD,
THEN YOU WILL MOST OFTEN OBTAIN DECENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN MEASURED
VALUES AND THE COMPUTED CURVE, WITH A REALISTIC SOIL MODEL; HOWEVER,
THE FIT MAY OCCASIONALLY BE SUB-OPTIMAL. IN SUCH CASES, THE MARQUARDT
METHOD WILL USUALLY YIELD AN EXCELLENT FIT, BUT MAY SOMETIMES SUGGEST
EXTREME RESISTIVITY VALUES. NOTE THAT DIFFERENT SOIL MODELS WILL USUALLY
YIELD SIMILAR RESULTS FOR YOUR GROUNDING SYSTEM MODELS (I.E., GPR, TOUCH &
STEP VOLTAGES), PROVIDED THAT THE GROUNDING SYSTEM IS LOCATED CLOSE TO
THE EARTH SURFACE. IF IN DOUBT, CHECK YOUR RESULTS WITH BOTH SOIL MODELS.
We have also requested a plot of the measured and computed resistivity values. This plot is the
second one displayed in the View Plots tab in GraRep (the first one shows the circuit, and was
produced earlier in Section 7.2.1). It shows a few measurement points that differ markedly from the
computed ones, a situation that explains the RMS error of 17% that was obtained in the run. Aside
from these discrepancies, the computed soil model fits the measured data quite well. This visual
check is important to evaluate the nature of the agreement between the measured data and the
computed soil model.
16.95 percent
Page 8-14
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
The quantity and size of grid conductors and rods that were used.
The characteristics of the insulating layer (surface area, thickness, volume, resistivity)
****************************************************************
List of Materials
Creation Date/Time: 7 Jan 2012/13:23:26
****************************************************************
Page 8-15
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
The next report shows a table of computed safety limits corresponding to different values of
resistivity of the insulating layer and different fault clearing times. Note the “Equivalent Sub-Surface
Layer Resistivity” entry. The value used here is the value that was computed for the resistivity of the
top soil layer, as shown in the previous section. The remaining data reflects the data we entered in
Section 8.1.5.
Report #6:
Date of run (Start) = Saturday,07 January 2012
Starting Time = 1:23:26 PM
==============================================================================
Fault Clearing Time (sec) | 0.100 | 0.200 | 0.300 |
+----------------------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
Decrement Factor | 1.232 | 1.125 | 1.085 |
Fibrillation Current (amps)| 0.367 | 0.259 | 0.212 |
Body Resistance (ohms)| 1000.00 | 1000.00 | 1000.00 |
==============================================================================
==========================================================================
| Fault Clearing Time | |
Surface |-----------------+-----------------+-----------------| Foot |
Layer | 0.100 sec. | 0.200 sec. | 0.300 sec. | Resist |
Resist |-----------------|-----------------|-----------------| ance |
ivity | Step | Touch | Step | Touch | Step | Touch | 1 Foot |
(ohm-m) |Voltage |Voltage |Voltage |Voltage |Voltage |Voltage | (ohms) |
|(Volts) |(Volts) |(Volts) |(Volts) |(Volts) |(Volts) | |
==========================================================================
Page 8-16
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
This report depicts the safety threshold values applicable to various scenarios of clearing times and
surface layer resistivities. It indicates that touch voltages of 933 V or less and step voltages of 3147
V or less are safe if a 15 cm (6) crushed rock layer with a resistivity of 3000 -m is overlying a
native soil with a resistivity of 297 -m, for a 0.3 s fault clearing time. Touch voltages of 286 V or
less and step voltages of 558 V or less are safe if no surface crushed rock is present at East Central
Substation. Note that outside the substation where there is no crushed rock, step voltages must not
exceed 558 Volts.
The next report summarizes the performance aspects of the grounding grid.
Page 8-17
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
SUBDIVISION
===========
Grand Total of Conductors After Subdivision.: 110
We also requested 5 plots related to the performance of the grounding grid. The first one (and the
next in the queue in GraRep’s View Plots tab) is a plan view of the grounding grid itself.
The following plot shows the touch voltages throughout the grid. Recall from Section 8.1 that the
touch voltages are computed up to a distance of 1 meter outside the fence line, i.e. up to the edge of
the grid. The touch voltages can reach values as large as 2.28 kV. The larger values occur in the
corners of the grid, which is typical. These values are very much above the safety limit for touch
voltages (933 Volts) that was displayed in the safety report.
Page 8-18
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
This can be verified in the next plot, which shows the “unsafe” values of the touch voltages. In this
plot, any value of the touch voltages falling below the 933 Volts limit is left transparent; therefore all
colored areas are above the limit and should be considered unsafe. Most of the plot is colored for this
initial design: we will therefore have to reinforce the grid substantially to eliminate this problem.
Page 8-19
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
The next plot shows the step voltages over an area extending up to 3 meters outside the grid. The
maximum step voltage reached is 525 Volts. This is below the safe step voltage limit computed in
the presence of crushed rock (3147 Volts). This can be verified in the step voltage plot following the
first one: only “unsafe step voltages” are colored. Since there are no colored areas over the grid, the
grid is completely safe from the point of view of step voltages. Note that the step voltages are also
safe even when there isn’t any crushed rock, since in this case the safety limit for step voltages is
558 Volts.
The situation encountered here is quite common: the touch voltages over the grid are unsafe but the
step voltages are fine. The safety requirements for step voltages are usually easier to meet than those
for touch voltages.
It is important to mention that computations of step voltages are sensitive to the location of
observation points. When the maximum computed step voltage is on the border line as compared
with the safe step voltage limit (525 V vs. 558 V for native soil in this case), it is recommended to
reduce the spacing between observation points to less than 1 m in order to capture the worst case
step voltage which are usually at the corners of a substation where earth potentials drop quickly.
Page 8-20
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
1
Terminal No. 1 : Greenbay
Number of Sections..............: 64
Ground Impedance................: 0.20000 +j 0.0000 ohms
Source Current..................: 5160.7 Amps / -76.257 degrees
Neutral Connection Impedance....: 0.0000 +j 0.0000 ohms
Span Length.....................: 330.00 m
Page 8-21
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
1
Terminal No. 2 : Hudson
Number of Sections..............: 25
Ground Impedance................: 0.30000 +j 0.0000 ohms
Source Current..................: 6493.3 Amps / -83.616 degrees
Neutral Connection Impedance....: 0.0000 +j 0.0000 ohms
Span Length.....................: 330.00 m
1
Terminal No. 3 : NewHaven
Number of Sections..............: 33
Ground Impedance................: 0.30000 +j 0.0000 ohms
Source Current..................: 5727.7 Amps / -82.526 degrees
Neutral Connection Impedance....: 0.0000 +j 0.0000 ohms
Span Length.....................: 330.00 m
1
TERMINAL GROUND SYSTEM (Magn./Angle)
The next plot on the View Plot tab of GraRep shows the “Section Current” (i.e., the current flowing
in the shield wires of the transmission line) for the first terminal of the circuit. The plot shows that a
considerable portion of the fault current (about 3000 A) leaves the fault site via the shield wires. This
current, however, quickly flows into the earth via the first few towers and then levels off to a
constant “trapped” current maintained by induction from the faulted phase.
Page 8-22
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
The next plot shows the “Shunt Current”, i.e. the current flowing in every tower structure of the
transmission line. It confirms that most of the current is discharged close to the fault site: we see that
the values drop off quite abruptly and then increase again as the terminal station is approached.
This is also reflected in the following plot (“Shunt Potential”), which shows the GPR of the tower
structures along the transmission line.
Page 8-23
Chapter 8. Performance Evaluation of East Central Substation
Page 8-24
Chapter 9. Reinforcing The Grounding System
CHAPTER 9
REINFORCING THE GROUNDING SYSTEM
The touch voltages obtained in Chapter 8 indicate that our initial design is quite far from providing a
safe ground grid design: touch voltages exceed the safe limit at most locations throughout the
substation. The highest values occur in the corner meshes of the grounding grid, which suggests that
there is a need to have more conductors towards the edge of the grounding system than towards the
central portion. This observation is consistent with analytical and experimental results. However, the
optimum or most efficient conductor compaction at the periphery of a grounding system depends on
many factors, particularly on earth structure characteristics. Moreover, practical considerations often
introduce additional constraints, which must be accounted for. In general, however, the following
crude rules of thumb can be used as a preliminary set of guidelines:
When the surface (shallow depth) soil resistivity is small compared to that of the deeper
layers (those which are not in contact with the grounding system), use grids with more
conductors at the edge than in the central area (exponentially-spaced conductors). The
degree of conductor clustering (compactness) at the periphery of the grid should increase
with an increase in the contrast between the surface and deep layer resistivities.
When the surface soil resistivity becomes larger than that of the deeper soil layers, the
clustering (compactness) ratio should decrease towards a uniform distribution of conductors
in the case where the contrast ratio is significant (5 or more) and the thickness of surface
layers is small compared to the size of the grounding system (1/5 or less).
Finally, when the surface soil resistivity is quite large compared to that of the deeper layers
and its thickness is small enough so that use of ground rods penetrating into the deeper layer
is efficient, a number of ground rods should be installed wherever possible to reduce the
GPR, touch and step voltages instead of using unequally spaced conductors.
Based on the soil model and the initial design, we will combine the first and the third methods in this
study. We will also increase the total number of conductors in the grid. The improvements will be
carried out in two steps: first, the grid itself will be modified to use a denser exponential design, then
some grounding rods will be added.
Page 9-1
Chapter 9. Reinforcing The Grounding System
Page 9-2
Chapter 9. Reinforcing The Grounding System
The simplest way to modify the grid is to use the Edit | Edit Object command. To do this, the grid
should first be selected. To select the grid, click on any point on the grid; the grid should turn red to
confirm your selection. This operation will be easier to perform if you first turn off the display of the
observation profiles. To do this, uncheck the option View | Profiles.
Once the grid is selected, select Edit | Edit Object. The screen should appear in the following page.
This screen is very similar to the Create Object screen used in Section 6.1 and is used in the same
way. Make the following changes:
Nab 7 13
Nac 9 17
Page 9-3
Chapter 9. Reinforcing The Grounding System
We have increased the number of conductors substantially and defined a compression ratio different
than 1. This last option instructs the program to bunch the conductors located towards the edge of the
grid more closely together. The ratio of the distance between successive pairs of conductors
decreases by the factor entered in this field.
The resulting screen is shown in the following page. Click OK to confirm the changes. The modified
grid will be shown in the main drawing.
Since we know that the step voltages are safe already, we will turn off the production of the step
voltage plots. Select Project | Define Safety Criteria and uncheck the Step Voltages option under
Determine Safety For. Click OK in the Safety screen to return to the main screen. (If the safety
limits are not correct, they will be updated after computations.)
Page 9-4
Chapter 9. Reinforcing The Grounding System
Once the computations are complete, the analysis of the results can
proceed as in Section 8.3. Here, we will focus only on the touch
voltages, since we know them to be problematic.
The results are shown in the following page. The maximum touch
voltage has been reduced to 1.15 kV, which is still above the safety
limit. The plot of unsafe touch voltages shows that the large values
of touch voltages are concentrated at the periphery of the grid. It is
therefore likely that adding ground rods at the corners of the grid
will fix this problem. This is what we will attempt in the next
section.
Page 9-5
Chapter 9. Reinforcing The Grounding System
To add rods to the corners of the grid, select Options | Pointer Mode | Power Tool, or simply click
on the button on the toolbar at the left of the main screen. This will load the Power Tool.
Make sure to select the Create Rod option. By default, the program will create 10 meter long rods
with a radius of 0.01 meters. We will keep these default settings, but will change the length from 10
m to 20 m.
Page 9-6
Chapter 9. Reinforcing The Grounding System
To close the Power Tool, select any other option under Options | Pointer Mode, typically Select
Objects.
Once all four rods are created, select Project | Process. Once the computations are complete, we can
look at the touch voltage plot. This time, all values are safe, the maximum value being 874 Volts,
and the analysis is complete.
Further design iterations may be required to remove or reposition some conductors to more practical
locations. Extra ground rods may be added to account for winter soil freezing or summer extreme
drought conditions. In some cases, other soil structure models may need to be analyzed to account
for inherent data uncertainties or known soil characteristic variations. In such cases, the worst-case
scenario should be retained as a reference for the final recommended grounding design
configuration.
Page 9-7
Chapter 9. Reinforcing The Grounding System
In the AutoGrid Pro, select Save Document As… under the Files menu. Select the CAD Files from
the Files of types, change the file name to “Exponential Grid With Rods.DXF” and click on OK.
The file “Exponential Grid With Rods.DXF” is created.
On a final note, it is worthwhile mentioning that when redesigning an existing grounding system
(update, upgrade, etc.), you could import the actual system configuration from a DXF-compatible
Page 9-8
Chapter 9. Reinforcing The Grounding System
CAD file by clicking the Import… under the Files menu in the AutoGrid Pro (after a New
Document is created in AutoGrid Pro). It is however important to note here that some drawings may
contain overlapping lines which will ultimately result in invalid overlapping conductors in MALT.
Furthermore, too many details such as short wire connections and bonding conductors have a
minimal impact on the grounding design performance but a significant negative impact on the
computations in terms of run time and run accuracy. One way to remove this kind of problem is to
use the minimum conductor length threshold to ignore such non-significant short conductors. This
strategy, however, can be used in MALT only and may have a negative impact on the node
subdivision process.
Page 9-9
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Chapter 10. Using GRServer
CHAPTER 10
USING GRSERVER
This chapter shows how to use the GRServer program to examine the computation results of
AutoGrid Pro in greater detail. This program allows you to produce high-quality 2D and 3D plots of
the results, and to save those plots to disk or print them. It also allows you to manipulate the plots
(e.g., rotate, translate and scale them) for better viewing. While this program is somewhat more
difficult to use than the GraRep utility (which is used by default in AutoGrid Pro), the greater quality
of the graphics it generates may well be worth the extra effort.
This chapter is not an essential part of the tutorial, and can be skipped if you are not interested in
creating plots of higher quality.
The screen shown in the following page should appear when the program first loads. The main
screen of the program displays an empty plot window, and three options (Soil, Grid and Circuit) are
available in the toolbar to the left of the screen, corresponding to the computation options in
AutoGrid Pro. These options are available as the first, second and last buttons in the toolbar. The
other buttons in that toolbar allow you to create plots for the MALZ, HIFREQ and SPLITS programs
of the CDEGS package; these are not available in AutoGrid Pro.
The Plot Options window should also be visible. This window is the main interface to create and
customize plots in GRServer. This window may disappear during the execution the program. If this
happens, you can use Plot | Options to bring it back.
Page 10-1
Chapter 10. Using GRServer
Page 10-2
Chapter 10. Using GRServer
Note that the maximum touch voltage displayed on the plot is about 1.92 kV, as opposed to 929 V
when plotted directly with AutoGrid Pro. The reason for this difference is that AutoGrid Pro restricts
the computation of the touch voltages to a region just covering the grid. This is explained in Section
8.1.6, where the Grid Border Offset for Touch Voltages is specified as 0. This information is not
transmitted to GrServer, which examines the touch voltages over the entire area covered by
observation points, namely up to 3 meters outside the grid.
You can restrict the analysis of the touch voltages to points that are located only above the grid using
the Zoom Polygon feature of GrServer. This feature allows you to restrict the display of computed
quantities (touch or step voltages) to points that lie inside a specified polygon. To restrict the
analysis to points located directly above the grid, the polygon should be a rectangle of the same size
as the grid (60 m by 100 m), with one corner at the origin of the coordinate system.
To specify this zoom polygon, first click on the More (>>) button in the Plot Options window to
open the Computations Setup screen, and select the Zoom & Report tab (on the left side of the
window). Enter the following numbers in the Search Zone Vertices Table:
Finally, click Draw. The following plot should be produced. This plot agrees with the result
obtained previously with AutoGrid Pro (Section 9.2.1).
Page 10-3
Chapter 10. Using GRServer
Several aspects of the plot can be customized. For example, the plot can be easily rotated. To do that,
select Plot | Rotate | Free or click on the last button in the program’s main toolbar, and select the
Free option. Then, drag the mouse (i.e., move the mouse while the mouse button is pressed) in the
plot area: a cube indicating the new position of the plot follows the movements of the mouse. Once
you release the mouse button, the plot is redrawn in the new position.
There are many other options to control the rotation of the plots. For instance, you can restrict the
rotation to be around one the axes of the coordinate system. You can also move the plot (Plot |
Move), scale it up and down (Plot | Scale) or zoom on any region of interest in the plot (Plot |
Zoom).
Page 10-4
Chapter 10. Using GRServer
Page 10-5
Chapter 10. Using GRServer
isn’t satisfactory, you can click on Save As again, then browse to the desired filename. Click OK in
the Save As screen to complete the operation.
You can also print the current plot, or even print all open plots or only the selected plots. To print the
currently selected plots, use File | Print (or File | Print Selected Plots if more than one plot is
currently selected) and follow the instructions in the ensuing dialogs. To print all the plots, select
File | Print All Plots.
10.5 SUMMARY
This chapter has described briefly the main features of the GRServer plotting program. The
capabilities of the program were illustrated by producing 2D and 3D plots of the touch voltage above
the grounding grid studied in scenario Exponential Grid With Rods. The program could also be used
to generate the soil resistivity plots and the fault current analysis plots for that scenario (or any
AutoGrid Pro scenario).
Only a few of the program’s options were explored. Consult GRServer’s on-line help for more
details on the options available in that program.
Page 10-6
Chapter 11. Conclusion
CHAPTER 11
CONCLUSION
This concludes our concise step-by-step instructions on how to prepare, submit and examine results
for a simple grounding analysis problem using AutoGrid Pro. You can use File | Exit to quit the
program. Accept to save the changes when prompted to do so.
Only a few of the many features of the software have been used in this tutorial. You should try the
many other options available to familiarize yourself with the CDEGS software package. Your SES
Software DVD also contains a wealth of information stored under the PDF directory. There you will
find the Getting Started with SES Software Packages manual (\PDF\getstart.pdf) which contains
useful information on the CDEGS environment. You will also find other How To…Engineering
Guides, Annual Users’ Group Meeting Proceedings and much more. All Help documents are also
available online.
Page 11-1
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Notes
NOTES