1412
July 1994
Transient Performance of Substation Grounding Systems
Subjected to Lightning and Similar Surge Currents
W. Xiong, Member IEEE
Safe Engineering Services & technologies ltd.
1544 Viel, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3M 1G4
ABSTRACT The frequency and time domain perfornuance
of a typical substation grounding system subjected to a light-
ning strike is described and discusaed. The computed swlar
potentials, electric fields and magnetic fields are presented
gmphically as a function of spacial coordinate, a8 a function
of time and as a function of both. It is believed that these
detailed results have not been published before.
First, a double exponential lightning surge cunent is in-
jected into the center of a square ground grid. This same
mlge c u m n t is then injwted at one corner of the grid. The
response of the grounding system to the fnquency domain
electromagnetic spectrum of this signal is computed bar a fre-
quency domain electromagnetic field analysis software pack-
age. Once all the frequency responses have been computed,
the temporal and spatial distributions of the electromagnetic
fields inside and near the substation are obtained by an in-
verse Fourier transformation of all these responses. The
results are compared with some well known low frequency
results and to "nt published work in this area. These re-
sults indicate that the performance of the grounding system
is significantly dependent on frequency and on the point of
impact of the lightning strike.
KEYWORDS: Lightning, Grounding, Transients, Electric
Field, Magnetic Field, Scalar Potential, Surge Current.
1 Introduction
When lightning strikes an electric substation, large currents flow
in substation and equipment structures before dissipating in the
soil through the grounding system. The electromagnetic fields
generated by such lightning surges will result in large currents
and voltages which may cause damage to equipment and may be
94 WM 139-6 PWRD A paper recommended and approved
by the IEEE Substations Committee of the IEEE Power
Engineering Society for presentation at the IEEE/PES
1994 Winter Meeting, New York, New York, January 30 -
February 3, 1994. Manuscript submitted July 27, 1993;
made available for printing November 29, 1993.
0885-8977/94/$04.00 0 1994 IEEE
IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery. Vol. 9, No. 3.
F. P. Dawalibi, Senior Member IEEE
Safe Engineering Services & technologies ltd.
1544 Viel, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3M 1G4
dangerous to personnel working nearby. Moreover, modem elec-
tronic circuits generally have weak signal levels and are sensitive
to various kinds of electromagnetic disturbances. The undesir-
able electromagnetic fields induced by the lightning current may
cause measurement error or result in damage to the electronic
circuitry. The grounding system should therefore be designed so
that these electromagnetic fields do not exceed acceptable levels.
These acceptable levels are defined in several publicationsboth in
terms of safety [ll,121 and equipment susceptibility [1515]. The
reader interested in acceptable EM levels should consult IEEE
Transactions on EMC for extensive references on this subject.
The ability to compute frequency and time domain responses fol-
lowing a lightning strike or a switching surge provides unique
opportunities to develop more efficient bonding and grounding
systems as well as mitigative measures to reduce touch voltages
and electrical stresses on equipment.
It is therefore important to predict accurately the distribution
of currents flowing along the various metallic paths followed by
the lightning surge and discharging into the soil from the ground
conductors. Once these currents are known, it is equally impor-
tant to determine precisely the resulting electromagnetic fields
and earth potentials at all pertinent observation points so that
the electromagnetic transient disturbance can be reduced to an
acceptable level. Due to the transient nature of the lightning
surge, all the electromagnetic fields vary rapidly with time. As a
result, not only the spatial distribution of the field, but also its
temporal behaviour should be determined.
Two methods have been traditionally used for the analysis of
electromagnetic fields generated by energized conductors. One
method is the so-called "circuit theory approach". It is based on
replacing all conductor elements, including the lightning paths,
by an equivalent electrical network. The analysis of this net-
work leads directly to results in terms of currents and voltages
at all points of interest. The other method is the "field theory
approach" which is based on the direct solution of the electromag-
netic field equations pertaining to the energized conductors and
all other metallic structures nearby, whether directly energized or
not. This method has definite advantages in terms of accuracy,
flexibility and modelling capabilities but is however much more
complicated than the circuit approach and, in most cases,is only
possible through numerical computation methods.
1.1 Frequency Domain Computation
Methodologies
The results presented here are based on a field theory approach,
as described in several, papers published by Dawalibi and his
 1413
colleagues [l-71,which accounts for the presence of arbitrarily di-
rected aboveground conductors as well as conductors buried in
a lossy soil. Note that in this paper only the buried conductors
of the ground grid are considered for simplicity and to allow a
direct comparison with other published results. The presence
of aboveground conductors and metallic structures may change
considerably, or cause significant distortions to, the computed
results, as illustrated in a recent paper IS]which compared com- From: (-40,
putation results with measured values. Their eventual inclusion
in the analysis does not present any difficulties.
Briefly stated, the computation methodology starts with the
calculation of the current distributions in networks of overhead
and buried conductors, energized by current injections at ar-
bitrary locations, using one of the following approaches. The
)fm/
4
6
027
‘;::e(!),
To: (40, -5.0)
-5.0)

first approach solves electric field point matching equations in a

weighted least square formulation with linear constraints on the
currents. The second approach, specialized to the low frequency
range and lossy media, employs a power minimization algorithm. Figure 1: A Square Grounding Grid Subject to a Lightning
Both approaches lead to geometrically invariant, linearly con- Strike
strained, quadratic minimization problems. At low frequencies,
induced loop currents are determined by explicitlyimposing Far+
day’s law as a linear constraint. The electromagnetic fields are
then computed based on Sommerfeld integrals [4,7]which are
evaluated analytically or numerically depending on frequency and
location of the conductor and observation point in air or soil. All
above computations are conducted in the frequency domain as
explained in [lo].

1.2 Time Domain Computation Method-

ology
This computation step is essentially based on the use of the well
known Fourier transforms. First, the lightning transient current
is expanded into its fresuency components by a forward FFT
operation. A finite number of currents consisting of a represen-
tative sample of the frequency spectrum is selected. Then, the
frequency domain performance of the grid is evaluated for each
one of the selected currents. Once the regponses of the grid to
all the single frequency sources have been computed, the time
domain behaviour of the electromagnetic fields generated by the
lightning transient at one point in space can be obtained simply
by an inverse Fourier transformation of all the responses for this
point. The overall temporal evolution of a field distribution along
a spatial profile can be obtained by repeating the inverse Fourier
transformation at each point along the profile. In order to re-
duce computation time, appropriate interpolation algorithms are
used to minimize the size of the sample necessary t o accurately
repreaent the frequency spectrum.
2 Description of the Problem Be-
ing Modelled
Figure 1 illustrates the problem which is analyzed in this paper.
This example was selected because it is also discussed by Grcev
[SI. It consists of a 60m x 60m square ground grid with 10m
x 10m meshe buried at a depth of 0.5m. The grid is made of
copper conductors with a 5mm radius. The soil is assumed to be
homogeneous with a lo00 R-m resistivity, a relative permittivity
of 9 and relative permeability of 1.
A double exponential lightning current, as shown in Figure 2,
is injected into the ground grid via a long vertical conducting
10-1 1 oo lo1 10’
Time (microseconds)
Figure 2: A Typical Double Exponential Lightning Surge
channel connected, first to the center of the grid and then, to
one of its corners (i.e., at x=-30m and y=-30m for a Cartesian
coordinate system centered on the grid). This surge current grad-
ually dissipates in the soil while travelling along the conductors
of the ground grid. Simultaneously,strong electromagneticfields
are generated both in air and in soil.
Analysis of the lightning current frequency spectrum revealed
that the sample of 21 values shown in Table 1 constitute an a p
propriate representative set of the spectrum. Each current listed
in this table was applied separately to the ground grid and the
frequency response of the grid was computed for both lightning
strike scenarios (i.e., a grid center strike and a grid corner strike).
In order to facilitate the comparison between results computed
at various frequencies and those published by others, all frequency
domain computations were normalized based on a (lo00 jO.0) +
A current. Computations were carried out at the various observa-
tion points located on the earth surface along several X-directed
profiles covering the ground grid and its vicinity (i.e., 10 m out-
side the grid outer loop).
 4000 -':
.is
n
....... 1 MHz (Computed)
-----____-_100 kHz (Computed)
50 Hz (Computed)
A A A A A A 1 MHz(Grcev)

......
x xxxxx 100 kHz(Grcev)
50 Hz (Grcev)

- -- -. Low Frequency
....
::: :
!:I !
b
:: ::
; :..: !
;;A
.-C A4 M
0 500 lo00 1500 2000

3 Frequency @Hz)

0 Figure 4: Fkquencg Spectrum of Voltage Along the Pmfile

0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 Between Points ((0,-5,0) and (4O,-5,0))
Distance Along Profile (m)
Figure 3 h q u e n c y Dependence of IEzI on Earth Surface Figure 4 displays the frequency spectrum of the amplitude of
%verse P a d l d to X-axis (Pmfle I ) the voltagea which develop along that same profile between the
origin of the profile and a point located at 40 m from the origin.
I;kquencY Current (A/Hz) The integration path is along the profile. Three c u m are p m
(W Red Imaginary sented in Figure 4. The solid line is based on a low frequency
0.0 1449.4 0.0 approximation as described in [4,7]. The dashed line is based on
6666.67 691.6 -736.0 a more rigorous formulation designated as the "In-Sod" approxi-
13333.3 258.6 -576.8 mation [4,7]. Finally, Grcev [8] results are indicated by the small
2m.o 118.4 -429.7 triangles. The results are all in fairly good agreement up to about
26666.7 60.9 -335.9 500 kHz. Small differences are noticeable between 500 kHz and
33333.3 32.5 -273.8 1 MHz. Based on Grcev's remarks in his paper [8], more signif-
46666.7 6.86 -198.3 icant differences are to be expected above 1 MHz. This however
53333.3 0.47 -173.8 does not appear to be the case since only minor differences are
93333.3 -13.4 -97.8 observed between the "In-Soil" and "Low-Fkquency" approaches
106667. -14.9 -84.7 even at 2 MHz. Therefore, voltagea appear to be less sensitive to
166667. -16.9 -50.8 the accuracy of the computation approach than electric fields.
173333. -16.9 -48.5
180000. -16.9 -46.2
200000. -16.7 -40.4
3.2 Frequency Domain Performance of
220000. -16.5 -35.6 Ground Grids
560000. -9.55 -7.08
The frequency response of the modelled ground grid was analyzed
866667. -6.01 -2.44
at all fresuencies listed in Table 1 (and beyond) assuming a lossy
946667. -5.46 -1.90
soil with a relative permittivity set to 3 diffezent values, i.e., 1,
960000. -5.38 -1.83
9 and 36. Both scenarios corresponding t o a center and comer
1700000. -3.59 -0.0091
current injection were explored. The scalar potentials, electric
1706670. -3.59 0.0
fields and magnetic fields are presented hereafter.
'Ihble 1 Representative Frequency Sample
Scalar Potentials
Figures 5 , 6 , 7 and 8 show a 3-D perspective of the earth sur-
3 Computation Results face scalar potentials above and in the immediate vicinity of the
ground grid. Figure 5 corresponds to a center current injection
3.1 Comparison With Recent Published at 50 Hz and is essentially identical to the figure produced by a
Results comer injection or that obtained using low frequency grounding
analysis software [ll]. Figures 6 and 7 display the scalar poten-
The X-component of the electric field along the earth surface tial for a center current injection at 500 kHz. Clearly, at low
Profile 1 shown in Figure 1 was computed for 3 frequencies (50 frequency, the scalar potential over the entire grid is more or less
Hz,100 kHz, 1 MHz). The results are shown in Figure 3 along even except for small peaks right above the ground conductors.
with those computed by Grcev [8], which uses a modified image This is to be expected since the grid is almost an equipotential
theory for the treatment of the half space soil (an approximation surface as it is implicitly assumed in most low frequency ground-
as stated by Grcev). It is clear that there is very good agree ing studies. At higher frequencies, the impedances of the grid
ment between both sets of computation results for the range of
frequencies considered in this figure.
 1415

d-a 4.75 I

o r
"'.i, 40.0 -20.0 0 20.0 40.0 %-,&. -40.0 -20.0 0 20.0 40.0
% Distance Along X Axis (m) Distance Along X Axis (m)
Figure 5: Earth Surface Scalar Potential at 50 Hz - (Center Figure 7 Earth Surface Scalar Potential at 0.5 MHz - (Cen-
Injection; E, = 9) ter Injection; E, = 36)

9 10.254
&

-cv"'s, 40.0 -20.0 0 20.0 40.0

Distance Along X Axis (m)
Figure 6 Earth Surface Scalar Potential at 0.5 MHz
ter Injection; E, = 9)
conductors are no longer negligible and most of the earth cur-
rents dissipate close to the injection point. This phenomenon is
well illustrated in Figure 8 which represents the case of a cor-
ner current injection. Earth potentials near the injection comer
present a very sharp peak, while they are quite low and flat ev-
erywhere else, with a minimum at the opposite corner. Finally,
the results of Figure 7,which pertains to a high permittivity soil
(E. = 36), suggest that there is a significant increase of earth cur-
rents leaking out from the corners of the grid due to displacement
currents (i.e., capacitive currents).
Electric Fields
Figures 9, 10 and 11 depict the X-component of the electric field
while Figures 12,13 and 14 show the total (resultant) electric field
above and in the immediate vicinity of the ground grid. Figures
9 and 12 present the X-component and resultant electric field at
50 Hz for a center current injection. The analysis revealed that
results corresponding to a corner injection are essentially identical
to those displayed in Figures 9 and 12. Inspection of both figures
confirms that the electric field is not dependent on the current
injection location at low frequencies. This conclusion no longer
-40.0 -20.0 0.0 20.0 40.0
- (Cen- Distance Along X Axis (m)
Figure 8: Earth Surface Scalar Potential at 0.5 MHz - (Cor-
ner Injection; E. = 9)
holds a b higher frequencies as illustrated in Figures 10, 11, 13
and 14. These figures clearly show that the region of maximum
electric fields (i.e., maximum step voltages) shifts from the edge
of the grid t o the injection point location as frequency increases
from low to high values.
Magnetic Fields
The X-component of the magnetic field is displayed in Figures 15,
16 and 17. Figure 15 corresponds to a center current injection
at 50 Hz, while Figure 16 shows the same thing but at 0.5 MHz.
It is quite evident that the magnetic field is not very sensitive
to frequency for a given constant current injection. Figure 17
corresponds to a corner current injection a t 50 Hz. It is clear that,
contrary to scalar potentials and electric fields, magnetic fields are
quite sensitive to the injection point even at low frequencies. This
is not surprising since the dominant component of the magnetic
field is caused by the longitudinal currents in the grid conductors.
Note that examination of the results corresponding t o a cor-
ner current injection at 0.5 MHz confirms the observation made
earlier that magnetic fields are not very dependent on frequency
for a given constant current injection.
h

E
\
1300
2

' C
%t4*,, -40.0 -20.0 0 20.0 40.0
60,
Distance Along X Axis (m)
-40 -20.0 0.0 20.0 40.0
Figure 12: Resultant Electric Field o n Earth Surface at 50
Distance Along X Axis (m)
Hz (Center Injection; E, = 9 )
Figure 9: X-Component of Electric Field o n Earth Surface
at 50 H z (Center Injection; E~ = 9 )

44,; -40.0 -20.0 0 20.0 40.0

zt'"h, -40.0 -20.0 0 20.0 40.0 "J

Distance Along X Axis (m)
Figure 10: X-Component of Electric Field o n Earth Surface
at 0.5 MHz (Center Injection; E, = 9 )
' Distance Along X Axis (m)
Figure 13: Resultant Electric Field o n Earth Surface at 0.5
MHz (Center Injection; E, = 9 )

-40 -20.0 0.0 20.0 40.0

Distance Along X Axis (meter) -40.0 -20.0 0.0 20.0 40.0
Distance Along X Axis (m)
Figure 11: X-Component of Electric Field on Earth Surface Figure 14: Resultant Electric Field on Earth Surface at 0.5
at 0.5 MHz (Corner Injection; E , = 9) MHz (Corner Injection.; E, = 9 )
 1417

3.3 Time Domain Performance of

Ground Grids
Figures 18 to 23 show the temporal evolution of the ground grid
performance when the lightning surge current shown in Figure
2 is injected at its center or its corner. This current presents a
relatively slow rise time. The dominant frequencies contained in
the surge current spectrum therefore do not exceed 1 MHz, as
indicated in Table 1.
The application of inverse Fourier transformations to all fre-
quency domain computation results performed along Profile 2 of 40 ".
II
Figure 1 yields an interesting overview of the dynamic evolution
of the scalar potentials and electromagnetic fields in both space
and time domains. Figures 18 and 19 show that the scalar poten-
tials rise sharply to their peak value and decrease exponentially
t o negligible levels in about 50 ps. There is a noticeable but not Distance Along X Axis (m)
significant difference between the results of a center and comer
current injection. This is not surprising since the time domain Figure 15: X-Component of Magnetic Field on Earth Surface
results are a blend of the low and high frequency behaviours dis- at 50 Hz (Center Injection; E, = 9)
cussed earlier and which indicated that differences were notice
able only at high frequencies. Similar observations can be made
concerning the X-component of the electric field (illustrated in
Figures 20 and 21) and the X-component of the magnetic field
(shown in Figures 22 and 23), except that the mnes where the
field levels are significant are mostly concentrated along the con-
ductors parallel to the direction of the field component.

4 Conclusions
A detailed frequency and time domain analysis of the electro-
magnetic performance of a grounding grid subjected to a rela-
tively slow rise lightning surge current has been described and
discussed. This current was injected at the center and a comer
of the w-d respectively. 6, -40.0 -20.0 0 20.0 40.0
A representative sample of the most pertinent results has been Distance Along X Axis (m)
presented in a compact graphical form consisting of 3-D perspec-
tives of scalar potentials, electric fields and magnetic fields along Figure 16: X-Component of Magnetic Field on Earth Surface
earth surface profiles located above and near the ground grid. at 0.5 MHz (Center Injection; E, = 9)
The temporal evolution of a typical profile is also displayed for
the scalar potentials and for X-components of the electric and
magnetic fields for both locations of the current injection. More research work in this area is presently in progress. It
The authors believe that most of these results are being p u b concentrates on fast transient currents in the presence of above-
lished (in this paper) for the first time. ground metallic conductors and structures.
The low frequency results compare very well with those pro-
duced by well known low frequency grounding methods. The Acknowledgements
computed electric fields are also in agreement with recently pub-
lished work in the frequency range of 0 - 1 MHz. Funds and facilities for this research work were provided by Safe
The most salient results of this study indicate that the scalar Engineering Services & technologies ltd. (SES). The assistance
potential and electric field are significantly dependent on fre- of Mr. Robert Southey of SES for his constructive comments is
quency, while the magnetic field is rather insensitive to this pa- highly appreciated.
rameter. In contrast, the magnetic field is heavily influenced by
the current injection location at all frequencies, while both scalar
potentials and electric fields are not affected by this location at
low frequencies.
The time domain results also indicate that the dynamic evolu-
tion of electromagnetic fields is a blend or synthesis of the indi-
vidual significant frequenciescontained in the frequency spectrum
as might be expected. The results also show a sharp simultane-
ous rise of the electric and magnetic fields in the first few mi-
croseconds and a slow but independent decay depending on the
observation point along the profile.
1418

.-0
Y
g 20.0 1

Y -40.0 -20.0 0.0 20.0 40.0 0 60 120 180 240 300

Distance Along X Axis (m) Time (microseconds)

Figure 17: X-Component of Magnetic Field on Earth Surface

at 50 Hz (Corner Injection: E, = 9)
Figure 19: Temporal Evolution of Scalar Potential Along
Profile 1 (Corner Injection; E, = 9)

0 60 120 180 240 300

Time (microseconds)
0 60 120 180 240 300
Time (microseconds)

Figure 18: Temporal Evolution of Scalar Potential Along

Profile 1 (Center Injection; .cr = 9)
Figure 20: Temporal Evolution of X-Component of Electric
Field Along Profile 1 (Center Injection; E, = 9)
 1419

2 480
33 6 0 -
x
3:
2!
-2 240 -
ZL
0
.*
c)

8 120-
2
w

0 60 120 180 240 300

'%!J0 6 0 ' 120 180 240 300 Time (microseconds)
Time (microseconds)
Figure 23: Temporal Evolution of X-Component of Magnetic
Field Along Profile 1 (Comer Injection; E+ = 9)
Figure 21: Temporal Evolution of X-Component of Electric
Field Along Profile 1 (Corner Injection; cr = 9) References
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head and Buried Short Conductors, Part 1; Single Con-
ductor, IEEE Thnsactions on Power Delivery, Vol. PWRD-
1, No. 4, October 1986, pp. 105-111.
F. Dawalibi,Electromagnetic Fields Generated by Ouer-
head and Buried Short Conductors, Part 2; Ground
Networks, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol.
PWRD-1, No. 4, October 1986, pp.112-119.
L. Grcev, F. Dawalibi, Electromagnetic Model for h n -
sients in Grounding Systems, IEEE Transactions on
Power Delivery, Vol. PWRD-5, No. 4, October 1990, pp.
1773-1781.
F. Dawalibi, A. M. Selby, Electromagnetic Fields of Ener-
gized Conductors, IEEE Paper 92 SM 4564 PWRD, PES
Summer Meeting, Seattle, WA, July 1992.
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Generated b y Electric Power Lines and Residential
Electric Wiring, IEEE Paper 92 SM 57-2 PWRD, PES
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0 60 120 180 240 300 tions of Electromagnetic Fields in Electric Power Dis-
tribution Substations, IEEE Paper 92 WM 222-0-PWRD,
Time (microseconds) PES Winter Meeting, Ohio, OH, January-February 1993.
A. Selby, F. Dawalibi, Determination of Current Distri-
bution in Energized Conductors for the Computation of
Electromagnetic Fields, Paper submitted to IEEE Summer
Figure 22: Temporal Evolution of X-Component of Magnetic Meeting, Vancouver, Canada, July 1993.
Field Along Profile 1 (Center Injection; E? = 9) L. Grcev, Computation of Tmnsient Voltages Near Com-
plex Grounding System Caused by Lightning Currents,
IEEE/EMC International Symposium, Anaheim, California,
August 17-21, 1992.
 F. Dawalibi, D. Mukhedkar and D. Bensted, Measured and
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tromagnetic Analysis, Safe Engineering Services & tech-
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Biographies
Dr. Wei Xiong was born in 1962. He received a B.Sc. de-
gree (1982) in Physics from the University of Sichuan, China. He
received a M.Sc. degree (1987) and a Ph.D. degree (1990) re
spectively in Physics from Lava1 University, Quebec. His area of
specialization was the interaction between intense laser fields and
materials.
In 1990, he became a post-doctoral fellow with the physics de-
partment of University of Toronto. Here he specialized in the
study of optical bistability for optical communications.
He joined Safe Engineering Services & technologies Itd as a re-
search scientist specializing in developing algorithms for electm
magnetic interference studies and transient study. His current
interest is in automated interpretation of soil resistivity and com-
putation of electromagnetic fields a t various frequencies.
Dr. Xiong is a member of IEEE.
Dr. Farid Dawalibi (M’72 SM’82) was born in November 1947.
He received a Bachelor of Engineering degree from St. Joseph’s
University, affiliated with the University of Lyon, and the M. Sc.
A. and Ph. D. degrees from &ole Polytechnique of the Univer-
sity of Montreal. From 1971 to 1976, he worked as a consulting
engineer with the Shawinigan Engineering Company, in Mon-
treal. He worked on numerous projects involving power system
, analysis and design, railway electrification studies and specialized
computer software code development. In 1976, he joined Montel-
Sprecher & Schuh, a manufacturer of high voltage equipment in
Montreal, as Manager of Technical Services and was involved in
power system design, equipment selection and testing for systems
ranging from a few to several hundred kV. In 1979, he founded
Safe Engineering Services & Technologies, a company which spe-
cializes in soil effects on power networks. Since that time he has
been responsible for the engineering activities of the company
including the development of software code related to power sys-
tems applications.
He is the author of more than sixty papers on power systems
grounding and safety, soil resistivity, electromagnetic interfer-
ence. He has written several research reports for CEA and EPRI.
Dr. Dawalibi is a corresponding member of various IEEE Com-
mittee Working Groups, and a senior member of the IEEE Power
Engineering Society and the Canadian Society for Electrical En-
gineering. He is a registered Engineer in the Province of Quebec.