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A simplified method for calculating the substation grounding grid resistance

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736 IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 9,No. 2, April 1994

A Simplified Method for Calculating the Substation Grounding Grid Resistance

Y.L. Chow M.M.A. Salama

Department of Electrical and Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering Computer Engineering
University of Waterloo University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo, Ontario
N2L 3G1 N2L 3G1

Abstract In this paper a simple method is developed to

A simple and accurate formula for calculating the calculate accurately the grounding resistance of
grounding grid resistance is proposed in this the substation using hand-calculator. The
paper. This method is based on a theoretical proposed method utilizes the duality concept
manipulation of the numerical moment method and of between the dc resistance of the conductor and its
the current image. The formula is dependent on the capacitance as in reference [l]. The moment method
substation grounding grid design, such as grid is then used to calculate accurately the
depth, grid size, number of meshes, grid-conductor capacitance of the grid system. The resistance of
diameter, etc. A comparison study is performed to the grounding system is evaluated using the
check the accuracy of the proposed formula with following duality concept between resistance and
respect to six different formulas and methods in capacitance:
the literature. An excellent agreement was found
between the results of this formula and the results
of a sophisticated computerized method.
R =-%P
C

1. Introduction where R is in ohms, soil resistivity p in

ohm-meters, permittivity constant E, in
The basic requirements for substation earthing are Farads/meter, and C the capacitance in Farads.
to dissipate the short circuit currents to the The outcome of this method is a simple formula
earth without heating and therefore drying out of which has the following advantages:
the soil in the neighborhood of the earthing
structure, and secondly to limit the potential the formula is based on a theoretical
gradient over the whole substation area and beyond manipulation of the numerical moment method and
so that step-and touch voltages nowhere exceed a of the current image.
safe value. One of the key parameters in the grounding resistance given by this formula
substation earthing design is to calculate is function of the conductor size, mesh size,
accurately the grounding resistance of the system. number of meshes in X and Y directions, grid
In an early work by Dwight [l], equations for depth, soil type, etc.
calculating the ground resistance for different
electrodes shape and size were developed. These the formula is simple and does not include any
equations were based on the duality concept parameters that have to be evaluated from
between the dc resistance to ground of a conductor graphs or tables as many existing formulas in
and its capacitance. Many formulas were afterward the literature.
proposed for the calculation of the substation the results obtained by this formula are very
grounding grid resistance [ 2 - 8 1 . Most of these accurate when they are compared by the
formulas are accurate within certain ranges of
grid depths o r grid sizes. Some of these formulas computerized grounding resistance calculation.
[2,3] are recommended to be used for estimating the
maximum fault current. Other formulas [ 7 , 8 ] are Problem Formulation
helpful in estimating the substation ground
potential rise for preliminary design evaluation The proposed method for calculatins the resistance
[9]. For accurate calculation of the ground a buried grid in a soil with resistivity p can
resistance of the grid, formula such as Schwartz explained according to the following sequence:
formula [ 6 ] should be used. Calculation of the resistance due to a thin
On the other hand, computerized grounding grid plate buried in a homogeneous media.
resistance analysis is now available for uniform Modifying the above calculation, using the
and two-layer soil type. These analysis are based moment method, to calculate the resistance due
on either one of the following methods: method of to a grid buried in a homogeneous media.
images [lo,1 2 1 , convolution and linear filter
theories [13-15], spectral integration [16,171, Calculation of the resistance due to a grid
matrix technique [18], and equivalent image placed on the surface of a homogeneous soil,
methods [ 1 9 ] . Reference [15] gives a detailed using the image method.
discussion on the computerized grounding analysis Using the two-grid, source and image, model to
methods. While these methods are accurate, they calculate the resistance due to a grid buried
require powerful computers to perform the at depth h from the surface of a homogeneous
calculations. soil.
Step 1: Calculation of the resistance due to a
93 SM 449-9 PlJRD A paper recommended and approved thin plate in a homogeneous media, "R,"
by the IEEE Substations Committee of the IEEE Power The capacitance of a thin plate buried in a
Engineering Society for presentation at the IEEE/PES homgeneous soil can be readily calculated using
1993 Summer Meeting, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, July the formula developed by Chow and Yovanovich [ 2 0 ] .
18-22, 1993. Manuscript submitted December 28, This capacitance is given by
1992; made available for printing May 4, 1993.

PRINTED IN USA where A is the area of the plate and cf is its shape
factor. For square plate cf is equal to 0.9. Using
the duality principle the resistance of the system
is calculated as
0 1993 IEEE
0885-8977/94/$04.00

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 737

where p i s the resistivity of the soil.

S u b s t i t u t i n g e q u a t i o n (1) i n ( 2 ) a n d a p p r o x i m a t i n g
$l(?txO.9) t o one, t h e resistance R, o f t h e s y s t e m i s
g i v e n by
7

R, = p ( l ?)
8 A

Step 2 : C a l c u l a t i o n o f t h e r e s i s t a n c e due to a
g r i d b u r i e d i n a homogeneous media, ''W
The c a p a c i t a n c e shown i n f i g u r e 1, of a g r i d b u r i e d
i n a homogeneous s o i l i s g i v e n by ( a p p e n d i x A )
1
--- 1 MI1
(4)
c, -e, +N
and
1 2Al
AP -- -1n--0.8814 (5)
"-m:Al(2fi d.
where
C, t h e c a p a c i t a n c e of t h e g r i d
CO t h e c a p a c i t a n c e of a s o l i d t h i n p l a t e of t h e
same a r e a a s t h e g r i d
N t h e number of meshes i n t h e g r i d Figure 2 A g r o u n d i n g g r i d i n a homogeneous s o i l .
do t h e d i a m e t e r of t h e g r i d c o n d u c t o r
AI t h e l e n g t h of one s i d e of a s q u a r e mesh i n
the grid Step 4 : C a l c u l a t i o n of t h e r e s i s t a n c e due t o a
g r i d b u r i e d a t a d e p t h h from t h e s u r f a c e
of a homogeneous s o i l , 1'Rb.Llf2''
Using t h e d u a l i t y p r i n c i p l e , t h e r e s i s t a n c e due t o
t h e b u r i e d g r i d i s g i v e n by A two g r i d model i s u s e d t o c a l c u l a t e t h e
r e s i s t a n c e due t o a g r i d b u r i e d a t a d e p t h h i n a
homogeneous s o i l with resistivity p. The
r e f l e c t i o n of t h e a i r - s o i l i n t e r f a c e forms a
c u r r e n t image, i . e . , a second g r i d a t h e i g h t 2h
above t h e o r i g i n a l g r i d . The d e t a i l d e r i v a t i o n s of
t h e two g r i d model f o r m u l a i s g i v e n i n a p p e n d i x B .
The r e s i s t a n c e r e s u l t e d i s g i v e n by

(9)

S u b s t i t u t i n g t h e v a l u e o f F&, i n t o equation (9)

and r e a r r a n g i n g ,

E q u a t i o n ( 1 0 ) g i v e s t h e e a r t h r e s i s t a n c e due t o a
g r i d made o f N meshes, e a c h mesh h a s d i m e n s i o n s of
A l x A l a n d c o n d u c t o r d i a m e t e r d,,. The g r i d i s
b u r i e d a t a d e p t h h i n a homogeneous s o i l w i t h
r e s i s t i v i t y p . The o v e r a l l a r e a of t h e g r i d i s A .
3 . Comparison of Results
Figure 1 A g r o u n d i n g g r i d i n homogeneous media. F o r comparison p u r p o s e , t h e r e s i s t a n c e c a l c u l a t e d
Area of g r i d = A, number o f meshes = N . by t h e f o r m u l a d e v e l o p e d i n t h i s p a p e r i s compared
t o t h e r e s i s t a n c e obtained b y v a r i o u s formulas i n
the literature. The f o r m u l a s i n t h i s comparison
Step 3: C a l c u l a t i o n of t h e r e s i s t a n c e due t o a study are:
g r i d buried on the surface Of a 1. Dwight f o r m u l a [ l ]
homogeneous s o i l , "&f2"
F s o ial g rof
i g u r e 2 shows
homogeneous i d prlea sc iesdt i voni t yt h e p .t o p ofThe
a

r e s i s t i v i t y of a i r f a c i n g t h e upper p a r t of t h e
g r i d i s assumed i n f i n i t y . T h i s c o n d i t i o n forms a 2 . L a u r e n t and Nieman f o r m u l a [ 3 1 . Also c a l l e d t h e
grid image coinciding with original grid. I E E E s t d 80 f o r m u l a
Therefore t h e r e s i s t a n c e
given by
R,,, ="
due t o t h i s s y s t e m i s

(7)
R, = :G+ (11)

3 . Nahman and S k u l e t i c h f o r m u l a I 4 1
S u b s t i t u t i n g t h e v a l u e of K i n t o e q u a t i o n ( 7 ) , we
get

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738
most accurate results as compared to the other five
4. Schwartz formula [ 5 1 formulas given by equations ( 1 1 - 1 5 ) . Figure 4
shows the error in the calculated grounding grid
resistance as compared to EPRI results. It is
clear from the figure that the error is very low
( 2 . 3 6 % at 0.25111 depth) and it decreases as the grid
where depth increases (0.13% at 1 m depth). Only three
grid depths were available in EPRI report [ 2 1 ] for
h' = for conductor buried at depth h this comparison (0.251~1, 0.5m, 1.01111. Most of the
h' = 0.5 for conductor buried at depth zero other formulas show opposite trend in error as
depth of the grid increases.
K, = -0.04W+ 1.41, for h = o Figure 5 shows the calculated resistances of a
substation grounding grid for different grid
lengths, using the seven formulas. The grid length
K, = -0.05W+1.2, for h =1z f i is the total length of the conductors used in the
grid. In this figure the area of the grid is
varied from 20m x 20m to lOOm x loom, and the depth
1 of the g r i d i s kept constant at 0.5m, while the
K, = -0).05W+ 1.13, for h =$ conductor size of the grid is taken as 0.01m. The
number of meshes in the grid is 7 x 7 . The
W = length/width ofthegrid resistances calculated from the proposed formula
are the most accurate results compared to the EPRI
K, = 0.15W+5.50, for h = o results as shown in curves 7 and 6 in figure 5 .
Figure 6 shows the effect of varying the number of
1 meshes in a given grounding grid system as
Kz = 0.10W+4.68, for h = z &
calculated by the seven different formulas. The
results of the proposed formula (curve 6 in figure
1 6) show a very close agreement with the results
K, = -0.05W+4.40, for h = ; f i obtained from the computerized EPRI report [ 2 1 1 .
In this analysis, grid size = lOOm x loom, grid
depth = 0.5m, and grid conductor size = 0.01m.
5 . Sverak formula [ 7 , 8 ]

32'00 1 * 3 N&S

6 . EPRI Computerized analysis results [ 2 1 ] .

30.00
This method was developed by the Georgia Institute c
of Technology. The results of these computerized U
analysis was presented in the following form.
.E 28.00
R6 = KRRW (16) m
where
R,, the resistance predicted by IEEE Std 80
formula (equation 12)
K, the grid resistance correction factor [ 2 1 1 .

7 . The proposed formula in this paper, equation

(10)
The variables in the above seven formulas
z
3
0
i 7

L 22.00 * 1 HD
(equation 11 - 1 6 ) are as follows: c3
p the resistivity of the soil in 0hm.m
A the area of the grid in square meter
34
20.00 , I , , , I , , , I , I , , , , , ( ,,(,,,
( ) , , , , , , , , , , , , I . I / , ,,,, ,
L the total length of the buried conduction in 0.60 0.40 0.40 o.$o 0.80"'1.6b" i.40
meter Grid Depth (m)
h the depth of the buried grid in meter
n the number of parallel conductors in one
direction of the grid Figure 3 Grounding grid resistance versus grid
depth.
n =n'+l Grid area = 20m x 20m, the number of
meshes in each direction is 4 , the
n' the number of meshes in one direction grid-conductor diameter = 0.01m.
Curve 1 for Dwight formula (HD), curve 2
In this comparison study the EPRI computerized for Laurent and Niemann formula (L&N),
results [ 2 1 ] are taken as a reference to check the curve 3 f o r Nahman and Skuletich formula
accuracy of all other formulas, including the one ( N & S ) , curve 4 for Schwartz formula ( S S ) ,
proposed in this paper. curve 5 for Sverak formula (JS), curve 6
for EPRI method (EPRI), curve 7 for the
Figure 3 shows the calculated resistances of a proposed method in the paper (PM).
substation grounding grid buried at different
depths in the soil using the above seven formulas
(equations 1 0 - 1 6 ) . The grid area is 20m x 20m, the
number for meshes in each direction is 4, the
conductor diameter of the grid is 0.01m. The
results obtained using the proposed method
(equation 10) are represented by curve X7 in figure
3, while EPRI results are represented by curve X6.
It is clear that the proposed method yields the
 739

30.0s 3 1. HD
2 . L&N
0 3 . N&S
c 4. ss
_z! 25.00 5 . JS
VJ 6 . EPRI
'Z
$ 20.GC 31 7 . PM

3
- 5 00
:
4
-15%
1,
,
3.30
t I , ,

/(
)

0 40 0 80
Grid Dep';h (rn)
:y,,
1 20

F i g u r e 4 The e r r o r i n p e r c e n t as compared t o EPRI F i g u r e 6 Grounding g r i d r e s i s t a n c e v e r s u s t h e

method for t h e r e s u l t s shown i n F i g u r e 3 .
Grid dimensions as in Figure 3.
D e f i n i t i o n s of c u r v e s 1-7 a r e i n F i g u r e
number of meshes.
Grid s i z e - -
lOOm x l o o m , g r i d d e p t h =
0.5m, g r i d c o n d u c t o r d i a m e t e r 0.01m.
3 . D e f i n i t i o n s of c u r v e s 1-7 a r e i n F i g u r e
3.

1. HD
2. L&N
3 . N&S 32.00 1 . 3 N&S
4 . ss
5 . JS
6. EPRI
7 . PM

F i g u r e 5 Grounding g r i d r e s i s t a n c e v e r s u s g r i d
length.
Grid depth -
0.5m, c o n d u c t o r d i a m e t e r =
0.01m. t h e number of meshes = 7 x 7 .
F i g u r e 7 Grounding g r i d r e s i s t a n c e v e r s u s t h e
conductor d i a m e t e r .
G r i d s i z e = l O O m x l o o m , t h e number of
D e f i n i t i o n s of c u r v e s 1-7 a r e i n F i g u r e meshes = 7 x 7 , g r i d d e p t h = 0.5m.
3. D e f i n i t i o n s of c u r v e s a r e i n F i g u r e 3 .

The e f f e c t of w i r e d i a m e t e r on t h e g r o u n d i n g g r i d
r e s i s t a n c e i s shown i n f i g u r e 7 . Only one EPRI
r e s u l t was a v a i l a b l e f o r t h i s comparison s t u d y a n d
it i s shown i n t h e f i g u r e . The r e s u l t s of
S c h w a r t z ' s formula and t h e proposed f o r m u l a have
shown a dependancy of t h e c a l c u l a t e d r e s i s t a n c e on
t h e conductor s i z e of t h e g r i d ( t h e d i a m e t e r d o ) .
4. Conclusion
A s i m p l e and a c c u r a t e f o r m u l a f o r c a l c u l a t i n g t h e
g r o u n d i n g g r i d r e s i s t a n c e i s proposed i n t h i s
paper. T h i s method i s based on a t h e o r e t i c a l
m a n i p u l a t i o n of t h e n u m e r i c a l moment method a n d of
t h e c u r r e n t image. T h e e f f e c t of g r o u n d i n g g r i d

number o f meshes i n one d i r e c t i o n

d e p t h = 0.5m.
-
I n t h i s a n a l y s i s t h e g r i d a r e a = lOOm x l o o m , t h e
I , the grid
d e p t h , g r i d s i z e , number of meshes, g r i d - c o n d u c t o r
diameter a n d s o i l t y p e can be r e a d i l y d e t e r m i n e d
u s i n g t h e proposed f o r m u l a .

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740
The grounding grid resistances calculated using
the proposed formula are very accurate when
compared to a sophisticated computer-based method
[ 2 1 ] . The formula is simple and easy to use with
hand calculator. Since this formula is based on
rigorous theoretical basis, it can be modified, to
ac ount for two-layer soil. This modification
wi 1 be presented in a future paper.
5 . References
H.B. Dwight, "Calculations of Resistances to
Ground", AIEE Transactions, December 1936, pp.
1319-1328.
[2 J. Niemann, "Unstellung von Hochstspannungs -
Erdungsanlagen AufDen Betrieb Mit Starr
Geerdetem Sternpunkt", E-2, vol. 73, No. 10,
1952, pp. 333-337.
131 "IEEE Guide for Safety in Substation
Grounding", IEEE Standard 80, 1976.
[41 J. Nohman and S. Skuletich, "Irregularity
Correction Factors for Mesh and Step Voltages
of Grounding Grids", IEEE Transactions on
Power Apparatus and Systems, vol. PAS-99, No.
1, 1980, pp. 174-180.
[51 S. J. Schwartz, "Analytical Expression for
Resistance of Grounding Systems", AIEE
Transactions, vol. 73, Part 111-B, 1954, pp.
1011-1016.
161 Substation Committee Working Group 78 .l, "Safe
Substation Grounding - Part II", IEEE
Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems,
vol. PAS-101, 1982, pp. 4006-4023.
[71 J.G. Sverak, "Optimized Grounding Grid Design
Using Variable Spacing Technique", IEEE
Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems,
vol. PAS-95, 1976, pp. 362-374.
[ 8 ] J.G. Sverak, "Simplified Analysis of
Electrical Gradients Above a Ground Grid: Part
I - how Good is the Present IEEE Method?", IEEE
Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems,
vol. PAS-103, 1984, pp. 7-25.
[9] "IEEE Guide for Safety in AC
Grounding", ANSI/IEEE Standard 80
[lO]P.J. Lagace, J.L. Houle, Y. Gervais and D.
Mukhedkar, "Computer Aided Design of a
Toroidal Ground Electrodes in a Two Layer
Soil", IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery,
vol. 2, No. 3, 1987, pp. 744-749.
[11]P.J. Lagace, D. Mukhedkar, H.H. Hoang, H.
Greiss, "Evaluation of the Effect of Vertical
Faults on the Voltage Distribution Around HVDC
Electrodes Using a Super-Computer", IEEE
Transactions on Power Delivery, vol. 5, 1990,
pp. 1309-1313.
[ 1 2 ] F . Dawalibi, C.J. Blattner, "Earth Resistivity
Measurement Interpretation Techniques", IEEE
Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems,
vol. PAS-103, 1984, pp. 374-382.
[13]D.P. Ghosh, "The Application of Linear Filter
Theory to Direct Interpretation Of
Geoelectrical Resistivity Ground
Measurements", Geophysical Prospecting 19,
1971, pp. 192-217.
[14]J. Lazzara, N. Barbieto, "Simplified Two Layer
Model Substation Ground Grid Design
Methodology", IEEE Transactions on Power
Delivery, vol. 5 , 1990, pp. 1741-1750.
[15]F. Dawalibi, N. Barbeito, "Measurements and
Computations of the Performance of Grounding
System Buried in Multilayer Soils", IEEE
Transactions on Power Delivery, No. 6, 1991,
pp. 1483-1490.
[16]T. Takahashi, T. Kawase, "Analysis of Apparent
Resistivity in a Multi-layer Earth Structure",
IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, vol. 5,
1990, pp. 604-610.
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171 T. Takahashi, T. Kawase, "Calculation of Earth
Resistance f o r a Deep Driven Rod in a
Multi-Layer Earth Structure", IEEE
Transactions on Power Delivery, vol. 6, 1991,
pp. 608-614.
18lD.L. Garrett, H. J. Holley, "Calculation of
Substation Grounding System Resistance Using
Matrix Technique", IEEE Transactions on Power
Apparatus and Systems, vol. PAS-99, No. 5,
1980, pp. 2008-2011.
[19]Y.L. Chow, J.J. Yang, K.D. Srivastava,
"Grounding Resistance of Buried Electrodes in
Multi-Layer Earth Predicted by Simple Voltage
Measurements Along Earth Surface - A
Theoretical Discussion", Paper presented at
the IEEE Summer Meeting, 1992, Seattle.
l2OlY.L. Chow, M.M. Yovanovich, "The Shape Factor
of the Capacitance of a Conductor", Journal of
Applied Physics, vol. 53, no. 12, 1982, pp.
8470-8475.
[21lEPRI report, "Analysis Techniques of Power
Substation Grounding Systems; volume 1: Design
Methodology and Tests", EPRI EL-2682, October
1982.
L22lR.F. Harrington, "Field Computation by Moment
Methods", Robert E. Krieger Publishing
Company, Florida, 1968.
f23lY.L. Chow, K.D. Srivastava, "Non-Uniform
Electric Field Induced Voltage Calculations".
Revised. Report No. 117 T 317 Canadian
Electric Association, Research and Development
Dept., February 1988.
Appendix A: Calculation of the Capacitance of a
Grid Buried in a Homogeneous Medium -
a Theoretical Manipulation of the
Numerical Moment Method.
Foxmulation of the Solid Plate
Substation
- 1986. The capacitance of a grid is derived from the
capacitance of a solid plate of the same
dimensions.
The moment method divides the solid plate of area
A in N equal sub-areas: AAo. Each AAo has the same
potential V, (a constant) and different sub-areas
and charge q,, the resulted matrix is:
Following [23], the self potential term is given
by
p.. = - (0.8814)
'- 41E0.\l;iAa
and mutual potential term is
(A -3)
r,, distance between centers of sub-areas
=
i and j.
The charges q, of (A-1) can be solved by matrix
inversion. The total charge and the capacitance
of the solid plate are then given by
N
Qo=i:l qi (A -4)
 74 1

and where d, is diameter of the wire [ Z Z ] . There are

two wire segments in a sub-area. Following the
C O =Q- fact [ 2 3 ] that the capacitance C, is proportional
v, to the square root of the surface area and that
P,i = we have the self potential term of a
=i
If the charges q, were known, the capacitance can
be written by simple matrix multiplication without sub-area as
matrix inversion through the variational principle
[231t P, = PJfi = -- 2Al (A -14)

Following the procedure of the pseudo-grid we can

substitute (A-14) with (A-8) and get the
The variational principle is an accurate capacitance C from ( A - 1 2 ) .
formulation that tolerates errors at the input.
That is if the values of the input q, are only
approximately known, with a first order error, the
resulted output l/Co, or C,, is very accurate, with
only a second order error.

Adjustment €or the Pseudo-Grid

Before we construct the wire mesh, let us construct
a pseudo-grid by shrinking the sub-areas from AA,
to AA leaving gaps between sub-areas. --
I I
---I---+--
I--+-
AAo

Evidentally, the capacitance C of such pseudo-grid

can again be found from the above equations except
that the self potential is increased to
i ; n ir
I

If we let change in the self potential term be

Mv = P;;-P;b = M O (A - 8)
where MO is a constant independent of i. In matrix
form we have
[Pol = IPI-IM,l (A -9)

1
where [AP] is a diagonal matrix of the form

[API = (A - IO)

Substituting (A-10) into (A-6) we get

Figure A-1 Configurations of the sub-area
1 1 (a) sub-area of the solid plate,
- = -(4T{[Pl - [Mllq)
CO Q: (b) sub-area of pseudo grid,
(c) sub-area of a grid.

Appendix B: The Resistance of a Grid Buried at a

The first term is a variational approximation to Depth h Below Ground Surfaces - the Two
1/C of the pseudo-grid and therefore is accurate Grid Model.
even if (q,) are the original (ql) of the solid
plate. In the second term, the qi is changed and
set to a constant q, causing a slightly larger The CEA report of Chow and Srivastava [231 shows
error in the variational expression. With such that in a two equal parallel and thin plate
change and making use of (A-lo), we get structure, the mutual potential function from one
plate to the other is
_1 = 1_ - A - P (A - 12)
CO C N 1
P, = p,, -- (B - 1)
Z P
The above is a relation of the capacitances C Of
the pseudo grid, CO of the solid plate, the change where
AP in the self potential term due to surface
A
reduction in the sub-area AA, and the number N of
the sub-areas.
cp = E,- @ -2)
The Adjustment from the Pseudo-Grid t o 8 Wire Grid. A the area of one plate
As shown in the figure (A-1). a sub-area of the t the plate separation
wire grid contains a pair of wire segments of
length A1 at right angle. Each wire segment has a P,, the self potential function of the plate
self term. and is given by,

(A - 13) P,, = 1/ (E, 0.94z ) (B -3)

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 742

I f t h e two p l a t e s a r e a t t h e p o t e n t i a l V, a n d
e a c h w i t h a c h a r g e Q,, t h e r e l a t i o n between V, a n d
Q, i s
vo = (PI, +P1zBe, (E -4)
t h e t o t a l c h a r g e of t h e two p l a t e i s 2Q., t h e r e f o r e
t h e c a p a c i t a n c e of t h e s e two p l a t e s t o i n f i n i t y i s
2
c, =
(PI1 + PI21
~ (E - 5 )

S u b s t i t u t i n g PI, of (B-1) i n t o (B-51, we g e t

(E - 6 )

T r a n s l a t e d i n t o a homogeneous ground medium w i t h

resistivity p, after some s t r a i g h t forward
r e a r r a n g e m e n t s u s i n g (B-1) t o (B-5), we g e t from
(B-6) t h e r e s i s t a n c e o f t h e two p l a t e s of e q u a l
p o t e n t i a l as

%P
R, = -
C,

I f t h e s o i l i s n o t homogeneous b u t a s y m m e t r i c a l
h a l f s p a c e w i t h a i r above, t h e second p l a t e i s
simply a n image due t o t h e a i r - s o i l i n t e r f a c e ,
hence t h e r e s i s t a n c e d o u b l e s . T h i s means t h a t

where

R, =
2P
-
4.512fi
i s t h e r e s i s t a n c e of one p l a t e i n a homogeneous
ground. From t h e above d e s c r i p t i o n o f geometry,
it i s e a s y t o see t h a t (B-8) i s a c t u a l l y t h e
r e s i s t a n c e of a t h i n p l a t e b u r i e d i n a d e p t h o f h,
with t = 2h.
I f t h e t h i n p l a t e i s r e p l a c e d by a g r i d o f ground
r e s i s t a n c e of Rnrl,* and s t i l l b u r i e d a t a d e p t h h ,
t h e n (B-8) can be w r i t t e n a s

(E - 10)

This i s equation ( 9 ) .

F i g u r e B-1 Two t h i n p a r a l l e l p l a t e c o n f i g u r a t i o n .

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