744 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 23, NO.

2, MARCH 2008

Methodology for Cable Modeling and Simulation

for High-Frequency Phenomena
Studies in PWM Motor Drives
Helder De Paula, Darizon Alves de Andrade, Member, IEEE, Marcelo Lynce Ribeiro Chaves,
Jose Luis Domingos, and Marcos Antônio Arantes de Freitas

Abstract—The analysis of the transient overvoltages in a
pulsewidth modulation (PWM) motor drive system comprises a
wide frequency range, which starts with the low values corre-
sponding to the motor speed, includes the switching harmonics,
which can reach up to few hundreds of kHz, and also the cable
resonance frequency, which value can be in the MHz range, de-
pending on the cable length. In this context, this work presents a
time domain methodology for cable modeling able to represent the
cable parameters variation due to skin effect in this broad range
of frequencies. The proposed technique reproduces accurately the
wave propagation and reflection phenomena, thus showing to be
very appropriate to transient overvoltage studies in PWM motor
drives. A new alternative to represent the frequency-dependent
cable earth-return path is also included, allowing the computation
of the zero-sequence currents generated by the common-mode
voltage produced by the inverter. Simulations using the proposed
methodology are conducted and the obtained results are compared
with measurements, showing good agreement.
Index Terms—Cable modeling, common-mode currents,
pulsewidth modulation (PWM) motor drive, skin effect, transient
overvoltages.
I. INTRODUCTION
ULSEWIDTH modulation voltage source inverter
P (PWM–VSI) electronic converters make most of the
topologies to drive induction machines. Two main problems
occur with such systems: 1) transient overvoltages at the motor
terminals and 2) high-frequency common-mode currents.
The transient overvoltages at the motor terminals appear as a
consequence of the continuous application of voltage pulses,
originated from the electronic converter and reflected at the
cable endings, while the common-mode currents are due to
inherent inverter common-mode voltages. Distinct and un-
desirable consequences can emerge from this situation. The
overvoltages will mainly compromise the stator winding in-
sulation, and the common-mode currents, flowing to ground
Manuscript received April 23, 2007. This work was supported by the
Brazilian agencies CAPES and FAPEMIG. Recommended for publication by
Associate Editor P. Tenti.
H. De Paula is with the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo
Horizonte 31270-010, Brazil (e-mail: helder@cpdee.ufmg.br).
D. A. Andrade and M. L. R. Chaves are with the Faculdade de Engenharia
Eletrica (FEELT), Universidade Federal de Uberlandia (UFU), Uberlândia
38.400-902, Brazil (e-mail: darizon@pesquisador.cnpq.br; darizon@ufu.br).
J. L. Domingos is with the Centro Federal de Educacao Tecnologica (CEFET/
GO), Goiânia 74.055-110, Brazil.
M. A. A. de Freitas is with the Centro Federal de Educacao Tecnologica
(CEFET)-UNED/GO, Jataí 75800-000, Brazil.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPEL.2007.915759
0885-8993/$25.00 © 2008 IEEE
through the capacitive couplings of the motor and feeding
cable can lead to electromagnetic interference (EMI) problems,
misoperation of ground-fault protection and motor bearing
failures [1]. Solutions for these high-frequency problems are
generally based on filters. A comprehensive comparison among
different filter topologies for differential mode overvoltage
reduction was conducted in [2], which elected the RLC filter
at the inverter terminals as the most interesting alternative. A
LC filter placed at the inverter output with dc link feedback
was analyzed in [3] as a very effective solution for reducing the
common mode phenomena. Particularly from the EMI point
of view, this topology makes possible the use of unshielded
inverter-to-motor cables in industrial facilities, in most cases.
The effects of transient overvoltages were first verified in sys-
tems where the motor is fed by inverter through long length ca-
bles [4]. The voltage pulses applied by the inverter travel along
the cable to reach the motor, and their combination with the cor-
responding reflected waves can lead to overvoltages at the motor
terminals. Transient overvoltages of up to 3 p.u. (1 p.u. dc link
voltage) have been reported in the literature [5], [6]. With con-
verters using modern semiconductors with very small turn on
time, these effects of overvoltages have become observable even
in short length cables. Very fast pulse rising time means very
high frequencies; therefore, to accurately predict the possible
overvoltages, both the motor and cable models must be appro-
priate for a very wide frequency range, up to MHz level. Induc-
tion motor models that incorporate the effects of high frequency
are found in literature [8]–[10], where the basic idea is to use an
equivalent circuit whose frequency response approximates the
measured values. An important aspect of these models is the ad-
equate representation of the intrinsic capacitances of the motor,
which, in high frequencies, represent low impedance paths for
the current generated by the voltage pulses. For the intercon-
nection cable, the key point is the correct inclusion of the skin
effect in its modeling considering the range of frequencies stated
above, as in a PWM motor drive system the voltage frequency
spectra starts with the low values associated to the motor speed,
includes the switching harmonics and go up to the highest fre-
quency components associated to the pulse rise time, situated in
the MHz range. Since the skin effect in the earth-return path is
very intense [7], the correct prediction of common-mode cur-
rents is also dependent on a model that takes into account the
large frequency spectra. Besides, the transient overvoltage os-
cillations at motor terminals can go from some kHz (as in the
case of submarine systems) up to a few MHz, depending on the
cable length. Thus, the model must correctly represent the resis-
DE PAULA et al.: METHODOLOGY FOR CABLE MODELING AND SIMULATION FOR HIGH-FREQUENCY PHENOMENA STUDIES
tance and inductance of the cable in this wide frequency range
in order to assure an accurate reproduction of the transient over-
voltages in terms of frequency, peak values, shape and attenua-
tion of the voltage oscillations.
Several works attempted to reach this goal, but, in general, all
of them present some limitation or disadvantage. Some are able
to correctly represent the cable parameter dependency with fre-
quency only in a limited frequency range [11], [12], being then
appropriate for applications with very long leads only, as for ex-
ample those found in submarine systems. Others involve com-
plex mathematical procedures [13], [14], being of hard compre-
hension for the machine and drive engineer. An efficient model
is presented in [8], but it requires measurements to calculate the
necessary parameters and that represents a serious limitation.
Fixed-parameter models with resistance and inductance values
chosen at high frequencies (generally the cable resonance fre-
quency) were used in [15], [16]. Despite their good represen-
tation of the overvoltage amplitude damping, they fail to ac-
curately reproduce the attenuation of all other components ex-
isting in the inverter output voltage. The simplified modeling of
the cable just by its lumped capacitance, as in [17], can only
be applied in drive systems that employ a step-up transformer
at the inverter output. This is typically the case of submarine
and underground mining long cable motor drives, where the
main resonance occurs between the transformer inductance and
the cable capacitance and not within the cable L–C parameters,
which makes this strategy inadequate for study of typical in-
dustrial drive systems. The method proposed in [18] is not very
practical, since the parameters of the model are calculated on
trial and error basis. In [19], the values of the various elements
of the circuit were obtained by means of a mathematical solver
tool and the frequency range analyzed (starting at 100 kHz) is
not suitable for motor drives studies. The difficulty in obtaining
the model parameters was observed in [20], but no solution was
proposed, neither was shown how to determine the values used
in the work.
The methodology presented in the present work overcomes
all the limitation and disadvantages mentioned above. It is
simple, accurate and fully adequate to the requirements of
motor drives application. It is named “N-Branch” model and
is based in a ladder-type network. Initially developed in [21]
for a limited range of frequencies up to fiftieth harmonic order
and used in power quality studies, the modeling technique
has been improved to consider the skin effect in the required
frequency range. The paper also shows a new equivalent circuit
for the prediction of common-mode currents. This equivalent
circuit, which uses the “n-branch” cable model, does not re-
quire modal transformation or any other complex mathematical
procedure, and is therefore simpler than existing techniques.
As will be shown, the prediction of both differential voltages
and common-mode currents is achieved in the same simulation
using the proposed circuit.
II. “N-BRANCH” CABLE MODEL
To include the parameters frequency dependence, the cable
can be represented as an association of infinite shunt-connected
concentric tubular sub-conductors (Fig. 1), each one with its
own value of inductance and resistance. Considering that the
745
Fig. 1. Transversal section of a cable sub-divided in “n” concentric tubular
conductors.
current in each sub-conductor does not vary along its way, the
expressions of the voltage drop in each sub-conductor, including
mutual coupling, lead to an equivalent circuit with infinite R–L
branches [21] as shown in Fig. 1. Because infinite number of
branches is not practical, a simpler representation is in demand.
The simplification consists in defining a finite number of sub-
conductors (branches) for the model. This circuit, referred to
as the “n-branch model,” comprises for each branch, R–L el-
ements that do not vary with frequency, but are properly con-
nected resulting in an equivalent impedance that represents the
cable resistance and inductance frequency variation [Fig. 2(a)].
The problem consists in the determination of the n-branch cir-
cuit parameters, from a given set of resistance and inductance
cable parameters known for different frequencies.
The procedure is summarized as follows.
Considering the particular case of a two-branch model as rep-
resented in Fig. 2(b), the model parameters are determined an-
alytically [21] as
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
where:
— are the resistance and inductance of the
first and second branches of the model, respectively;
— are the input data, comprising the re-
sistance and inductance of the cable known, at frequencies
and respectively. As seen, from (1)–(6), with two
known values of resistance and inductance of the cable for
the two corresponding frequencies, the parameters of the
two branch model are analytically determined.
A better representation can be obtained if more than two sets
of cable parameters are available. If “n” pairs of cable param-
eters are known for “n” different frequencies, a cir-
cuit with up to “n” branches can be drawn and its parameters
calculated. However, the calculation of R-L circuit parameters
with three or more branches cannot be made in the analytic way
shown above. It is achieved using the equations for two branch
746
Fig. 2. (a) “N-Branch” circuit and the corresponding equivalent R L
impedance. (b) Two-branch model.
model and an additional procedure called “sequential circuit
order reduction.” It is explained as follows.
1) From the data set consisting of “n” pairs of resistance/in-
ductance for the “n” corresponding frequencies, two
of them ( and ), related to the
highest pair of frequencies ( and ), are taken. Then,
the parameters of the n-branch model corresponding to the
external branch are evaluated through (1)–(4).
2) To proceed with the model determination, the n-branch
model is represented by the equivalent circuit shown in
Fig. 3. Note that this equivalent circuit is not a two branch
model. It is composed by the external (nth) branch and
an equivalent impedance ( and ) that rep-
resents the association of all remaining n-1 branches for
all frequencies. That is, the total impedance of the cir-
cuit shown in Fig. 3 matches the known data cable in all
given frequencies. Therefore, it is possible to determine the
equivalent parameters of the inner branches association for
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 23, NO. 2, MARCH 2008
Fig. 3. Cable equivalent circuit with “n” branches.
the frequencies , by successively
applying (7) and (8) derived from the circuit of Fig. 3. It
can be interpreted as having the external tubular sub-con-
ductor of the n-branch extracted, and calculating the new
set of parameters for the equivalent cable represented by
n-1 branches
(7)
(8)
3) With the n-1 pairs of and determined,
the inner equivalent conductor formed by n-1 branches is
completely characterized. The n-1 set of parameters of the
equivalent conductor can now be used to determine the
(n-1)th branch in the same way as done for the n branches
conductor. Steps “2)” and “3)” are repeated until a data set
with only two frequencies is reached, when the inductive
and resistive parameters of the first branch ( and )
are evaluated using (5) and (6).
When exercising this methodology, a concern that arises
is related to the optimal number of branches to represent a
given cable configuration. One will find that not always the
highest number of branches is the best solution. In fact, the
optimum solution is the one that requires the smallest number
of branches while delivering an accurate representation of R
and L frequency dependency in the whole range of frequencies
involved in the problem. If an excessive number of branches
is used, it can happen that some branch parameters come up
with negative values, even so, the equivalent resistance and
inductance of the model are always positive values. Inves-
tigations showed that adjusting the frequency range of the
data set and/or reducing the number of branches lead only to
positive parameters, which is more meaningful in the analysis.
It was verified that a data set given with proportionally spaced
frequencies almost
always lead to a good modeling.
A. Obtaining the Cable Parameters for Different Frequencies
There are at least four options to determine the cable R–L
parameters at different frequencies to make the input data
set for the modeling: 1) using the “Cable Constants” routine
of EMTP platform, 2) by means of finite element analysis
DE PAULA et al.: METHODOLOGY FOR CABLE MODELING AND SIMULATION FOR HIGH-FREQUENCY PHENOMENA STUDIES
Fig. 4. Resistance (top) and inductance (bottom) variation in relation to fre-
quency. Results from models with four, five, and six branches.
[16], [19] (where the proximity effect can also be considered);
3) direct measurements and iv) using the method proposed
in [22], which uses very simple equations. A remark is to be
made about direct measurements, which are often difficult
and/or unavailable due to very high cost of measuring equip-
ment, and aside from that, requires special attention to avoid
exciting the cable natural frequencies during measurements,
which would lead to mistaken parameters. Using the equations
and methodology proposed in [22] it is possible to obtain the
cable resistance and inductance matrixes for a given cable
arrangement at any desired frequency. For this, the following
information is required: a) electrical resistivity and diameter of
the conductors, b) dielectric permittivity, magnetic permeability
and thickness of the insulation, c) resistivity of the ground, and
d) distance between wires and from them to the ground plane
(see Appendix I). If the cable is shielded, the parameters of the
shielding must also be provided. The equations of this method
were incorporated in the “N-branch” model software routine,
making it possible to directly obtain the parameters for the
desired “N-Branch” models by entering the cable constructive
and geometric data, along with the desired frequency range
and the number of branches to be used in the models. The
program also outputs the equivalent impedance curves and
the corresponding errors for the various “n-branch” models
analyzed, as a function of the frequency.
Figs. 4 and 5 show the results for the resistance and induc-
tance representation of a 3 4 mm cable with the proposed
modeling, for four-, five-, and six-branch models, from 20 Hz
up to 2 MHz. As can be seen from Fig. 5, the maximum er-
rors obtained for the cable resistance and inductance are 4.4%
at 2 MHz and 0.25% at 500 kHz, respectively, in the case of a
six-branch model.
B. Wave Propagation Phenomena: Lumped versus Distributed
Parameter Modeling
The computational analysis of the transient overvoltages re-
quires models that represent the frequency dependency and also
the distributed nature of the cable parameters, reproducing the
747
Fig. 5. Errors obtained for the model equivalent resistance (top) and inductance
(bottom). Results from models with four, five, and six branches.
wave propagation and reflection phenomena that occur in the
cable endings and the associated voltage/current oscillations.
Distributed-parameter models present this feature, but the in-
clusion of its dependence with frequency, in the time domain, is
very complex to be implemented [13], [14].
An alternative solution is to use a lumped-parameter model
associating its cells in a number high enough to “capture” the
propagation phenomenon, keeping in mind that these cells
must comprise parameter-dependency with frequency. The
“n-branch” model fulfills this requirement. The higher the
number of lumped segments, the more accurately the dis-
tributed nature of the cable parameters is reproduced. However,
an excessive quantity of “pi” cells leads to a prohibitive com-
putational effort, and thus a reasonable number must be found.
The key point to define the appropriate number of circuits to be
cascade-associated is the relation between the wavelength of the
electric field established in the conductor and the length of the
cable. The length of each lumped segment should be calculated
in order to make the electric field variation negligible or rea-
sonably small in each “pi” circuit. The question becomes how
to define the wavelength, since the PWM voltage waveform is
a summation of many harmonic components, all contributing
to the formation of the electric field. The highest-frequency
components of a PWM voltage are associated to the pulse rise
time, and a pulse equivalent frequency “ ” can be defined
[24]
(9)
The corresponding wavelength “ ” can be calculated by
(10)
(11)
where “ ” is the pulse rise time, “ ” is the wave propagation
speed and “ ” and “ ” are the cable positive-sequence
inductance and capacitance. “ ” was obtained from the cable
748
Fig. 6. Transient overvoltage simulated results obtained by modeling the motor
as a high ohmic value resistor. The cable was modeled with 60 Hz-fixed param-
eters (a), 500 kHz-fixed parameters (b) and by the “six-Branch” model (c).
impedance matrixes calculated using [22], while “ ” was
determined by the ATP “Cable Constants” routine.
In the case of the 3 4 mm cable utilized in this section,
the propagation speed is around 1.3 10 m/s and the corre-
sponding “ ”, for a pulse rise time of 80 ns, is about 33 me-
ters. Let “ ” be defined as the relation between the length of
the lumped cells and the electric field wavelength. By means of
several preliminary simulations, it was verified that a reasonable
number for “ ” would be around 0.01 or 0.02, leading to “pi”
circuits between 33 and 66 cm. It was then decided to use two
lumped cells to represent one meter of cable length.
III. SIMULATIONS AND MEASUREMENTS OF
THE TRANSIENT OVERVOLTAGES
In order to validate the proposed modeling technique, simula-
tions were carried out using ATP platform. The system analyzed
comprises a PWM inverter, a 3 4 mm , 95 meter interconnec-
tion cable and a 2 HP three-phase induction motor. The PWM
voltage pulse is approximated as a trapezoidal shape. The cable
is represented by a cascade-connection of “pi” circuits, which
series impedance is the six-Branch model shown in Section II,
whose parameters are shown in Table I (see Appendix II). Each
“pi” circuit represents 0.5 m of cable length; therefore, the so-
lution of the problem involves 190 “pi” cells. The cable shunt
capacitance is 102,0 pF/m.
In order to observe the attenuation of the oscillations due
only to the effect of the cable resistance, the motor was re-
placed by a resistor of high ohmic value, resulting in a reflec-
tion coefficient near to 1. Fig. 6(a) and (b) show results when
the cable is represented by fixed parameters. In Fig. 6(a) the pa-
rameters of the cable at 60 Hz were chosen, while in Fig. 6(b)
the resistance and inductance refer to the cable resonant fre-
quency, around 500 kHz. Fig. 6(c) shows the result obtained
by using the proposed “n-branch” model with 6 branches. It
is observed that the modeling with 60 Hz-fixed parameters re-
sulted in very low attenuation of the transient overvoltage, far
away from the expected result, represented by the 500 kHz-fixed
parameter model. On the other hand, the “six-Branch” model
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 23, NO. 2, MARCH 2008
Fig. 7. Simulation results obtained with (a) fixed-parameter model at cable res-
onance frequency and (b) “N-Branch” model.
produced a voltage amplitude attenuation very close to that ob-
tained with 500 kHz-fixed parameter model. Additionally, the
proposed model was the only one that could reproduce the pro-
gressive “rounding” in the pulse edge during its propagations
through the cable, as can be seen in Fig. 7, showing that the
model is able to provide the correct attenuation corresponding
to each one of the harmonics that compose the PWM pulse. For
the same reason, the undesired spurious oscillations overlapped
to the main oscillation due to parameter lumpiness [7] were also
eliminated.
Fig. 8 shows the simulation and experimental results of the
transient overvoltage. Curves marked “A” and “B” correspond
to the simulated and measured voltage at the inverter terminals,
respectively. Curve marked “C” shows the simulated voltage
at the cable terminals when the load is a resistor, whose ohmic
value corresponds to the motor characteristic impedance at
500 kHz. Curves marked “D” (measured) and “E” (simulated)
refer to the voltage at the cable terminals when the load is
the 2 HP induction motor. The simulation shows that the
cascade association of “N-Branch”-“pi” circuits led to a good
representation of the transient overvoltage, showing good
agreement between simulated and experimental results. The
motor model [8] used in this simulation takes into account
DE PAULA et al.: METHODOLOGY FOR CABLE MODELING AND SIMULATION FOR HIGH-FREQUENCY PHENOMENA STUDIES
Fig. 8. Voltage at the inverter terminals: simulated (curve A) and experimental
(curve B). Voltage at motor terminals: simulated representing the motor as a
resistor (C), simulated with a high-frequency model for the motor (E) and ex-
perimentally obtained (D).
Fig. 9. (a) Zero sequence and (b) positive sequence representation of the cable
“pi” circuit.
the winding-to-ground and winding turn-to-turn capacitive
couplings, which, combined to the machine inductance, define
the frequency response of the motor input impedance.
Thus, the characteristic impedance of the motor is not con-
stant, but frequency-dependent, and so is the reflection coeffi-
cient at motor terminals. Besides, these intrinsic capacitances of
the motor play an important role on the dynamics of the pulse
reflection phenomena, affecting the shape and the frequency of
the voltage oscillations, as observed in Fig. 8. It is thus recom-
mended that an appropriate model for the motor be also used to
bring additional accuracy to the simulation of the transient over
voltage phenomenon.
IV. INCLUSION OF THE COMMON MODE CURRENT PATH
The determination of differential and common mode quan-
tities of an electric system is usually performed by means of
separated circuits, where the three-phase voltage is decom-
posed in its differential and common-mode components and
then applied to the corresponding circuits. The modal quantities
are thus obtained and latter recombined for the calculation of
the phase quantities. This methodology, based on the modal
analysis, uses a transformation matrix, which becomes fre-
quency-dependent in the case of the phenomena studied here.
749
Fig. 10. Proposed circuit for common and differential mode voltage and current
simultaneous calculation.
Some methods overcome this drawback [13], [14], but they
are quite complex. In this context, this section shows a new
method, that makes use of the “N-Branch” cable model, for the
simultaneous determination of the differential mode (transient
overvoltages) and common mode (“earth” currents) high-fre-
quency phenomena in a PWM motor drive system, by means
of a single circuit, with no complex mathematical procedures.
The cable series impedance and shunt capacitance matrixes
can be written as
(12)
(13)
where the on-diagonal elements in (12)
refer to the series self-impedance of the loop formed by the
conductor “ ” and the ground return. The off-diagonal ele-
ments correspond to the series mutual
impedance between conductors “ ” and “ ”, and determine the
longitudinally induced voltage in conductor “ ” if a current
flows in conductor “ ”, and vice-versa. The resistive terms in
mutual coupling are introduced by the presence of the ground.
Reporting to (13), the on-diagonal elements “ ” repre-
sent the sum of the conductor “ ” capacitance to ground and to
all other conductors, while the off-diagonal “ ” refers to the
mutual capacitance between conductors “ ” and “ ,” with a neg-
ative sign.
Considering a continuously transposed cable, all the on-di-
agonal elements in (12) present the same value and will be de-
noted by “ ” . Likewise, the off-diagonals will be
written as “ ” . In the case of the capacitances,
“ ” will represent the conductor capacitance to ground and
“ ” the capacitance between conductors . The
750 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 23, NO. 2, MARCH 2008

Fig. 11. Experimental setup for common mode current measurement.

positive and zero-sequence values for the cable resistance, in- to include in (22) an impedance equal to and a capaci-
ductance and capacitance can be written as tance that cancels the term

(14) (24)
(15)
(16) The proposed circuit configuration is shown in Fig. 10, where,
by means of a single decoupled three-phase circuit, it is pos-
(17)
sible to directly determinate the common and differential mode
(18) voltage and currents, simultaneously.
(19) It is to be observed that the value found in (24) must be
multiplied by three in order to make the voltage drop in “ ”
where the subscripts “pos” and “zero” refer to positive and zero equal to “ ”, and not three times this value. For the
sequence. same reason, the other impedance that is included is “ ”,
From (14)–(19), the “pi” circuits representing the positive and not its triple, assuring a voltage drop of “ ”. Ana-
and zero-sequence parameters of the cable can be presented lyzing the proposed circuit, it is seen that the positive and zero
as shown in Fig. 9. In a three-phase cable system, the posi- sequence currents, flowing through it, produce voltage drops
tive and zero-sequence circuits correspond to the differential equivalent to those expressed in (22) and (23). The mutual terms
and common-mode circulation paths, respectively. Considering of the cable impedance matrix (“ ”) refer to the earth re-
a single “pi” circuit, the voltage drop for the positive and zero turn path, in which the skin effect is very intense. Thus, both
sequence, according to Fig. 9, are cable “ ” and “ ” impedances must be represented by
“n-branch” models. Following the same methodology described
in the previous section, a new simulation was conducted, now
focusing on the determination of the common-mode current.
(20) The cable was modeled by a cascade-association of the circuit
(21) presented in Fig. 10, using the same methodology described in
Section II. The connection between the converter and the motor
Replacing (14)–(19) in (20) and (21) is made by a 100 m, 4 4 mm cable, where the fourth wire
works as the earth return path, as shown in Fig. 11. The fre-
quency converter is supplied by a modified 15 kVA distribution
transformer, Y-Y, 220/220 V, being the fourth wire of the cable
(22) connected to the neutral point of the secondary winding, where
the current clamp was connected. Fig. 11 illustrates the capac-
itive couplings to ground existing in the system under investi-
(23) gation. In the converter, the path is established by the capac-
itance between the power switches and the heat sink, while in
Comparing expressions (22) and (23), it is observed that the the motor the couplings are through the stator windings to frame
positive and zero-sequence currents, circulating in the corre- and to the rotor axis. Since both the motor and the converter are
sponding circuits, flow through different impedances. Both of not connected to the earth conductor, only the current flowing
them circulate by “ ” and “ ;” but “ ” does not flow to ground through the cable distributed capacitances was mea-
through “ .” Besides, the voltage drop on “ ” produced sured. Regarding the current measurements, 1 V corresponds to
by “ ” and “ ” are multiplied by different factors. The 0.61 A.
idea is to elaborate a single special circuit, for the phase cur- Fig. 11 shows that the common mode path comprises the
rent circulation, where its differential and common mode com- zero-sequence impedance of the cable and also the impedance
ponents (“ ” and “ ,” respectively) flow through only the of the transformer, which must be included in the modeling. In
respective impedances, correctly producing the voltage drops Fig. 12, measurements show a common mode current of 90 kHz
according to (22) and (23). To accomplish this, it is necessary with peak values within 1.4 and 1.85 A. In the simulation, whose
DE PAULA et al.: METHODOLOGY FOR CABLE MODELING AND SIMULATION FOR HIGH-FREQUENCY PHENOMENA STUDIES 751

TABLE I
PARAMETERS OF THE SIX-BRANCH MODEL OF THE CABLE USED IN SECTION III

require complex mathematical transformations. The results ob-

tained from the proposed circuit showed good agreement when
compared to measurements.
!
Fig. 12. Common mode voltage (upper) and the corresponding current
(bottom). Experimental results (1 V 0.61 A). APPENDIX I
In addition to the geometric characteristics of the cable
system under analysis, some more data is needed for the cable
parameter determination, as mentioned in Section II. Some
information is given bellow:
• Relative permittivity : for PVC insulation layers,
; for PE, ; for XLPE, ; for EPR,
.
• Relative permeability : since the insulation materials
are considered diamagnetic, .
• Resistivity of the conductor , at 20 C: for copper,
.m; for aluminum, .m.
• Resistivity of the ground : depends strongly on the soil
characteristics, ranging from 1 .m (wet soil) to about 10
k .m (rock). The resistivity of sea water lies between 0.1
and 1.0 .m [23]. Information about this parameter can
Fig. 13. Common mode voltage (upper curve) and the corresponding current be obtained from the project of the facility ground grid;
(bottom). Simulated results. if this is not available, it is recommended to use
.m, an average value obtained from a great number
of measurements [7].
results are shown in Fig. 13, the transformer impedance was rep-
resented by a 0.1 mH inductance. APPENDIX II
As seen, the peak value of the common-mode current oscil- See Table I.
lations situated in the 1.2–1.75 A range, while its frequency is
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Helder de Paula was born in Uberlândia, Brazil, on
December 27, 1975. He received the B.Sc., M.Sc.,
and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the
Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Brazil, in 1998,
2001, and 2005, respectively.
In 2006, he joined the Electrical Engineering
Department, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
(UFMG), Minas Gerais, Brazil, as a Lecturer and
member of the Industry Applications Laboratory.
He has worked in R&D projects on cable and line
modeling for high frequency studies. His main
interests are motor drives, electromagnetic compatibility and quality of power.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 23, NO. 2, MARCH 2008
Darizon Alves de Andrade (M’87) was born in
Monte Alegre de Minas, Brazil, on June 23, 1956.
He received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from
the Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (UFU),
Uberlândia, Brazil, in 1980 and 1987, respectively,
and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Leeds,
Leeds, U.K., in 1994, all in electrical engineering.
During 2000, he was a Visiting Scholar with the
Motion Control Group, Bradley Department of Elec-
trical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University, Blacksburg, where he carried out re-
search on new strategies for modeling SRMs. From 1980 to 1985, he was a Lec-
turer with the Faculdade de Engenharia de Ituiutaba, Ituiutaba, Brazil. In 1985,
he joined the Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica, UFU, where he is currently a
Senior Lecturer. His teaching, research, and consulting interests and activities
are related to design, simulation, and control techniques associated with motion
control of electromechanical energy converter devices and new developments in
quality of power. He has authored and coauthored several papers in these areas.
Marcelo Lynce Ribeiro Chaves was born in Itu-
iutaba, Brazil, on October 03, 1951. He received
the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from the Universidade
Federal de Uberlândia (UFU), Brazil, in 1975 and
1985, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree from the
Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP),
Brazil, in 1995, all in electrical engineering.
He is a Senior Lecturer with the Faculdade
de Engenharia Elétrica, Universidade Federal de
Uberlândia. His main interests are electromagnetic
transients in power systems, insulation coordination,
motor drives, and quality of power.
José Luis Domingos received the M.Sc. and Ph.D.
degrees in electrical engineering from the Univer-
sidade Federal de Uberlândia, Brazil, in 1998 and
2003, respectively.
In 1992, he became a Lecturer with the Centro
Federal de Educação Tecnológica de Goiás where
he teaches electronics related subjects. Since 2003,
he has been an Assistant Lecturer at the School of
Electrical Engineering, Universidade Católica de
Goiás. Presently, he is actively involved in switched
reluctance machines and drive system research, and
his research interests include solid-state power conditioning and motor drive
development to automation processes.
Marcos Antônio Arantes de Freitas was born in
Monte Alegre de Minas, Brazil, in 1970. He received
the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engi-
neering from The Federal University of Uberlandia
(UFU), Uberlandia (MG), Brazil, in 1998 and 2002,
respectively.
He is currently with the Industry Division,
Federal Center of Technological Education of
Goiás/UnED-Jataí, where he has been working to
establish research and education activities in industry
application of power electronics converters and high
power drives. His research interests include high-frequency power conversion,
active power-factor correction techniques, motor drives, multipulse rectifiers,
and clean power applications.