LIGHTNING STROKE MECHANISM

By
Dr Ab Halim Abu Bakar
 Introduction

The primary interest in studying the stroke mechanism of

the lightning stroke is in the last step of the stroke and
where it will terminate
The formation of thunderhead and in the mechanism that
starts a stroke proceeding toward the ground
Develop a mathematical model of the last step of the
lightning stroke
 As in Fig 1 the lower portion of the cloud is negatively
charged and the upper portion is positively charged. Also
positive charges build up on the ground beneath the
cloud.
Temperatures within the cloud may reach 20 C and
wind speeds greater than 100mph have been recorded
Thunderheads as high as 60,000 feet have been
recorded. Average height is about 30,000 to 40,000 feet
The breakdown is thought to occur initially between the
negatively charge region and the lower positively
charged pocket
Following this event,a sufficient voltage gradient occurs
at the edge of the cloud and air breakdown begins from
cloud to ground.
 Fig 2 illustrates the general phenomenon
The stepped leader moves toward earth in halting steps
of about 50 meters
After each step,the stepped leader pauses,then
proceeds along one or more paths
The time for each step is about 50s near the base of the
cloud but decreases to about 13s as it approaches the
earth
The velocity of the step leader is relatively slow about
10% the speed of light
The leader is not visible to the naked eye and contains a
current of 50 to 200 amperes
 As the step leader nears the earth, an upward leader (retur
stroke) is initiated that meets the downward leader
This upward leader travels upward toward the cloud at a
velocity of between 10 % to 30% of light
It is visible to the naked eye
The current brought to earth by this upward channel may
exceed 200kA and has a mean of 33kA
The temperature of the channel may exceed 50,000F
The rapid increase in temperature creates shock waves tha
heard as thunder
Fig 3 illustrate the above phenomenon
 After between 10 to 100ms a second leader called a dart
leader starts downward from the cloud
To initiate this leader another portion of the cloud is
discharged
Its velocity is about 1% of light and is much greater than
the stepped leader since it follows the ionised path
forged by the stepped leader
As the head of the dart leader nears the earth, an
upward channel is again drawn from earth to meet it and
again current is discharged to earth
This current is about 40% of the first stroke
Other charge centers in the cloud may sent dart leaders
from cloud to ground thus initiating another stroke of
flash and so on
 TYPES OF LIGHTNING FLASHES
As in Fig 11 ,there are four types of lightning
flashes
Each type is associated with the polarity of the
charge in the cloud from which the leader is
initiated or to which the leader propagate
The first type of flash,the negative downward
flash,predominates for less than 100 meters.
Approximately 85 to 90 % of the flashes to these
structures are negative downward
The median current is 33kA
 The second type is the negative upward flash
It was observed at the Empire State Building
These predominates for higher structures
Its mean value is less than 25kA
The third type is the the positive upward flash and is also
known as Superflash
Current magnitudes are about 1.2 to 2.2 times
Positive flashes are generally one stroke per flash
As for the positive downward there is no comprehensive so
of data
ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THUNDERSTORM

1 KERAUNIC LEVEL
Keraunic level is defined as the average number of days
per year on which the thunder is heard
The keraunic level for a given line is estimated from
available isokeraunic maps or from weather bureau
records
An Isokeraunic map of the world is shown as in fig xxx
 2 INCIDENCES TO THE LINE

The number of flashes to earth that are intercepted by the

transmission line is approximated as follows

N=Ng(28h0.6+Sg)/10
Ng=0.04T1.25

where
N=number of lightning flashesto a line per 100km per year
T= keraunic level in the vicinity of the line
h=average height of shield wires in meters
b=the horizontal spacing between the shield wires in meters
 ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT STROKE
CHARACTERISTICS

1 NUMBER OF STROKES
Each number of flash may contain several strokes
The entire flash may persist for a second or more
About 55% of all flashes will contain more than one
stroke
The mean number of strokes per flash is three
2 WAVESHAPES
All strokes in a flash are not of equal severity
Their amplitudes and waveshapes vary statistically
The simplified method is based on a high probability of
being the most sever
The simplified method standardises on a linear rising
negative stroke current with a 2 microsecond time to crest
as in fig 111
3 MAGNITUDES
The crest amplitude varies according to the idealised
cumulative probability distribution shown in fig 11
The amplitude is assume to decay linearly to zero curent
in 100ms
The probability distribution of crest current magnitudes is
based on data provided by Anderson and Erickssion
 The approximating equation
is
1
P(I )= 1+(I / 31)26

Where
P = probability of
exceeding stroke current I
I = stroke current in kA