An advanced computer model for grounding system analysis

Abstract

An advanced methodology and a computer model for analysis of practical grounding systems based on the method of moments are presented. The practical methodology is applicable to both simple and complex grounding systems. The grounding system may consist of cylindrical conductors as well as rectangular earth conductors or metallic surfaces buried in earth or located on the surface of the earth. The method consists of computing an equivalent circuit model of the earth embedded electrodes and conductive soil. Uniform or two-layer soil can he accommodated. The problem of computational efficiency is addressed. Several innovations have been introduced to minimize execution time, including adaptive segmentation of grounding structures and adaptive computation of self and mutual impedances. The procedure enables accurate computation of touch and step voltages, body currents, grounding system impedance, voltage profile, etc. The method and computer program have been validated with actual system measurements. >