CAD/CAE modeling of electromagnetic field distribution in hv substations and investigation of the human exposure

Abstract

The recent advances in computer aided design (CAD) modeling of electromagnetic field distribution in high voltage (HV) substation are presented in this paper. The substation constitutive components (e.g. towers, breakers, circuit conductors, bus bars, transformers, etc.) were built-up by the authors as three dimensional (3D) CAD models and stored in a data base under the SolidWorks CAD environment. A computer aided design software (CAE) developed by the authors retrieves the 3D coordinates of the substation constitutive components and based on the specific loads computes the electromagnetic field spatial distribution. Both 3D CAD and CAE approaches are outlined on a 3D CAD model of a cell belonging to a 400kV substation. The simulated electromagnetic field distributions are computed and represented over the HV substation 3D CAD model. This allows to visualize and spot the high concentration electromagnetic field areas. A comparison between the measurements performed in situ and simulated electric field is made. The resulted electromagnetic field is finally compared with the professional human exposure limits in controlled environment.