Development of a Technique for Representing Lightning Arresters in the Surge Simulations based on the FDTD Method and its Application to the Calculation of Lightning-Induced Voltages on a Distribution Line

Abstract

Recently, the FDTD (Finite Difference Time Domain) method, which directly solves Maxwell's equations, has been applied to lightning surge problems involving electrical wires in three-dimensional arrangements, such as power and telecommunication circuits. Lightning arresters are installed to protect the circuits from abnormal voltages due to lightning, for example. We have already proposed a technique for representing a lightning arrester in the FDTD method. However, this technique simply represents the V-I characteristics of the arrester using just three parameters and requires a method for avoiding the numerical oscillation due to the nonlinear characteristics of the arrester.In this paper, we propose a new technique for representing the V-I characteristics of the arrester in detail using the piecewise linear function defined by several points and for improving the numerical stability without the method for avoiding the numerical oscillation. Using a test circuit, the proposed technique is validated by comparing the results calculated by the FDTD method with those by the EMTP (ElectroMagnetic Transients Program) which is a circuit-theory-based simulation program. Finally, as an example of applying the proposed technique, we calculate lightning-induced voltages on a distribution line with a lightning arrester. The calculated results by the FDTD method agree well with those by a conventional method based on circuit theroy.