Unification of engineering return stroke models

Abstract

Engineering models burrow various features from transmission line theory and combine them using empirical data to create models that can predict the electromagnetic fields of lightning return strokes in space and time. At present, engineering models are the most successful in predicting the features of lightning electromagnetic fields in close agreement with the experimental data. Today, most scientists who are interested in lightning protection use engineering models in their studies. A large number of engineering return stroke models exist in the literature. Depending on the assumptions made they can be categorized as Current Propagation models (CP-models), Current Generation models (CG-models) and Current Dissipation models (CD-models). The goal of this paper is to describe the different approximations used in constructing these engineering return stroke models and to show that all these models are a special case of a more general model which we call Current model (C-model). We will show how various return stroke models can be precipitated from the C-model by neglecting different features associated with it.