TFlash Design Overview page 1

TFlash
Lightning Stroke Simulation Software
For Transmission Line Designers

Developed 1996-1997

Notes by Dave Anderson

May 15, 2009
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TFlash

TFlash was a Windows application that simulated what happened to a power

transmission line when lightning struck it. This was serious scientific software,
developed under the auspices of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), an
independent, nonprofit organization funded by major power producers throughout the
US and Canada. TFlash was developed in 1996-97 in a collaborative effort involving
engineers from EPRI and software produced by InterACT. John Anderson (my father),
a consulting engineer specializing in lightning protection, developed the mathematical
algorithms for TFlash; the user interface was designed by myself; and the modeling
component was programmed by myself and Glen Qwasny, another InterACT software
engineer. The simulation component of TFlash was provided by a couple other EPRI
engineers, using weather databases acquired from NOAA.

The “T” in TFlash stands for transmission, as the program was specifically designed for
use in designing power transmission lines – those strings of large towers which run
across the landscape, carrying enormous amounts of electrical energy. There was also
a sibling program called DFlash, designed for distribution lines – the network of wooden
poles throughout most communities, carrying much lower current levels. We weren’t
involved with creating DFlash, although we considered what a connection between the
two programs might look like in future incarnations of TFlash.

Lightning causes serious problems for electric power utilities. Being higher than most of
the surrounding trees and structures, the lines and towers act as lightning rods. One
lightning bolt can carry upwards of 30,000 amps of electrical energy – enough to
destroy electrical equipment that isn’t properly protected, and even damage portions of
the towers that support the lines. The danger of being struck varies considerably from
one part of the country to another, from one season to another, and also varies with the
local terrain. Power utility engineers need some way to estimate the relative
effectiveness of various types of towers and lines, in an effort to keep construction and
maintenance costs low and still provide reliable, continuous service to their customers.

When it was developed in 1997, TFlash was the most sophisticated program of its kind.
My father had spent most of his career studying lightning, and had developed a new set
of algorithms for approximating what happens when a complex object such as a
transmission tower is subjected to an enormous surge of energy. For my part, I had
always taken a strong interest in user interface design, and used Microsoft’s Visual
Studio to create an intuitive front end to the mathematics. The result was a Windows
application which was well-received by EPRI’s members.

Under the Hood

TFlash consisted of several components:

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• A set of tower templates, which described the electrical characteristics of many

different types of towers, and also provided pictures of each;
-• A database of conductors (wires) and insulators commonly in use;
-• A database of lightning arrestors, which acted like really big fuses;
-• Templates for tower foundations, which typically have a network of steel rods
underneath them, for strength as well as for electrical grounding;
-• A set of modeling functions for creating models of transmission lines, using
networks of linked lists;
-• A database of weather characteristics, containing historical data for electrical
storms and atmospheric characteristics in various parts of the country over
several decades;
-• A simulation system, applying lightning strokes to the model networks;
-• A user interface, for handling input from the user, and output from the simulator.

For the most part, I used the visual metaphor of a notebook for the user interface. The
user began by selecting the number of conductors (power-carrying wires) to use, which
would be consistent throughout the model, and would limit the selection of towers which
carried those conductors. Then the user would create a new page in the notebook for
each tower in the model. Tower shapes could change from place to place, the material
could change from steel to wood to fiberglass, the insulators holding the wires could
change, and the nature of the foundation connecting the tower to the ground could
change. The model also stored an approximate latitude and longitude for each tower.
The user could apply historical weather data if desired, or could simply specify a
particular atmospheric scenario. Lightning strokes could be specifically directed at any
points in the system by the user, or could be selected by the simulator based on its
historical data and a “best guess” algorithm.

The user could attach “probes” at any point on the wires or the towers; the output from
the system resembled a chart recorder showing energy levels over time. Failures (such
as cracked insulators or tripped lightning arrestors) would be called to the user’s
attention regardless of where the probes were. Finally, a commercial graphic tool called
Pro-Essentials was provided with TFlash, which allowed the user to create a variety of
charts from the output data.

The simulation calculations could take anywhere from a few seconds to an hour or
more, depending on the length and complexity of the transmission line and the period of
time under study. There was, or course, a progress indicator, showing the status of the
simulation, and the estimated time of completion.

The remainder of this paper shows screen captures and descriptions from the original
project design documentation. These screen captures came from an early design
document; more pages were added to the notebook over time as our confidence in the
algorithms increased, and the models became more detailed.
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Figure 2 - TFlash Main Screen. At the lower left is the currently-

selected tower. The right hand side of the screen is the ‘notebook’
section, allowing the user to select various components and specify
properties for the current tower. The units (English or metric) are
selectable on the Project Setup page.

Figure 2 - at the top of the main window is a control for selecting the
current tower. Similar to the controls on a VCR, the buttons move the
current view to either end of the transmission line, or move one tower
forward or backward. Clicking the center allows a specific tower to be
selected.

The four controls to the right of the selector buttons are for creating,
editing and deleting towers. ‘Enter’ takes the current data and
substitutes it for the data in the model at the current point. ‘Insert’
puts a new tower into the model using the current data.
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Figure 4 - Tower Library. TFlash has a library of about 60 different

towers, of steel, wood or concrete, and having variable numbers of
conductors. Material properties and dimensions could be modified by
the user.

The first tower may be any of those in the library. Subsequent towers
must conform to the type of the first tower - for example, AC and DC
tower types cannot be mixed.

Each tower has default dimensions. The user may change any of the
dimensions after selecting a tower. Selecting the same tower type for
subsequent towers will thereafter use the modified dimensions.
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Figure 5 - Once a tower type has been selected for a node in the
model, the tabs allow the user to enter data appropriate for that type of
tower. Shown here is the data entry screen for the “Radial
Counterpoise,’ an array of grounding rods beneath the tower.

The Resistivity field is greyed out, indicating that this value is supplied
by TFlash. The Calculate button in the lower right performs that
calculation and updates the Resistivity field.
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Figure 6 - Conductor Data. The parameters for conductors and

insulators are entered via a spreadsheet embedded into TFlash. This
arrangement readily adapts to the large number and wide variety of
parameters for the different tower types, and is the easiest for the user
to understand. The spreadsheets were created using the ObjectiveGrid
package from Stingray Software. (Stingray went on to become Rogue
Wave, a major supplier of software tools.)

The spreadsheets were designed to be sensitive to the particular type

of data on each page. Data entered by the user is automatically
checked before the user leaves the page (either to enter another type
of data, or to visit another tower). Values which seem unusual causes a
warning to pop up, prompting the user to recheck his or her data.

Fields such as conductor type and name use data from Access
databases, associated with each page. When the user clicks on one of
these fields, a pop-up menu allows only recognized items to be
selected. These databases can be customized with a selection window
in TFlash, allowing the user to narrow the scope of the selections for a
project.
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Figure 7 - the Graph Window displays the results of the

calculations done by TFlash. This window is actually the output
from a sub-program called Pro-Essentials (a commercial
graphics program which transparently plugs into TFlash). This is
a highly customizable display, giving the user control over the
style of graph, the captions, scale, colors, and so forth. The
image can be exported to a word processor or graphics
program, or sent to a printer. An extensive on-line help file for
controlling the graphics is also available at the click of a mouse
button.

There is also a text output display (not shown), which gives the
user a plain ASCII file with the results expressed as numeric
data. This is convenient for exporting to reports.
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Figure 8 - Oscillograph Wizard. After a model is constructed in

TFlash, the user may place current and voltage sensors in various
places, to assess the impact of lightning strikes. The Oscillograph
Wizard guides the user in the placement of these probes. The
location of the lightning strike may be specified by the user, or
determined based on weather data and probability.

After computing the results of the user’s lightning strikes, a graphic

plot of the data is presented in a floating window. The display is
highly customizable, and the images may be easily pasted into
standard word processor documents or sent to a printer.
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Figure 9 - Project Browser. At any time, the user may open a

spreadsheet showing data for the entire model. The fields shown
may be arbitrarily selected by the user, allowing virtually any values
to be reviewed and changed. This screen also allows data to be
exported to Microsoft’s Excel spreadsheet or Access database, or
sent to a printer.

The fields being viewed are selected by right-clicking on any column.

An extensive set of menus guides the user in selecting values, or
deleting columns from the view.
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Figure 10 - Tower Location Screen. The geographical location and

altitude of towers may be inserted into the model through this
spreadsheet. The user need only enter data for key towers - the
model will automatically interpolate data for towers in between. Note
that ‘Insert’ and ‘Remove’ do not alter the model, only the key towers
used for interpolation.

The location and altitude of the towers becomes particularly

significant when simulations are run using weather statistics. TFlash
comes with an Access database of ground flash density and other
meteorological statistics for a substantial part of North America.
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Figure 11 - Project Setup Screen. The data entered here

affects the model as a whole. This page makes use of the
same tabbed notebook motif used throughout TFlash.

Setup data can be saved independently of powerline models.

This allows default data to be easily saved and loaded for
various types of projects.

Like the Graph Page, this window is not anchored into the
general display, but floats above it.