Electrical Engineering 83 (2001) 187±192 Ó Springer-Verlag 2001
A new approach to arc resistance calculation
V. V. Terzija, H.-J. Koglin
Contents Arc resistance is an important macroscopic arc
parameter, which describes the complex nature of arcs. As
it is known, the fault arc resistance can be calculated by the
Warrington formula. Authors investigated the results of
Warrington's tests. Warrington derived a relation for the
arc voltage by using the measured arc voltage gradient and
arc current as input data. By analyzing these measure-
ments and by taking into account the conditions under
which they are obtained (inaccurate measurement devic-
es), it is unquestionable that the results are highly em-
pirical and not accurate and general enough. Laboratory
testing, provided in the high-power test laboratory FGH-
Mannheim (Germany), in which long high current arcs are
initiated, was the base for the research results presented.
In this paper a new approach to arc resistance calculation
is given. Two independent approaches delivered the same
equation. Both approaches are based on a suitable and a
simple arc model assuming the rectangular wave form of
the arc voltage, which is in phase with the arc current wave
form. The new formula for arc resistance is compared with
the Warrington formula. The in¯uences of arc elongation
are also investigated.
1 liest experimental studies considering the long arc in still
Introduction
Arc discharge is encountered in the everyday use of power
equipment. Permanent faults in a transformer, machine,
cable, or transmission line always involve an arc. When-
ever a circuit breaker is opened while carrying a current,
an arc strikes between its separating contacts. In Fig. 1, an
example of a three-phase arcing fault on a 20 kV overhead
transmission line is presented [1]. The arc existing at the
fault point is a high power long arc in still air. It does not
have the same properties as the much shorter arc existing
in circuit breakers. All arcs possessing a highly complex
nonlinear nature, in¯uenced by a number of factors. An
Received: 27 December 2000
V. V. Terzija (&), H.-J. Koglin
UniversitaÈt des Saarlandes
Lehrstuhl fuÈr Energieversorgung
gebaÈude 13, D-66123 SaarbruÈcken, Germany
e-mail: terziia@lev.ee.uni-sb.de
The authors gratefully acknowledge the Alexander von Humboldt
Foundation for supporting this research and the high-power
test laboratory FGH-Mannheim (Germany) for providing the
authors with the laboratory data records.
187
arc can be considered as an element of an electrical power
system having a resistive nature, i.e. as a pure resistance.
The length variation is an important factor in describing
the arc behavior and arc resistance. The nature of arc
elongation effects are dif®cult and extremely non-station-
ary, so they are not simple to model. Results presented in
this paper are limited to the calculation of the resistance of
the long arc in free air. Suitable similar new approaches for
short arcs, existing in circuit breakers, could be also de-
veloped.
In the case of short-circuits occurring on lines within
medium- and high-voltage networks, distance protection
has to locate precisely the fault point for a selective in-
terruption of the fault. In most cases (over 90%) short
circuits in a network are followed by an arc (arcing faults),
so an impedance evaluation, i.e. fault location, is disturbed
by the arc voltage arising at the fault point. In other words,
the arc is the source of errors, if it is not taken into con-
sideration when locating the fault. To avoid these errors,
the well-known Warrington formula [2] for arc resistance
calculation is used.
Empirically obtained results play an important role in
investigating the nature of electrical arcs. One of the ear-
air is presented in [2±4]. Nowadays modern transient re-
corders with fast A/D converters are available.
In this paper the results derived by Warrington [2] are
investigated and compared with the results obtained from
laboratory tests provided in a high-power test laboratory
FGH-Mannheim (Germany). It is concluded that the
Warrington formula is not quite correct, so the new for-
mula for arc resistance calculation is derived and com-
pared with the old, Warrington formula.
Two independent approaches delivered the same new
equation for arc resistance. In the ®rst, the de®nition of
resistance in a-c circuits was the starting point for the for-
mula derivation, whereas in the second, the spectral analysis
approach is used. Obvious absolute relative differences be-
tween the formulae, in particular for the wide range of
currents, can be noticed. The results obtained are discussed.
In this paper, ®rst Warrington results are tested, eval-
uated, discussed and criticized. Second, the results ob-
tained in FGH-Mannheim are presented and a new
``macroscopic arc model'' is derived. Third, a new formula
for arc resistance is derived. Two independent approaches
delivered the same formula. Fourth, the new formula is
compared with the Warrington formula. Before conclud-
ing remarks, the aspects of arc elongation effects and its
in¯uences on arc resistance are investigated.
 Electrical Engineering 83 (2001)

188

Fig. 1. Three-phase arcing fault on a 20 kV overhead trans-

mission line

2
Discussion of the Warrington formula
In [2] Warrington presented his remarkable results of ®eld
tests on the high-voltage systems of the New England and Fig. 2. The original measurements and results obtained by
the Tennessee Electric Power Company. Through these Warrington [2]
tests he investigated the in¯uence of arc resistance on
protective devices and derived his well-known and widely where voltage is in volts (V), current in amperes (A) and
applied general formula for arc resistance calculation: arc length in meters (m).
K In [2] a table with all measurements obtained by War-
Ua ˆ Ea L ˆ n L …1† rington is given. Based on the full measurement set from
I
[2], in this paper parameters K and n are estimated and
where Ua is arc voltage (V), Ea is arc voltage gradient (V/ft, new estimated curves Ea over ia are derived. In Fig. 3 both
or V/m), 1 ft = 0.3048 m, L is arc length (ft, m), I is arc the full measurement set and the estimated curve for arc
RMS current (A) and K and n are the unknown constants. voltage gradient are presented. Parameters estimated in
The unknown parameters K and n are estimated from this case are:
measurements. In [2] Warrington expressed the arc length
in feet (ft). 1
K ˆ 3460:49; n ˆ 0:225333; ˆ 4:437877
In Fig. 2 the third Fig. from [2], scanned and incorpo- n
rated into this paper, is presented. In this ®gure the Both parameters are essentially different from the
measured arc voltage gradient, Ea expressed in (kV/ft), is parameters obtained by Warrington.
presented over currents in amperes. Only the selected By observing Fig. 3, it is apparent that for one current
measurement set is depicted. Bad measurements are there follow various values for arc voltage gradient. This
omitted. In [2] it is not explained how the measurements variety is probably the consequence of arc elongation
are omitted. In the same ®gure, a curve de®ning the re- occurring during the tests?
lationship between Ea and current is plotted. The curve is Under the assumption that some measurements were
obtained using the following parameters included in (1): not correct, i.e. that some of them could be treated as bad
1 data, in this paper a reduced measurement set is selected
K ˆ 8750; n ˆ 0:4; ˆ 2:5 and presented in Fig. 4. From the reduced measurement
n
set the following unknown parameters are estimated:
Parameters are valid if length is expressed in (ft). In Fig. 2,
in the Warrington formula given below the graph, the arc
voltage is expressed in volts. In other words, from the
selected measurement set, Warrington determined pa-
rameters K and n, and by using (1) obtained the curve
showing the relationship between arc voltage gradient and
arc current. By including K and n into (1), one obtains the
following formula for the arc voltage:
8750 8750 28688:5
p Lˆ 0:4 L‰…V/ft)ftŠˆ 0:4 L‰(V/m)mŠ
Ua ˆ 2:5 …2†
I I I
From (2) the next equation for arc resistance follows:
Ua 28688:5 Fig. 3. Full measurement set and estimated arc voltage gradient
Ra ˆ ˆ L‰X=mŠ …3†
I I 1:4 curve
V. V. Terzija, H.-J. Koglin: A new approach to arc resistance calculation
1 expected short-circuit currents today reach values over
K ˆ 11387:4; n ˆ 0:427663; ˆ 2:338289
n
The new curve for Ea is depicted in the same plot.
In Fig. 5 the full measurement set from [2] and three arc
voltage gradient curves (the Warrington, the full and the
reduced measurement set curves) are presented.
It is obvious that two new independent and different
equations for arc voltage resistance calculation are ob-
tained. From the above results, the following general ob-
servations regarding Warrington ®eld tests are formulated:
1. Measurement devices used during Warrington testing
were relatively inaccurate, so the conclusions derived
are not reliable enough.
2. During the arc life the arc length changes. These changes
are not considered when the Warrington formula is
derived.
3. A criterion used in [2] by which some bad data are
rejected, i.e. omitted from the consideration, is not
described. It seems that the selection of the measure-
ments processed is provided quite arbitrarily. This task
should be solved by using the known standard robust
estimators, that are not sensitive to bad data (outliers).
4. The method describing the Warrington formula is
derived is not mentioned in the text.
5. The range of arc currents observed is rather small
(<1 kA).
6. The Warrington formula cannot be accepted as abso-
lutely correct, so the new formulae should be derived,
compared with it and applied.
The 6-th observation that the Warrington formula is not
absolutely correct, as well as the fact that the formula is
not derived by analyzing a wide range of currents (the
Fig. 4. Reduced measurement set and estimated arc voltage
gradient curve
Fig. 5. Full measurement set from [2] and three arc voltage
gradient curves
60 kA), motivated the authors to investigate the possibil-
ities for deriving a new formula for arc resistance. The new
formula should be used as an alternative to the Warring-
ton one. The response of the international scienti®c society
to the new approach, which will be presented, should
evaluate it and investigate whether it is suitable for prac-
tical applications.
3
Laboratory testing and modeling of long arc in still air
189
The nature of long arc in still air is investigated in the high
power test laboratory FGH-Mannheim (Germany), in
which a series of laboratory tests are provided. Voltage
u…t†, current i…t† and arc voltage ua …t† are digitized from
the laboratory test circuit depicted in Fig. 6. Arcs between
arcing horns of vertical and horizontal insulator chains are
initiated by means of a fuse wire, when switch S in Fig. 6 is
closed. The distance between electrodes is varied in the
range of 0.17±2 m. The range of arc currents varied be-
tween 2 and 12 kA.
In Fig. 7 the recorded arc voltage ua …t†, current i…t†,
which is at the same time the arc current ia …t† and the re-
calculated instantaneous electrical power of the arc are
plotted. Arc voltage and arc current are in phase, con®rming
the resistive arc nature. The wave form of arc power is dis-
torted and, from the amplitude point of view, proportional
to arc current. The long high current a-c arc voltage am-
plitude is proportional to arc voltage length. Here the co-
ef®cient of proportionality is arc voltage gradient Ea . It is
almost independent of the arc current, so the voltage am-
plitudes of long high current arcs are determined by the arc
length L. Over the range of currents, 100 A to 20 kA, the
average arc voltage gradient lies between 1.2 and 1.5 kV/m
[4±6]. In [3] it is shown that for long arcs almost all the total
arc voltage appears across the arc column.
The quantitative expression of signal distortion is the
total distortion factor THD, calculated as follows:
Fig. 6. Laboratory test circuit
Fig. 7. Recorded arc wave forms
 Electrical Engineering 83 (2001)

v
u M A. Derivation using the classical resistance de®nition
100 uX
THD ˆ t Xh2 % …4† Let us assume that arc voltage u…t† and current i…t† are
X1 hˆ2
modeled as follows:
u…t† ˆ Ua sgn‰i…t†Š …6†
where Xh …h ˆ 1; . . . ; M† is the amplitude of the h-th p
harmonic. Spectral analysis of arc voltages and currents is i…t† ˆ 2I sin xt …7†
provided through the application of Fast Fourier Trans-
form (FFT). From the calculated amplitude spectra, the The resistance R of an element belonging to an a-c circuit
corresponding THD factors for arc voltage and current are is de®ned as:
calculated. The average THD factors for arc voltage and ZT ZT
current are approximately 30 and 2%, respectively. 2 1 1
190 RI ˆ P ˆ p…t†dt ˆ u…t†i…t†dt …8†
It can be concluded that arc voltage is a distorted wave T T
form, whereas arc current is not. Thereby, arc current can 0 0
be modeled as a pure sine wave, whereas arc voltage must where I is the RMS of current and p…t† is the instantaneous
be modeled in a such a way that its distortions are taken power. By including (6) and (7) into (8), one obtains:
into account realistically enough.
By observing the arc voltage and current waveforms ZT=2
22Ua
plotted in Fig. 7, one concludes that the voltage signal has a RI ˆ i…t†dt …9†
distorted rectangular form. Additionally, it is in phase with T
0
the arc current. Thus, an arc can be represented through the
following equation, modeling the arc voltage [7, 8]: Since
ZT=2 p
p Z
T=2
ua …t† ˆ Ua sgn…ia † ‡ n …5† 2 2I
where ua …t† and ia …t† are voltage and current of an arc i…t†dt ˆ 2I sin xt dt ˆ …10†
x
having the constant length L and Ua is the amplitude of the 0 0
rectangular signal. In (5), sgn is a sign function de®ned as: Equation (9) becomes:
sgn…x† ˆ 1 if x  0 and sgn…x† ˆ 1 if x < 0 and n…t† is p p
zero-mean Gaussian noise. The value of Ua can be ob- 2 2Ua 2 2I 2 2IUa
tained as the product of arc-voltage gradient Ea and the RI ˆ P ˆ ˆ …11†
T x p
actual arc length, L.
From (11) follows the explicit expression for the arc re-
The arc voltage model (5) has already been successfully
sistance:
used for the purpose of overhead lines protection (see Ref. p
[9, 10]). In this paper, it will be the starting point for the 2 2Ua
derivation of the new formula for arc resistance calcula- Rˆ …12†
pI
tion. In Fig. 8, the simulated arc voltage (Eq. (5)) and
current from the circuit depicted in Fig. 6, as well as the Suppose that there exists a linear relationship between arc
recalculated instantaneous electrical power of the arc are voltage magnitude and arc voltage gradient:
presented. Simulation is provided using a software pack- Ua ˆ Ea L …13†
age presented in [11].
Hence
p
4 2 2 Ea L
Rˆ …14†
New formula for arc resistance p I
In this section a new formula for arc resistance calculation Equation (14) is the new formula for arc resistance cal-
is derived. One formula is derived in two independent culation. It requires a suitable selection of the value/ex-
ways: a) by using the classical de®nition of electrical re- pression for the arc voltage gradient Ea .
sistance in a-c circuits and b) by using the spectral domain
analyses approach. B. Derivation using spectral domain analyses approach
A pure square wave (Eq. (6)) can be expressed by Fourier
series containing odd sine components only, as follows:
X 1
41
u…t† ˆ Ua sgn…i† ˆ Ua sin…hxt ‡ hu1 † …15†
hˆ1
p h
where h ˆ 1; 3; 5; 7; . . . is the harmonics order, u1 is the
phase angle of the fundamental harmonic and x is the
fundamental angular frequency. From (15) follows that the
maximal and RMS values of the h-th harmonics can be
respectively calculated by using the following formulae:
4
Uah ˆ Ua …16†
Fig. 8. Simulated arc wave forms ph
V. V. Terzija, H.-J. Koglin: A new approach to arc resistance calculation

 
h 1 4 855:3 4501:6
Ua;rms ˆ p Ua …17† R2 ˆ ‡ L …28†
2 ph I I2
Hence, for the ®rst harmonic, one obtains: In (27), constant 1080.4 follows if Ea ˆ 1200 V/m, whereas
1 4 constant 1350.5 follows if Ea ˆ 1500 V/m.
1
Ua;rms ˆ p Ua …18† In the next section formulae (27) and (28) will be
2p compared with the Warrington formula:
By de®ning the arc resistance as: 28688:5
1 RW ˆ L …29†
Ua;rms I 1:4
Rˆ 1
…19†
Ia;rms The comparison will be provided by comparing the values
for a wide range of currents. 191
and by including (18) into (19), one obtains:
1 p1 4 Ua
p 5
Ua;rms 2p 2 2Ua
Rˆ 1 ˆ ˆ …20† Comparison between Warrington and new formula
Ia;rms I pI Three formulae: the Warrington formula (29) and two new
Finally, by including (13) into (20), follows the same for- formulae (27) and (28), derived in this paper, are compared
mula for arc resistance, derived by using the classical arc by changing the RMS values of arc current in the expressions
de®nition (Eq. (14)): for arc resistances, for the arc length assumed in advance.
p Here it is assumed that an 1 m long arc is analyzed
2 2 Ea L (L = 1 m). The current RMS values are changed in a wide
Rˆ …21† range: from 100±50.000 A. By using formulae (27), (28) and
p I
(29), the values for arc resistances RW , R1;1200 V=m
C. Arc voltage gradient selection …R1 for Ea ˆ 1200 V/m†, R1;1500 V=m …R1 for Ea ˆ 1500 V/m†
As already mentioned, in the new formula for arc resis- and R2 are calculated and clearly presented in Fig. 9. By
tance a suitable value/expression for the arc voltage gra- observing Fig. 9, it can be concluded that in some ranges of
dient should be included. From the electrical properties of currents RW is greater than R1 and R2 , and vice versa. In
an arc under steady conditions (u±i characteristic) point of Fig. 10, curves depicted in Fig. 9 are zoomed and presented
view, a number of equations are derived from the exper- for currents between 2 and 5 kA, so that the points at which
imental studies. The ®rst and best known is [3]: ``new arc resistances'' are equal to Warrington resistance are
observable. For example, for I ˆ 6:64 kA it follows that
C ‡ DL R1;1200 V=m ˆ RW . The ``Warrington curve'' crosses all three
Ua ˆ A ‡ BL ‡ …22†
I other curves. The currents at which the new resistances are
If in (22) L is made suf®ciently large, the terms involving equal to Warrington resistance can be simply detected in
parameters A and C may be neglected, and the charac- Fig. 11, in which the absolute relative errors, e…%†, calcu-
teristic equation becomes approximately: lated for R1 and R2 , with regard to RW , are presented re-
  spectively. For currents greater than 3.64, 2 and 6.5 kA
D respectively, Warrington resistance is smaller than
Ua ˆ B ‡ L …23†
I R1;1200 V=m , R1;1500 V=m and R2 , respectively.
If in (23) current is suf®ciently large, the arc voltage be-6
comes a function only of the arc length, according to the Extension of arc resistance equation
equation with the arc elongation model
Ua ˆ BL …24† As a matter of fact, the arc length changes during the arc
life. The elongation of the long arc is determined by
Parameter B represents the voltage gradient Ea in the arc
the magnetic forces produced by the supply current, the
column. The arcs occurring on the fault point can be
convection of the plasma and the surrounding air, the
treated as long high current arcs, so the aforementioned
discussion holds. In the open literature the following val-
ues/expressions for Ea calculation are used:
1. In accordance with (24) and from Refs. [4±6]:
Ea ˆ …1200  1500† …25†
2. In accordance with (23) and from Ref. [12]:
Ea ˆ 950 ‡ 5000=I …26†
In (26) I is expressed in amperes (A). Equations (25) and
(26) can be now included in (21), so one obtains the fol-
lowing two new equations:
L Fig. 9. Resistances obtained using Warrington and new formulae
R1 ˆ …1080:4  1350:5† …27†
I for L = 1 m
 Electrical Engineering 83 (2001)
192 Fig. 10. Curves from Fig. 9 for 2 kA < I < 5 kA
Fig. 11. Absolute relative errors
atmospheric effects (wind, humidity, pressure), i.e.
the medium in which the arc is initiated, etc. Based on the
experimental studies provided in the high-power test
laboratory FGH-Mannheim, and assuming that arc voltage
amplitude is proportional to the arc length and indepen-
dent form the arc current (Eq. (13)), it is concluded that
the speed of the arc elongation reaches values over
120 km/h. These speeds are greater than the speed of
common winds. The previous conclusion indicates that
from the arc elongation point of view the in¯uence of
electrodynamics forces is essential.
Arc model (5) does not model the arc elongation effects.
Generally speaking, the arc elongation can be integrated into
the model (5) by multiplying it with a suitable selected arc
elongation function L…t†. The same is valid for the arc
resistance. Since the elongation effects are not deterministic,
but extremely stochastic, it is relatively dif®cult to model all
effects exactly. For example, the elongation function L…t†
can be selected in the form of an exponential function and in
this form included in the arc resistance formula as follows:
j k
Ra …t† ˆ Ra0 …t Ti † 1 ‡ a eb…t Ti †
h…t Ti † …
where Ra0 is the initial arc resistance, Ti is the inception of
arc ignition, h…t† is Heaviside function and a and b are
parameters de®ning the arc elongation dynamics. Natu-
rally, some other ``elongation functions'' can be used for
modeling elongation effects of an arc, as well.
7
Conclusion
Through the investigation of Warrington results it is
concluded that his well-known formula for arc resistance
calculation is not absolutely correct. Based on experi-
mental testing in the high-power test laboratory FGH-
Mannheim (Germany), a new formula for arc resistance is
derived. Two independent procedures of its development
are presented. The new formula requires a suitable selec-
tion of arc voltage gradient value. Two approaches for arc
voltage gradient are presented, so that two new formulae
are derived. The new formula is compared to the War-
rington formula. Obvious differences are observed. The
authors are now expecting the response of the scienti®c
audience to the results presented.
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