Frequency-dependent impedance of vertical
conductors and a multiconductor tower model
A. Ametani, MSc, PhD, FIEE, CEng, FIEEE
Y. Kasai, MlEE (Japan)
J. Sawada, MlEE (Japan)
A. Mochizuki, MlEE (Japan)
T. Yamada, MIEE (Japan)
Indexing terms: Conductors, Frequency-dependent impedance, Lightning surge analysis
Abstract: The paper proposes a frequency-
dependent characteristic impedance of a vertical
multiconductor system above an imperfectly con-
ducting earth and a multiconductor multistair
model with a number of legs between tower arms
to represent an actual tower for a lightning surge
analysis. Surge impedances calculated by the pro-
posed formula and model show a satisfactory
accuracy compared with a number of experimen-
tal and field test results of vertical conductors and
actual towers. It is observed that an imperfectly
conducting earth causes no significant effect on
the characteristic impedance of a tower, and the
wave propagation velocity is nearly the light
velocity in free space in the entire frequency range.
List of symbols
Z =impedance
Y = admittance
P = modified potential coefficient
Z , = characteristic impedance
2, = surge impedance
x = vertical distance
y = horizontal distance
h = conductor height
d = horizontal separation
r = conductor radius
w = angular frequency
pe = earth resistivity
h, = complex penetration depth
Subscripts
i = ith conductor
0 = perfectly conducting earth
1 Introduction
A lightning surge analysis is quite important from the
viewpoint of power system insulation. Especially in
Japan, a construction of an 1100 kV transmission line
Q IEE, 1994
Paper 9988C (PS), first received 18th February and in revised form loth
December 1993
A. Ametani and Y. Kasai are with the Department of Electrical Engin-
eering, Doshisha University, Kyoto 602, Japan
J. Sawada, A. Mochuuki and T. Yamada are with the Engineering
Research Center, Tokyo Electric Power Co., Chofu-shi, Tokyo 182,
Japan
IEE Proc.-Gener. Transm. Distrib., Vol. 141, No. 4, July I994
I
and rerationalisation of high-voltage testing have made
research works on this subject very active [l-31.
A tower is one of the most dominant factors to deter-
mine lightning overvoltages on a transmission line and a
substation. A number of studies on a surge impedance of
the tower have been carried out for a lightning surge
analysis [l-121. Most of the studies concerned an ana-
lytical formulation of the surge impedance of a vertical
single conductor with a circular cross-section,but no
formula except Jordan’s [4] seems to take into account
the effect of an imperfectly conducting earth on the surge
impedance. Also, the tower configuration, for example a
number of legs with different lengths and sizes between
arms, is not considered in most previous studies.
This paper proposes an impedance of a vertical multi-
conductor system above an imperfectly conducting earth
based on Neumann’s inductance formula and Deri’s
complex penetration depth [13, 141. A capacitance of the
vertical conductor system is also developed under an
assumption of a perfectly conducting earth. Then, a pro-
pagation constant and a characteristic impedance of the
system are readily determined, and the wave propagation
characteristic on the vertical conductor system are dis-
cussed based on a conventional theory of a distributed
parameter circuit.
A multiconductor multistair model with a number of
legs between tower arms to represent an actual tower is
developed applying the above result. Surge impedances
calculated by the proposed formula and model are com-
pared with a number of experimental and field test results
on vertical conductors and actual towers.
2 Impedance of a vertical multiconductor system
Let us consider a vertical multiconductor system illus-
trated in Fig. 1. Neumann’s integral formula is quite con-
venient to obtain the steady-state inductance of a
conductor. The earth being not perfectly conducting in
reality, its resistivity has to be taken into account in an
impedance calculation. For this purpose, a complex pene-
tration depth proposed by Deri et al. [13] is useful. By
applying Deri‘s complex penetration depth to Fig. 1,
Neumann’s formula is rewritten in the following form as
proposed by Rogers et al. [14]
Zij = jw0ld2WiI [Wml
P, = ( M + M’)/2Xij
339
where In the self-impedance case, the following formula is
obtained by substitution ofd = ri, h, = h, and h, = h, for
S = J((y; - yj)’ + (xi - ~ j ) ’ )= J(d2 + ( x ;- x,)’) the conductor i
S = J(d’ + (xi - xi)’) pii= In [(J(r: + X’) + X )
X ; ; = h, - h, X j j = h, - h, Xij = (Xi; + Xjj)/2 x {J(r: + ( H - 2X)’) + (H - 2 X ) }
hi = h, + 2h, h: = h, + 2h, h, = J(pJjwp) i ri{J(r: + ( H - X)’)+ ( H - X ) } ]
Since Neumann’s inductance formula is based on a quasi-
static field condition, an applicable frequency range of
+ ( H f 2 X )In [{,/(r: + ( H - X)’) + ( H - X)}’
eqn. 1 is restricted to less than 10 MHz. It is a question of + (J(rf + H’) + H )
whether the idea of the complex penetration depth is
applicable to short conductors with vertical orientation.
x {J(rf + ( H - 2X)’) + (H - 2X)}]
+ (1/2X){2ri+ J(r: + H’) + J ( r f + ( H - 2X)’)
- 2J(rf + X2)- 2,/(r: + (H - X)’)} (4)
where
H = 2(h +he), h = h, = h,, h -X = h, = h,
When the conductors i and j are at the same vertical
position, i.e. h, = h,, h, = h,, eqn. 3 is simplified in the
following form
P, = In [(J(d’ + X’) + X )
x {J(d2 + ( H - 2X)’) + ( H - 2 X ) }
- d{J(d’ + ( H - X)’)+ ( H - X)}]
+ ( H / 2 X ) In [ { J ( d Z + ( H - X)’) + ( H - X)}’
- (J(d’ + H’) H )+
x { J ( d Z + ( H - 2X)’) + (H - 2X)}]
+ (1/2X){2d + J(d’ + H’) + J(d’ + ( H - 2X)’)
- 2J(d2 + X’) - 2J(d2 + ( H - X)’)} (5)
If the earth is assumed to be perfectly conducting, the
above equation is further simplified
Fig. 1 Vertical multiconductor system
Poi, = In [(J(d’ + X’) + X )
The idea should be applicable to the vertical conductors x + +
{ J ( d Z 4(h - X)’) 2(h - X ) }
because the penetration depth is independent of the con- - d{J(d’ + (2h - X)’) + (2h - X ) }
ductor height. Also, it can be applied as an approx-
imation to the short conductors above an imperfectly + ( h / X )In [{J(d’ + (2h - X)’) + (2h - X)}’
conducting earth as far as an image theory assuming a i(J(d2 + 4h’) + 2h)
perfectly conducting earth is applicable to the short con-
ductors. Considering the fact that there exists no pract- x {J(d’ + 4(h - X)’) + 2(h - X ) } ]
ical approach to obtain the earth return impedance of the
short conductors above the imperfectly conducting earth,
+ (1/2X){2d + J(d’ + 4h’) + J(dz + 4(h - X)’)
we adopt the approach of eqns. 1 and 2. - 2J(d2 + X 2 )- 2J(d2 + (2h - X)’)} (6)
Solving the above equations, the following mutual
impedance between conductors i and j is obtained, which The self-impedance for the above case is given by substi-
differs from that given in Reference 14 by variables h, to tution of d = r.
h, expressing the distance between one conductor and 3 Line parameters
the image of the adjacent conductor.
Pi, = (1 - 2Xij)[- h, In A, + h, In A, The impedance formula given in the previous Section is
for a steady state with an arbitrary frequency of sinus-
+ h, In A , - h, In A, + a , - a2 - a3 + a, oidal excitation. In a perfectly conducting conductor
- (h, In A, - h, In A , - h, In A, system, it is well known that the product of series imped-
ance matrix [a] = j w [ L o ] and the shunt admittance
+ h, In A, - a s + a6 + a, - a,)] (3) matrix Cy3 =j w [ q of the conductor system becomes
diagonal with negative real elements which are a function
where of space permeability po and permittivity e o .
h, = h, - h,, h, = h, - h,, h3 = h, - h, C ~ I C Y I= - ( w 2 & o P o ) c q (7)
h, h, - h,, hs h,+ h, + 2h,, h, = h, + h, + 2h, where
h, = h, + h, + 2h,, h, = h, + h, + 2h, [U= unit matrix
a, = J(hz + d’), A, = a, + hk (k = 1, 2, .,,, 8) w = angular frequency
340 I E E Proc.-Gener. Transrn Distrib., Vol. 141, No. 4, July 1994
 [q= capacitance matrix
[Lo] = (po/2a)[Po] = inductance matrix
[Po] = matrix corresponding to potential coefficient
The capacitance matrix can be obtained from the above
equation in the following form
[q= 27TEo[p0]-’
The element Poijof the above matrix [Po] is given in eqn.
6. A well known capacitance of a distributed parameter
line such as a power transmission line is for a perfectly
conducting earth, and is widely used even for an imper-
fectly conducting earth. Thus, the above capacitance of a
vertical conductor system can be used for the imperfectly
conducting earth case.
Having obtained the impedance and the admittance of
a vertical conductor system, line parameters such as a
propagation constant r and a characteristic impedance
Z , are readily obtained based on a theory of a distrib-
uted parameter circuit.
cu2 = c z l c y l cz0i2= c ~ I c Y ~ C- ~~ I=- ~ C Z(9)
I Z , = 60{ln (h/r) - 1) = Jordan’s formula
The characteristic impedance (surge impedance) for a
perfectly conducting earth is given in the following simple
form [l5]
[Z,] = 60[Po] or Zsij= 6OPoij
4 Single-conductor model
A basic model of a tower is a vertical single conductor. A
number of experiments have been carried out to measure
the surge impedance of such a tower [3, 7, 91. Results
calculated by the proposed formula in the paper will be
compared with the measured results, and a propagation
characteristic of the vertical single conductor will be dis-
cussed in this Section.
4.1 Comparison with measured results
Table 1 shows a comparison of measured and calculated
surge impedances of a vertical single conductor with
height h and radius r. Included in the Table are results
calculated by various formulae given in References 5, 7, 9
and 11. It is clear in the Table that the accuracy of the
proposed formula is highest among the various formulae
in comparison with the measured results. Jordan’s
formula [4] also shows a high accuracy. It is worth
noting that the proposed formula, eqn. 10 with eqn. 6 for
a single conductor, becomes identical to Jordan’s formula
under the condition that the bottom of the conductor is
on the earth surface (h - X = 0) with the assumption of a
(8) perfectly conducting earth (p, = 0) and r 6 h, i.e.
Po = In [{,/(r2 + h2) + h)’/{,/(r2 + 4h2) + 2h}r]
+ {,/(r2 + 4h2) + 3r/2 - 2,/(r2 + h2)}/h (11)
With r 4 h, the above equation is further simplified
Po + In (4h2/4hr) - (h - 2h)/h
= In (h/r) - 1 = In @/er) (12)
where
e = 2.71828
For the surge impedance case, from eqn. 10
(13)
Results calculated by the formula of Reference 9 also
agree well with the measured results. This is quite reason-
able because the formula has been derived experimentally
(10) from the measured results. It is interesting that the
experimental formula agrees well with eqn. 13 by
rewriting as follows
Z , = 60{ln (2,/(2)h/r) - 2)
= 60{1n (h/r) - 0.96)
= 60{ln (h/r) - 1) + 2.4 (14)
The above fact, i.e. the fact that an experimental formula
agrees well with the proposed formula (eqn. 13), might
prove the high accuracy of the proposed formula com-
pared with the measured results. As is observed in Table
1, the measured surge impedance Z,,, is roughly pro-
portional to the parameter In @/er). This fact is another
proof of the high accuracy of the proposed formula,
because the formula is directly proportional to In @/e,).
As far as a cylindrical conductor is concerned, the
surge impedance formula recommended by CIGRE [111
shows a poor accuracy as is clear from Table 1. The

Table 1 : Measured and calculated surge impedances of vertical conductors

Ref. Height Radius Measured Z,, Proposed Approx.*’ Wagner” Sargent.’ Hara*4 CIGRE”
h [ml r [mml z,,,[nI - =Jordan Ref. [5] Ref. [7] Ref. [9] Ref. [ l l ]
In (hler)
15.0 25.4000 320.0 59.5 323.0 322.9 445.2 385.2 325.2 382.9
15.0 2.5000 459.0 59.6 462.0 462.0 584.4 524.4 464.4 522.0
9.0 2.5000 432.0 60.1 431.3 431.3 553.7 493.7 433.7 491.3
6.0 2.5OOO 424.0 62.5 407.0 407.0 529.4 469.4 409.4 467.0
3.0 50.0000 181.0 58.5 187.2 185.7 308.0 248.0 188.0 245.7
[9] 3.0 25.0000 235.0 62.3 228.0 227.2 349.6 289.6 229.6 287.2
3.0 15.0000 250.0 58.2 258.3 257.9 380.3 320.3 260.3 317.9
3.0 2.5OOO 373.0 61.2 365.5 365.4 487.8 427.8 367.8 425.4
3.0 0.2500 514.0 61.2 503.6 503.6 .625.9 565.9 505.9 563.6
2.0 2.5OOO 345.0 60.7 341.2 341.1 463.5 403.5 343.5 401.1
2.0 0.2500 481.0 60.2 479.2 479.2 601.6 541.6 481.6 539.2
0.608 43.3750 112.0 68.3 104.7 98.4 220.8 160.8 100.8 158.4
[7] 0.608 9.4500 180.0 56.9 191.2 189.8 312.2 252.2 192.2 249.8
0.608 3.1125 250.0 58.5 256.9 256.5 378.9 318.9 258.9 316.5
0.608 1.1750 310.0 59.1 315.1 314.9 437.3 377.3 317.3 374.9
[3] 1.8 1O.OOOO 249.0 59.4 252.1 251.6 374.0 314.0 254.0 311.6
averaae of absolute error % (60.4) 2.5 2.7 44.8 22.6 2.8 21.7
*1:2,=60 In (h/r)-60=60 In (h/er) *2:2,=60 In ( Z J ( 2 ) h/r) =Z,+122.4 *3:2,=Zw-60=2,+62.4
*4: Z,, =-I , =Z, + 2.4
120 *5:2,=60 In {cot [0.5 tan-’(r/h)]}=Z,+60

IEE Proc.-Gew. Transm. Distrib., Vol. 141, No. 4, July 1994 341
I

CIGRE formula is given in the following form
Z, = 60 In [cot 0.5{tan-'(R,,,/h)}]
{(h + J(h2 + R~J)/RaV8}
= 60 In (15)
where h = h, + h, is the tower height (m), R,,, = (R,h,
+ R, h + R3 h,)/h is the average tower radius (m), R, =
d1/2 is the tower top radius, R, = d,/2 is the tower mid-
section radius, R , = d,/2 is the tower base radius, h, is
the height from midsection to top and h, is the height
from base to midsection (seeFig. 5).
The above formula is rewritten in the cylindrical con-
ductor case with R,, = 2r by
Z, = 60 In [cot {0.5 tan-'(2r/h)}]
= 60 In {(h + J(h2 + 4r2))/2r}
= 60 In (h/r) for h b r (16)
The above equation indicates that the CIGRE formula is
greater by 60 f2 than the proposed formula in the cylin-
drical conductor case.
4.2 Propagation constant
As the impedance and the admittance have been given in
Sections 2 and 3, the propagation characteristic of a ver-
tical conductor can be studied. Fig. 2a shows attenuation
constant a as a function of frequency for various conduc-
tor heights, radii and earth resistivities. The attenuation
constant is observed to be heavily frequency-dependent.
The conductor height significantly affects the attenuation
constant, but the radius causes almost no effect. No fre-
quency dependence is observed in the case of a perfectly
conducting earth. The above characteristic is the same as
that of the resistance of a vertical conductor and is
readily explained. Assumed that resistance R is much
smaller than reactance wL, the propagation constant r is
approximated in the following form
r = J((R +jwL)wC) = R/2Zs -+j w J ( L C ) = a +jjl
:. a = R/2Z, U = o/jl = I/ J(Lc) (17)
In the above equation, Z , = J(L/C)is the surge imped-
ance given in eqns. 10 and 13 as an approximation, which
is independent of frequency. Thus, the resistance and the
attenuation constant are linearly proportional.
The propagation velocity ranges from 270 m/ps to
300m/ps, which is a light velocity in free space. It is
almost constant and nearly proportional to the ratio of
the conductor height and radius h/r in the frequency
ranges up to about 1 Mhz. Then, it increases rapidly and
reaches the light velocity. The above characteristic is
similar to that of the inductance as is known from eqn.
17, for the capacitance is constant.
There are a number of discussions about the propaga-
tion velocity in the vertical conductor [3-91. As far as the
calculated results in this paper are concerned, the velocity
seems to be more than 90% or nearly the same as the
light velocity.
4.3 Characteristic impedance
Fig. 2b shows the characteristic impedance. The charac-
teristic impedance is almost constant and proportional to
h/r in the frequency range up to 1 MHz. Then, it grad-
ually decreases and reaches the value Z, given in eqns. 10
and 11 for a perfectly conducting earth.
The limit value of characteristic impedance when the
frequency reaches zero (o-+ 0) is obtained from eqns. 10
and 4 with he + to
Zo(w + 0) = ZJt + to) = Z,, = 60,/(Pd,Po)
Pdc = lim P i j = In {(J(r2 + h2) + h)/r}
e-0

+ (r - J(r2 + h2))/h (18)

Assuming that r < h, the following result is obtained
Z,, = 60d({ln (2h/r) - 1}{1n (h/r) - 1))
= ZJl + 30 In 2/23 = Z, + 20.8 (19)
The above result agrees well with the calculated result
shown in Fig. 26, and indicates that the characteristic
impedance Z,, for o -+ 0 (t -+ CO) is greater by about
-
1OF
h
-121 - 3 5
a
7 9
20 f2 than that for w -+ to (t + 0), i.e. 2,. Thus, it can be
said that the characteristic impedance Zo(w) ranges from
Z , to Z,, ,i.e.
550 Z , e Zo(o)< Z,, = 2, + 20.8 (20)
........
The above investigation could explain a reason why the
surge impedance values vary in a wide range in various
formulae given in References 3-12.
The earth resistivity causes no effect on the character-
N
Y
350 .-! istic impedance in low and high (f- CO) frequency
-.-
~

LL ranges. In an intermediate frequency range, the character-

---_..
2 =n
300 3------- istic impedance becomes higher as the earth resistivity
increases, but its maximum deviation is 20 R at most.
Thus, it is concluded that the earth resistivity causes, in
general, no significant effect on the characteristic imped-
ance, and it might be convenient to adopt the character-
istic (surge) impedance of a perfectly conducting earth.
Fig. 2 Frequency response of attenuation constant and characteristic
impedance 5 Multiconductor model
(IAttenuation constant OL
b Characteristic impcdana 2, 5.1 Multiconductor model of a tower
1 p. = 100 zhn, h = 3 m,r = 25.4 mm (standard) 4 h =9 m
2 r = 2.5 m m 5 h=15m An actual tower is basically composed of four legs (steel
3 r=0.25mm 1' p . - 0 pipe or L-shaped steel) as illustrated in Fig. 3. Each leg
342 IEE Proc.-Genm. Transm. Distrib., Vol. 141, No. 4, July 1994

having the same configuration, its characteristic3 imped-
ance matrix is evaluated by eqns. 5 and 9, or the surge
impedance matrix by eqns. 6 and 10. When the cross-
section of the leg is not circular, an equivalent cylindrical
Fig. 3 Basic structure of a tower
conductor to the leg is obtained by the formula explained
in Reference 15. The four legs being short-circuited at its
boundary (top and/or bottom for example) as shown in
Fig. 3, the total impedance seen from the top is given
considering the mutual impedances between the legs by
ZO= (ZOII+ 2Z0,, + Z0,,)/4 (21)
If it is tedious to calculate each component of the above
equation, the total impedance is easily evaluated as the
impedance of an equivalent circular single conductor
with the following geometrical mean radius
re = s'(rJ(2)d3) (22)
Because distance X between adjacent arms and separa-
tion distance d between legs are different for every arm, a
multistair model (model A) for an actual tower as illus-
trated in Fig. 4a is required. Then, the multiconductor
0 b
Fig. 4 Multistair tower model
a Two stairs/four lep (model AZ) b Four stairsbquivdcnt cylinder (model B4)
IEE Prof.-Gener. Transm. Distrib., Vol. 141, No.4, July 1994
I
model is applied to each stair, and the total characteristic
impedance of a stair is obtained in the same manner as
the above. Fig. 4b shows a simplified multistair model in
which each stair is approximated by an equivalent single
conductor (cylinder; model B) with radius re in eqn. 22.
If voltages across all the arching horns are required to
be calculated in a transmission line with vertical config-
uration, a four-stair model corresponding to the number
of arms is necessary.
5 2 Comparison with field test results
Considering differences in tower dimensions for different
voltage classes, field test results of surge impedances of
various towers for 154 kV to 1100 kV transmission lines
are selected. A typical tower configuration is illustrated in
Fig. 5. A comparison of surge impedances calculated by
ccc
d3
Fig. 5 Tower s m t u r e
the proposed model with the field test results [l, 3, 8, lo]
is given in Table 2, together with dimensions of the
towers. Included in the Table are surge impedances cal-
culated by the CIGRE recommended model of which the
formula is given in eqn. 15.
343
I

Table 2: Measured and calculated surge impedancea of transmission t o w e m

Dimmm (m) H i g h (rn) Angle r) P r o d model CIGRE.

Cass/vok. d, d, d, X, X, X, X. h, h,
-
8, 8,
Ma%-
urd A1 01 A2 02 84 1 2 Modified

(a) 11M)kV 4.8 8.0 25.0 11.0 20.0 20.0 88.0 57.5 81.5 1.6 6.0 138 144.2 141.1 147.4 144.2 144.3 187.1 166.4 127.8
(b) 5WkV 3.8 4.4 10.8 3.2 12.7 12.7 32.2 28.6 32.2 1.2 5.1 119 123.8 121.3 123.9 121.3 119.7 181.2 160.5 122.1
(C) 5WkV 5.0 6.5 13.9 11.4 14.3 11.6 28.4 37.3 28.4 2.3 7.9 86 117.7 113.3 119.8 116.5 116.5 171.0 154.0 112.2
modified 6.7 8.7 19.2 8.6 10.7 8.7 22.5 28.0 22.5 2.03.1 89.9 04.4 92.6 87.2 88.7 136.5 116.4 80.2
(d) 154kV 0.53 1.07 2.45 1.67 3.076 2.675 7.68 7.42 7.68 2.1 5.2 131 134.3 131.8 136.9 134.2 135.4 189.1 168.5 129.9

*model 1 ford = ZR, model 2 for J(2)d = ZR, modified for e,, = 2R'

5.2.1 I 1 0 0 kV tower: Fig. 6 illustrates the configuration evaluated, the four-stair model (model B4) is required
of a main leg (cylindrical steel pipe) of an 1100 kV trans- [l, 121. The surge impedance of each stair in this case is
mission tower in Japan [lo]. The tower is composed of evaluated as follows
Z 81 = Z sa = Z , , = 148.7R
*1!
--,- (X, = 11 m, X, = X 3 = 20 m)
Z, = 98.951 (X,= 88 m)
The surge impedance seen from the lowest arm was
measured during the field test [lo] and is 10051. The
above result Z,, agrees quite well with the measured
result.

52.2 Other towers: It is observed from Table 2 that

results calculated by the proposed method agree well
with measured results for cases (b) to (d). A maximum
error is less than 8% in any models. CIGRE model I
shows a rather large error. CIGRE model 2 shows a
much better accuracy than that of model 1, but still a
poor accuracy compared with that of the proposed
model. It is noteworthy that the CIGRE model gives a
comparable accuracy to the proposed model if the
-.-:. ! i _
.
,-
average radius Rnvgof eqn. 15 is modified as R,,,, =
2r3 eR,,, , i.e. R' = eR = ed/2 as observed in Table 2.
Fig. 6 Main leg Case (c) in the Table is a tower above a declined earth
surface with 0 = 41" as illustrated in Fig. 7. The tower is
four main legs. Surge impedances of the main legs calcu- modified as shown in the Figure by mapping the actual
lated by the four-leg model with two stairs (model A2) tower with cos 0.
and with one stair (model Al) are The surge impedance is calculated using the modified
model A2: Z, = 308.751 tower configuration, and agrees well with the measured
result. Without the modification, a good result is not
model A1 : Z , = 307.551 obtained. Thus, the method of the modification is con-
Because only a minor deviation is observed between the firmed to be appropriate.
models A1 and A2, a difference between the radii of the
upper and lower parts of the leg can be neglected. Thus,
the leg is represented by a single cylindrical conductor
with the equivalent radius
re1 = J(r1r3) (23)
The total surge impedance seen from the tower top is
given in Table 2 by the various models explained in
Section 5.1. For the equivalent cylinder model (model B),
the equivalent radius calculated by eqn. 22 is
model B2: re, = 2.979 m, re2 = 7.014 m,
model B1: re = 5.144 m
It is observed from the Table that there is no significant
difference between five models. Therefore, the equivalent
cylinder model with one stair (model B1) which is the
simplest model seems to be good enough. In this case, the
maximum error is only 2.2% compared with the meas-
ured results. The CIGRE model shows greater values, in
general, than the measured results. The result differs sig-
nificantly by a choice of the tower radius R. Model 1
takes 2R = d as usual, and model 2 takes 2R = ,/(2d), the
largest separation between the legs of a tower.
When a voltage across the arcing horn needs to be. Fig. 7 Tower above a declined earth

344 I E E Proc.-Gem. Transm. Distrib., Vol. 141, No. 4, July 1994

6 Conclusions
A frequency-dependent characteristic impedance formula
of a vertical multiconductor system above an imperfectly
conducting earth has been proposed. A multiconductor
multistair model with a number of legs betweeen tower
arms to represent an actual tower has been developed by
applying the impedance formula. The accuracy of the
proposed formula and model has been confirmed to be
satisfactory enough compared with experimental and
field test results of the tower surge impedance. As a sim-
plified model of a tower, an equivalent cylindrical single-
conductor multistair model, which has a satisfactory
accuracy and is quite convenient for practical use, has
also been developed.
It has been found from an investigation of a wave pro-
pagation characteristic on a tower that an imperfectly
conducting earth causes no significant effect on the
frequency-dependent characteristic impedance, and thus,
a perfectly conducting earth can be assumed in a light-
ning surge analysis on the tower. Also, the wave propaga-
tion velocity is greater than 90% of the light velocity in
free space in the entire frequency range investigated.
7 References
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