Proceedings of the National Power Systems Conference (NPSC) - 2018, December 14-16, NIT Tiruchirappalli, India
Short circuit force in an AIS with special reference
to L-L and L-L-L faults
Sudarshan V J
PG Scholar, CTM program,
National Institute of Technology Karnataka
Surathkal, India
jaisudarshan.geo@gmail.com
Abstract—Short circuit force (SCF) in an air insulted
substation is a feature which is of importance in its
electromechanical design. SCF which are generated due to short
circuit current is transferred from conductors (flexible or rigid)
to end connections where the conductors are being held. The end
connections and the conductor are supported by means of
insulator, steel structure, and foundation. Thus, SCF is
transferred from conductors to end connections and then to steel
structures via insulator. If estimation of SCF is erroneous, then
the end result will be a disaster (as the structural designs are
based on this). On the other hand, too much conservative
structural designs based on the estimated SCF results in
increased size and cost of insulators, steel structure, and
foundation requirements. Hence, the computation of SCF
becomes mandatory in design of the substation from the
reliability and economic considerations. In this paper, SCF in a
400 kV air insulated (upcoming) substation (in Africa) due to
line-to-line short circuit currents and three phase short circuit
currents on flexible conductor are computed using basic
electromagnetic laws and are discussed. The computed values are
compared with the values of SCF obtained as per IEC 60865
standard.
Keywords— Air Insulated Substation, Drop force, Pinch force,
Short circuit force, Tensile force.
I. INTRODUCTION
Substation within the power system network performs a
primary function of transmitting and distributing power to the
consumers with guaranteed safety, reliability, and integrity of
the entire power system [1]. In case of short circuit faults in the
power system, the substation equipment carries huge amount of
current (short circuit currents). The substation equipment’s are
designed to carry and sustain these currents for a short duration
till the circuit breaker interrupts these currents. Thus, short
circuit in a substation results in flow of fault current for a
shorter time which flows within the conductors and whose
duration is limited (governed) by the protective devices
(current transformers, relaying scheme and circuit breaker).
Even though protective devices clear the short circuit faults,
within the substation, they result in the momentary flow of
very high currents. High electromagnetic fields produced by
these currents result in electromagnetic forces (SCFs) between
the conductors [2].
The line-to-line short circuits between two phases (R-phase
and Y-phase) results in the short circuit currents flowing
between two phase conductors. Also, for line-to-line faults
(L-L), short circuit current flow in the R-phase will be in
opposite direction to the short circuit current flow in the Y-
978-1-5386-6159-8/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE
Gururaj. S. Punekar
Dept. of Electrical Engg., NITK
National Institute of Technology Karnataka
Surathkal, India
gsp@nitk.edu.in
phase. This leads to the force of repulsion between the phase to
phase conductors [3]. In the case of three phase short circuit
faults (L-L-L), the resultant electromagnetic force on one phase
of the current carrying conductor is influenced by the current in
the other two phases. For instance, the electromagnetic force on
Y-phase is the resultant force caused due to R-phase on Y-
phase and force caused due to B-phase on Y-phase.
Due to large magnitude of fault current and reduced
clearances within the substation, fault current level (fault level)
plays a vital role in deciding the magnitude of dynamic forces
(SCFs). High fault current magnitudes impose severe
mechanical stress on conductors, associated hardware, and
support structures. High fault currents cause large conductor
displacements in case of flexible conductors and bending
stresses in cases of rigid conductors [4]. Fault levels are
increasing in the utility systems all over the globe.
Management of fault currents is crucial to avoid damage and
malfunction of station equipment. As fault currents and forces
increases, the physical demand on the foundations and the
supporting-structures will also increase.
The total force acting on the conductors, terminals,
structures and foundations will have both (i) electromagnetic
force caused due to short circuit current and (ii) force due to
dead load of the conductor. To obtain the force due to dead
load of the conductor, initial static tension is calculated using
sag tension calculation. Initial static tension gives the static
tensile force with which the flexible conductor is held by the
tower-gantry. The calculation steps are enlisted in the IEC
standard [5]. The standard aids in calculating the
electromagnetic forces due to short circuit currents.
In this paper, the electromagnetic forces in a 400 kV
flexible conductor configuration of AIS (upcoming substation
in Africa) are computed using the basic electromagnetic laws
for L-L and L-L-L faults and they are compared. The forces
experienced due to dead load on the conductor are computed
using the IEEE guidelines [7]. These are added with the
electromagnetic force to obtain the total SCF acting on the
phase conductor. The computed values are compared with the
values obtained using IEC 60865 standard. All the data used
related to the substation pertains to an actual design data of a
400 kV substation which is under construction in Africa. The
SCF estimations for a substation are case specific (as faults
levels are specific to substation). It is believed that this case
study would help in understanding the SCFs and their
estimations in substation designs.
 Proceedings of the National Power Systems Conference (NPSC) - 2018, December 14-16, NIT Tiruchirappalli, India

II. TYPES OF FAULT AND FORCES shown in Fig.1 (Case b). It also shows the reduction of phase to
Short circuit current creates electromagnetic forces. Thus, phase air clearance during three phase short circuits. The air
these force have an impact on the design of mechanical clearances reduce from r, during normal operating conditions
structure and foundation of substation equipment. to amin, during the drop down at the end of the short circuit
Three different faults, namely, (i) single line to ground conditions. Thus, from Fig.1 it is clear that the reduced air
fault, (ii) L-L fault and (iii) three phase (L-L-L) faults can clearances (amin) during L-L faults are lesser when compared to
result into SCFs. Short circuit currents due to single line to that of three phase faults.
ground faults results in relatively much lower stresses when
compared to other types of faults because of larger distance
between the phase conductor and the return path (ground).
Hence, single phase short circuits and results SCFs are not
significant. They generally not considered for SCF based
structural designs. In the present study, electromagnetic
stresses on conductors due to L-L faults and those of L-L-L
faults are computed using the case specific data pertaining to a
upcoming substation, and compared.
In the event of a short circuit in a system, due to the short
circuit force (SCF), the flexible-bus-conductor in the substation
starts to swing. Fig. 1 shows the probable (typical) movement
of flexible conductors due to L-L faults (Case a) and three
phase faults (Case b). When L-L faults occur between R-phase
and Y-phase of the three-phase system, short circuit current of
equal magnitude will flow in R-phase and Y-phase conductors.
The direction of current flow in one phase will be in the
opposite direction compared to the other phase. This results in
the electromagnetic repulsive forces being experienced by the
phase conductors. This force of repulsion between the
conductors, results in swinging of flexible conductors. During
Figure 1. Flexible conductor movement due to L-L and three phase
L-L faults, the flexible conductors swing out as shown in Fig.1 short circuit faults.
(case a). After the end of short circuit, there will be a
downward pull due to the gravity and the conductors will
continue to move towards each other as shown in Fig.1 (case III. CALCULATION OF SCF
a). This results in the reduction of phase to phase air clearance Using the Biot-Savart law and the Lorentz Force law, the
during L-L short circuits. The air clearances reduce from r, electromagnetic force between two parallel current carrying
during normal operating conditions to amin, during the drop conductors can be computed. The electromagnetic force
down at the end of the short circuit conditions. However, there experienced on one phase of the conductor (say “m” phase) due
is no short circuit current flowing in the third phase (B-phase, to current in the other conductor running in parallel (say “n”
healthy phase) during line-to-line faults and it doesn’t phase), ǁFmnǁ, is given by,
contribute to electromagnetic force (SCF).
In case of three phase short circuit faults, unlike L-L faults, | | = (1)
SCF involves all the three phases and the conductors. The
electromagnetic force on one of the phase conductor (R-phase) Where,
is influenced by the current flowing in the other two-phase
conductors (Y-phase and B-phase). Hence, the force exerted on µ0 indicates the absolute permeability of air (4п x 10-7
a phase conductor is the resultant of force produced by other Wb/A-m).
two phases. For example, the short circuit current flowing in Y- Im and In, are the short circuit currents (in kA) being carried
phase conductor (central conductor) during three phase faults by “m” phase conductor and “n” phase conductor, respectively.
are in opposite direction to that of short circuit currents flowing l is the conductor length (m)
in R-phase and Y-phase conductors. This leads to the force of r is the phase to phase spacing (m) between the conductor’s
repulsion between the R-phase and Y-phase conductors, and m and n.
between B-phase and Y-phase conductors. Thus, Y-phase (Fig
1; Case b) will be experiencing repulsive forces in opposite The conductors are assumed to be of horizontal disposition
directions caused due to short circuit current flowing in R- with phase to phase spacing of r. With this configuration the
phase and B-phase conductors. However, R-phase and B-phase force on each conductor will be along the line joining the
conductors will experience the force of attraction or repulsion conductors. This force can be attractive or repulsive based on
based on the interaction of short circuit current flowing in the the relative direction of the currents in the two conductors.
other two conductors. The SCFs in case of L-L-L faults are not This electromagnetic force caused due to the short circuit
unidirectional over a cycle. Thus, the movement of conductors current contributes to the SCF which is experienced by the
(mechanical system) and change in clearance are lower in case conductors, terminations, and structures. In case of flexible
of L-L-L faults when compared to those of L-L faults. This buses, as per IEC 60865 [5], the short circuit force computation
results in the movement of flexible conductors (typically) as involves computation of various components of SCF such as (i)
Tensile force (ii) Drop force and (iii) Pinch force
 Proceedings of the National Power Systems Conference (NPSC) - 2018, December 14-16, NIT Tiruchirappalli, India
The definitions of these and their computational procedure
is given in [5-7]. The maximum among these three force
components is chosen as the SCF [5].
IV. 400 KV SUBSTATION DETAILS
A 400/132 kV air insulated substation located (upcoming)
in Africa is considered for the computation of SCF in the
substation. The design parameters of significance to SCF and
their magnitudes for the substation under study are given in
Table I.
TABLE I. DETAILS OF THE 400 KV SUBSTATION UNDER STUDY
S.No Parameter Magnitude
1 Voltage level 400 / 132 / 33 kV
2 MVA rating 1 x 200 MVA
3 Three phase Fault Level 40 / 31.5 / 20 kA
4 Fault current duration 3s
5 Continuous current carrying 3.15 / 3.15 / 1.25 kA
capacity
6 Frequency 50 Hz
7 Phase to phase spacing between 4.5 m
flexible conductors
8 Length of the flexible conductors 55 m
9 Initial Static Tension 19.6 kN
V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
For the substation under study, electromagnetic forces on a
flexible conductor due to L-L short circuits and three phase
short circuits are computed using (1). Using this force (tensile)
component, the SCF is estimated. The computed SCF values
are compared with those obtained using IEC 60865 [5].
The fault level for this substation (see Table 1) is 40 kA
(rms) at 400 kV level. Hence, 40 kA (rms) is the magnitude of
current that is considered for three phase faults with
corresponding peak magnitude of the fault current being
56.6 kA. For the line-to-line faults the fault current magnitudes
are decided by the negative as well as the positive sequence
impedances. Assuming these sequence components to be equal,
the magnitude of fault current under line-to-line fault will be
0.866 times that of the three phase fault currents. The same is
used in the computation of the SCF due to L-L faults.
During line-to-line faults, the fault current will be flowing
in opposite directions in both the phases. Hence, both R-phase
and Y-phase conductors experiences the electromagnetic force
which is repulsive. This electromagnetic force between R-
phase and Y- phase is computed using (1). For the peak value
of the fault current considered, the average electromagnetic
force calculated (over a cycle) is 2.853 kN and the
corresponding peak electromagnetic force calculated is 5.86
kN. The total force acting on the conductors is the sum of
electromagnetic force and the force due to dead load of the
conductor. For the current study, the force due to dead load of
the conductor (initial-static-tension) is given as 19.6 kN (see
Table I). Thus, the total SCF due to L-L faults on R-phase and
Y-phase conductors is 25.46 kN (sum of 5.86 kN and 19.6 kN).
The initial-static-tension for a conductor is evaluated using the
sag-tension calculations for the conductor. This depends on the
size and type of the conductor used [7].
The short circuit fault currents are balanced in case of three
phase faults. In order to compute the instantaneous values of
forces over a cycle the following relations ((2) to (4)) are used
for the currents.
= sin ( ) (2)
= sin ( − 120) (3)
= sin ( + 120) (4)
Where,
Im – Peak short circuit current magnitude (kA).
iR, iY, and iB – Instantaneous short circuit current of R, Y
and B-phases respectively (in kA).
The instantaneous current values of the phases will have
different polarities and magnitudes at different time instants.
Hence, the force experienced between the conductors will vary
both in magnitude and direction (attractive or repulsive) instant
to instant. At each time instant, force experienced by a phase
conductor is calculated as the sum of forces produced due to
the interaction of short circuit current flowing in the other two
conductors. In the present estimation of electromagnetic forces
and SCF, the fault current magnitude is assumed be sinusoidal
with a fixed magnitude (in actuality this may not be true).
The electromagnetic force experienced by the phase
conductors during three phase fault is calculated using (1) over
a cycle. Figs. 2 and 3 shows the instantaneous electromagnetic
forces due to three phase short circuit faults in R-phase and Y-
phase of the system considered, respectively. Fig. 4 shows the
comparison of resultant electromagnetic force on Y- phase due
to L-L and three phase short circuit faults. In generating the
plots (Figs. 2 and 3) the force of repulsion is considered as
positive and the force of attraction is considered as negative.
For the three phase faults, the average electromagnetic
forces on R-phase, Y-phase and B-phase conductors is
2.8532 kN, 3.963 kN and 2.8532 kN, respectively. The
maximum value of electromagnetic forces obtained for R-
phase (and B-phase) is 6.27 kN, and that for Y-phase is 7.82
kN. However, instant of occurrence of peak value varies for
different phase conductors. The total force acting on the phase
conductors, at any instant is given by the sum of peak
electromagnetic force and initial static tensile force (19.6 kN).
Thus, the maximum value of SCF due to three phase faults on
R-phase and B-phase conductors are 25.87 kN (sum of 6.27 kN
and 19.6 kN). SCF on Y-phase conductor is 27.42 kN (sum of
7.82 kN and 19.6 kN). The initial-static-tension for a conductor
of this substation is evaluated as suggested in reference [7].
Table II shows the comparison of tensile forces due to L-L
and L-L-L faults computed using equation (1). In the present
study it is observed that the SCF due to L-L-L are higher
compared to those of L-L, marginally. This validates the
statement given in CIGRE-105 [2] substantiating the usage of
forces due to L-L-L as the basis for estimating SCFs as far as
magnitudes of forces are concerned. On the contrary the SCF’s
in case of L-L faults are unidirectional (repulsive) unlike those
of due to L-L-L faults which results in pulsating force. The
mechanical systems due to their inertia may not have any or
much displacement in case of L-L-L faults compared to L-L
faults. Hence, from the point of phase to phase clearances the
L-L faults and SCF’s are of importance. This validates the
usage of L-L faults for flexible systems as stated in CIGRE-
105 [2]. It is clear from the Table II that; the maximum tensile
 Proceedings of the National Power Systems Conference (NPSC) - 2018, December 14-16, NIT Tiruchirappalli, India

force occurs for the three phase short circuit at Y-phase (central
conductor). It is found to be 27.42 kN.

Figure 4. Comparison of electromagnetic force on Y-phase due to

line-to-line and three phase (resultant) short circuit faults.
Figure 2. Instantaneous electromagnetic force variation on R-phase due to
three phase short circuit fault. TABLE III. ESTIMATED SCF FOR THE 400 KV AIS

Parameters SCF obtained using IEC 60865 (kN)

Tensile Force 27.46
Drop 30.30

Pinch 31.33

VI. CONCLUSIONS
Tensile SCF for line-to-line faults (peak force) and three
phase faults (instantaneous values over a cycle) are computed
and compared as case study for a 400 kV AIS.
During three phase faults, Y-phase conductor (central
conductor in horizontal disposition) experiences higher
electromagnetic forces when compared to R-phase and B-phase
conductors. The average and maximum electromagnetic force
due to three phase faults is marginally higher when compared
to that of line-to-line faults.
Figure 3. Instantaneous electromagnetic force variation on Y-phase due to The unidirectional (repulsive) forces due to L-L faults
three phase short circuit fault.
would result in lesser dynamic air clearances between the
phases. Thus, from the point of phase to phase clearances, L-L
The short circuit tensile force, short circuit drop and short
faults are of significance in SCF computation of flexible
circuit pinch forces are computed for 400 kV substation (see
conductors, although their magnitudes are marginally lower.
Table 1) flexible conductors as per IEC 60865 [5] and are
For the substation under study, the estimated SCF useful in
given in Table III. It is clear from Table III that, the short
the structural design is due the pinch force; a pinch force
circuit tensile force computed using IEC 60865 [5] matches
(31.33 kN).
with that estimated maximum tensile force (using equation (1))
for the three phase short circuit at Y-phase (central conductor; REFERENCES
see Table II).
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L-L-L FAULTS COMPUTED USING EQUATION (1) [2] CIGRE 105, "The Mechanical Effects of Short-Circuit Currents in
Open Air Substations," Working group 23.11, April-1996.
Tensile Forces (kN) [3] CIGRE 214, “The Mechanical Effects of Short-Circuit Currents in
Open Air Substations (Part II),” Working group 23.11, Oct 2002.
[4] D. B. Craig and G. L. Ford, " The Response of strain bus to short
For L-L-L short circuits For L-L short circuits circuit currents," in IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems,vol.
pas-99, no.2,April 1980.
R-phase, B-phase Y-phase [5] IEC 60865-1, “Short-circuit currents - Calculation of effects - Part
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25.87 27.42 25.46 [6] IEC 60865-2, “Short-circuit currents - Calculation of effects - Part
2: Examples of calculation,” edition-1,2015.
[7] "IEEE Guide for Bus Design in Air Insulated Substations," in IEEE
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