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Computational Environment for Simulating Lightning Strokes in a Power

Substation by Finite-Difference Time-Domain Method

Article  in  IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility · December 2009

DOI: 10.1109/TEMC.2009.2028879 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY, VOL. 51, NO. 4, NOVEMBER 2009 995

Computational Environment for Simulating

Lightning Strokes in a Power Substation by
Finite-Difference Time-Domain Method
Rodrigo Melo e Silva de Oliveira and Carlos Leonidas da Silva Souza Sobrinho

Abstract—A computational environment was developed for sim-

ulating transient electromagnetic phenomena involving complex
structures. The system is based on the finite-difference time-
domain method and includes tools such as a graphical user inter-
face, a 3-D structure visualization module, thin-wire formulation,
dielectrics and metallic blocks, perfectly matched layers, voltage
and current sources, creation of field distribution images, voltage
and current calculations, among others, all of them associated with
automatic domain division for parallel (distributed) processing. In
this paper, this system is used for obtaining full-wave solutions,
for the first time, of lightning surge interactions with the structural
part of a power substation. Parameters such as transitory step and
touch voltages and potential distribution on ground surface are
calculated for 1 kA peak for the injected surge current.
Index Terms—Automated parallel processing computational
system, finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, full-wave
solution, grounding systems, power substation, transient analysis.
I. INTRODUCTION
IGOROUS analysis of simple or complex structures re-
R quires methods able to directly solve Maxwell’s equa-
tions and, therefore, to take into account all the electromag-
netic phenomena described by them in a natural and complete
form. Among the methods with such characteristics, there are
the finite-difference time-domain method (FDTD) [1], [2] and
the finite element method (FEM) [3]. For both methods, if the
electromagnetic characteristics of the structures to be simulated
are correctly introduced in the analysis domain, the transitory
and steady state responses relative to such structures are auto-
matically provided. This way, in order to model complex elec-
tromagnetic environments correctly, which can be composed
by thousand of different objects, application of computer graph-
ics techniques [4] are adequate to provide the user the possibility
to visually verify if the input data correspond to what is desired
to be simulated. In this paper, a software based on the FDTD
method and on uniaxial perfectly matched-layer (UPML) for-
mulation [2] (for truncating the computational domain) with the
mentioned characteristics has been implemented, aiming, for
Manuscript received September 7, 2008; revised January 28, 2009 and
July 24, 2009. First published September 15, 2009; current version published
November 18, 2009. This work was supported by Eletronorte and the Federal
University of Pará.
R. M. S. de Oliveira is with the Institute of Technology, Federal University
of Pará, Belém, CEP 66075-900, Brazil (e-mail: rmso@ufpa.br).
C. L. S. Souza Sobrinho is with the Faculty of Electrical and Com-
puter Engineering, Federal University of Pará, Belém, CEP 66075-900, Brazil
(e-mail: leonidas@ufpa.br, website: www.lane.ufpa.br).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TEMC.2009.2028879
0018-9375/$26.00 © 2009 IEEE
Fig. 1. First stage for building the substation’s grounding grid.
the first time, at the modeling the structural part of a power sub-
station [5]. In this paper, the thin-wire formulation described
in [6] and [7] was used for representing the grounding rods
and the transmission lines of the substation. The technique pre-
sented in [8] for obtaining the instantaneous voltage/current ratio
V (t)/I(t) was also employed (avoiding the necessity of intro-
ducing auxiliary elements for measurements, such as in [9]).
To this aim, special automated computational software was de-
veloped in order to make it feasible to model such a complex
environment with precision on a Linux-based distributed pro-
cessing system [10]. An interactive OpenGL-based visualization
system associated with a graphical user interface (GUI) was also
implemented (images of structures on this paper are generated
by this module). The work is organized as follows. Initially,
details of the developed computational system are given in
Section II and substation’s building process is presented in
Section III. In Section IV, the obtained results are shown and
discussed. Finally in Section V, final considerations are made.
II. DEVELOPED COMPUTATIONAL SYSTEM (SAGS)
In order to create the computational model of a highly com-
plex environment, such as a substation, a GUI has been im-
plemented, associated to an automated parallel computational
FDTD routine. This software is called synthesis and analysis of
grounding systems (SAGS), which, in simple words, simplifies
the data input process for users, for easily building complex
structures. For the software user, it is not necessary to know all
details about the numerical method (FDTD) implementation.
For complementing the computational system (SAGS), an
interactive visualization tool (called GLView) has been imple-
mented, that allows graphically verifying (on line) the evolution
of the structure building process as the data are specified by the
user through the GUI. This is illustrated by Figs. 1–4, which
are direct outputs of GLView. This viewer was developed by
using ANSI C with the GLUT (OpenGL) library which ensures
996 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY, VOL. 51, NO. 4, NOVEMBER 2009
Fig. 2. Second stage for building the substation’s grounding grid.
Fig. 3. Full grounding grid and an intermediate substation building stage.
good rendering performance, especially for complex scenarios,
composed by thousands of objects [4].
In order to perform the simulations through the FDTD
method, routines for automatically dividing the numerical do-
main were developed to be executed on a Beowulf cluster [10].
They allow the user to build the environment without concerns
about distributing parts of the analysis region to subdomains
(CPUs), as if a single domain were to be used. After building
the structures (indirectly defining the boundary conditions for
Maxwell’s equations), the user can define the number of CPUs
available for processing. The division of the domain (distribu-
tion of boundary conditions) is performed automatically for that
number of processors. This module was developed in C with
calls of functions from the local area multicomputer/message
passing interface (LAM/MPI) library, for passing field informa-
tion among adjacent subdomains, which is also transparent for
the user.
III. CREATING THE MODEL OF THE SUBSTATION
For the conception of the substation model, the original sub-
station’s floor plans were provided by Eletronorte (electrical
company). The ground grid was the first structure modeled,
with exactly 1529 metallic cylindrical rods with various radii
measuring from 15 (majority) to 25 mm, inserted into the com-
putational domain as close as possible to the provided project
on the floor plan. The borders of the grid are approximately
200 m long. Figs. 1–3 show some stages of the grounding grid
construction process. As can be seen in Figs. 1 and 2, the elec-
trical discharge is injected in a point where there is a lightning
arrester. The full mesh can be seen in Figs. 3 and 4.
In a subsequent stage (Fig. 3), each device of the substation,
such as the lightning arresters, was constructed individually
and, by using a special routine developed in SAGS, a database
containing the structures was created, in such way that any
number of clones of those objects can be inserted anywhere
in the computational environment. Such computational proto-
types were built from basic elements, such as metallic rods and
metallic/dielectric blocks, which are grouped, composing, this
way, a prototype. This way, it was possible to create into the
computational domain the structure shown by Fig. 4. It should
be observed that a layer of grit with width of 0.5 m was in-
serted, just as it is in the original project. It is worth mention-
ing that only the structural part of the substation was created.
The functionality of each device can be introduced in future
work.
The computational domain used for representing the struc-
ture is composed by 440 × 390 × 90 cubic Yee’s cells (sides
measuring 0.5 m), and additional 880
cells were used in the
x-direction for calculating V (t) = E(t)
d
l. A previous test
was performed with an additional 2000 cells for evaluating
V (t), but the obtained results were essentially the same. For
this test, eight days were necessary for concluding the simula-
tion in a SLAMD64-based Beowulf cluster with 16 Intel Xeon
processors (64 bits), with a total of 16 GB of RAM memory
available (gigabit Ethernet). The FDTD time step used was 60%
of Courant’s limit, for numerical stability of the thin-wire for-
mulation [7], [8]. The analysis domains were divided equally
into 16 subdomains, each one treated by a different processor.
Twelve hours are required for each simulation.
Fig. 4 shows an overview of the substation structural model.
It is possible to see that the following structures were created:
transformers, high-voltage switches, high-voltage circuit break-
ers, lightning arresters, capacitor voltage transformers (CVT),
current transformers (CT), high-voltage isolators, towers, the
protection fence, high-voltage lines and buildings.
The transmission lines penetrate the absorbing boundary re-
gion (UPML), in such way, the lines’ length can be considered
infinite, as long as the current (circulating magnetic field) is
transmitted due impedance matching. This is achieved by set-
ting the UPML’s electromagnetic parameters to ε∗ , µ∗ , and σ ∗
(cables’ modified parameters) at the regions of penetration of
cables, by including the m factor described in [6] and [7] into
the UPML’s equations. The excitation source’s mathematical
function used in this paper follows [9].
The ground was modeled as an isotropic medium by using the
following electromagnetic parameters: εr = 50, σ = 0.002 S/m,
and µ0 . All the dielectric blocks in the computational domain
have the following parameters: εr = 7.5, σ = 0.002 S/m, and
µ0 (concrete), except the ceramic isolators between the trans-
mission lines and the towers (εr = 7.5, σ = 10−11 S/m, and
µ0 ) and the grit layer (εr = 50, σ = 3.33 × 10−4 S/m, and µ0 ).
The process of including the dielectric blocks is similar to the
process of including the ground medium.
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Fig. 5(a) and (b) presents transient results obtained at the
ground injection point for three stages of construction of the
grounding grid (Figs. 1–3) and for the full substation (Fig. 4).
The voltages shown by Fig. 5(b) were obtained by integrating
OLIVEIRA AND SOBRINHO: COMPUTATIONAL ENVIRONMENT FOR SIMULATING LIGHTNING STROKES
Fig. 4. (a) Overview of the (full) substation structural model using the SAGS’ module GLview and (b) integration paths for electric field: step (black line segment
BD) and touch (black and red segments DB and BC) voltages and the voltage with reference at infinite (yellow: from point A to infinite).
Fig. 5. Parameters (a) V (t)/I(t) and (b) V (t) obtained at the injection point
(reference at infinite) considering three stages of contruction of the grounding
mesh and the full substation connected to the complete grounding grid.
997
the electric field trhough the path ilustrated by Figs. 1 and 4(b)
(long yellow line), on the ground surface. By comparing re-
sults related to the first stage to the other two stages results,
it can be observed that the simplest configuration shown by
Fig. 1 creates a “reference response,” to which oscillations are
added as the other elements of the grounding grid are included.
Voltages V (t) (as the rate V (t)/I(t)) oscilate identically up to
0.18 µs, moment from which different functions are identifyed
due to the aditional rods. Besides that, when the structures of
the substation are connected to the grid, reduction of the volt-
age amplitudes are observed in earlier moments (from 0.20 µs),
as electromagnetic waves propagates faster in free space. Wave
reflections (air, ground, and on ground surface) affect the elec-
trictric and magnetic fields to the observation point. This also ex-
plains negative values for the voltage beetween 0.16 and 0.20 µs.
It must be mentioned that results presented here are valid for
the specific integration path shown, as transient electromagnetic
fields are nonconservative [see insets in Fig. 5(a) and (b)].
From 0.20 µs on, additional oscillations are more evident
due to the highly complex electromagnetic environment (under
and above ground surface) in which effects such as reflections,
refractions, diffractions (in free space and in the ground), sur-
face waves (among others) are computed naturally by the math-
ematical methodology employed. For all cases considered to
this point, the steady values of the parameter V (t)/I(t) are all
around 2.0 Ω.
Fig. 6(a) and (b) shows obtained potential distributions on
ground surface, when injected current is constant at 1 kA (and
fields do not oscillate at all domains’ points). Here, the potentials
are calculated with reference at the injection point (at ground
surface: observe that at x = 184.5 m [Fig. 6(a)], y = 42.0 m
[Fig. 6(a)], the potential is zero). Fig. 6(a) shows several po-
tential curves considering lines parallel to the x-axis. Fig. 6(b)
is similar for y-axis. In both cases, all the chosen lines contain
elements connected to the ground grid. It is possible to see 750 V
of potential difference in relation to the injection point for each
kA injected (both graphics).
998 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY, VOL. 51, NO. 4, NOVEMBER 2009
Fig. 6. Potential distributions on ground surface (reference at the current
injection point): (a) x-direction and (b) y-direction.
Considering the x-direction (constant y), that is, for the same
bay in which discharge happens, potentials increases consider-
able as one departs from the stroke point (over the grounding
grid), mainly for y from 42 to 61 m. For other values of y (greater
distances from the surge source), equipotentialization seems to
be more effective on x-direction. The exceptions for such obser-
vation are the mesh borders, which present a potential reduction:
for the right hand side grid border (x > 190 m), sharp reductions
are observed as it is closer to the injection electrode. It should
also be observed smoother potential decreases for x < 10 m. The
potential behavior just described can be confirmed by observing
Fig. 6(b).
Fig. 7 shows step and touch voltages as time functions. The
electric field integration paths used for obtain these results are
defined in Fig. 4(b) by the small black horizontal line and by
the small red vertical line, near the fence. The step voltage was
calculated from the fence to a point 1 m away from that, on the
ground surface. Touch voltage was calculated from a point 1 m
away from the fence, on the ground surface, to a point 1.5 m
high (on the fence), consisting on a L-shaped path. In both cases,
the considered point at the fence is as close as possible to the
strike point (critical case).
As it can be seen by observing Fig. 7(a), the maximum step
voltage is around 800 V at 0.5 µs (close to the occurrence of the
peak current 1 kA). For considered conditions, the step voltage
reaches 200 V at 7 µs, and it oscillates around such voltage
Fig. 7. (a) Step and (b) touch voltages as time functions.
during a long period. Similar peak values (positive and nega-
tive) were found for the touch voltage in Fig. 7(b). Fig. 8 shows,
the spatial distribution of electric field E
(at the plane of the
ground grid) during the steady period. It is possible to notice
in Fig. 8 that most of the electromagnetic energy is concen-
trated at the borders of the grid and there is (as expected) a
decrease of the magnitude of the field from the border to the
region outside the grid (represented by colors: red, yellow, and
green). This is physically consistent. It is also possible to iden-
tify the position of each element connected to the grounding
mesh by visible maximum (red) and minimum (blue) field in-
tensity points, indicating that those structures are responsible for
potential differences which may be dangerous for people that
could be on the ground surface during the lighting stroke. This
effect can be also observed from potential profiles of Fig. 6.
In Fig. 9, it can be seen clearly that considerable field gradi-
ents are present in the high-voltage lines due to the stroke, in
both sides (bays) of the substation. This can also be observed in
Fig. 10. In this figure, it is possible to see the electric field refract-
ing in the dielectric structures (concrete) and most of the energy
propagates though the free space. The interfaces of different
OLIVEIRA AND SOBRINHO: COMPUTATIONAL ENVIRONMENT FOR SIMULATING LIGHTNING STROKES
Fig. 8. Electric field distribution at the grounding grid plane (z = 14.5 m).
Fig. 9. Electric field distribution at the high-voltage lines plane z = 21.5 m.
Fig. 10. E-field distribution at the excited lightning arrester plane x = 172 m.
Fig. 11. Electric field distribution at the protection fence plane y = 10.25 m.
dielectric media can be identified, in Fig. 10. Finally, electric
field distribution at the plane of the protection fence of the sub-
station is shown in Fig. 11, indicating the dangerous potentials
in that region, as evaluated in Fig. 7. It is worth mentioning that
Figs. 8–11 represent fields at t = 38.5 µs.
V. FINAL REMARKS
A graphical user interface (GUI), called SAGS, has been im-
plemented. The software is based on the FDTD method and
on recently published techniques such as a thin-wire for con-
ductive media and on parallel processing, which was enhanced
by a computational routine able to automatically distribute the
analysis domain over the processors of a Beowulf cluster. For
building the substation model shown in this paper, a routine
able to manage prototypes and their clones for the distributed
memory system was built. This reduces substantially the possi-
bility of human errors when associated to a visualization tool,
which was implemented by using the OpenGL library. The vi-
sualization tool is synchronized to the FDTD grid (electric field
components’ spatial positions) for the correct application of
boundary conditions.
It was observed that the ground grid alone generates a tran-
sitory response for the parameter V (t)/I(t) at the discharge
999
Fig. 12. Comparisons between the transient FDTD responses obtained for a
0.5 × 0.5 × 3.0 m vertical electrode to measured data [9].
point, which fundamentally depends on the rods closer to that
point. When the complete grounding mesh was simulated (and
other partial versions of it), additional oscillations were added to
this reference response, due to reflections, diffractions and cur-
rent circulating in those elements, in such way the new results
were not substantially different to the obtained reference curve.
However, when the substation was simulated, with all the de-
vices connected to the grounding grid, significant contributions
were observed for the curve V /I over time, including negative
response during transient period.
One of the goals of the grounding grid is to equalize poten-
tial levels at the ground surface over the grid. However, it was
observed that at the points in which substation’s devices are
connected to the grounding grid, the potential level is disturbed,
creating risky regions for people. For each kA, voltages around
750 V were observed (using the discharge point as potential
reference). Transitory step and touch voltages for the point at
protection fence nearest to the discharge point were also eval-
uated. For these cases, a person would be subjected to peak
voltages around 800 V. Potential decreases were also observed
over the limits of the mesh (borders) and on points of connection
of the structures to the ground grid. Finally, it should be men-
tioned that the software can be used for optimizing or designing
substations and other structures, simple or complex, for high
or low-frequency applications. As data input is very simple, it
can be used by graduate students, engineers and researchers in
a great range of applications.
APPENDIX
VALIDATION OF THE FDTD IMPLEMENTATION
This section aims at verifying the validity of the parallel
FDTD implementation. For all cases, the soil is considered to
be isotropic and it is characterized by the following parameters:
σ = 2.28 mS/m, εr = 50, and µr = 1. All simulations were
performed by using a 16-nodes Beowulf cluster.
Fig. 12 shows comparisons of the results obtained in [9]
(measurements) to data generated by using SAGS. The problem
1000 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY, VOL. 51, NO. 4, NOVEMBER 2009
Fig. 13. Transient FDTD responses obtained for 3.0 m-long cylindrical elec-
trodes (radii: 10, 50, and 100 mm) positioned vertically and for two grounding
grids (3 × 3 m and 6 × 6 m).
consists on a buried vertical electrode (length 3 m, cross sec-
tion area 0.5 × 0.5 m2 ) fed by a surge voltage source connected
in series with a resistance [9]. The measuring circuit described
in [9] was also considered. The simulation results present ex-
cellent agreement to those obtained experimentally and they are
coincident to the calculations shown in [9].
In order to verify the implementation of the thin-wire formu-
lation [7], five cases were tested: 1) 3 m long rods (radii 10, 50,
and 100 mm); and 2) two grounding grids (3 × 3 m and 6 ×
6 m). The parallel conductors of both grids (3 × 3 m and 6 ×
6 m) are separated by 0.75 m (radii of 20 mm). The grids are
positioned 0.5 m under the ground surface and they are fed at
their respective geometrical center by vertical conductor, which
is similar to the substation’s lightning arrester shown by Fig. 4.
The results are presented by Fig. 13.
The steady-state responses of the three rods (Fig. 13) can be
compared to the Sunde’s equation [11]. Considering the radii
of 10, 50, and 100 mm, we have, respectively, 1) for the FDTD
method 140.98, 99.71, and 82.12 Ω; 2) for Sunde’s equation
141.71 104.26 and 88.13 Ω.
A similar comparison can be made for the two grids by using
the Chow–Salama’s equation [12]. In a respective way, we have
for the 3 × 3 m and 6 × 6 m grids: 1) for the FDTD method
54.17 and 28.99 Ω; 2) for Chow–Salama’s equation 50.700 and
29.65 Ω.
For all the cases tested, relative differences were all under
7.0%, when considering the equations proposed in [11] and [12]
as references for the corresponding cases.
This way, the results presented by Figs. 12 and 13 validate the
parallel implementation of the FDTD method and can be seen
as an indicative of the precision of the results obtained for the
surge simulation of the power substation.
REFERENCES
[1] K. Yee, “Numerical solution of initial boundary value problems involving
Maxwell’s equations in isotropic media,” IEEE Trans. Antennas Propag.,
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[3] J. Jin, The Finite Element Method in Electromagnetics, 2nd ed. New
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[4] R. S. Wright and B. Lipchak, OpenGL SuperBible. Indianapolis, IN:
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[5] J. D. McDonald, Electric Power Substations Engineering. Boca Raton,
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[6] T. Noda and S. Yokoyama, “Thin wire representation in finite difference
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[8] E. T. Tuma, R. M. S. de Oliveira, and C. L. S. Sobrinho, “New model of
current impulse injection and potential measurement in transient analysis
of grounding systems in homogeneous and stratified soils using the FDTD
method,” presented at the Int. Symp. Lightning Protection (SIPDA), São
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[9] K. Tanabe, “Novel method for analyzing the transient behavior of ground-
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[10] G. R. Andrews, Foundations of Multithreaded, Parallel, and Distributed
Programming. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 2000.
[11] E. D. Sunde, Earth Conduction Effects in Transmission Systems. New
York: Dover, 1968.
[12] Y. L. Chow and M. M. A. Salama, “A simplified method for calculating
the substation grounding grid resistance,” IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 9,
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Rodrigo Melo e Silva de Oliveira was born in
Brası́lia-DF, Brazil, in 1980. He received the Bach-
elor’s degree in electrical engineering in 2002, the
Master’s degree in 2004, and the Doctor degree, in
2008, all from the Federal University of Pará, Belém,
Brazil.
Since February 2008, he has been a Professor
with the Institute of Technology, Federal University
of Pará. He is the author and coauthor of more than
50 technical publications regarding the application
of computational electrodynamics to model complex
structures, optimization techniques, and numerical methods.
Carlos Leonidas da Silva Souza Sobrinho was born
in Belém-PA, Brazil, in 1953. He received the electri-
cal engineering degree from the Federal University of
Pará, Belém, Brazil, in 1981, the Master degree from
the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro,
Rio de Janeiro, in 1989, and the Ph.D. degree from
the State University of Campinas, Campinas, in 1992.
Since 1986, he has been with the Faculty of Elec-
trical and Computer Engineering, Federal University
of Pará, as a Research Professor. He is the author of
more than 100 publications in the areas of electro-
magnetic theory and numerical methods.
Dr. Souza Sobrinho is a Member of the Brazilian Microwave and Optoelec-
tronics Society.