Impulse Impedance and Effective Area of Grounding Grids

High values and uneven distribution of the transient ground potential rise (TGPR) at grounding grid conductors in cases of lightning can disrupt the system safety and reliability. To assess the transient performance of grounding grids under lightning currents, a parametric analysis was performed with a computer simulation of 13,978 cases of time-domain responses with a broad range of parameters. From this study, graphs of impulse impedance and a new formula for the effective area have been developed. The graphs are general, describe grids of any shape and size and depend on three parameters: grid conductor spacing, the resistivity of earth, and the zero-to-peak time of the lightning current pulse. Although the parametric analysis was based on a uniform soil model, the graphs can also be used for the two-layer soil model. In this paper, graphs and formula are used in a simple procedure to estimate the effectiveness of a mitigation measure to reduce the TGPR by increasing the grounding grid mesh density in a limited area around the current injection points. The results from the procedure are compared with experimental results, and the application and limitations of the procedure are illustrated by considering large grounding grids as examples.