No.

E-13-PDS-1427

Lightning Transients Analysis When Using
Composite Cross-Arm in Distribution Networks

MohamadAli Amini, AliReza Sedighi
Power Quality Research Group
Dep. Of ECE, Yazd University
Yazd, Iran
MohamadAli_Amini@hotmail.com, Sedighi@yazd.ac.ir


Abstract One of the main phenomena having effect on
various voltage levels in power systems is transient over voltages,
specifically over voltages caused by lightning that strike the line.
This type of overvoltage should be properly controlled, so that
equipment would receive minimum damage.
Currently, in 20 kV distribution networks, surge arrester is
one of the protection equipment using against lightning striking
the line.
Recently, the idea of using composite cross-arms in the
distribution networks has intensified, due to the many
advantages that they own. Since, using composite in the cross-
arm construction increases the insulating standing of the poles,
this affair will bring up changes in the operation of the lightning
arresters and insulators.
This paper has studied this subject matter. The simulations
have been carried out by EMTP-Work software.
The results show that in terms of electrical, using composite
in cross-arm construction increases the damage rate of
distribution system in the lightning event.
Keywords EMTP-Work, Lightning, Arrester, Composite
Cross-Arm, Distribution Network, Guard Wire.
I. INTRODUCTION
Commonly, having a large range, over voltages are
disorders that despite usually affect the network for a short
time, they may disrupt the proper operation of equipment and
they may even damage them[1].
The severity of the damages to the system, caused by over
voltages, depends on their range and on their presence
duration in the system[2]. Lightning is a type of dangerous
over voltages which have a very large range, but their
presence duration in the system is quite short[3]. This matter
causes various damages to the system. These damages may
appear as defects and equipment failures, sudden line outages
with no reason, or thermal damages[2].
To avoid such damages and to decrease them, different
efforts are available. One of the equipment used against over
voltages to protect the network, is Lightning arrester[4].
Overhead distribution networks attach to cross-arm by
insulators. In normal state, cross-arm should have enough
endurance to bear mechanical pressure, and also it should be
able to connect the ground system and the insulator[5]. This
connection is such that, in the event of over voltage and
possible electrical failure of insulators, the current leads to the
ground system through cross-arm and pole.
In the distribution systems, nowadays, the subject of using
composite cross arms is considered. According to researches
carried out in Iran and other countries, using composite in
cross-arm construction increases the mechanical strength,
reduces weight, increases corrosion resistance, and increases
their life span. The other advantage of using composite in the
cross-arm construction depends on the state that the electrical
conductor is separated from insulator and connects to the
cross-arm. In such a situation, in the case of using composite
cross-arm, single phase to the ground fault rate will
decrease[5].
In this paper we are trying to create an interaction between
insulators, lightning arresters and the idea of composite cross-
arms in the case of lightning striking the line, for the purpose
of better and more accurate control of the overvoltage. In the
following the simulated feeder have been studied. The second
section presents the simulations carried out. The effect of
electrical discharge on the feeder has been studied in the third
section, and the results are described in the fourth section.
II. SIMULATIONS CARRIED OUT
A. Simulating a typical feeder
In order to studying the effect of increased electrical
resistance of the composite cross-arm in comparison to
metallic form, and studying the transient behavior of the
feeder in the case of lightning strike, we have attempted to
simulate a feeder of 20kV, with real data obtained
from[6]and[7]. Each and every pole has been considered in the
simulation. Fig.1 shows the single-line diagram of feeder.
Fig.2 shows a part of the simulated feeder in the EMTP
software.
As observed in the Fig.2, for studying the effect of
lightning overvoltage on insulators, lightning arresters and
transformers, the simulation has been carried out considering
all poles.
Lightning Transients Analysis When Using Composite Cross-Arm in Distribution Networks
28
th
Power System Conference - 2013 Tehran, Iran

Fig. 1. Case study single line diagram

Fig. 2. All pole are considered in simulation.
The average distance of adjacent poles is considered to be
60 meters[8].
B. Pole simulation
As shown in Fig.3 for every pole a sub-circuit has been
designed that includes insulator, pole resistance and ground
resistance.

Fig. 3. Designed sub-circuit for each pole

To simulate the characteristics of the insulator, we have
used flashover switches.
Regarding the standard data, threshold voltage level of
insulators are considered to be 95 kV[9].
C. Lightning simulation
In order to generate standard lightning waveform 1.250
s, a circuit has been designed as Fig. 4, which according to
the standard data, current peak will inject 31 kA into the
network[10].

Fig. 4. Lightning simulator circuit
The simulated lightning waveform is shown in Fig. 4.
III. STUDY THE EFFECT OF ELECTRICAL DISCHARGE ON
THE LINE
A. Insulator failure and current discharge through the pole to
the ground system
As shown in the lightning waveform (Fig. 5), increasing
rate in the initial steps is very high. Once the lightning strike
the line, the discharged current increases the line voltage and
will damage the insulator. Due to the Overvoltage applied to
the line, when the overvoltage is more than the insulators
withstand, the insulator loses its insulating standing and works
as a conducting route leading the lightning current to the
ground.
As observed in Fig.3, In order to simulate this subject,
whole pole and ground resistance is considered as an
Lightning Transients Analysis When Using Composite Cross-Arm in Distribution Networks
28
th
Power System Conference - 2013 Tehran, Iran
3

equivalent resistance. The current passing through this
damaged insulator, transfers to the ground over this resistance.


Fig. 5. Simulated lightning wave form
Then, if the line voltage is examined according to Fig.6, at
the location of lightning strike, then it would observed that in
the early moments of lightning strike (part A), suddenly, the
voltage increases resulting from wave advance up to 95 kV,
leads to damage the nearest insulator, and a route including the
damaged insulator, total resistance of the ground and pole will
be created to discharge the current.
The wave length current of lightning, passing from created
route, increases the line voltage highly. This overvoltage is
higher than the rated voltage several times, and is shown in
Fig.6; Part B.
Produced high voltage waveform starts to move from the
location of lightning strike on the line, towards the both sides,
and may cause electrical discharge in the adjacent insulators.

Fig. 6. Line voltage due to lightning strike

B. Studying the increased electrical resistance of lightning
dischargeroute
The equivalent resistance inserted in the pole modeling, is
a function of ground resistance, pole resistance and cross-arm
resistance. By changing cross-arm material from metal to
composite, certainly the equivalent resistance will increase. In
this section we have studied the effect of this resistance
growth on the line voltage waveform in the lightning transient
conditions. As stated in the previous section, the current
injected to the line by surge, would transfer to the ground
through this resistance.
Fig.7 represents the overvoltage peak changes as a
function of the equivalent resistance of the pole and the
ground, after lightning current discharge.
More increasing in cross-arm resistance, the more increasing
in peak of the generated transient waves. It is worth noting
that the first part of Fig.7s curve, represents the behavior of
the metal cross-arms that have a resistance of 5 ohms. In such
a condition, after damaging the first insulator, voltage peak
generated on the line, will be about 10pu. While the distal part
of the curve shows the behavior of cross-arms with high
resistance (like composite cross-arms) that after damaging the
first insulator, a voltage peak of about 50 pu on the line will be
generated. Transient wave moving with a higher peak, in the
first stage will damage adjacent insulators more seriously and
then in the next stages will increase the entrance voltage of
transformers and the other installed elements, and this incident
may make the damage to the network and equipment more
acute.
C. Investigating the use of lightning arresters in the network
with composite cross-arm
Considering the explanations presented in the previous
section, using composite cross-arms would exacerbate the
damages caused by the lightning strike. In this section the idea
of using additional lightning arresters has been surveyed in
order to control the generated transient wave. Therefore, we
have tried to control the generated overvoltage, by increasing
the number of lightning arresters in the system. For this
purpose, with the assumption of using composite cross-arms
on all poles, the typical network, has been investigated in two
forms.

Fig. 7. Increasing line peak voltage due to increasing equivalent resistant
Lightning Transients Analysis When Using Composite Cross-Arm in Distribution Networks
28
th
Power System Conference - 2013 Tehran, Iran
4


Fig. 8. Increasing entrance voltage of transformer due to increasing pole
resistant
Entrance voltage waveform in the selected distribution
transformers with a proper distance from the lightning
location, has been considered as a criterion for investigating
the idea. The location of lightning strike and the Transformer
has been shown in Fig.1.
First of all we assume a condition in which lightning
arresters of the system are just installed in the place of
distribution transformers. In such a condition, input voltage
peak variation, has been plotted in curve i of Fig.8 as a
function of equivalent resistance of the pole and cross-arm.
As observed in the figure, by cross-arm resistance growth,
the input voltage of transformer, due to lightning strike will be
several times higher than the rated voltage. So, it will be
difficult to control the overvoltage by using zinc oxide
lightning arresters and input gap lightning arresters of
transformers. To overcome this problem, it is proposed to
increase the number of installed lightning rods. Curve ii, in
Fig.8 shows the input voltage of the transformer, as a function
of the pole resistance and the ground resistivity, in a condition
that the number of system lightning arresters has been
increased. Comparing to the previous form, the voltage level
has improved in the transformer entrance. As it could be
realized from this graph, although this affair will be useful in
terms of stability, and will be able to prevent lightning strike
the transformer, it should be noted that the installed equipment
increase, would entail the repair and maintenance cost growth.
Therefore, one of the subjects that can be considered later in
this work is determining the number and proper location of
additional installed arresters. In addition to the above solution,
it is possible to prevent the lightning damages in power energy
distribution networks by using guard wires, which will be
discussed later.
D. Using guard wire as a protective equipment to prevent
damages resulting from lightning
In 1985, Rusk introduced the following equation to
calculate the inductive voltage in lines resulting from indirect
collision with lightning:
= 36.5 kV (1)
Where is the maximum of the lightning current at the
moment of collision in kA, h is the height of the line from the
ground in m, and y is the distance of the collision point from
the line in m. According to this equation, if the lightning
current is 31 kA, the height of the line from the ground is 12 m
and the place of collision is within a 1 m distance, then the
additional inductive voltage resulting from the indirect
collision of lightning will be 93 kV that is below the insulation
stability level of the distribution transformer. According to Eq.
(1), as the distance between the collision point and the line
increase, the inductive voltage will decrease. In order to
appraise the performance of the guard wire, it has been added
to the under-investigation system. The guard wire can be fixed
in different distances from the line conductor; according to
[2], this wire has been fixed within a 20 cm distance. Having
imposed the lightning on the guard wire at the location that
shown in Fig.1, as it can be seen in Fig.9,voltage peak at
transformer entrance that shown in Fig.1 will be about 3 pu.
In the presented condition that composite cross arms have
been installed and also guard wire has been used, the
overvoltage results from inducting voltage to line could be
simply controlled by the arresters at the entrance of the
transformer regarding to the amplitude of the inductive
voltage and its presence time in the network. It must be
mentioned that in the case of using this method to optimize the
voltage level at the entrance of the transformer in lightning
conditions, guard wires must be properly grounded in any
poles. Here, according to [2], the resistant used for the guard
wire grounding is considered to be 5 ohm. Studies have been
shown increasing the resistant will increase the inducted
voltage amplitude in each phases which can affect the arresters
operation.
I. CONCLUSION
One of the phenomenon having effect on various levels of
voltages of power systems is transient over voltages,
specifically over voltages caused by lightning. Using
composites has recently boomed in designing and constructing
cross-arm. But changing cross-arm material from metal to
composite, the resistance of the lightning current discharge
route is being increased. Resistance growth increases the input
peak voltage of transformer. Two proposed methods for
controlling the additional voltage are increasing the number of
the arresters fixed at the network, and use of the guard wires.
Using the above methods can optimize the voltage level at the
entrance of the distribution transformer.

Fig. 9. Lightning caused overvoltage after striking the guard wire.
Lightning Transients Analysis When Using Composite Cross-Arm in Distribution Networks
28
th
Power System Conference - 2013 Tehran, Iran
5

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