ETAP Arc Flash Analysis

The ETAP V&V process for the Arc Flash program has over 900 test case scenarios that are run before each
ETAP release. The following cases are excerpts from the Arc Flash V&V documentation.

Arc Flash Comparison Case # 1

Comparison of ETAP Arc Flash Results against hand calculated results based on
IEEE Standards

Excerpts from Validation Cases and Comparison Results (TCS-SC-120)

Highlights
• Comparison of ETAP Arc Flash analysis results against hand calculated results based on the equations
listed in IEEE standard 1584 2002.
• The calculations include both open air and enclosed equipment.
• The calculation results are within the specified range of validity of the IEEE 1584 Equations.
• The hand calculated results were developed based on a program developed in Matlab version 6.5.0
Release 13.0.1.
• ETAP results and the Matlab hand calculated results have a percent difference less than 0.001% in all
cases.

System Description
The Arc Flash calculation in ETAP for different bus voltages and input parameters was entered into different
Buses in the program. Each bus had a different type of equipment as described in the IEEE standard. The
following types of equipment were described for each bus at different voltage levels.
• MCC
• Switchgear
• Switchboard
• Switchrack
• Panelboard
• Cable Bus
• Open Air

Typical Gaps and X-factors were used for the calculation. The Incident energy and the Flash Protection
Boundary were calculated based on a Fault Clearing Time (arc fault clearing time) of 0.1 seconds.

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Comparison of Results
The following table of comparison shows the differences between ETAP Results and those calculated
by Hand using the Matlab program. The difference in all cases is smaller than 0.001%.

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Under the copyright laws, this manual may not be copied, in whole or in part, without the written consent of Operation Technology, Inc. The Licensee may copy portions of this
documentation only for the exclusive use of Licensee. Any reproduction shall include the copyright notice. This exception does not allow copies to be made for other persons or entities,
whether or not sold. Under this law, copying includes translating into another language. Certain names and/or logos used in this document may constitute trademarks, service marks, or
trade names of Operation Technology, Inc. or other entities.
 Hand Calculated (Matlab) ETAP results (Editors) %Diff (Hand Calcs vs. ETAP)
Bus kV Type Ia (kA) E (Cal/cm^2) FPB (ft) Level Ia (kA) E (Cal/cm^2) FPB (ft) Level Ia E FPB Level
0.480 Other 7.027 0.780 1.212 0 7.027 0.780 1.212 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.480 MCC 6.295 2.658 2.441 1 6.295 2.658 2.441 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.480 Switchgear 6.295 2.532 2.497 1 6.295 2.532 2.497 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.480 Switchboard 6.295 2.532 2.497 1 6.295 2.532 2.497 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.480 Switchrack 6.295 2.532 2.497 1 6.295 2.532 2.497 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.480 Panelboard 6.295 2.658 2.441 1 6.295 2.658 2.441 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.480 Cable Bus 6.295 2.947 2.356 1 6.295 2.947 2.356 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.480 Open Air 5.534 1.486 1.672 0 5.534 1.486 1.672 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1.5 MCC 14.456 2.713 4.645 1 14.456 2.713 4.645 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1.5 Switchgear 14.456 2.713 4.645 1 14.456 2.713 4.645 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1.5 Switchboard 14.456 2.713 4.645 1 14.456 2.713 4.645 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1.5 Switchrack 14.456 2.713 4.645 1 14.456 2.713 4.645 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1.5 Panelboard 14.456 2.713 4.645 1 14.456 2.713 4.645 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1.5 Cable Bus 14.456 2.715 3.015 1 14.456 2.715 3.015 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1.5 Open Air 14.456 1.573 2.295 0 14.456 1.573 2.295 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1.5 Other 14.456 1.694 2.381 0 14.456 1.694 2.381 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
13.8 Cable Bus 23.888 2.174 4.046 1 23.888 2.174 4.046 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
13.8 Open Air 23.888 1.192 3.080 0 23.888 1.192 3.080 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
13.8 MCC 23.888 2.973 8.505 1 23.888 2.973 8.505 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
13.8 Switchgear 23.888 2.490 8.505 1 23.888 2.490 8.505 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
13.8 Switchboard 23.888 3.294 8.505 1 23.888 3.294 8.505 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
13.8 Switchrack 23.888 4.207 8.505 2 23.888 4.207 8.505 2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
13.8 Panelboard 23.888 3.294 8.505 1 23.888 3.294 8.505 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
13.8 Other 23.888 2.174 4.046 1 23.888 2.174 4.046 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
33 Cable Bus 71.737 81.541 33.040 4 71.737 81.541 33.040 4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
33 Open Air 71.737 36.241 33.040 4 71.737 36.241 33.040 4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
33 MCC 71.737 18.787 33.040 3 71.737 18.787 33.040 3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
33 Switchgear 71.737 13.047 33.040 3 71.737 13.047 33.040 3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
33 Switchboard 71.737 81.541 33.040 4 71.737 81.541 33.040 4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
33 Switchrack 71.737 23.718 33.040 3 71.737 23.718 33.040 3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
33 Panelboard 71.737 92.776 33.040 4 71.737 92.776 33.040 4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
33 Other 71.737 8.350 33.040 3 71.737 8.350 33.040 3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Table 11: Comparison of Arc Flash results between ETAP and Hand Calculations developed based on
IEEE 1584 2002 standards for different voltage levels and types of equipment.
Note that incident energy is calculated based on a fault clearing time of 0.1 sec.

Reference
1. IEEE Standard 1584 2002 pages 4-13.
2. ETAP Short Circuit ANSI V&V Documents, Case Number TCS-SC-120.

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Under the copyright laws, this manual may not be copied, in whole or in part, without the written consent of Operation Technology, Inc. The Licensee may copy portions of this
documentation only for the exclusive use of Licensee. Any reproduction shall include the copyright notice. This exception does not allow copies to be made for other persons or entities,
whether or not sold. Under this law, copying includes translating into another language. Certain names and/or logos used in this document may constitute trademarks, service marks, or
trade names of Operation Technology, Inc. or other entities.