%etc

arc twn types of sIwtt-circuit studies

of iiitcteat to the power engineet. The first

determines the first-cycle (momentary)

and timc-dcliiy sertings of t h e overcurl.ent-prote~rive dcviccs [ I , C h a p 51, 12, Chap. 141, 13, Chap.

91, IS, Chap. 91.

and ciintact-partiiig (interrupting) shurt-circuit

asymmetrical cms or peak curcurrent duties (k..
rcnrs) ar rhe buses r i f the power system, which Lite
uscd to selcct thc short-circuit withsrnnd and interrupting capabilities of iwitchgcnr [I,Chap. 'I].

Oftentimes, thc engineer possesses commercid

software for the first type of short-circuit study. To
perform the compmmions, many of the algorithms
cmploy either rcduction of tile complex impedzince
network rcprerentation of the power systeiii (2,Sec.

ing tlic worst-case fault location

at the switchgcar bus (which recrivrs id1 pnssible
short-circuit c u ~ c e n tconttihutions) and the h i d t
typc (nsually a bolted, thtec-phase Fault) (1, Sec.

the second typc of study. 'She jmrpnsc of this atticlc is to acldruss this question by
comparing thc twn types cif short-circuit studies.
Tlic hasis for the comparison is the complex imped-

4.1.21.

ancc nrtwork mcthud.

'She scoond type of s r u d y detcrmincs thc

subtransient tind transicnr short-circuit utrenrs
that an overcutrent-protcctive device will srnsr in
ordcr CO initiarc the prompt rcmoval uf tlic affcctrd
portion of rhe power system by its circuit intctruptcr [Z, Sec. 1.51, Thmc shorr-circuit currents
arc necessary to ptopurly sclect thc insnmtzinrous

The organization of the articlc is as follows. The

next srction provides a brirf background on thc
Sundamcncals n l short-circuit analysis. Pollowing
tliilr background is il discussion OS h w vatious
typrs uf phase ovcrcurrcnt pmtectivc drvices rcs p o n d to t h c shorr-citcoir curccnr waveform. Based
011 this discussion, the next scction specifies which

I .

i e1993
1 Pho,oOlsrl"c
I
I
1
I
I
1

I
I
I
I

Ihy-wtting p i y / m e i J aditrarily diuided into iiwple c o w

ptiiieizti, which mr,keJ it eary t o e z l c i / h u the .rburt-&i/it
iiiqiiitde i t certaiw .ri,qi$cmt timeJ +fie the .rhortcjrcxit umicf. [ 5 , p p 15 and 161
For this rciison, the asymmetrical short-circuit
current waveform uf Fig. 1 has been drcnmyoscd
into rwo components: il iinidirccrional dc component ancl a symmetrical tic component. Thc ilc
component cxponcntially decays to zero, and the
xmpli tude of thc s y m m e t r i c d ac component eventually dcniyn t o a ciinstant amplitiide i n the
short-circuit cwreiits m e necessary to pcrhirm aprosteady-stare. The slim [if these two components at
rcctive device coordination study. A conip;irison of
any time instant is r q ~ mt lo the total asymmetricnl
the two typrs of short-circuit stiiilics fullows, b a c d
shnrr-citcuir current ar that instant. Furthermore,
o n d i e complex impedance nctwork represennition
i t is i n i p i t
to norc tliat tlic asymmetrical
of the power system. The results of the comparison
shurt-circuit current waveform o i t h e otlierphases,
are then used t u prcsmt rccommmdations for how
which arc not shown in Pig. 1, differ only in thcir
the results of a computer-airled study to compute
dc components. The dc components haw different
short-circuit ciirrent duties ciin l>capplied tn iletcrinitial values, but rlccay exponcntially at the Siime
mitic thc shoic-circuit currents nucessary to select
rate. The tilte of expunenrial decay (i.e., time conrhc srttings of phase overcirrenr protective devices.
stant) of thc dc componcnt is related to the shortPinally, a sample industrial powcr system is pro~ ~whetex,:, and !<,, arc tlic
circuit X,:g / R nitio,
vided tn clarify the recommendations.
cquiv;ilcnt rciictancc and rcsisriincc ilt thc titilt loA few words of ctiiition itre in order before we
cation, respectidy. llic envelope of die symmetriproceed. T h e risk of injury to pcrsonnrl and c1am;tgc
cal ac compoiicnt is identiczrl for all three pliases.
to power systcm ;Ippxatus is high ifa short-circuit
To simplify the analysis, sre;aly-starc iio circuit
study is prrfonned by someone who is unqualified
theory is exploited to calculate a ~ O I S C - C B S C (i.e.,
o r incxperiencecl. Simply rending thc litemtiire on
initinl) root-mean-square (rms) magnitude of rhe
the subject does tior certify or qudify an engineer to
symmctricll ac cumponrnt to characterize il pnrticular time interval of tlir hiult-on rime period.
perfonn power system studies in practicu. Although
commercial software is the quickcst and most rffi- Thcrr are thrcc rimr intcrvals of inrercst:
cient means ofpcrforming a sliart-circuit study, it is
... the w6tl.~,irieIltp,lod,~e~iu4
LaJ1iiig on/yfir tbefiYJt
important that the engincer know how to pcrfvrn~ /eu ydu (it 60 Irz), B r i q u&ich the ci/i?enf ilerretliesc c;ilcnlations hy hand, in conjunction with LIS- iiient (i.e., dezy ofthe nlyiilmetrinl.ihurt-~i~ci,itc/ment
ing thc commercial software. Thc results of a conizuav!for;iz) ir very rwpid the tran.rientpmio4 mvwiiig a
purer-aided short-circuit sriidy iirc susceptible to
uelaiivdy 1o;igw t i m (i.e., 6eyond 6 cycler), dwi;zg
errors. Thc most common ones arc liumiin errnrs
whkb the c i i m i i t decveriiuizi is imre moderrte: c n d f l ~ i d j ~
(e.g., dnra-inpur ertors, misinr~r~~mtariun
of rcsdts,
therie,~,i/3,-itltepenur/ii.c, 6cyoiid.iO yclm) ... [6, Scc.
etc.); ;ilthiugh, occasionally the sofrwirc is the CUI6-61
prit. Ncvertlicless, the engineer, not rhc software
Tu simplify verbiage, die expression worstvcndnr, is respihle for the;iccuracyofrhc study.
ciisc (;.U,, initial) m i s mtynitiide of the symmcrri-

Background
lhis section pruviilcs only a brief b;ickgrrlund on
the funrlamentals of short-circuit analysis to setve
the purpcxe of this article. References [l]-(51 provi& further docails.
Fig. 1 illustrates ii rypical short-circuit currcnt
waveform fur one phase of a threr-phase synchronous generator, previously unloadad, wliicll has
been subjected to a balanced, threc-phase fault
across its acccssible terminals. In general, a n u y m merrical, slam-circuit current waveform is produccd by a balancccl, three-phasc fault.
Aqnimetrical iiltemating tlwrwit.i uhen treated d.r a
,in& c m m ~ twave m e d&Edt to inlerpret fi. ci,rxit
liw&er ap)licatiun.r and relq-.rettinR /nrpi(iscr. Lomn/ilic z d f m n d ~ i Jare reqiiirrd to azlciilrcte their iiqnitiide
imleIJ molved into c o m / i o m ~ t ~The
. apmtmd nltw
nating cwieiitr me>f i r c i m i t 6rriiker ~i/iplicatioi~~
nnd re-

Unidirectional dc
Component

In

Asymmetrical Waveform
iSum 01 dc and ac Comuanents)

cal ilc componenr" i s hercafter shortened ru "syn-

mcrrical rms currenr."

l h u s , the p u t p c of thc analysis is tu o k u l a r c
the filllowing: I ;
sihtrnnsienr symmetricd rms
currriit, I,, = transient symmetrical r m s current,
and I,, = stcady-state symmcrrical tms currciit. In
d e r r o perform thcse calculations, il consranr
reacr;mce for each time pcriod is zssigned ra evuty
machine: X; = direct-axis srtbtransicnr rcilcfancc,
X',, = direcr-axis transicnt reactancc, m d X,, = direct-axis synchmnous rracrilnce.
On the other hand, die utility generators are iisw
ally tcmotc from rlie plant. Their shorr-circuit current conrribotkins to rhe remote plmr appear to rhcm
as asmall incmise in load current. hrthcrmore, thwe
currcnt contributions tciiil to m i l a i n consrilnt during
tlic entire fault-on tinir period. Thtrcfnrc, thc uriliry
tic is orten mudrled by a coiistanr (i.e., lhrvenin
equivalent) impedance ovrt thc rntirr h i t - o n time
pcriod, which is dererminrd by knowing rhe a v d
&le shott-citcuit contribution that can be delivcred
to thcplant. I'inally, thc passivc q p m i t u s ofthc system (i.e., rmnsbrmcrs, cables, busway, rcacrors,
etc.) iirc niodelcd by imlxdanccs that ilrr constmt
over rhc enritc h k o n r i m putiuil.
l ' h c problem of calcularing symmcrrical rms
current can h e rumnxtized as follows:
1 . Cnnstrucr a i r impedance nutwork by inrcrconiiecting the appropriatr imprdnnces of
thr appafiitus in accordance wirh thc me-line
diagram.
2.Impose the h i l t ~ocationondie nrrwork.
3. Usc d i e series, pcinillel, and deltn-wye
rctinrformarion foriiiulas to rcducc t h e network t o an eqnivdenr impcdancc, Z F Q .
4,Usc Ohm's Law ro divide 1 Z,IL,1 into the
rms m;ignirudc of the pref,iult phase-to-neurml voltxgc :it the Faulrrd bus to yield rhe
symmetrird rms currrnt.
In order to t ~ p p l yrhc iibuve procedure tn calculate sobtransient symmutriciil rms currenr, UEC direct-axis subtransient reactances firr d l of the
m a t i n g machines in tlie subtriinsitnc ntrwork. To
apply the procrdure to calculate transirnt s y n i m w
tical rms currrnr lix several cyclrs (i.e., bcyond six
cycles) afrer f d r inceprion, thc synchronous machine (i.e., generarurand motor) model uses eirher
its transient reactancc oiii larger impedance tclatrd
to thc magnitude of decaying short-circuit c ~ i r r c i i t
ar the spccificd cidculation t i m e [ I , Sec. 4.5.4.31;
a l l induorion moror contrihutims are onlitred in
t h c rrnnsirnt ncrwork.
At rhis point, wc' havc only accounted lor t l i c
i10 componcnr or t h e asymmcrrical short-circuit
currrnt waveform.
CalciiLtion qithe piwire rm w d n e q'/nn uJyvmietviciil ciivent ut /nnj, time ufiw the ineelition of. rhort-cirmit vmy h wry i n d u e d A',cimite dwetiient.fizctori tu
t i m i i n t / i i the 'IC
ctiiNI)one~ittit u q l i m a w e q,ire'I> a
z u d u.i f i ~ t o . r/or the rute of thaizge of the zqqment
~

remzincer uf the perdor.c. 'fhis /ire& method wq he

ii.wI, i/ &red, biil .sir,i/iii/kl tiicthodr hnwr evolwed
zuheiaby the dccoin)onent ii accoimtedjir hj, Jiiiz/h itiiiiti/ d j , i n ~ j h v sThe
. limlti)lyillg/a',tor conwertr J ~ I Z I I I ~ ~ N iill m i ciwmnt inio a~yvmetrit<iIniii wruent, which
m m o z t z j & bath the ilc andnc m,u/mentr. {S, p. 20)
,,
1h e short-circuit currents necessary ro selcct
thr settings of an uvercurtent-ptotccrive device
must rcflect rhe operating characteristics and times
of thc device. Thc rrsponse of chr prorectivc device
cn subtransient nsymmetriud rms current ;indlrir
be
subtransient asymmctrical peak c ~ ~ r r e imusr
it
known. On t h e other hanil, it is unnccrssary to accolint for the iiegligihlr dc cornponent ovrr the

transient pcriiid; only tlic tnmsienr symmetrical

rms currenr is necessary.
Thu subtransient asymmetrical rms currenr is
ualculated by multiplying t h e subrransicnt symmctl-icd rnu current by an asymmetry multiplying
factor. Srrictly speaking, the ;isymmetry mulriplying F'acnrdcpmds on theshort-citcuit X,,, / I t o arario of rile 'L'lievenin equiv;dent inipcd;mce, Z,:Q, at
the I n c a t i o n [41,(71, [$I]. In practice, ii multiplying
f.lcror of 1.6 is used on medium-volragc systems
( > l O O O V) ~ I 1.5
I on low-voltaglgc systcms IS, 1'.
5481. The cuccption ftir mcdium-volragc syrtenis is
to usc rhe smiiller multiplying facox of 1 .5 on syrt e n x of 2.4kV t o 5 kV when rhere arc transhrmcrs
or rhere is appreciable line resisrance brtwecn tlic
c c Secrioii .54, p. 21. I t is
fault point and the s o ~ ~ r [X,
i m p r t " n t to note rhix these figures may need to bc
incrcasrd CO avoid iminanre tripping.

Protective Device Operution

Tlic operating clinracteristic of a phare-ovcrCIItrent-l,rorcrtive devicc dictattcs h o w it respunds
to rhr asymmetrical short-cituuit current wavcfixm. l'or ti static relay, it is iinportmr t o know
w l d i e r it is progrnnimrd to sense rms, avumge, or
prak currenr, and is calibrated for rims c u r c n t .
Induction-type rclays are ;tffcctc-donly by rhr ac
cutnponent of the short-circuit currenr waveform.
Genctally, the time-currenr chal-actcristic curve of
such ti device is not phtred bryond rhe subtransicnr
symmetrical rms currrnt tbar it will expcriencc.
Therc iirc d i e r insfanfanemis phase-overcurrcnt-pnjrrctivc deviccs rlvnr ate ;iS&ccted by both
tlic du and ac componenrs of rhe short-circuit curm i t wavcform, and respond within rhe first half-cyclc. Consrqncnrly, subtransient iisymmurl-ical rms
cLirrenr is a crucial factor in setting thcse devices.
l'inally, the tmnsicnr symmetrical rms cucrent
is L I S C ~ to verify thr coordinariun of timc-delay
phasc~uvercurrent-I,n,reutivc deviccs that are set to
oprrate slowcr than 0.1 s (is., six cycles).
l'hr following list has h e m adaprcd from Sec.
4.5.4.1 o f [ l l ; p p 54%') oS[51; and Tiiblr 2, Srcr i m ,541 of[X]. It summarizes which short-circuit
cutrents affect the operation of specific types of
phiisr-nverciirrri,r-~~"tectivcdeviccs.

Sirhtransieizt Symmetrical RMS Current

Thcse incliidc high-speed, induction-typc relays
that operate in lcss t h m three cyclcs (0.05 s);
short-time induction relays chat are sct to operatc

about twicc t h e pickup setting of the duwnstream

devicc. (Note: In t h i s context, "pickup" refers to tlle
cffectivc primnry pickup that has taken the currcnt
transformer rxtio inro account [lo].) A more i ~ c w
h t c r thm 0. I s (six cycles); gener;mr, transratc criterion is that d i e subtraiisicnt asymmetrical
former, and bus differential relays; power-line CLII- rms current fnr a fault at the downstream dcvice
rent hdance relays; and pilot-wire rclays.
must be less rllan thr instmtaneous s e t t i n g of the
upstream protrctive dcvice.
If the subtransient ;isymmetrical rnrs current unSubtunsieat Asywzwzetricul RMS C s w e n t
der thc minimal powur system cnnfiguration is less
Instantaneous (i.e., magnetic) functions of tbermrrlthan thc pickup setting nf a n instantaneous
magnetic-molded or instilnrecl-case circiiit lbroitkuvercuirtlnt relay, t h e relay will not oprratc, and
ers; plunger or hinged armature-rypc instantaprotection will c l t p m d upun time-dclay phase-overncoiis relays; 6.ist-mclting-timc zone (<0.1 s) of
current relays. This sitilirtioii rcrluirrs the czdculafuscr; iind instantaneous and short-timu cleltry
tion (if minimal subrransienr symmetrical r m
funcriuos that ate sct to operate lister than 0.1 s on
current in orclcr to determine iftlie time-delay overclcctromagnetic or static (i,c., solid-state or microcurrent relays will provide xlequxe protection. The
processor-based) direct-acting t r i p of l o w and
minimal powcr sysrum configuration for t h c
mcdium-voltage circuit breakcrn are cxnmpies oi
subtriinsient network may apply at night or whcn
this current.
prnducrion lines arc down fix tiny rcason. Nocc tllat
this ncrwork still uscs direct-axis subtransient
Traizsieizt Symmetricdl RMS Current
rcncfanccs for ;dl of the muiring maclrincs in LISC.
These include time-delay induction-type relays
The rrmsient symmetrical rms short-circuit CUI'.
that are set to operatc slower than 0.1 s: f k e opcriircnt Lindur t h e maximal powcr systrin configuration
tiun, under sustained fault currcnt, i n meltingis ciilciilared at the appropriate h l r location of CYtimr portion of the characteristic that is slower
riy time-delay pl~,sr-overcul-l-rnt-pforcctivedevicc
than 0.1 s; and long-rimc and short-time dclay
that is set tn oprcatc slower than 0.1 s (six cycles).
fuictions rhat arc sec CO opcrrrrc slower thnn 0.1 s
The maximal power system configuration for the
on elecrromagnetic orsfiiric (i.e.,solid-state or micrntransient network neglects induction motor cantriprocessor-lmed) direct-;$cting trips of low- and mebutions, hut includcs d l otlicr shorr-circuit ciirrcnt
clinm-voltage circuit breakers.
scurccs (i.c., utiliry rtivice siqq~ly,in-plant generation, and synchronous motors). ICoowledgc of the
short-circuit Currents To Select Settings
maximal transicnt symmctricd rms current is necBased on t h r prcvious discussion, the subtransient
cssiiry to esrahlish the coordination timu intervals
symmetrical rms short-circuit C L I T ~ C I I I Cunder the
for clectromagnetic (i.e., induction-disc) or static
maximal powcr system configuration should hu
(i.e., solid-stare or micn,processor-based) time-rlec a l c i h t e d at the appropriatc fault location ofrvcry
lay p h a s e - o v c r c o r r r n t r e l a y s w i t h o t h e r
phase-ovcrcurrenr-procecrivc device. l h c nmrimnl
phnse-ovcrcurrent-pmtecrivc devices.
p w c r sysrrm configuration for t h e rubtransient
Finally, it may bc important to calcukite the
nctwork includes all possiblc short-circuit currcnt
transient symmetrical rms current under t h r minsources (i.e., iitility servicr supply, in-plant gcncriinal power system configuration (i.e., minimal
ation, and motors). Generally. the time-cLirrcnt
transient symmetrical rms current) in order to incharacteristic curve of an induction-type re1;iy is
vestigate whcther sufficient fnult currcnt is availnut plotted bcyond thr mnxinml subtransient syma b l e t o c a u s c o p e r i i t i o n of B r i m e - d e l a y
metrical rms currcnt nor thc pickup sctting of an
ovrrourrent~protectivcdevicr within a satisfacinstantaneous p h a s e - o v e r c u r r e n t - r ~ lin~ ~the same
tory time. Tlic minimal power system configoracircuit, whiclrevrr is smallrr.
t i o n for thc tmnsicnt nerwurk may apply a t night
Knowledge of thr maximal subtr;msirnt asymor when production lines are down for any reason,
metrical rms current is nccessary to determine the
and it is often defined under minimum power
t-promscttings ufins,;,nt,,,,",,s.l,li~e-ovetcurrm
SLLL
Note
~ ~that
I ~ the
. traiisicnt nrtwork undcr the
t i w devices that ace responsive to both thc dc and BC
minimal
power
systcm
configurarion still ncconiponmts of rhc short-circuit currcnt wavrform.
glects indiicrion moror contriburiuns, but inMinimum scttings are requircd to allow nmtm
clurlrs all othcr short-circuit currcnt so~lrccs(i.e.,
lockcd-roror current or transformer mngnctic inutility setvicc supply, in-plant gencration, and
rush currcnt. Higher settings arc not ncccssary, but
synchronuus motors).
c a n b e osed. C o o r d i n a t i o n of instsintaThe following list summarizes t h c short-circuit
ncoos-plrasc-ovel.currcnt devices in scrics at rhc
currrnts tliiit s h d d be ca1cul;ited in ordcr to persame voltage levcl is not possible unless there is sigform il coordination study:
nificant impedance bctween huscs, c;iusud by long
cable rims or currmt-limiting reactors. In this case,
hIa&~d rad Minims/ S/hr~in.iient
Syiimetvicd RMS
thc pickup sctting of rhe upstream devicc has to bc
C/meiiLs: High-speed, p l m s e - o v c r c u ~ r r n t - ~ ~ ~ o t e c t i ~ ~

r m s c u r s e n t is inot rhr siu" v a l u e cis t h e

deviccs r l m arc rrsponsiive m l y ro thc ac componmt
subtransient rymmrtrical inis c ~ ~ r r c n r .
of the short-circuit cusrcnt.
In ordcr t u selcct t l i t shorr-circuit witlmand
illasiwd S h t t z m m i t A.ty,v,etr;ui iind Minimnl
and intcrrupting uipdilitics 01 circuit brcakcrs
Snhrmn,iiant S y n i m t h d R M S Ciirreri/s: I i w a n t t ani1 fiiscs zit ii switchgear bus, ii ciinscrviitive p c WOLLS phase-ovcrcilrrunr-protuctivc dwices that
c maximal power systcm configtier is to a s s ~ m rlre
are responsive CO both the d c ilnd ac ctmponcnts of
uration and to 1oc;ite t h c three-phase short-circuit
the short-circuit curtent.
iWaxiw,l Sabtriinsiant nnd i\liisiii?n/ and h f i n i i ~ ~ d at the swirchgear h i s so ;is ti) rcccive all pmsihli,
slrxt-circiiit w r r r n t contrilmtioni. 'Ihc miixinml
Tmnrieni S~mtierriai! R M S C " w n : 'l'ime-dclny
powur systcm oritrfiguiarion For ilir first-cycle nctphase-ovcrcurrcnr-I,n,recrive ilwices t l h r arc rework i n c l u d r s all possible short-circuit c ~ ~ r r c n r
sponsive to both tlic dc iind ac coniponcnts of rI1c
sourccs (i.e., uriliry service supply, irr-plant gencrshort-circuit currmt, and tire set to opc~ateslowtr
aticin, and nmrurs).
than six cycles at 60 EL.
On thc other hand, ti) rdect the timc-current
clwxctciistics iind settings of a I,h;ise-ovcrcurrcnlComparison of Sfudier
prwcctive dcvicr, tlic tlil-uc-phnsc h r t - c i r c u i t is I<>I.rt LIS first consider t h c slmrt-ciicuit srudy wlrose
cilttlcl at ihc rcrminill of tlre dcvicc (i.c., or its currwir
rcsuits arc used ro selcct the short-circuir wirbrranstixmcrs), w l i i c h C ~ L I S C tSh c largest shotr-circuit
stand and intcrmpting cqxibilirius nf mediumc ~ ~ r r c ro
n t flow through it. (For a riiiliiil power sysvolragc and low-voltagr circiiir hreakcrs iind fuses
tem, this fiiiilr location is tlic load-side tcrmiixil of
from manufacturers' tables. For this applicaririn,
rlie protective device o r its cLirrcnt transhrmers.)
there are two types of networks to ciilculatc symI.rr LIS consider a specific exiimplc to bettcr ilinetrical cnis cucl-ent: first-cyck (momccirary) and
lustrim t h e distincrion betwcen thcsu two rypcs of
contact-parriiig (inccrrupting).
fiiult Iocirions. Fig. 2 prcscrnts thc &signations ;ind
T h e moinrntary nerwotk is idunrical to tlic
illuscrates t h r dircciions of thc short-circuit cnrsuhcransirnt network, and i c is iised to calcolatc t b c
rent contrihutions t n t h e tlirec-phasu h i l t IUCCLsymmetrical rms current over tlic subtransient
tinn, 13, at the 4.16 kV substation i bus. 'L'lic
time interval of the fiiult-on t i m e peririd. An allp i q w s e of t h i s f i d t 1oc;ition is to Calciiliitt~t l r mopropriatil asymmetry multiplying liictur is then
m e i m r y symmetrical r n current.
~
In Fig. 2, I[ deused to convert momentary symmcrric;d rms curm t ~ dsi e phnsor reprusmtation of tl i e short-circuit
rent into momentary asymmcrrical rms current.
currcnt conrribution; the sulxrscuilx, ,L refcrs to
l ' h e witlistarid capability of ii medium-voltage cittlicfirst-cyclcnetwork.Fini~lly,I~ =I.[,
Iismulcuit hrtaker, the intcrruptirrg cap"bi1ity of;r fiise,
tiplied b y an ;ippropriate asynimcriy niulriplying
and the intcrrupring capability of LI l o w - v u l r y e
factor [ I , Chap. 41, based on t l i e cquivalcnt shorrcircuit breaker must exceed t h e momcnrary ilsynicircuit XIR ratio zxt thc f i ~ i l rlocation, til yicld the
mctrical rms CLITTCIIC [I,(:hap 4).
Crsc-ryclc (momcnrnry) asymmetrical rms c m m i t
l'hu inrerriqitiirg nctwurk is used to ~ i i l c u l a the
t~
symmetrical rms currcnt for ,,,e~li~,*,,~"olt',g~
ciicuir
Sum of Contributions
brcalcr minimum conract-parring timus of 1.5 tu 4
From Remaining
cycles after the inceprim of tlic short-cimit. Piit
this network, direct-axis suhtl-;msicnr reactances
Sources of System
are used fur t l i c in-plnnr synchronuus tuhincgeneratt,rs, synclrronous m"t0r L'eiiCfallCe is calculatcd hy mulriplying its direct-axis subtransient
rcacrnnce by it rotating machine r ~ a c f i i i i ~multic
plier of 1.5, mil inducrion mrxor contributions clre
included i n iiccordanir with Tables 4-I and 4-2of
rhr I E E E 1<J Book Ill. An appropriate asyminctry
Receives Sum of
midtiplying factor is then used to convcrr interContributions From
rupting symmrrrical tins c u r r e n t into
All Possible
r . inintcrrrupring nsymmcrrird rins c ~ ~ r r c nThc
short-circuit Current
tcrrupiing c;pibiliry of a mudium~vtrlt,,gecircuit
jources in Power System
f
brcaker must e x c d the inrursnpting asymmetriM5
~

CJl

rnlS CILI'ICIIC.

Let LIS now cumpaw rile two types of sliottcircoir srudics. The basis for thc comparison is the
complcx impedancc netwt,tk relxescnfiition cif chc
pnwcr system.
Although t h c mnmentiiry network is idcnticnl
to t h c subtransicnt ncrwurk, Cnult lociltion is the
Ipinciplu ruasnn w h y tlic momentary symmctricnl

Contributions

Induction
Induction
Each 1500 HP 2000 HP
x;j=O.l6 pu
x;i=O.16 pu

g. 2. ' l % , r e - p b ' , l c / i ~ s ~loc,'lion

t
to .select
rewi,/i/itq u@,hilirier o f / m o e r , f i t m .

IMhidorfry Applikoiiom Mngniine

Mnrrh/April2000

Sources 01 System

hrough Fuse Except

Finally, thc principle diffcrenct bctween the co11tact-pming (intcrrupting) nctwork and the tiansicnt network is time. Mcdium-volragc circuit
breikcr minimum contact-parting times arc 1.5 to
4 cycles after the inception of the short-circuit. Inductinn motor contributions ire includcd in the
contact-parting (interriipring) network. The rransicnt period covcrs ti relatively longrr rinw pcriod,
beyond six cycles, so rhar, induction motor conrriburions are ignotcd in the trmsicnt network. lhcrefurr, thc intcrriqxing symmetrical rnis cLment i s
larger by induction mntnr contributions tlian thc
transient svninimrical rmr current.

Recommendations
Induction
Each 1500 HP
X,=O.i6 pu

Induction
2000 HP
xi=O.i6 pu

Pig. 3. Pot& location to select time-current

chrwtrctwistic of j i u e .

(i.e., mamenrary duty). The short-circuit inrcrrupting calxibilirics of the medium-voltage powrr
fiiscs a t tliis bus must exceed the mnmcntary d u t y
iit this bus.
Next, Fig. 3 shows tlie three-phsse f.iolt location, J, at the load-side terminal o f t h e p ~ w r fust.
r
fot iniluction motor M5. The p ~ ~ r p o ofthis
sc
location is to calculatc the subtransicnt symnwrrical
rms current. Using an appropriarc asymmetry
multiplying factor (cf. "tlackground" section), the
rubtransient asymmetrical tins current delineates
thc upper (i.e., right-most) currcnt limit of the
fuse's rime-current cliarncturistic curve.
Now, t h e first-cycle network is prcdominmtly
reaotivc because the shart-circuit XIR ratios of its
appAP.ltLlS are relatively largc. Thus, IIS :In approximation, t h e magnicudcs ofrliephnsor currents can
be ;~drlcdand suhtractcd without regard to their
phase anglcs (which are ;d1 in t h e neighburhood of
9 0 O ) . Tlierrforu, referring to Pig. 3, the suhrtansient symmetrical rnis current sit f d r location J
can be appmximatecI by: I ; E I : ,
PinnIly,
cis s t ; d previously, ( I ; ) , is inultiplied by an upproprkite asymmetry multiplying k t O r (cf, "Backg t o u n d " section) to yield t h c s u b t t m s i e n t
nsymnietricnl rms current.
Note that die differrnce between tlrr s n b t m sicnt symmetrical rms C L X K C ~ Xand the momentary
synimrrrical rms ciirrrnt is die short-circuit current co~itribrition(i.e., first-cyle symmetrical rms
ourrrnt) of induction motor M5 (i.e., motor
bdckferd). For this exfimplc, the motor bzickfccd is
approximated by:

In this section, we present rccominrtidationson how

tn q>ply rhc results of ii ci,mpiiter-;iidcd short-circuir study tliar sciccts witlistand ancl interrupting
c;ipabilirics of switchgear to determine the shmtcircuit currenrs (i.e., maximal a n i minimnl
suhtranrient iind rransient syiumetrical rms currents) to propcrly selrct the time-cmrcnt characteristics i d serrings of phnse~ovcrcurl-mrproucctive
devices. It is very important to nntc that these rccommmdnrions are bascd on the complcx impcdance
network rcprcsentation of rhe power system.
First ancl foremost, it is imporrant to USC the appropriate $ulr location ;tiid ti) accnunt for motor
backfucil. Imposing the ilpprqxiate fiulr location
and accounting for motor hackfercl on thc subtransient imcl first-cycle networks, the subtmnsicnt
symmcrrical rnis current is equal to rhc momentary
symmcrricd rnis current, which c m be c;dculated
by thc procedure in Chapter 4 of the I
[I]. In timi, thc subtr;msicnr asymmetrical rms current is calculated by moltiplying thc subtransienr
synrmetricd rms currelit by an appmpriatc 21symmctty multiplying lactor, in accordance with thc
rules disousscd abovr (cf. "Background" section).
As mentioned prcviously, die c m n s i e n t synimctrical tins current is diffcrcnt (i.e., smaller by induction motor ci~ntrihnrions)than the intcrrupting
sgmmcrrical rms currcnt. Howevcr, the principal
use of thr maximid transient symmetrical rms cutrcnr is CO establish rhecoordination time interval for
a time-dclay phiise-overcurrent relay (i.e., set beyond six cycles) with ;mtrthcr pli;isei,vcrcurrcl,tiprotcctivc device. Esrrrblisliing this time intervd at
a Iuger w l n c drlmrt-circuit c~irrentis a CODSC~YIItivc practice insnfar as coordinnrion is concrrncd.
Howrvcr, ~1 coordination time interval that is tno
cunservative nmy not b e desirablc from thr sriuldpoint of limiting equipment damagc. In the event
that tlir dawnstrcam protrcrivc device fails to opcrate, thc upstre;rm (backup) protective device may
cake ruolong tooperare. In summary, wirh rcglird to
coordination, ir is pcrniissibir [2, Sec. 142.21 to usc
the maximal interrupting symmrtrical rms current
(instead ofthe maximal transient symmetrical rms
current) to rstablisli the coorrlinarinn timc interval.

Finally, it is prmmissihlr [ I , Scos. 4.5.4.3 and

4.6.51 ro

rlie aplxnximatc ill-cycle nctwork

( i n s r c x l of the minimal power system cnnfigufiition far t h e rraiisienr nerworkj to invesrigare
whether the minimum synimcrricnl rms ciirrenr
is sufficient to cause satisfactory opcrmion of il
timc-delay currciit-acru;ited relay. The approximarc 30-cycle iicrwork is a minimum source r c p
resentarion that may apply a t nighr or when
prnducrion linrs are clown for any reasrin. Some of
t h e sniircc circuit breakcrs may b e npcn, a n d a l l
mnrnrs are omirted. In-planr gencnmrs iisc direct-axis rraiisient tuiicfance or il larger r e a c t "
related ro t h e magnitude of decaying gcnerarrir
short-circuit current at the specifid calculatirm
rimu. The dc componcix will havc decayed to ncar
Z C K and is nor considered.
LLSC

Exomple
The precrciling rcoommcndations iirc applied rn
t h u s ; q > l c iridustrialpu~~ersystemoll'ig.
4.Fig. 4
shows rhe :ippmpriare faulr locations (i.e., I;ihclcd
A through K j of rhc phasc-~,vercurrent-~~rorective
duviccs, and pruvidcr rlie input dara ;md rhe labcling nf brircs for thu computer-aided short-circuit

study. Thu cnminercial soltware is designcd to

compurc the momcnr;iry and intcrrupting short-

circuit currunr durirs (i,c., ;isymnierical rnx CUIrents) iit t h c busus o i thu powct system, which iirc
u s r d to srlrct the short-circuit withrand and il3tcrrupring callahilitics of swirchgciit. The nlgorithm of tlie software employs complex impudancc
network rcductiiin.
The program \viis r u n iinilcr rlitce different
p w u r sysrcm configunxir,ns: m;ixinial, !niinim;d,

12.474
485141 .48114

48Sl4

1.030

1.030

nffirst-cycle symmetricd rnis cutrunt th;ir arc necessary for rhc cxnmplc of Fig. 4.
As a n examplc, considcr k u l r location D in
Pig. 4. Nutc that the current rransformcrs cor t i c
miitol' bI2 o v c r c ~ ~ r r c relays
nt
will not sense t h c
M 2 motor lxicktcccl for a three-phase f d r at locir i m D. Consequrntly, t h r mnximal snbttimsicnt
symmctrical rim current at faulr Incaririn D, used
t n relrct the srttings ofthc motor M2 ovrruiirrcnt
d a y s , is rhc folluwing:

wlieri. 1;;;; = 11.517 kA from Table I is rhc total

til-sr-cycle symmetrical r m p c i i i r ~ n cfor a boltcil,
three-phase fault at the l 3 . X kV main bus 2H 1 and
If;; , , ~ 2,, = 1.506 kA fi-omTirblc I1 is clre brnncli
tkiw of first-cyclr symmettical rnis current f r u m
niotor h.12 bus 2BS12 ro bus 2B1 under il threepl~iiscbolted fault at INS 201.
l'he siinic ration;dc is used to dcrive thc fi,llowing
equations to calculate thc maxiinid subtransient syn-

r m s c u r t e n t s a t t h c f;inlt locativiis 01 tlic

I'hasc-ovcrcutrenrprotccri"~ devices.
For example, rhecquatiun for thc maximal tlaiisient symmetrical rms current at fault location 11
,,,
l,,,,,2
- ?,,,
I,,,,,,-?,,, . If;', =13.204kA
from 'I'able I is the total intcrrupting symmetrical
rms ciirrent for ti bolted, three-phase h i t at 13.8
kV bus LBI . However, 1:;; , 2 ~ ,,
1 ,the b ~ a n c h
tlow

,'

1 -

of intcrrupting symmctrical rnis current fi-om motvr M2 bus ZBSI 2 to bus 2B1 undcr a thruc-pli
fault at bus 2B1, is unavailable in the printviit of

this particular solcwire package. Of c r m s e , i l the

, ? ~ ? , , , iscnnsidercd;incg-

M L motasbackfeed 1:;;
IigibIe Iractionvfi;;:',

,[:,;',

is not anwerIyconscr-

vativc ;ipproximation Gir (i:,);'!

In addition, anothcr column oCTablc I lists the

tomi interrupting symmctrical tins current for a
boltrd, thrrr-phasc fault at t l m bus. Huwevcr, this
particular soltware package does not provide a titble in its printout of the branch flriws of interrupti n g symmetrical rms currcnc for a boltcd,
threc-plrasc fault at every bus. (It only provides t i
table with branch tlows of first-oyclc symmctrical
rms current.) Without this inlr,tmation, it is invt
possible to m e similar cquations to rhvsc abvve t o
approximate t h e maximal transient symmetricnl

Asecond run ofthe software wiis pcrtixmcd ~ 1 1 1 dcr the minimal powcr sysrcm configuration. 'She
printout of thr run providcd the ~ a m types
r
of results as before, m c l similarequiitions to ~IIOSC nbovc
were used to calculate the minimal subtransient
symmutrical sins ~ w r e n t sat thc fault loc;xions uf
the p l ~ n s ~ - o v c t o u r r c * ~ t - ~ ~duviccs.
~ " t ~ ~ cThe
i ~ em mcrical results a r ~ . p ~ s c n t eindTable Ill.
A third runofthr softwiu-r was perkrrmed under
the approximate 30-oyclc network con1iguratian
Ruoall that tlic vnly sources dshmt-circuit ciirieni
undcr the ilpproximnte 3Okyclc nutwork confignmtinn are the utility tic and in-plant gencrntor.
I h e ill-plnnr gcnerator is rcpresentcd by its dircct-axis t w n s i r n t rcactemcr instead of i t s
subtr-;ursicnt reactmce. Siiicc this vcrsion vf tlic
software only providus ii tathle i n its printout vf

,.

branch flows cif Cirst-cyclc symmetrical rnis cure

rent, a simple trick was cmployrd to p r o d ~ a~ table of branch flows of approximate 30-cycle
symmctrical rnis current fix a bolted, three-phasc
6 u l r at cvery bus. The trick was simply CO rcplace
t h e previous i n p u t d a t a of rhc generator's
subtransient rcacfiince with tlie valuc of its craw
&it rmicfimcr (i.c., 13.5%), iind r e n i n the progran, under the approximarc ?&cycle nctwork
configuration. The printout nf tlie r u n provided
the snme types ofrcsults iis Ixfixc (cf. Tablcs I rind
II), and similar cqirnrions to those abovc were used
til q>.l,proximarc
the minimal trmsicnt symmetrical
rms currents a t t h e f;iolr l o c a t i u n s of t h e
phase-ovrrcurrcnt-lIrorcctive drviccs. Tlir rusults
of the cdculations arc, given in Table 111.
J-lnnd cnlciilations werr performed to valid;ite the
rcsults uf the computer-dcd short-circuit study at
C.lulrlncations A, C,l>,U, andP. Unfortuniitely, space
restrictions disnlhw their inclusion lhcre.

Summary
Thcre are rwci types of short-circuit studies of intcrcst to the puwcr cnginrcr. l'he results of tlir first
type [i.e., maximal first-cyclc (momentary) and cuiitact-pnrting (interrupting) symmetrical rms CLITrents] arc used t o select the withstand and
interrupting capabilities of switchgear, wlicrcas, the
results of the sccond type (i.e., m;iximal i d mininial srtbrrmsicnt i i n d transient symmetrical rms
uurrcnts) arc uscd to prupcrly select tlie settings of
~~hase-ovurcurrent-pn,tecrivrdcvices. This article
pmcnteil it comparison of rhcsc short-circuit studies
for rhr case of a bolted, thrcc-ph;isr fault. [Other
types of Caults (e.g., phase-to-phase and phase-toground faults) nimt nlsri be considered whcn performing il protcctive-device courilinarion smdy.1
The results ofrhe comparison were then used to furniulatc recoinmcndiitiuns on how oamt'iiter-;iidcd
tcsiilts of rhc first type can he applied to determine
tlie short-circuit currents of the second type.
It is iinpcrative that the engincer cle;irly underwind the solution algorithm of rhc softw;m Tn
perform the compumtions, many of the algorithms
employ eithrt rcducrion ofthe complcx impedance
network represcntatioii rifrhe power system or else
reductions of s e p m t c renctancc and rcsistance net-