PROPAGATION OF TRAVELLING WAVES ON TRANSMISSION LINES

- FREQUENCY DEPENDENT PARAMETERS

J.K. Snelson

The Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario

Toronto, Canada

Abstract-This paper describes an extension of Bergeron's Method of Bergeron's Method applies to lossless lines where R and G are zero
Characteristics that is applicable to the analysis of transmission lines and L and C are independent of frequency.
with frequency dependent parameters. This method can be inserted in Subject to these limitations there are relationships between the
existing general purpose programs that use Bergeron's Method. The conditions at each end of the line at time t and at time t - T which exist
application to single phase and multiphase transposed lines is discussed independent of the terminating networks.
with examples and the theory is developed for multiphase untransposed
lines. o K I N

eKf SU RG E I MPEDANCE -
Z eM
INTRODUCTION O _ TRAVEL TIM E
TERMINAL K TERMINAL M

General purpose computer programs for the calculation of tran- Fig. 1. Single Phase Lossless Line
sients in electromagnetic systems have been written in recent years.
Many of these use Bergeron's Method of Characteristics for the handling Forethe line of Figure 1 these relationships are:
of continuously distributed transmission lines. The program by Dommel1
is an example which can handle large systems with a wide variety of
components, including non-linear elements. In these programs the ek(t) - Z@ik(t) = em(t-r) + Z*im(t=T)
handling of lossless transmission lines is easy but it is difficult to deal
with lines with frequency dependent resistance and inductance.
Hedman2 gives curves of resistance and inductance against fre- em(t) - Z.im(t) = ek(t-r) + Z.ik(t-7*) (2)
quency for typical transmission line configurations which show that the
resistance can increase by a factor of 103 as the frequency varies from Equation 2 gives relationships between e and i at both ends of the
60 Hz to 1 MHz. In addition Battisson et a13 using a Fourier Transform transmission line which, provided the conditions a travel time earlier are
technique showed that the frequency dependence of transmission line known, enable the transmission line to be replaced by a current source
parameters has significant effects on both the wave shape and the peak in parallel with a resistance Z. This allows a solution to be obtained for
voltages of some switching surges. It therefore seemed desirable to the voltages and currents at time t in the network consisting of the ends
develop a method of including frequency dependence in the general of the transmission lines and the components connected to them. A
purpose programs based on Bergeron's Method. method for solving this network is described by Dommell.
Budner4 described a method for doing this which has the dis- The quantities e±Z.i are known as characteristics and are directly
advantage of considerably increasing the computation and storage re- related to the forward and backward travelling waves. In this paper the
quirements. The method described here can easily be included in pro- following nomenclature is used:
grams based on Bergeron's Method and should require much less com-
putation time and storage than the method of reference 4. Fk = ek + Z ik = 2 x forward travelling wave at end k
BERGERON'S METHOD Bk = ek - Z ik = 2 x backward travelling wave at end k (3)
A brief outline of Bergeron's Method is given here and ideas are Equation 2 can be rewritten:
introduced that will be used later in the paper. The theory of Bergeron's
Method is developed in more detail by Dommel1. Bk(t) = F (t - r)
The transmission line equations are:

-e B(t) = Fk (t -r)
- = L A + Ri (4)
Ox &t

_0g = C --- + Ge
ax Ot (1) iK R/4 R/2 R/4 ;M

eKf 0o4 M----o

Z

j-4j OM
where e and i are voltage and current in the line at a distance x and
L,C,R and G are respectively the line series inductance, shunt capac-
itance, series resistance and shunt conductance per unit length. Fig. 2. Approximate Model For Line With Series Resistance

Paper 71C 26-PWR-IV-B, recommended and approved by the Power System

Engineering Committee of the IEEE Power Society for presentation at the 1971
PICA Conference, Boston, Mass., May 24-26, 1971. Manuscript submitted January
11, 1971; made available for printing June 9, 1971.
85
DommelI extends the basic equation (4) to include an approxima-
tion for series losses. The model used for the transmission lines is shown
in Figure 2. This results in equations:

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 B (t) z
FM(t -
7) + -

R4 Fm(t -r)
BmtBm)=7
Z +R/4 Fk (t -r) + Z+R,'4 (5)
0.1

In these equations the impedance used in defining the character-

istics of equation (3) is modified to (Z + R/4). Equation (4) is a particu-
WI
lar case of equation (5) where R is zero. Physically equations (4) and
(5) can be interpreted in terms of impulse responses in the following
way.
For the lossless case described by equation (4), if an impulse of
forward (ie, into the line) travelling wave is injected at one end at time 0

t = 0, then the backward (ie out of the line) travelling wave at the other
end at time r is equal to it. fI (B) BACKWARD
RESPONSE
For the transmission line model with series losses of Figure 2 and
equation (5), if an impulse of forward travelling wave is injected at end 0.01
m at time t = 0, then part of it is transmitted and contributes to Bk(r)
and part of it is reflected by the resistor at the centre and contributes 0 I
2 3
to Bm(r). The responses of Bk and Bm are shown in Figure 3. TIME IN MILLISECONDS
A= 50 ,lSEC
Fig. 4. Response Functions of Frequency Dependent 200-Mile Line

of impulses must be carried out many times, once at each time step, but
is only a simple calculation and so should not greatly increase the com-
t putation time.
BK
DERIVATION OF IMPULSE RESPONSE FUNCTIONS
This section derives from the transmission line equations expres-
sions for the impulse response functions discussed in the previous
0 T _ TIME section. As frequency dependence is included the problem is trans-
(A) FORWARD RESPONSE
formed into the frequency domain using Fourier Transforms. For the
t purposes of this paper the Fourier Transform of time function X(t)
Bm will be denoted by X (co).
_r-- TIM E
70 ---Io- I Mf m
The Fourier Transform of equation 1 is:
(B) BACKWARD RESPONSE

Fig. 3. Response Functions For Lumped Resistance Model -(re = jwLi., + -i.

These impulse responses are approximations to the impulse re-

sponses of a line with continuously distributed resistance, and fre- dx = JwOe + i (6)
quency dependent resistance and inductance. If the representation of
continuously distributed resistance was improved by including a large The complex surge impedance and propagation constant are de-
number of smaller lumped resistances connected by short lossless trans- fined by:
mission lines, then the reflection from the resistance in the centre of the
line shown in Figure 3b would be replaced by many smaller reflections. Z = s(R + jwL)/(jcC + G) (7)
These reflected pulses would not arrive only at time r but would occur
over a range of time. The reflections from resistances near the sending 'Y = 4(R+ jwL) (:JwC+ G) (8)
end would start arriving soon after time zero. The reflections from
resistors near the far end would arrive shortly before time 2r and would The solution to equation 6 is known to be:
be smaller as the pulse will be attenuated as it must pass down the line
twice. If the effects of frequency dependence were to be included then
the travel time and attenuation of different frequency components
e
=em osh ( Yd) - %Z sit (Yd)
would be different and this will further modify the shape of the re-
sponses. The principle effect would be, that the pulse of Figure 3a ik = - cosh (Yd) + i;/Zsinh(Yd) (9)
would be broadened.
These effects result (as shown in the next section) in responses of Before a transformation can be made from currents and voltages
the form shown in Figure 4. With responses of this form Bk(t) and as variables to forward and backward characteristics it is necessary to
Bm(t) are no longer determined by Fk(t - r), and Fm(t - r) alone. How- determine the value of ZI to use in the definition of characteristics
ever, if Fk and Fm are considered to be made up of a series of impulses (equation 3). ZI must be the impedance the line represents to the out-
of varying amplitude but all of a duration At then Bk and Bm can be side network at the instant an impulse is applied. This response will be
found by summing the effects at time t of a number of these impulses. governed by the high frequency effects. Therefore we define:
The shape of the responses would only need to be determined once for
each line and so could be a complex calculation without greatly in- ZI = is (Z) (10)
creasing the computation time. The summing of the effects of a number W- 0o

86

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 This limit exists for transmission lines because as c tends to The time step of u is chosen to be At (the time step of the main
infinity, Rav/Jand L tends to a constant Loo calculation) and so equation (15) becomes:

Therefore k:j
= 29lim + 0w L. =
(11)
B/t) = E W1(n At) (t - n At)
Z1 is a real number and so represents a pure resistance. Using Z1 as
the surge impedance we define the transform of the characteristics as: nnxl
n=n
Fk =
ek + Z1 k
+ > W2(nAt) Fk(t - not)
(12)
Bk% - Zl Tk n1=1
and similar expressions for Fm and Bmi n92 = (16)
The variables ek, ik, em Tm can be eliminated from equations 9
and 12 to give:
B (t) = EW1 (n At) Fk( t

Bk A1i m
F A22 Fk
k

n-n3
B = A1 Fk+ 2F (13) > W2(nAt) Fm(t
+ - nAt)
n=1
where 1 =c

where W1 = A1IAt and W2 = A2At. The choice of limits, n1, n2 and n3

A~~~~~ - d)-
-/ sin - (Yd)
A c - Y/2(Z1/Z - z/z1z)eihi -

is discussed in Appendix I.
2 cosh Yd) + 1J2 Z1/Z + Z/z1 sinh YVd
Equation (16) can replace equation (4) or (5) of a program based
on Bergeron's Method and the rest of the program can remain the same.
(14) In developing these expressions no assumptions have been made as to
the nature of the terminating networks and so this change need not
Equations 13 are in the frequency domain. To transform into the restrict the generality of the program.
time domain it is necessary to remember that multiplication of functions This equation is the summation of the effects of impulses origi-
in the frequency domain corresponds to convolution of the transformed nating over a period of time that was suggested in the previous section.
functions in the time domain. Provided the line parameters can be found at any frequency W1 and W2
Transformed into the time domain equations 13 become: can be calculated using equation (14) and a numerical inverse Fourier
transform technique. Figure 4 shows the response functions of a typical
Bet) = fAi(U) Fm(t - u) du + fA2(u) Fk(t -) 200-mile line calculated using these expressions. These show the general
) k 2 t features predicted by the general argument of the previous section.

co
(15)
,co
B3(t) (u) Fk(t - u) du + f A2(u) Fm(t - u) du
The significance of A1 and A2 can be seen by examining equation
(13). If Fk is zero ie, ek + ik ZI = 0 and Fm is a Dirac impulse function
then the Fourier transforms of Fk and Fm are 0 and 1 respectively.
Then from equation (13) Bk = A1 and B. = A2.
This gives in the time domain Bk = A1 and Bm = A2
Therefore Al is the backward characteristic at the remote end of
the line and A2 is the backward characteristic at the sending end due to
an impulse of forward characteristic.
Certain properties of the response functions A1 and A2 can be
deduced from this. For real systems no response can occur before the
excitation is applied; therefore, A1 and A2 are zero for all negative
time. There can be no response in a real system at the remote end at a
time less than the length of the line divided by the speed of light.
Therefore A1 is zero up to this time. The condition that ek + ikZ 1 = 0
implies that the line is terminated in an impedance ZI, the surge im-
pedance. Therefore, the injected impulse is not reflected from the end
and the response at the remote end consists of a single pulse. These con-
siderations enable the infinite integrals of equation (15) to be replaced
by integrals over the short time that A1 and A2 are sensibly non zero. In
addition for computation purposes it is convenient to approximate the
integrals by summations.
87
APPLICATION TO SINGLE PHASE LINES
The equations as developed in the previous section can be applied
directly to single phase lines. There are two main difficulties, the
determination of the line constants at a wide range of frequencies and
finding the numerical inverse Fourier Transforms of the weighting
functions.
The line constants may be calculated using the formulae developed
by Carson5, the graphs published by Hedman2 or they may be measured.
The method does not require the variation with frequency to follow any
particular analytical form. However, care must be taken to ensure that
the constants are physically realizable or else the response functions
may show physically impossible features.
The results quoted in this paper were all obtained using the
technique of Modified Fourier Transforms6'7'8 to obtain the inverse
Fourier Transforms of the weighing functions. A brief discussion of this
technique as used in this paper is given in Appendix I.
Figure 5 shows the response of a 200-mile open ended line with
zero shunt conductance and frequency dependent series resistance and
inductance to a step function. The line constants used were calculated
with a program based on Carson's method for the configuration of a
230-kv line when excited in the ground mode. This shows an initial
response approximating to a square wave which rapidly changes to
something approximating a damped sine wave.

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 line parameters. This matrix diagonalizes such matrices and separates the
problem into a number of modes. These consist of a ground mode and
(m-i) line modes (where m is the number of phases). The line modes all
a
Z
have the same parameters which are relatively independent of frequency.
S The ground mode involves currents returning through the earth and its
parameters are highly frequency dependent. With this transformation
S
(2 each mode can be solved as a separate single phase problem using the
1-
-I
equations developed for the single phase case.
0 As it is principally the ground mode that is frequency dependent
it is a reasonable compromise between accuracy and computation time
to consider the ground mode frequency dependent using equation ( 16)
and to neglect the frequency dependence of the line modes using
equations (4) or (5).
The program developed by Dommel1 has been extended to include
Fig. 5. Step Response of 200-Mile Line continuously transposed lines where the ground mode or both the
ground mode and the line modes are frequency dependent. The mod-
ification has been done without restricting the generality of the
16 mH
original program. This modified program has been used for a number of
studies. As an example of the use of the program Figure 6 shows the
200 M ILE
_ O
_ TRANSMISSION
-
O B
single phase energization of a 200-mile, 230-kv line from a source of 16
LINE C
mH inductance both with and without frequency dependent ground
mode parameters.
(A) SYSTEM REPRESENTED
APPLICATION TO UNTRANSPOSED MULTIPHASE LINES

The theory developed'so far cannot be directly applied to untrans-

posed multiphase lines as modal transformations will be different at
each frequency and so the modal transformations must be included in
the frequency dependent part of the calculation. However, the ideas
used in the single phase case can be applied to the multiphase untrans-
posed case. Appendix II develops, using matrix algebra, the equivalent
expressions for this case. This results in equations of the same form as
equation (16) except that the quantities must be interpreted as matrix
quantities. However, the amount of computation required to calculate
the matrix response functions will be many times larger than for single
phase or transposed lines.
There is no theoretical reason why this theory should not be
implemented but so far it has not been considered that the gain in
PHASE A accuracy of representation justifies the programming effort involved.
Z PHASE B AND C---

W
EL
(C) FREQUENCY INDEPENDENT
PARAM ETERS COMPARISON BETWEEN NEW METHOD AND
* *(60 HZ VALUE_S)
BUDNER'S METHOD

Budner's Method4 is mathematically similar to the method pre-

sented in this paper. It differs, however, in that equation (9) in the fre-
quency domain is manipulated into the following form:
0 A
Y
k
=
+ Y2 em

im = Y1 em +
Y2 ek (17)
The admittance functions Y I and Y2 are then transformed into the
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 a 9 10 I 12
time domain to give a relationship expressing the currents in terms of
TIME IN MILLISECONDS convolution integrals of the admittance functions and the voltages. The
Fig. 6. Single Phase Energisation of 200 Mile Line physical interpretation of the admittance functions Y1 and Y2 is that
they represent the transform of the currents at the sending and receiving
ends when an impulse of voltage is applied with both ends subsequently
APPLICATION TO CONTINUOUSLY TRANSPOSED short circuited. When transfprmed into the time domain these functions
MULTIPHASE LINES have many peaks as the pulse is reflected up and down the line by the
short-circuited ends. Eventually the pulse dies away as it is attenuated
An approximation which greatly simplifies the study of multi- by the losses in the line. Therefore, the range of time during which
phase lines is to assume the line to be continuously transposed. In this these admittance functions are non zero is many travel times of the line.
case the series impedance and shunt conductance matrices both have This means that the admittance functions in the time domain can only
equal diagonal elements and equal off diagonal elements. Dommell be adequately described by a large number of points. Budner uses 2048
gives a simple transformation matrix which is independent of the actual points in his paper for his numerical example. This number could
88

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possibly be reduced a little if the frequency dependence of the line mode
were ignored. However, the number of points would still have to be
large to describe the multiple peaks adequately.
The method used in this paper uses in effect the impulse responses
of the line when terminated in it's surge impedance at both ends. This
prevents reflections and ensures that the response at each end consists
of a single pulse which generally lasts less than two travel times of the
line. These single pulses can be adequately described by relatively few
points. The example shown in Figure 6b used 48 points to describe
each response function.
The two methods both solve the same equations by mathematically
correct techniques. However, the new method is more convenient to
numerically compute because the response functions can be represented
by fewer points. This reduces the computation time as fewer points
must be found by numerical inverse Fourier transformation and fewer
multiplications are required to perform the convolution at each time
step. It also reduces the amount of information that must be stored in
the computer memory as fewer locations are needed to store the re-
sponse functions, and fewer locations are needed to store the history of
the line voltages and currents.
CONCLUSIONS
An extension of Bergeron's Method of Characteristics to analyse
frequency dependent lines has been presented. This method is rela-
tively easy to insert in existing general purpose programs using
Bergeron's Method.
The application of the method to single phase and transposed
multiphase lines has been discussed with examples of its use and the
theory has been extended to cover untransposed multiphase lines.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wishes to thank the Bonneville Power Authority for
making the original program available.
APPENDIX I
Method of Performing Numerical Inverse Fourier Transform
The results quoted in this paper were all obtained using the
technique of Modified Fourier Transforms. This technique was devel-
oped by Day et al697¼8. Here the convergence of the Fourier Integrals is
accelerated by the use of a complex frequency.
In using the method certain parameters must be specified. These
are the maximum angular frequency, the angular frequency step size
and the real part of the complex frequency. Day et al6,7T8 investigated
these factors in some detail. For this paper the following values have
been used which follow closely the values recommended by Day et al.
Maximum angular frequency= 40/r
Angular frequency step size = 40/(500r)
Real part of frequency = 11(1.5r)
These values seem adequate to handle ground modes of propaga-
tion where high frequencies are considerably attenuated. For line modes
where the frequency dependence is slight a considerably higher max-
imum angular frequency would be required.
The range of time for which the response functions must be calcu-
lated depends to some extent on the degree of frequency dependence
of the parameters. However, the response function at the receiving end
should not be required outside the range 0.95T - 3r and at the sending
end should not be required outside the range 0 - 2r (ie, in equation ( 16)
nl need not be less than 0.95T/At, n2 need not be greater than 3r/At
and n3 need not be greater than 2r/At).
89
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A useful check on the accuracy can be made for lines with zero
shunt conductance. In this case a line with unit trapped charge in the
steady state should remain charged with no change. In this case all cur-
rents are zero and all voltages are unity for all time. For these conditions
equation (16) reduces to:
n=E_
1 = E W(n,&t)
, + .2 w2(nAt)
(18)
n--=
The difference between the sums of the response functions and
unity is a measure of the error of the numerical inverse Fourier Trans-
form calculation. For the cases tested with the values specified above,
the error has usually been less than 1 per cent. There is always a small
error as there are many approximations in the numerical calculation of
W1 and W2. This error, if it is allowed to remain, can lead to trapped
charge either growing or decaying exponentially over many time steps.
This problem can be overcome for zero shunt conductance lines by
scaling the response functions to make their sum equal to 1.
An alternate technique might be to use the Fast Fourier Trans-
former; however, in this application it would have certain limitations
due to the requirement that the number of points in the time domain
must equal the number of points in the frequency domain. In calcu-
lating the response functions the number of points needed in the time
domain is governed by the number of points needed to adequately de-
fine the response function. As the response function is a single pulse it
can be defined by relatively few points eg, 48 points were used for the
example shown in Figure 6. However, to obtain adequate accuracy in
the calculation of these points requires the consideration of a large
number of points in the frequency domain, eg, in the example shown
in Figure 6, 500 points were used. If these numbers of points had to be
equal as in the Fast Fourier Transform then either the number of points
in the frequency domain must be reduced with a consequent loss of
accuracy or many more points than necessary must be calculated in
the time domain.
In using the method described in this paper the value of the re-
sponse functions must be known at intervals of one time step of the
main calculation for one or two travel times of the line. When the time
step is small, this, may lead to a much larger number of points being
required than are needed to adequately describe the response functions.
In this case the program can be arranged to calculate some of the points
by numerical inverse Fourier transformation and to interpolate between
these points to find the other points needed.
APPENDIX II
Response Functions of Untransposed Multiphase Line
Wedepohl9 performed the analysis of untransposed long m-phase
lines in the steady state. The following analysis uses many of the results
of that paper.
The transmission line equations can be written in the frequency
domain as:
-2 =[R + JL] [G + J<}C e = Pe
PtI
G + jwc R + J.L 1 =
(19)
where e and i are vectors and R,L,G, C and P are square matrices. Eigen
vector matrices S and Q are chosen such that
72 = s-1 p S = Q-1 PtQ
where y is a diagonal matrix being the matrix of propagation constants
of a system of independent modes. The surge impedance matrix at a
n2
given frequency is: Bm(t) =Z Wp(nAt)Fk(tn "t)
Z =S 'Y- I S- [R +jw@L]
ie, a line teUSinated in this set of impedances is reflection free at the n3,
11=133

specified frequency. + > W2(n At)Fm(t-n At)

The solution of this system of equations is:
n=l
k =S cosh (Yd) S81 em - Z Q sinh(vYcd)Q- m
This is identical with equation 16 except that W1 and W2 are now
(20) square matrices of the order of the number of phases and Bk, Bm, Fm
and Fk are vectors.
k = AQ cosh(Yd) QcC 1I + Q sinhh(Yd)Q 1 Z1 em
REFERENCES
Characteristics can be defined in terms of Z1 the limit of Z as the
frequency approaches infinity. Z1 is a real matrix as at very high fre- [11 H.W. Dommel, "Digital computer solution of electromagnetic
quencies the reactive terms predominates over the resistive: transients in single - and multiphase networks", IEEE Trans.
Power Apparatus and Systems, vol PAS-88, pp 388-399, April
1969.
Fk ek= + Z1 Xk [21 D.E. Hedman, "Propagation on overhead transmission lines, Pt II -
earth conduction effects and practical results", IBID, vol PAS 84,
pp 205-21 1, May 1965.
B e [31 M.J. Battisson, S.J. Day, N. Mullineux, K.C. Parton and J.R. Reed,
(21) "Some effects of the frequency dependence of transmission line
parameters", Proc IEE, vol 116, pp 1209-1216, July 1969.
ek, em, 'k, and im can be eliminated between equations (20) and (21) [4] A. Budner, "Introduction of frequency-dependent line parameters
to give: into an electromagnetic transients program", IEEE Trans. Power
Apparatus and Systems, vol PAS-89, pp 88-97, January 1970.
[5] J.R. Carson, "Wave propagation in overhead wires with ground
BkX K1F A2.k
1 Fm +A2Fc
[6]
return", Bell Sys. Tech..J., vol 5, pp 539-554, 1926.
S.J. Day, N. Mullineux and R.J. Reed, "Developments in obtaining
transient response using Fourier transforms, Pt I: Gibbs phe-
Bm A1 F.k + A2 (22) nomena and Fourier integrals", Int. J. Elec. Engng. Educ., vol 3,
pp 501-506, 1965.
where [7] S.J. Day, N. Mullineux and J.R. Reed, "Developments in obtaining
transient response using Fourier transforms, Pt II: use of modified
Fourier transform", IBID, vol 4, pp 31-40, 1969.
A1 =2[F cosh(Yd) S +
Z1 Q cosh(Yd) Q 1 Z1 [8] S.J. Day, M.J. Battisson, N. Mullineux and J.R. Reed, "Develop-
ments in obtaining transient response using Fourier transforms, Pt
III: global responses", IBID, vol, 6, pp 259-265, 1968.
+ Z1Q sinh(yd) Qc1 rz [9] L.M. Wedepohl, "Application of matrix methods to the solution of
travelling-wave phenomena in polyphase systems", Proc IEE, vol
110, pp 2200-2212, December 1963.
+ Z Q sinh(Yd) Q1 z(]
(23)
A2 -1/2 K1 oosh( rd) S1 Discussion

-Z1Q cosh(Xd)Q71 z-1 + Z Q sinh(Yd)Qf1Z L. Carlsson and J. Riubrugent (ASEA, Vasteras, Sweden): The author
is to be commended for this excellent paper, which to a rigorous
treatment adds a very clear presentation of the conceptual principles
- Z Q sinh( Yd) Q1 z 1] underlying one of the chief problems of accurate digital simulation of
switching transients.
Equations 22 are in the frequency domain and are identical to At ASEA we have been using a similar technique for the ground
equations 13 except that the quantities are now matrices. Equations 23 mode simulation in our transients program for more than two years.
This program is based on Bewley's treatment of the travelling waves
define the response functions and are considerably more complex than rather than Bergeron's, and the method used to simulate the frequency
equations 14 of the single phase case. However, equations 23 reduce to dependent characteristics of lines implies some simplified assumptions
equations 14 if the matrices are of order 1. These equations can be (10). We have found, however, that when some modifications which are
now being introduced are completed, our simulation technique will be
transformed into the time domain giving convolution integrals and the identical to that described by the author.
integrals approximated by summations to give: Our experience with the actual version allows us to make the
following remarks:
n,,n2 a) for switching overvoltage calculations only the influence of the
frequency dependent parameters on the propagation of the ground
B1jt) = Wi(nAt)Fm(t-nfAt) mode waves need be taken into account.
b) the additional computer time required to simulate the frequency
dependent characteristics of lines is, in most cases, unimportant.
n=:n c) the results obtained for typical cases of switching overvoltages
agree very well with both field and TNA records, specially when fully
n=n=3 transposed lines are considered.
We would like the author to comment on the intluence of the fre-
+ E W2(nAt)Fk(t-nAt) quency dependent modal transformation which corresponds to a
Manuscript received June 8, 1971.
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rigorous treatment of the transmission characteristics of a non-trans-
posed line.
Also could the method outlined be used to account for frequency
dependent parameters on lumped two-ports (eg., generator and trans-
former equivalent inductances), which could eventually be simulated as
short line stubs?
REFERENCES
[10] H. Bertil Thoren and K. Lennart Carlsson, "A Digital Computer
Program for the Calculation of Switching and Lightning Surges on
Power Systems", IEEE Trans. Power Apparatus and Systems, vol.
PAS-89, pp. 212-218, February 1970.
D.E. Hedman and W.R. B'Rells (Power Technologies, Inc. Schenectady,
N.Y. 12301): This is an excellent paper which describes a realistic and
accurate method for incorporating frequency dependent parameters
into the simulation of ground mode distortion. Many earlier papers have
used a much simplified attenuation model such as a delayed distortion-
less attenuation or frequency independent resistance. Other models
using real-time convolution have required an excessive amount of com-
putation at each time step. The method described in the current paper
apparently requires about 200 multiplications and additions for every
line at each time step. Since the number of calculations seems to be
independent of line length, it would seem that even in the current
method the amount of computer time might become excessive when
studying a system containing a large number of lines. What are the
author's comments on this point?
The author suggests that an involved calculation of the actual line
response function is not prohibitive since that calculation is performed
outside of the time loop. Nonetheless, calculation of Carson's con-
nection terms, etc., for 500 (complex) frequency points for each line
would seem to require a not insignificant amount of computation time,
especially in the case of a transmission line with ground wires. Further,
obtaining reasonably accurate frequency response data for the phase
conductors and the ground wires would seem to pose somewhat of a
problem. Does the author have some estimate of the ratio of the pre-
calculation to running calculation for this program?
The method outlined in the paper emphasizes the fact that the
external circuit sees a constant surge impedance Z1, which is the high
frequency surge impedance. Will the author please comment in more
detail on the way in which the frequency dependent surge impedance
influence is incorporated into the solution.
It is noted in Appendix I that the weighting factors calculated
from the inverse Fourier transform may not sum to exactly 1.0, due to
numerical inaccuracy. The author's suggestion that these factors should
be scaled so that their sum is exactly 1.0 should be emphasized. Cal-
culations made on our programs suggest that it takes only a short while
for even a small error such as this to result in a large amount of trapped
charge being inadvertently lost.
Again, the author should be commended on a fine paper. The
quality of this paper results both from a presentation of a well thought
out new analytical procedure as well as the emphasis on the practical
aspects of the problem.
Manuscript received June 9, 1971.
Alan Budner, (Bonneville Power Administration, Portland, Oreg. 97208):
The author has proposed a simplification of the methods developed in
reference [4]. However, serious questions exist about the author's
procedure. The assumption of the method of characteristics in equation
(3) as a description of a lossy line is open to serious doubt, since, as the
author notes, it is derived on the basis of a lossless line. Conclusions
drawn about the shape of Al and A2 in equation (15) do not seem
correct. Zl is a surge impedance only valid at high frequencies. How-
ever, the spectrum of an impulse contains a uniform distribution of all
frequencies. Hence, for lower frequencies, the line cannot be matched
and reflections exist. Therefore, the existance of only single peaks in AI
and A2 upon which the major simplification of this method depends,
does not seem substantiated. These apparently basic contradictions
should be clarified.
Manuscript received June 4, 1971.
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J.K. Snelson: I should like to thank the discussers for the interest they
have shown in the paper and the interesting points they have raised.
The experience of Messrs. Carlsson and Riubrugent using a similar
method provides confirmation of the usefulness of techniques of this
type. As mentioned in the paper the equations for non-transposed lines
have not yet been programmed and so it is not yet possible to comment
on the influence of the frequency dependence of the modal transforma-
tions of this type of line. The suggestion that the frequency dependence
of other components could be represented in the same way is interesting
and is theoretically possible. Another interesting possibility is to repre-
sent a section of a complex network by its impulse response. This might
prove useful in line energization studies where the impulse response of
the source network could be computed once and then used many times
in the calculation of different switching conditions. For all these meth-
ods it must be borne in mind that only linear components can be
represented in this way. The non-linear effects in transformers or
generators might cause difficulty and the resulting representation may
or may not be amenable to computation in a reasonable time.
Messrs. Hedman and B'Rells raise the question of the computation
time involved. Comparison of computation times between different
computer systems is difficult as machines have different speeds and
different types of operating systems. These differences can have large
effects on the computation time. However, some indication of the
relative increase in computer time is that using a UNIVAC 1108 the
solution without frequency dependence given in Fig 6c took 9 seconds
while the solution with frequency dependence given in Fig 6b took 14
seconds. These times include the calculation of the response functions
but exclude the calculation of the line parameters as a function of fre-
quency which is performed by a separate program. This increase in time
is not very large. However if in studying a large system with many lines
computation time becomes excessive, it may be advantageous to repre-
sent the full frequency dependent characteristics of the most significant
lines and to use a frequency independent representation of the other
lines.
As suggested by Messrs. Hedman and B'Rells the line parameters
are required at a large number of frequencies (eg 500). However, it is
not necessary to calculate the line parameters at all frequencies using
Carson's equations as the resistance and inductance are relatively smooth
functions of frequency (2). The technique used by the author is to
calculate the parameters at 10-20 representative frequencies and to
interpolate between these points to find the values at other frequencies.
The paper maintains a distinction between the high frequency
surge impedance Z l and the complex surge impedance Z(c). The surge
impedance Z 1 is used in the external circuit to account for the imme-
diate effects at a line terminal due to changes at that terminal. To
account for this effect the high frequency surge impedance is the proper
value to use. The differences between the true surge impedance Z(co)
and the high frequency surge impedance become apparent at later times
and are accounted for by the functions W2 and A2. These functions can
be considered to be correction factors to account for the differences
between Z and Z 1. It can be seen from equation 14 that if Z were equal
to Z 1 at all frequencies these functions would be zero.
Dr. Budner raises some basic questions which require some further
explanation. The definitions of Fk and Bk given in equation 3 were used
for the purposes of the physical argument and as Dr. Budner suggests,
are not precise for a lossy frequency dependent line. For the purposes
of analysis precise definitions are given in equation 12. These quantities
are similar to the characteristics of a lossless line although due to losses,
etc, their properties are a little different. The same name has been used
in order to maintain the analogy. The manipulation from equation 9 to
equation 13 merely constitutes a transformation to a new set of vari-
ables. At this stage no assumptions are made as to the properties of the
new variables.
As suggested by Dr. Budner the surge impedance ZI only exactly
matches the line at high frequencies and so some reflections occur at
low frequencies and contribute to the functions Al and A2. However,
as the variation of surge impedance with frequency is not large (the ratio
of surge impedance at 60 Hz to surge impedance at 1 MHz is about
1.5: 1), even the low frequencies are close to being matched. Therefore,
these frequencies, although not perfectly matched, are severely attenu-
ated at each reflection. Calculation of the functions W1 and W2 beyond
the range shown in Fig 4 shows that the amplitude decreases quite
rapidly and is very small compared with the peak. This extended re-
sponse is usually negligible, although it has been observed to lead to
some inaccuracies in the apparent 60 Hz parameters of very short lines
where the line natural frequency is many times greater than 60 Hz.
Manuscript received July 7, 1971.