Thermal Modelling and

Analysis of High-Voltage
Insulated Power Cables
Under Transient Loads
FARUK ARAS,1 YUNUS BIÇEN2
1
Department of Electrical Education, Kocaeli University, Umuttepe, Kocaeli 41380, Turkey
2
Department of Industrial Electronic, Düzce University, Uzunmustafa, Düzce 81010, Turkey

Received 29 September 2009; accepted 23 August 2010

ABSTRACT: This article presents a simple thermal model for transient analysis of high-voltage underground
power cables based on proper ladder diagram at MATLAB–Simulink software under various operating conditions
for engineering students. Available commercial programs created with commercial worries are not suitable
for students during the learning process, which involve different applications on power cable analysis. The
model gives an opportunity for students to solve the often-faced transient problems in utilities. The transient
model of the underground power cable system using the analytic procedures based on IEC60853 standards is
presented with an example solution of the 154 kV power cable in service in Turkish transmission system in this
article. ! 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 21: 516–529, 2013; View this article online at
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cae; DOI 10.1002/cae.20497

Keywords: power cable; thermal model; transient analysis; Matlab tools; computer simulation

INTRODUCTION cables have a normal loading temperature of 908C, overload

Recently, computer-aided education has gained popularity with
successful implementation in many areas, including engineering
education and today it grows with a great speed. It helps students
and educators in engineering education for visualisation of the
concepts and provides graphical feedback during the learning
process [1]. Especially in power systems, experimental setups
are very expensive and their capabilities are also limited. Some
software packages are widely using in electrical engineering edu-
cation for analysing complex systems such as high-voltage sys-
tems, electrical machine tests, power and measurement systems
[2–4].
Underground power cables are the most important devices of
power system, and widely used in densely populated urban areas
for power transmission and distribution. The cable must be able to
carry large amounts of current without overheating, because the
useful working life of the underground cable is adversely affected
by its operating temperature. Therefore, the loadability of power
cable is limited by the allowable maximum operating temperature.
The temperature of the conductor must be restricted to protect the
insulation and the jacket. For example, XLPE insulated power
Correspondence to F. Aras (faruk.aras@kocaeli.edu.tr).
! 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
temperature of 1058C and emergency loading temperature of
1308C.
Sometimes power cables can be overloaded during the daily
load cycle. In this situation, there are some important questions to
be answered by the operators [5];
! What is the allowable time for a specific overload for given
operating conditions?
! What will be the temperatures after a given period of a
specified overload for given operating conditions?
! What is the maximum cable ampacity for a given period of
time for a specified set of conductor temperatures?
Answers of the questions similar to those mentioned above
have been investigated by researchers in past years. In 1951, Neher
has determined the transient temperature rise based on resistance–
capacitance (R–C) thermal equivalent circuit of a cable and then,
Neher reported his famous other article in 1964 [5,6]. The article
has stated the calculation of the transient temperature rise of buried
cable systems, that is, the determination of the curve of conductor
temperature rise versus time after the application of a constant
conductor current, which intrigued the more mathematically
minded cable engineers for many years. Another important article
in Ref. [5], that is still used, has reported a simple method for the
thermal capacity of the insulation layers of the cable.

516
 THERMAL MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF POWER CABLE
Resistance–capacitance analogues have been applied to
study the transient performance of cables and joints including
water cooled cables. Anders and El-Kady have presented a good
study that comprised the review of past works in the thermal
transients in buried cables and the mathematical model based
on a proper ladder network representation of the cable thermal
circuit (Fig. 1) [5,7].
Today, many different software packages and recommen-
dations are available for the calculation of power cable rating in
market. The programs have commercial worries and restrictive
components. A program has been designed to teach students at
different academic levels about power cable and its ampacity under
transient and steady-state loads [8]. Normally, lot of formulas are
necessary to find power cable transient response and most of the
formulas are dependent on each other. Therefore, the modelling of
transient response of the power cable is more difficult than the
steady state for students. In addition, the calculation needs long
time, cannot examine the cable response for various configurations
and conditions during the limited time. For these reasons, the
power cable simulations have advantages of permanent learning
and time saving for students [8].
The first aim of this study is to present the simulation mod-
elling of power cables rating under transient conditions using
Matlab. The second aim of this study is to find the answers for
above-mentioned questions for real power cable system with a case
study: 154 kV power cable under transient conditions in Turkish
underground transmission system. This model uses analytic pro-
cedures mainly based on the IEC60853 standards for transient
analysis and also consists of several modules to facilitate the
perception of power cable parts, environment and the relationship
between them. Thus, there is a need to perform computations
to answer similar above-mentioned questions, preferably in one
study, for arbitrary combinations of cable types, initial tempera-
tures and arbitrary loading conditions.
POWER CABLE THERMAL RATINGS
Thermal and Electrical Analogy
The thermal circuit is then modelled by an analogous electrical
circuit in which voltages are equivalent to temperatures and cur-
rents to heat flows. The thermal resistances and capacitances in
thermal circuit are defined as the material’s ability to impede heat
flow and to store heat, respectively [6,7,9]. By using these equiv-
alents, heat transferring phenomena in the cable can be easily
modelled and quickly calculated, considering the analogy between
Figure 1 Thermal networks for short duration transient according to electrical analogy.
517
the electric and the thermal parameters [10]. The most important
parameter of the thermal–electrical analogy is temperature with
the symbol u, and it is equivalent to potential or voltage, (V). The
analogy can be written as follows:
V1 #V2 DV
R¼ ¼ ðVÞ (1)
I I
uc #uamb Du
T¼ ¼ ðK m=WÞ (2)
W W
where R and T are electrical resistance and thermal resistance,
respectively. DV is the potential difference on electric circuit
between the V1 and V2 potentials. Similarly, Du is temperature
difference or temperature rise between conductor temperature and
ambient temperature on thermal circuit of the cable system. Other
parameters: I is the current that flows within the conductor and W is
the heat losses in the metal parts of the cables such as conductor,
metal sheath, screen and armor per unit (W/m).
Cable Thermal Circuit
Using the thermal and electric analogy, the equivalent thermal
circuit of an insulated power cable can be obtained and consists
of some parameters; Wc is joule loss ðI2 RÞ in the conductor
(W/m), Ws is sheath loss metal part of the cable (W/m) and it
can be calculated as l1 Wc . If the cable contains armor, Wa is
armor loss caused by magnetic field effect and calculated as l2 Wc
as shown in Figure 2. Both l1 sheath loss factor and l2 armor
loss factor can be determined as given by IEC60287 standard
[7,11].
On the other hand, when the cable is energised, dielectric
losses (Wd) are produced in the cable insulation as a result of
the heat storage capability of the insulating material placed
between the conductor and metal sheath [5,11]. It can be neglected
for distribution voltages and calculated as in the following
equation.
Wd ¼ 2pfCUo tan d (3)
where f is operation frequency, Uo is voltage between conductor
and screen or sheath, C is electrical capacitance per cable core,
tan d is known as loss factor of insulation.
T1 and T3 are thermal resistances of the main insulation and
external serving of the cable, respectively, and they can be calcu-
lated using Equations (4) and (6). Some cables include different
insulating parts such as armor as shown in Figure 2a. In this case,
T2 is the thermal resistance between the armor and the screen as
shown in Figure 2b and can be considered for thermal circuit of the
518 ARAS AND BIÇEN

Figure 2 (a) Cross-section. (b) Thermal network for steady-state operation.

armored power cable its surroundings [7,12,13]. However, the thermal capacity of the
! " insulation is not a linear function of the dielectric’s thickness.
r Di
T1 ¼ i ln (4) Therefore, Van Wormer coefficient has been used to improve the
2p dc
accuracy of the approximate solution using lumped constants
! " for dividing the thermal capacity of the insulation between the
ra Da
T2 ¼ ln (5) conductor and the sheath layers in thermal circuit [5,7]. This
2p Ds
assumption gives a steady-state logarithmic distribution of the
! " temperature for the transient conditions [5].
rj De
T3 ¼ ln (6) Van Wormer coefficient p is used in thermal ladder circuit to
2p Da
divide main insulation p and external serving p0 into parts of total
where ri is insulation thermal resistivity (K m/W), dc is conductor thermal capacitance Q as follows [12,13]:
diameter (mm), Di is external diameter (mm) of the insulation, ra is 1 1
thermal resistivity (K m/W) of the material, Ds is the external p¼ # $ # # $2 (12)
Di D
diameter of the sheath (mm) and Da is external diameter of armor 2 ln dc i
#1
dc
(mm), rj is thermal resistivity (K m/W) of the serving insulation,
De is outer diameter (mm) of the serving. 1 1
p0 ¼ # $ # # $2 (13)
In steady-state operation, the effects of thermal capacitances De De
2 ln Ds #1
are neglected and the equivalent thermal circuit contains only Ds

thermal resistances and heat sources as shown in Figure 2. 1

P P
p and p0 are the coefficients for times greater than 3 T Q in
Nevertheless, in transient operation, thermal capacitances must long-duration transients,
be considered to determine the temperature rise in power cable for
certain time interval. Basically, the thermal capacitance is calcu- 1 1
p& ¼ # $## $ (14)
lated by multiplying the volume of the material with its specific Di Di
ln dc #1
dc
heat as follows: P P
1
p& is coefficient for P than 3 T Q in short-duration
P times less
Q ¼ Sc (7) transients, where T and Q are total thermal resistance and
where Q is thermal capacitance (J/8C m), S is volume of total thermal capacitance of cable, respectively.
the body (m3) and c is specific heat (J/8C m3) of the material [5,7]. As shown in Figure 1 main insulation T1 is divided into two
The equation is applied for all the parts of cable considering portions in thermal circuit for short duration. The thermal capaci-
their geometric sizes as follows: tance of the first part of the insulation is given by:
p p% &
Qi ¼ ðD2i #dc2 Þc (8) QI1 ¼ Di dc #dc2 c (15)
4 4
p 2 This capacitance is divided into two parts using the Van
Qs ¼ ðD #D2i Þcs (9)
4 s Wormer coefficient as follows:
p 2 Qi1 ¼ p & QI1 (16)
Qs ¼ ðD #D2i Þcs (10)
4 s
Qi2 ¼ ð1#p&ÞQI1 (17)
p 2
QJ ¼ ðD #D2a Þcj (11)
4 e The same procedure is applied to the second part of the
insulation as follows:
where Qi, Qs, Qa and Qj are the thermal capacitances of the
p
insulation, sheath, armor tape and external serving material of QI2 ¼ ðDi 2 #Di dc Þc (18)
4
power cable, respectively.
Thermal capacitances and resistances are the most important Qi3 ¼ p & QI2 (19)
parameters of the thermal ladder circuit of the power cable to
determine the temperature distribution of the each cable layer and Qi4 ¼ ð1#p&ÞQI2 (20)
 THERMAL MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF POWER CABLE 519

Determination of Soil Effect using the thermal resistivity of the backfill material instead of that
of the native soil [5]. The correction is defined by
Another important issue is the influence of the soil on temperature ' ! " ! "(
rise of the cable at transient analysis. The response of temperature wt ðrs #rb Þ rb2 LG2
ucorr ðtÞ ¼ #Ei # þ Ei # (23)
rise depends on the combination of thermal capacitance and 4p 4dt dt
resistances formed by the constituent parts of the cable itself
where rs is the thermal resistivity (K m/W) of the backfill, rb is the
and its surroundings [7]. The temperature of cable reaches the
equivalent radius of the backfill envelope, LG is the depth of laying
steady state in more time because the soil thermal capacitance is
to centre of backfill. On the other hand, in steady-state operation
greater than capacitances of the cable parts.
(t ¼ 1), their effects can be calculated as follows:
The temperature rise due to the soil effect of the cable at point ! "
p, at any time, which is the sum of the temperature rises caused by r d&
upk ¼ Wt s (24)
the heat sources Wt and its image #Wt in Figure 3 is determined 2p d
using a well-known Kennelly hypothesis [5,7]. ! "
According to this hypothesis, if several power cables are rs 4L
u e ¼ Wt ln (25)
laid in a trench, the mutual heating caused by other cables 2p De
affects the temperature rise of the reference (centre) cable. The
! "
temperature for each cable is obtained at each time step by adding ðrs #rb Þ 2LG
ucorr ¼ Wt ln (26)
to its own temperature; the temperature rise at the location of 2p rb
the cable in the thermal field of each other cable is given by
Refs. [5,7]:
' ! " ! &2 "( Total Temperature Rise
w t rs d2 d
upk ðtÞ ¼ #Ei # þ Ei # (21)
4p 4dt 4dt The total transient temperature rise at any time and for any
where upk is the mutual temperature rise, d and d& are the distances layer of the cable is calculated as the sum of the temperature rise
from the centre of reference cable to the centre of other cables caused by own losses and the mutual heating due to the other cables
and its image, respectively, as shown in Figure 3, rs is the [5,7].
thermal resistivity (K m/W) of the soil, d is the diffusivity (m2/ uptot ðtÞ ¼ ui ðtÞ þ aðtÞue ðtÞ þ ud ðtÞ
s) of the soil.
In this case, the temperature rise at the cable surface in X
N #1 ) *
þ aðtÞ upk ðtÞ þ updk ðtÞ (27)
the soil at any time is calculated using the following equation k¼1
[12,13]:
' ! " ! 2 "( where uptot is the total temperature rise at layer i of the cable, and in
w t rs D2 L the above formulation, N is the number of cables, updk(i) is the
ue ðtÞ ¼ #Ei # e þ Ei # (22)
4p 16dt dt temperature rise at cable p caused by the dielectric losses in cable k
where ue is the temperature rise for certain time t (s), L is the depth and, it is multiplied by a factor aðtÞ when the cable k is energised at
of burial of the cable and Wt is the heat source (W/m). time t ¼ 0. ud(t) is the internal temperature rise caused by the
The conventional procedure to take into account the effect of dielectric losses in cable p. The factor, aðtÞ known as attainment
backfill is to compute the external thermal resistance of the cable factor [5,7] is considered in transient analysis for the temperature
rise between the conductor and outside surface of the cable and it
varies in time and is given by
uc ðtÞ
aðtÞ ¼ (28)
½Wc ðTA þ TBÞ)

Conductor electrical resistance changes with temperature, as

well as the other metallic parts of the cable. The effect of these
changes should be taken into account when computing cable
metallic parts losses and related formula is given by:
uðtÞ
ua ðtÞ ¼ 1
(29)
1 þ 234;5þu amb
½uð1Þ#uðtÞ)

Consequently, actual temperature of the reference cable is

obtained from the following equation:
uac ðtÞ ¼ uamb þ ua (30)

THERMAL MODELLING OF THE CABLE SYSTEM

Computed and general parameters of the cable system should be

entered to simulink model considering installation and operation
conditions. Thus, the cable thermal response can be obtained by
Figure 3 Hypothesis of Kennelly. analysing cable system under different time periods and loads.
520 ARAS AND BIÇEN
Figure 4 Underground power cable main toolbox.
This model can also be used for analysing any high-voltage under-
ground power cables in transient and steady-state condition with-
out computation of complex and long procedures.
The transient modelling of the power cable system is created
by three main toolboxs in Matlab–Simulink as shown in Figure 4.
In the first toolbox, temperature rise of reference cable is modelled
using a cable thermal circuit which includes thermal resistances,
thermal capacitances and heat sources. In the second toolbox,
mutual effects are modelled by computing a ratio of the tempera-
ture rise of the cable conductor at time t during the transient
condition and steady-state temperature rise in Equations (21)–
(23). In the third toolbox, the complete accurate temperature rise of
the power cable caused by the reference cable and the other cables
due to mutual heating including ambient temperature variation is
determined.
Parameters of the model are of two types: time-dependent
variables and constants of cable system. The load and ambient
temperature parameters are time-dependent variables and they
should be entered as a matrix [1 * N] in m-file or simulink model
before running the model as in shown in Figure 4. The constant
parameters are environment and cable parameters. The model
shown in Figure 4, generates and plots based on time-dependent
variables analysing the results such as temperature rise, losses and
mutual effect.
Figure 5 Cable parameters inputs and calculation subsystems.
Cable Parameters and Calculation
The thermal analogy uses the same formulation for thermal resist-
ances and capacitances as in electrical networks for electrical
resistances and capacitances [6,7,9]. Using these equivalents, heat
transferring phenomena in the cable can be easily modelled and
quickly calculated, considering the analogy between the electric
and the thermal parameters [10].
As shown in Figure 4, the cable parameters and calculation
toolbox consist of subsystems as shown in Figure 5. The
model determines thermal resistances of cable circuit using the
equations in Power Cable Thermal Ratings Section. The thermal
resistances are used in transient and steady-state analyses as global
variables.
To improve the accuracy of the approximate solution using
lumped constants, Van Wormer [14] proposed a simple method
for allocating the thermal capacity of the insulation between the
conductor and the sheath so that the total heat stored in the
insulation is represented [7].
The cable thermal circuit is derived by the method given
above with the Van Wormer coefficient computed from equations
and for long- and short-duration transients, respectively. pffiffi
In Figure 5, the inputs are defined as; V is voltage (U= 3), fr
is frequency, Tan is loss factor tan d, Rac is cable ac resistance, Eps
 THERMAL MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF POWER CABLE 521

is dielectric constant, Y1 and Y2 is sheath loss factor l1 and armor
loss factor l2, respectively. Both l1 sheath loss factor and l2 armor
loss factor can be determined in IEC60287 standard [11].
The expended models of the subsystems shown in Figure 5
are given as Figures 6–11. The subsystem models compute and
generate necessary parameters for the analyses of the cable system.
In Figure 7, the inputs are defined as; Plong is Van Wormer
coefficient shown r for long duration transient, Pshort is Van
& Environment Parameters and Calculation
Wormer coefficient shown r for short duration transient,
Pcowering is Van Wormer coefficient shown p0 for short and long
duration transient.
In Figure 9, the inputs are defined as; C is capacitance of
insulation (F/m), c is the specific heat (J/8C m3) of the insulation,
cs is the specific heat (J/8C m3) of the sheath, ca is the specific heat
(J/8C m3) of the armor bedding, cj is the specific heat (J/8C m3) of
the jacket.
In Figure 10, the parameters are defined as uc is conductor
self-temperature rise symbolised uc, attainment_factor shown a(t)
varies in time with load.
The environmental conditions of the cable system affect the
operating temperature of the cable. The operating performance
of cable installed in backfill environmental which has high thermal
conductivity is better than that of buried power cable in soil. As

Figure 6 (a) Parameter inputs, (b) thermal resistances, (c) resistance calculation, (d) TA and (e) TB calculations.
522 ARAS AND BIÇEN

Figure 7 (a) Van Wormer blocks (b) for using long duration transient (c) for using short duration transient (d) for outer
covering.

Figure 8 Cable losses.

 THERMAL MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF POWER CABLE 523

Figure 9 (a) Thermal capacity blocks (b) capacity calculation.

Figure 10 Thermal networks according to electrical analogy (armor is not contained).

shown in Figure 4, the second toolbox, environment parameters

and calculation are created by subsystems as shown in Figure 12 to
enter the environment parameters of the cable installation and their
calculations. The model determines mutual heating effects on
cable temperature.
In Figure 12, the parameters are defined as dy is symbolised
d& and defined as distance from the centre of reference cable to its
images, sigma is diffusivity of dry soil, rb is equivalent radius of
the backfill envelope.
Figure 11 Attainment factor.
On the other hand, the soil diffusivity is also important issue
for analysing cable system and dependent on its thermal resistivity.
The soil diffusivity calculation is shown in Figure 13 as expended
the sigma block in Figure 12.
The most common for installation of underground cables is to
lay them directly in the soil. However, to improve heat dissipation,
thermal backfill which has better heat conduction than the native
soil is used in the installation. In this case, a correction coefficient,
known as attainment factor, is needed for the transient calculation

Figure 12 Environment parameters and calculation subsystems. Figure 13 Soil diffusivity calculations.
524 ARAS AND BIÇEN

Figure 14 Calculation of equivalent radius of the backfill envelope.

Figure 15 (a) Calculation of mutual effects cable own and other cables (b) exponential integral opened in the series.
 THERMAL MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF POWER CABLE 525

Figure 16 Mutual heating effects on cable temperature.

of the power cables [7]. For this purpose the subsystem shown in
Figure 14 is created based on IEC Standard 60287 [11].
In Figure 15, the parameter, - E(- x) is exponential integral in
series and calculated as Equation (31)
' (
x2 x3
#Eið#xÞ ¼ #0:577#ln x þ x# þ +++
2:2! 3:3!
Mutual heating effects on cable temperature can be calcu-
lated using the inputs which are the effects above-mentioned
converted to the temperature rise shown in Figure 16.
Complete Temperature Rise
(31)
The third main toolbox as shown in Figure 4 is created for calculation
of complete temperature rise of the cable system. The model has two
subsystems, total temperature and correction block shown in
Figure 17. In the first block, some computed effects on temperature
rise such as mutual effect, cable temperature are combined in this
block as shown in Figure 18. The second block is used for the
correction of the cable temperature rise as shown in Figure 19.

A CASE STUDY: 154 kV UNDERGROUND

POWER CABLES

One hundred fifty-four kilovolts XLPE power cables installed in

Figure 17 Accurate cable temperature calculation blocks.
Figure 18 Temperature combining block.
flat form and 1.2 meter under ground in Turkish underground
transmission system were used for a case study as shown in
Figure 20. The properties of power cable and environment are
given in Table 1.
Generally, two types of currents are important for the oper-
ation of power cables. First one is steady-state current based on
saturated temperature and the second is a short time allowable
current considering load change within the day or year [15]. The
steady-state allowable current of the 154 kV power cable is calcu-
lated as 1193 A for 100% load factor. But the real current is
different since the load is not constant during certain period.
For these reasons, transient rating of a power cable system should
be analysed for various load patterns. The transient responses of
the 154 kV power cable are analysed for following loading con-
ditions using above described model:

Figure 19 Temperature correction block (tetha_mutual is total mutual effect of cable system, tetha_ptot symbolised uptot
is total temperature rise, tetha_cable symbolised uac is the actual cable temperature).
526 ARAS AND BIÇEN
Figure 20 Cross-section of buried 154 kV cable systems.
Table 1 The Parameters of 154 kV Cable System
Cable properties
Operating voltage
Frequency
Conductor
Insulation
Conductor cross-section (S)
Insulation thickness (t1)
Thickness of the jacket (t3)
External diameter of cable (De)
Max. cond. temp. for XLPE
Conductor AC resistance (Rac)
Thermal resistivities ri, rj
Environment properties
Length of backfill (y)
Width of backfill (x)
Depth of burial of cables (L)
Spacing between conductors (d)
Backfill thermal resistivity
Concrete thermal resistivity
Soil thermal resistivity
Ambient temperature
! Temperature rise caused by cable itself and mutual effect.
! Various variables loading response of power cable.
! Primary operation of power cable for 3 days.
! Constant and cycling step loading for 10 days.
! Overload and spike loading responses.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Using above created Matlab/Simulink model, ratings of 154 kV
power cables are obtained and examined for various operating
conditions for transient loads. The loading of a cable depends on
current changed as a step function for any time interval. However,
the mutual temperature rise of power cable follows a slow variation
for the same time interval because of thermal capacitances. The
total temperature rise of the reference cable at any time is caused
by the sum of the temperature rise caused by own losses and the
mutual heating effects due to the other cables [7,15]. Figure 21
shows the temperature rise caused by self-heating and mutual
heating for 8 \times 105 s period assuming to be constant daily
load factor. It can be seen obviously in Figure 21, that the self-
Unit Values
temperature rise of reference cable reaches the steady-state point
in a short time about 6 h, the other temperature rise due to mutual
effects reaches the steady-state point in a very long time. That
V 154,000 means the capacity increases and transient variation depends on
Hz 50 soil thermal resistivity and capacitance strongly.
— Copper On the other hand, the temperature rise is directly related to
— XLPE
the load current of the cable and power loss (Wc) for 24 h period as
mm2 1,000
shown in Figure 22. This response is important to bring to light the
mm 22
mm 6 thermal behaviour of the cable for the step functions during a daily
mm 106.7 period. It can be seen that the temperature response of the cable is
8C 90 lower than the current and loss increase. So that the temperatures
V/km 0.0252 rise does not reach steady-state point during each step load. For
K m/W 3.5 that reason, the temperature response of the cable, assumed to
service first time, is obtained again to see the steady-state points for
mm 700 long time step loads during 72 h period as shown in Figure 23. This
mm 1,100 result gives us an idea to determine the allowable operating time
mm 1,200
during the short time overloads. The step loads are varied from
mm 330
K m/W 0.833
65% up to 100% load factors for both Figures 22 and 23.
K m/W 1 In addition, the cycling loads (from t ¼ 0 to 10 days) have
K m/W 1 been applied to the model and it can be seen in Figure 24 that the
8C 20 conductor temperature increases with days, continuously. That
means the temperature of cable conductor does not come down
Figure 21 Cable self and mutual effects.
 THERMAL MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF POWER CABLE 527

Figure 22 Transient thermal response for 24 h load.

Figure 23 Transient thermal response for 0–72 h load.

Figure 24 Thermal response of power cable for cycling loads.

528 ARAS AND BIÇEN
Figure 25 Overload response of the cable.
Figure 26 Thermal response for cycling spike loads.
to the initial value due to insufficient time interval and, it starts to
increase. Thus, the value of temperature reaches to the higher point
than the previous period because of the soil thermal capacity.
Sometimes the power cables are exposed to overloads in
service for certain time. These loads cause some stresses resulting
in insulation faults or short circuits on the power cable. Therefore,
the exposure time is as important as temperature value of the
cable. To obtain thermal response of the cable under overload
conditions, load current is increased as 1.6 times of rated current
during 1 h as shown in Figure 25. In Figure 25, thermal response
to the load current is shown and, temperature rise extremely
increases and after half an hour temperature reaches from 70 to
968C, at the end of the overload period it reaches to 1108C point of
overload.
The other important issue is current spike caused by a sudden
rise and fall in the supply voltage during short time, and this can
cause damage to the insulation material. To show this effect, load
current is increased to 12 times of rated operation current during
10 s period and it has been applied to the cable model for t ¼ 0–
20 days as shown in Figure 26. When the small windows of 2nd,
11th and 20th loads period in Figure 26 are zoomed in, it can
be seen that the temperature values increase fast under spike load
and also, after the load current comes down to the normal value
the temperature cannot give the same response to the decrease
since the temperature decrease is related to the ambient tempera-
ture and thermal diffusivity conditions. Furthermore, the amount
of temperature rise is 13, 22 and 268C at 2nd, 11th and 20th loads
period, respectively.
CONCLUSION
In this article, the modelling and analysis of power cables under
various loading conditions were presented using MATLAB soft-
ware. The study allows the students to improve their knowledge
and to solve often-faced transient problems of power cables under
various transient conditions. In addition, the model, based on the
IEC standards, is presented with an example solution of the
154 kV power cable in service in Turkish transmission system
in this article.
 THERMAL MODELLING AND ANALYSIS OF POWER CABLE
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BIOGRAPHIES
Faruk Aras received the BS degree from
Department of Electrical Education, Marmara
University, Istanbul, Turkey in 1994, and MS
and PhD degrees from the Institute of Science
and Technology, Kocaeli University in 1996 and
2000, respectively He held a research and teaching
fellow position at the Department of Electrical
Education, Kocaeli University, where he is an
Associate Professor teaching undergraduate and
graduate courses, and conducting research in
power system engineering, power cables, power transformers and their thermal
analysis and aging.
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teaching of underground power cables, IEEE Computer Society
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Luis, Calculation of thermal capacity of underground cables in multi-
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current ratings of cables. Part 2: Cyclic rating factor of cables greater
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Yunus Bicen received BS and MS degrees from
the Department of Electrical Education at the
University of Kocaeli in 2004 and 2006, respect-
ively. He is presently studying for his PhD from
the University of Kocaeli. He has been working
as a lecturer at University of Duzce since
2008. His research interests include condition
monitoring and diagnosis techniques of power
transformer, power cables and their thermal
analysis and aging.