13 - Symmetrical Fault

Symmetrical Fault
EE 502, SP (IIESTS) 1
Common Reasons for Faults in Power System
• 1. Natural disturbances, like – lightning, storms, high

speed winds, earth quakes etc.
• 2. Failure of generator, transformer and other protective

devices due to insulation breakdown.
• 3. Accidental faults like falling of a tree on a transmission

line, vehicles colliding with the supporting structures,
birds shoring the line etc.
• 4. Deterioration of insulators due to aging.
Types of Faults
• 1. Three phase short circuit or symmetrical

three phase fault – All the tree phases are
shorted and very often connected to the ground
also.
• 2. Unsymmetrical fault- One or two phases

involved – L to G, L-L-G.
Symmetrical Fault
• The faults are balanced and they are called symmetrical

as the system remains balanced even after the fault.
• This type of fault is very rare, but it is the most severe

type of fault and the fault current is the largest.
• Such conditions are caused in the system accidentally

through insulation failure of equipment or flashover of
lines initiated by a lightning stroke or through accidental
faulty operation.
Symmetrical Fault
• The system must be protected against such heavy flow

of short circuit currents which can cause permanent
damage to major equipment.
• The system must be protected by disconnecting the

faulty parts by means of circuit breaker (CB). So for
proper choice of CB, the fault current must be estimated.
A power system mainly comprises of :
• 1. Synchronous generator
• 2. Transformer
• 3. Transmission line
• 4. Load
Though the operating condition at the time of the fault is

important, the load can be neglected as the voltage
drops to a very low value at the time of the fault and the
load current can be neglected in comparison with the
large value of fault current.
Transient on a Transmission Line
• Assumptions:
• 1. The line is fed from a constant voltage source.
• 2. Short circuit takes place when the line is unloaded.
• 3. Line capacitance is negligible and the line can be

represented by a lumped R-L series circuit.
Vm
v
ωt
α
v = Vm sin(ωt + α )
or, v = 2V sin(ωt + α )
4. The short circuit is assumed to take place at t=0.

α controls the instant of voltage wave when the short
circuit occurs.
When the switch is closed,
di
Vm sin(ωt + α ) = Ri + L
dt
i : instantaneous current, can be determined by solving
the above equation
i = is + it (1)
i s : Steady state component, it : Transient component
i (0) = i s (0) + it (0) = 0

i decays corresponding to the time constant L/R
2V
is = sin(ωt + α − θ ) (2)
|Z |
 ωL 
( )
1
Z = R +L 2 2 2
∠θ , θ = tan  
−1
 R 
R R
− t 2V − t
it = −is (0)e L
= sin(θ − α )e L (3)
|Z |
Short circuit current is given by,
i = i s + it
R
2V 2V − t
∴i= sin(ωt + α − θ ) + sin(θ − α )e L (4)
|Z | |Z |
Symmetrical Short Circuit DC Offset current

component (unidirectional transient
(sinusoidal component) component)
This DC Offset current causes the total short circuit current

unsymmetrical till the transient decays
Two components of the Short Circuit Current
Profile of the Short Circuit Current
First peak of i, imm: Maximum momentary short circuit current

If the decay of the transient current during this short time is neglected,
2V 2V
imm = sin(θ − α ) + (5)
|Z | |Z |
This occurs at (ωt + α – θ= 90o)
Since the transmission line resistance is small, θ≈ 90o
2V 2V
imm = cos α + (6)
|Z | |Z |
Case 1: α =0
imm is maximum when α =0, i.e, the short circuit occurs when
the voltage wave is going through zero.
2 2V
imm(maximum possible) =
|Z |
= twice the maximum of symmetrical short circuit current
Doubling Effect
For the selection of Circuit Breaker: Momentary short circuit
current is taken corresponding to its maximum value as a
safe choice
•What is the current to be interrupted?
•Modern CBs are designed to interrupt the current in the first

few cycles (five cycles or less).
•From the waveform it can be concluded that it means when

the current is interrupted, the dc offset (it) has not died out
and so contributes to the current to be interrupted.
•The computation of DC offset current at the time of

interruption can be very complex in a network of even
moderately large size.
• So symmetrical short circuit current alone is calculated
and then it is increased by an empirical multiplying factor
to account for the dc offset current.
Case 2: α = π/2
2V Vm
From (6), imm = =
|Z | |Z |
The CB will not feel any impact of the fault

Case 3: α = π
From (6), imm = 0
Three Phase Short Circuit on Synchronous
Machine (on no load)
• Under steady state short circuit condition, the armature

reaction of a synchronous generator produces
demagnetizing flux.
• In terms of a circuit, this effect is modeled as a reactance

xa in series with induced emf.
• This xa when combined with the leakage reactance xl of

the machine is called synchronous reactance xd ( direct
axis synchronous reactance in case of salient pole
machine).
• Armature resistance is very small and can be neglected.
xl xa
xd
Eg
(a) Steady State Short Circuit Model of a Synchronous

Machine on Per Phase basis
Now, let us consider the sudden three phase short circuit

on the synchronous generator operating initially under no load.
• The machine undergoes transient in all the three phases
and finally comes to the steady state condition as circuit
(a).
• The circuit-breaker must interrupt the current much

before steady state is reached.
• Immediately after the short circuit, the dc offset currents

appear in all the three phases, each with a different
magnitude since the point on the voltage wave at which
the short circuit occurs is different for each phase.
• These dc offset currents are accounted for separately on

an empirical basis and so, for the study of short circuit
current, we need to focus our attention on symmetrical
(sinusoidal) short circuit current only.
Sub-transient State
xdw
xl xf xdw: Damper winding
reactance
xa xf: Field winding

Eg reactance
Direct axis sub-transient
reactance
• Immediately after the short circuit, the symmetrical short

circuit current is limited by the leakage reactance of the
machine.
• According to Constant Flux Linkage theorem, since the
air-gap flux can not change instantaneously, to counter
• the demagnetizing effect of the armature short circuit
current, currents appear in the field winding as well as in
the damper winding in a direction to help the main flux.
These currents decay according to their respective time
constants.
• The leakage inductance of the damper is low, so the

time constant of the damper is less than that of the field
which has high leakage inductance.
• Thus, during initial part of the short circuit, the damper

and field windings have currents induced in them so that
in the circuit model their reactance- xf (field winding) and
xdw (damper winding) appear in parallel with xa
The reactance presented by the machine during
this sub-transient period, Sub-transient reactance
(xdʺ)
″ 1
x d = xl +
 1 1 1 
 + + 
x x x 
 a f dw 
Transient State
xf
xl
xa
Eg Direct axis transient

reactance
• The damper winding currents are first to die out, so xdw

becomes open circuited.
• At a later stage xf also becomes open-circuited.

The reactance presented after the damping
winding current dies out is called transient
reactance (xdʹ)
′ 1
x d = xl +
 1 1 
 + 
x x 
 a f 
Steady State
xl xa
xd
Eg
•At a later stage xf also becomes open-circuited.
•The reactance in steady state condition is the

synchronous reactance of the machine (xd)
″ ′
xd < x d < xd
The machine offers a time varying

reactance which changes from xdʺ
to xdʹ to xd
Oscillogram of the Short Circuit Current after
removal of dc offset currents (Symmetrical Short
Circuit Current)
• The envelope of short circuit current can be
divided in three periods-
• (i) initial sub-transient period- when the current

is large as the machine offers sub-transient
reactance
• (ii) middle transient period- when the machine
offers transient reactance
• (iii) final steady state period- when the machine
offers synchronous reactance
Envelope of Synchronous Machine Short
Circuit Current
• If the transient envelope is extrapolated backward in
time, the difference between the transient and sub-
transient envelope is the current Δiʺ (corresponding to
the damper winding current) which decays fast according
to damper winding time constant.
• Similarly the difference Δiʹ is the difference between

steady state and transient envelopes and decays
according to field time constant.
oc: Maximum sub-transient current (excluding dc

component)
ob: Maximum transient current (excluding dc component)
oa: Maximum steady-state current
• |I| : Steady state current (rms)
• |Iʹ| : Transient current (rms) excluding dc component
• |Iʺ| : Sub-transient current (rms) excluding dc
component
oa | E g | ob | E g |
| I |= = | I ′ |= =
2 xd 2 ′
xd
Eg: per phase no load voltage
oc | E g |
| I ′′ |= = (rms)
2 xd″ oa, ob, oc: intercepts shown
Note: Over any cycle, the current is approximately sinusoidal. So for finding
rms values, it is quite reasonable to divide maximum values by √2.
The instantaneous current can be expressed as:
−t −t
i = (I ′′ − I ′)e T ′′
+ (I ′ − I )e T′
+I
Tʺ : Sub-transient time constant

Tʹ : Transient time constant
 E g E g  −t  E g E g  −t E g
i= − e T ′′ +  − e T ′ +
 x ″ xd′   ′ x  x
 d   x d d  d
Short Circuit of a Loaded Synchronous
Machine
• In the previous discussion, it was assumed that
before the short circuit, the machine was
operating at no load.
• The analysis of short circuit current on a loaded

synchronous machine is complicated and is
beyond the scope of the syllabus.
• However, we will learn the methods to compute

the short circuit current when it occurs under
load condition.
•The machine is operating
Io
under steady state condition
xd Io : Load current
Vo
Vo: Terminal voltage of the bus
Eg to which it is connected
Eg: Induced emf under load
condition
xd: Direct axis synchronous
Circuit Model of Synchronous reactance
Machine under Load
When the short circuit occurs at the terminal of this
machine, the circuit model to be used for
computing short circuit current :
Io Io
x dʺ x dʹ Vo
Vo
Egʺ Egʹ
Circuit model for Circuit model for

computing sub-transient current computing transient current
• The induced emfs are given by,
″ ″ ′ ′
E g = V + jI x d
o o
E g = V + jI x d
o o
Egʺ : voltage behind sub-transient reactance

Egʹ : voltage behind transient reactance
Under no-load condition, Io=0

Egʺ = Egʹ= Eg, no load voltage
For Synchronous Motors
• Similar models can be used, only the direction of the

current will be reversed.
So the equations are:
″ ″ ′ ′
E g = V − jI xd
o o
E g = V − jI xd
o o
•Whenever, we are dealing with short circuit of an

interconnected system, the synchronous machines (generators
and motors) are replaced by their circuit models having voltage
behind sub-transient/transient reactance in series with
sub-transient/transient reactance
•The rest of the network being passive remains unchanged

Selection of Circuit Breakers
• Two of the circuit breaker ratings which require the
computation of short circuit current are:
1. Rated Momentary current
2. Rated Symmetrical Interrupting current
1. Rated Momentary current

• Symmetrical short circuit current is obtained by using
sub-transient reactance for synchronous machines.
This does not include dc component.
• Momentary current (RMS) is then calculated by

multiplying the symmetrical current by a factor to
account for the presence of dc offset current.
• For oil CBs above 5 kV, a multiplying factor of 1.6 is
considered to find the RMS value of the current whose
disruptive forces the breaker must withstand during the
first half cycle after the fault occurs.
• For many years CBs were rated in terms of their

momentary current as well as other criteria.
2. Rated Symmetrical Interrupting current

• The interrupting current which a breaker must be
capable of interrupting when its contacts part.
• This current is, of course, lower than the momentary

current and depends on the speed of the breaker, such
as 8, 5, 3, or 1½ cycles, which is a measure of the time
• from the occurrence of the fault to the extinction of the
arc.
• The current which a breaker must interrupt is usually

asymmetrical since it still contains some of the decaying
component.
• The dc off set values to be added to obtain the current to

be interrupted is accounted for by multiplying the
symmetrical short circuit current by a factor as shown in
the following table:
Circuit Breaker Speed Multiplying factor
8 cycles or slower 1.0

5 cycles 1.1
3 cycles 1.2
2 cycles 1.4
If SC MVA is greater than 500, then the above multiplying

factors are increased by 0.1.
• The current that a CB can interrupt is inversely
proportional to the operating voltage over a certain
range, i.e.,
Amperes at operating volatge

Rated voltage
= Amperes at rated voltage x
Operating voltage
Of course, operating voltage can not exceed maximum

design value. Also, no matter how low the voltage is,
the rated interrupting current can not exceed the rated
maximum interrupting current.
• Over this range of voltages, the product of operating
voltage and interrupting current is constant.
• It is therefore logical as well as convenient to express

the CB rating in terms of short circuit MVA that can be
interrupted. It is defined as:
Rated interrupting MVA (three phase)

= 3 . | V (line) |rated . | I (line) |rated interrupting current
V(line) in kV, I(line) in kA
• Thus, instead of short circuit current to be interrupted,
we compute three phase short circuit MVA to be
interrupted, where,
Short Circuit MVA (three phase)

= 3 .(prefault line voltage in kV).(short circuit current in kA)
If the voltage and current are in per unit values on a three

phase basis,
Short Circuit MVA (three phase)

=| V |prefault . | I |short circuit ( MVA ) base
• Obviously, rated MVA interrupting capacity of
CB is to be more than (or equal to) the short
circuit MVA required to be interrupted.
• For the selection of a CB for a particular

location, we must find the maximum possible
short circuit MVA to be interrupted with respect
to
• (i) type and location of the fault

• (ii) generating capacity (also synchronous motor
and load) connected to the system
• A three phase fault though rare is generally the
one which gives the highest short circuit MVA
and a CB must be capable of interrupting it.
• In a simple system the fault location which gives

the highest short circuit MVA may be obvious
but in a large system various possible locations
must be tried out to obtain highest short circuit
MVA requiring repeated short circuit
computations.
Numerical Examples
Reference Books
• 1. Power System Analysis – J.J. Grainger and

W.D. Stevenson, Jr.
• 2. Elements of Power System Analysis – W.D.
Stevenson, Jr., 4th ed.
• 3. Modern Power System Analysis – I.J. Nagrath
and D.P. Kothari
• 4. Electrical Power Systems – Asfaq Husain
• 5. Power System Analysis and Design – B.R.
Gupta
• 6. Electrical Power Systems – C.L. Wadwa

13 - Symmetrical Fault

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Symmetrical Fault

• 1. Natural disturbances, like – lightning, storms, high

• 2. Failure of generator, transformer and other protective

• 3. Accidental faults like falling of a tree on a transmission

• 4. Deterioration of insulators due to aging.

• 1. Three phase short circuit or symmetrical

• 2. Unsymmetrical fault- One or two phases

• The faults are balanced and they are called symmetrical

• This type of fault is very rare, but it is the most severe

• Such conditions are caused in the system accidentally

• The system must be protected against such heavy flow

• The system must be protected by disconnecting the

Though the operating condition at the time of the fault is

• 1. The line is fed from a constant voltage source.

• 2. Short circuit takes place when the line is unloaded.

• 3. Line capacitance is negligible and the line can be

4. The short circuit is assumed to take place at t=0.

i (0) = i s (0) + it (0) = 0

Short circuit current is given by,

Symmetrical Short Circuit DC Offset current

This DC Offset current causes the total short circuit current

First peak of i, imm: Maximum momentary short circuit current

•What is the current to be interrupted?

•Modern CBs are designed to interrupt the current in the first

•From the waveform it can be concluded that it means when

•The computation of DC offset current at the time of

The CB will not feel any impact of the fault

From (6), imm = 0

• Under steady state short circuit condition, the armature

• In terms of a circuit, this effect is modeled as a reactance

• This xa when combined with the leakage reactance xl of

(a) Steady State Short Circuit Model of a Synchronous

Now, let us consider the sudden three phase short circuit

• The circuit-breaker must interrupt the current much

• Immediately after the short circuit, the dc offset currents

• These dc offset currents are accounted for separately on

xa xf: Field winding

• Immediately after the short circuit, the symmetrical short

• The leakage inductance of the damper is low, so the

• Thus, during initial part of the short circuit, the damper

Eg Direct axis transient

• The damper winding currents are first to die out, so xdw

• At a later stage xf also becomes open-circuited.

•At a later stage xf also becomes open-circuited.

•The reactance in steady state condition is the

The machine offers a time varying

• (i) initial sub-transient period- when the current

• Similarly the difference Δiʹ is the difference between

oc: Maximum sub-transient current (excluding dc

Tʺ : Sub-transient time constant

• The analysis of short circuit current on a loaded

• However, we will learn the methods to compute

Circuit model for Circuit model for

Egʺ : voltage behind sub-transient reactance

Under no-load condition, Io=0

• Similar models can be used, only the direction of the

•Whenever, we are dealing with short circuit of an

•The rest of the network being passive remains unchanged

1. Rated Momentary current

• Momentary current (RMS) is then calculated by

• For many years CBs were rated in terms of their

2. Rated Symmetrical Interrupting current

• This current is, of course, lower than the momentary