TRANSMISSION LINE MODELS FOR SWITCHING STUDIES: DESIGN CRITERIA

II. SELECTION OF SECTION LENGTH, MODEL DESIGN AND TESTS

G.L. Wilson and K.A. Schmidt
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambri dge, Massachusetts

ABSTRACT range.
A criterion is presented and evaluated for estab- With the goal of providing some insight into the
lishing the relation between section length of atrans- expected behavior of a model, we consider the natural
mission model and the desired accuracy over afrequency frequencies of an exact lossy single phase transmis-
band. This criterion along with those established in sion line of length Q with either an open or short
a companion paperl are used to design a transmission circuit at the receiving end of the line. Then the
line model. The details of the design are presented. impedance seen at the sending end for the two cases of
Test results made on a newly constructed model are open and short circuited termination are given by
presented to establish the validity of the design
criteria. Zs.c. = ZO coth yQ (1)
I. INTRODUCTION Zo.c. = ZO tanh yt (2)
In a companion paper the effects of nontransposi- where
tion are evaluated in terms of modeling power transmis-
sion line switching operations. It was shown that
nontransposition and model parameter variations with (3)
frequency are important in processing overvoltage fre-
quency components.
The number of lumped sections used to model a y = R + sL)sC (4)
given transmission line is seldom discussed in the
literature and is apparently somewhat arbitrary. This
paper is an effort to evaluate the effect of section where R, L and C are the line parameters per unit
length, to present criteria for designing accurate length and s is the complex frequency. For the short
transmission line models and to evaluate their accuracy circuit case, the poles of the impedance occur when
over the frequency spectrum. An analysis which results sinh Yt = 0, for the open circuit case they occur when
in an evaluation of model performance as a function of cosh yZ = 0.
the number of sections employed is first presented.
The results lead to design criterion for choosing sec- The resulting natural frequencies can be found
tion length. Using all the criteria developed in this from these conditions with the result
and the companion paper, a transmission line model is
designed. A description of the transmission line
model design is presented with a series of measure-
ments made on the model to evaluate its performance. ss.c =
R
= - R(L 4+( R__) -
- ( ) + (2n+l)2Tr2
LC n = 0,1,2... (5)
As in the companion paper, the characteristics of
a 765 kV line is used as an example of the modeling
performance and evaluation. However the final M.I.T.
model is useful for transmission line modeling of
lines in the 200 kV to 1100 kV range. So. C. = -
c2) ± i- - 2C n = 0,1,2... (6)

II. EFFECT OF NUMBER OF MODEL SECTIONS ON ACCURACY The natural frequencies of a continuous line are
given by Eqs. (5) and (6). One method of evaluating
In modeling a continuum system like a transmis- the behavior of a given lumped model and that of a
sion line with a finite number of discrete or lumped continuous line is to compare the natural frequencies
sections, certain inaccuracies exist due to the dis- of the two systems. This is not a rigid criteria, but
crete nature of the modeling process. Transmission since the natural frequencies play an important role
line models employed at present consist of a number of in the entire switching transient, the criterion is
sections representing a fixed length of line. Thus if certainly reasonable.
a model of a 100 mile line contained 10 sections; that
of a 200 mile line would contain 20 sections. To the During this study a number of transmission line
authors' knowledge no criteria or tests have been pub- models (L's, T's, Tr's, r's) were considered. The
lished to establish or demonstrate the accuracy of results are quite similar for all cases, and the L
such a modeling technique. It is a fundamental fact section analysis only is presented. A schematic dia-
that the model is completely inaccurate above the cut- gram of a single phase L-section model is shown in
off frequency, which is the natural frequency of one Fig. 1 with a shorted termination. The lumped element
section. Even at frequencies well below cutoff, the parameters of Fig. 1 are related to those of a contin-
frequency performance of the line can be quite inac- uous line by
curate. The above should be tempered by the fact that
the higher frequency response of a line may form a
very small part of the spectral content of a switching s m (7)
waveform. However when line models are used to pre-
dict switching surges,which have considerable spectral
content in the kilohertz range, some criteria should s m (8)
be available to evaluate the model in that frequency
Paper C 72 2124, recommended and approved by the Transmission and Distribution Committee of the IEEE Power Engineering Society for presentation atthe
IEEE PES Winter Meeting, New York, N.Y., January 28-February 2, 1973. This paper was upgraded to transactions status, T 72 2124, for presentation by title for written
discussion at the IEEE PES Summer Meeting, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, July 15-20, 1973. Manuscript submitted September 17, 1971; made available for printing May 14,
1973.
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 C5 = __ (9) Equation (17) is a polynominal in the real vari-
able cosh X so that solutions, [cosh Airoots yield
the complex propagation constants in the expression
where m is the number of sections in the model. The for the short circuit termination natural frequencies
given by

ssec. - R) ±
s.c. ( 2L-) [ELC21-[coshX] root]
2.~~~~ ro (18)

An error criteria can then be developed by defin-

ing the % error in the pole location as
Im[Eq. 18]-Im[Eq.
Ple ro =mm
5]
Percent (19)

This is plotted as a function of the pole number

in Fig. 2 for the lossless case. When losses are zero
the pole error is not a function of line length para-
meters. Note that Fig. 2 consists of continuous
curves for ease of comprehension. In actuality each
curve should be represented as a series of discrete
points at each pole number.
Fig. 1 Schematic of L-Section Model.
Shorted Termination 8

equations for the model are given by

VN VNl = sLs In + RsIn (10)

4
IN+l IN - = sCs VN (11)

where solutions of the form 2

VN = Re[VN et] (12)

0 0

IN = Re[tIN
e (13) LL
-0
0-

have been assumed.

If solutions of the form Sections
Sections
VN = A cosh An + B sinh An (14) Sections
are assumed, then Eqs. (10) and (11) impose the condi - Sections
tion on the complex propagation constant A.
c A 2L C sRsCs
cosh A=lI+ s (15)
2 2-T
Fig. 2 Plot of Pole Error Vs. Pole Number,
When the boundary condition at the termination L Section Line, Shorted Termination
VO = 0 is applied, the impedance seen at n = m in Fig.
1 is found to be
For a particular line, the natural frequency
(R +sL s ) sinh mA corresponding to a pole number is found from the
z
s.c. sinh mA-sinh(m-l)X (16) imaginary part of Eq. (5). Figure 2 indicates that
for a low number of sections, the error in the pole
location is high at both low (<3) and high (>3) pole
The poles of Eq. (16) are found by setting the numbers. This is explained by the fact that the
denominator equal to zero shorted termination on a L section line, removes the
capacitor from one section and therefore increases the
spectral location of the low order pole. This phenom-
sinh mA-sinh(m-l)A = 0 (17) enon at low pole numbers can be an important factor.

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 For example, the first pole of a 100 mile 765 kV line
would occur at 456 Hz. If this line were modeled with
say 15 mile sections, the error of the pole location
at this frequency would be on the order of 8%. As the
number of sections increases, this error is of course
reduced as is the error at high pole numbers.
If a similar plot is made for an open circuited
L-section model, the plot of Fig. 3 results. In this
case the low pole number error is zero for a very few
number of sections, since no part of an L-section is
removed by the termination.
10
5 0
0 \
0
-5
0`2
-to
-15
-20
Fig. 3 Plot of Pole Error Vs. Pole Number,
L-Section Line, Open Termination
Thus it is concluded that the error in using few
L sections to model lossless lines can be appreciable
when the line terminations look like short circuits at
the frequency of interest.
If zero sequence parameters are used to model the
line, the assumption of no loss is invalid. The same
analysis is still applicable and the results are still
very similar to those of Figs.2 and 3 for a wide range
of line lengths.
The authors made similar studies for iT, T and r
sections. The same general results occur. In the case
of T sections for example, the low pole number error
for open circuit terminations is nonzero although less
than that of Fig. 3 since only one half of a section
inductance is removed by open circuiting the end of
the line.
A suggested method of using the pole error plots
is shown in Fig. 4 in which the pole error "curves"
of a twelve section L model are taken from Figs. 2
and 3. A five percent error bound is suggested by the
dotted lines at the top and bottom of the figure. The
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6
50/o Boundary
2
1%. \- 12 L-Sections(Shorted)
r
0 2 3\ 4 10
0LJ
5 6 7 8 9
-0
0-
POLE NUMBER
\ 12
i L-Sections (Nominal)
-2 -
5% Boundary
5°/% Boundary
-6
Fig. 4 Example of an "Error Band-Error Bound"
Plot for a Twelve Section L-Model
region between these lines is the "error band" of the
twelve section L model. If twelve sections are used
to model a sixty mile line, the error band lies within
the error bounds up to about the fifth pole. For a
sixty mile line, the fifth pole corresponds to about
6000 Hz. One could say then "the 12-section model is
good to within five percent" up to 6000 Hz. For a
four hundred mile line, the same analysis indicates
that a forty section model is "good to within five
percent" up to the fifteenth pole corresponding to a
frequency of about 3100 Hz.
For most lines, especially EHV and UHV lines, Q
or X/R ratio of the lines is relatively high at most
frequencies. Thus a given resonance is a very sharp,
narrow band region in the frequency spectrum. An
error in natural frequency location can result in an
appreciable error in the impedance at that frequency
due to high Q.
The above analysis is in the frequency domain and
in order to meaningfully interpret the results it is
desirable to relate the errors presented in Figs. 2, 3
and 4 to switching surge voltage. This is of course
difficult to do in the general case due to the nonlin-
earities of transformers and reactors present in the
circuit. However a representative interpretation can
be made as follows. Consider a 195 mile line which is
modeled with 13 fifteen mile sections. The error at
the first pole is found from Fig. 2 to be 3.5%.
Using this frequency shift relative to the pole
for a typical 765 kV line, the impedance ratio of that
at resonance to that at a frequency 3.5% off of reso-
nance can be calculated from Eqs. (1), (3) and (4) and
 is found to be 14. The fourier spectrum of a switch-
on cosinusoidal wave contains a 17% harmonic at 240
Hz, the first natural frequency of the line. If the
source reactance of the line and leakage reactances
of the transformer are given typical values, the fre-
quency error will cause only 8% of this harmonic to
appear across the sending end of the line as compared
to the full 17% when there is no error in modeling.
This change in the 240 Hz-harmonic can cause an equiv-
alent change in the switching surge peak, or a change
of .09 p.u.
If nonlinear effects are included, the transform-
er harmonics, which are considerable at 180 and 300
Hz, could be affected in the same way as in the exam-
ple above by the line modeling error discussed.
In conclusion then, it is not satisfactory to
model transmission lines with fixed length sections
alone. For lines on the order of sixty miles, the
authors feel that at least fifteen sections should be
used, while for four hundred mile lines, a minimum of
forty sections should be used, to keep the accuracy of
the model within reasonable limits at frequencies up
to 3 kilohertz.
VI. DESIGN OF A TRANSMISSION LINE MODEL
In view of the above analysis and that in the
companion paper, several conditions or criteria are
evident for the design and performance of an accurate
transmission line model.
1) The line must model the effects of
transposition in order to accurately
predict overvoltage behavior for lines
in the 300 kV to 1500 kV voltage
range.
2) The effects of parameter variation
with frequency must be modeled. This
variation is somewhat important in
modeling phase resistance and produces
large variations in both neutral induc-
tance and resistance over a wide range
of frequencies.
3) The number of sections used must be
compatible with the desired accuracy
of the model. For short lines (on the
order of tens of miles) fifteen to
twenty sections must be used to achieve
accuracies of 5% up to 6 kilohertz.
For longer lines (on the order of
hundreds of miles) the number of sec-
tions used should reflect some
criterion like that in the above
analysis of impedance poles.
With these guidelines, a model was designed by
the authors which achieves these goals. Each section
of line model is like that of Fig. 5 in order to model
the effects of nontransposition for both horizontal
and vertical configurations.
A careful study was made of the parameter values
necessary to model 345, 500, 765 and projected 1100
and 1500 kV lines. Both horizontal and delta config-
urations were considered for EHV and UHV lines while
hori zontal and verti cal confi gurati ons were cons i dered
for lower voltage systems. In order to model each of
the parameters within 5% of the nominal value, every
attempt is made to construct a model with as narrow a
range of parameter values at a particular frequency as
possible. The result is a model which is designed to
operate at a nominal voltage of 138 volts.
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Fig. 5 One Section of Nontransposed Line Model
For each system to be modeled an impedance scal-
ing factor is used to bring the parameter values for a
given line within those for the model. This is espe-
cially important with regard to model inductors. A
wide range of inductance values could be achieved from
a given magnetic circuit using taps. However for a
wide range of taps, the Q of the inductor deteriorates
at the lower taps. One of the constraints in the mod-
eling procedure is the high X/R ratios required for
phase inductance modeling. An alternative to tapping
is the use of many cores which is expensive and space
consuming. The best solution then is to scale the line
impedances which result in phase inductance model
values that require only 13% variation in inductance
while the actual line values vary by a factor of two.
A study was made to evaluate various materials
for the magnetic core. Mo-Ni toroidal cores were
chosen for the high Q values they produce as well as
the small variation in core permeability with fre-
quency and current that they exhibit. This resulted
in maximum phase inductor 60 Hz Q's of 30 for the
model. The phase A and B inductors have second tapped
windings tD model the mutual inductance between phases.
The self inductance of each phase is independent of
frequency up to 5 kilohertz.
The resistance in each phase varies with fre-
quency due to the core characteristics of the mag-
netic toroids used. By adding external resistances to
the core, the correct value of model phase resistance
as a function of frequency is achieved within + 5% up
to % 2 kilohertz.
Phase to phase and phase to neutral capacitances
are modeled with a combination of polystyrene and
mylar capacitors to achieve the low dissipation fac-
tors required during high speed reclosure operations
wherein the line may resonate with high Q(%300) com-
pensating reactors.
The important variations of neutral resistance
and inductance with frequency are modeled with spe-
cially designed cores in which the skin effect phe-
nomenon is affected by inserting appropriately sized
conducting sheets in the air gaps of the cores. This
effectively creates a frequency dependent air gap.
For various earth resistivities, different size con-
ducting sheets are used. The details of this design
are rather involved and will be reported in a later
paper along with performance tests in switching opera-
tions.
In order to meet the requirements on section
length outlined above, the MIT line model consists of
 35 four mile sections and 30 eight mile sections.
This results in line models that are within 5% error
bounds up to 10 kilohertz for long lines. A view of
one section is shown in Fig. 6. Parameter values are
selected by using banana jacks. This method was
chosen over switches in order to more carefully con-
trol contact resistance. A view of one cabinet of
line sections is shown in Fig. 7.
Fig. 6 MIT Transmission Line Section
Fig. 7 View of Bank of 8 Mile Model Sections
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Preliminary tests have been made on a portion of
the transmission line model. Since the neutral com-
ponents have not yet been constructed, tests in which
model line behavior are compared with theoretical pre-
dictions for a continuum line will be made and report-
ed in the future.
Two preliminary sets of measurements were made on
a horizontal linel76 miles long using twenty-two eight
mile sections. Each set consisted of measuring the
impedance of phase a to neutral with the receiving end
phases and phases b and c of the sending end shorted
to neutral. By measuring the impedance as a function
of frequency, the natural frequencies of the line can
be observed. The impedance in the region of the first
natural frequency for the case where the model is con-
nected to represent the transposed line is presented
in Fig. 8.
It is seen that the first pole occurs at 266 Hz.
The second major pole occurring at 768 Hz is shown
along with an intermediate resonance due to the slow
propagation mode occurring at 570 Hz. The location of
this intermediate pole would change with neutral leg
inductance variations.
The same line when modeled as a nontransposed
circuit results in measured impedance values near the
first pole as presented in Fig. 9.
FREQUENCY (HZ)
Fig. 8 Measured Impedance Near First Pole
for Transposed Line

FREQUENCY (HZ)
Fig. 9 Measured Impedance Near First Pole
for Nontransposed Line
The first pole occurs at 268 Hz as in the case of
the transposed line. The second major pole is measur-
ed at 780 Hz. However in this case, there are two in-
termediate poles as expected for the nontransposed
case, one at 520 Hz and a second at 563 Hz. Measure-
ments made on the same nontransposed model also indi-
cate the imbalances of phase to neutral potential as
expected.
The cutoff frequency for the line as modeled
with 22 sections occurred at 7170 kilohertz. Above
this frequency the model ceases to behave as a trans-
mission line. The pole locations of the model in
this frequency range are quite different from those of
the continuum line to be modeled.
VII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
A series of analyses are presented to develop
criteria for designing accurate transmission line
models for switching study applications.
A criterion for evaluating the number of sec-
tions to be used for modeling a power transmission
line is developed. The results indicate that models
on some existing switching analyzers
quate, especially for short lines.
A transmission line model has been designed using
the criteria presented in the paper. Initial tests on
the model in the absence of neutral impedance repre-
sentation illustrate the splitting of poles due to the
effects of nontransposition.
It is expected that the effects of nontransposi-
tion on pole splitting as well as on voltage imbalance
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and therefore 'harmonic imbalance, are important in
transient behavior of power lines with nonlinear ter-
minations.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work was supported in part by the American
Electric Power Service Corporation and in part by the
sponsors of the Philip Sporn Professorship in Energy
Processing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technol-
ogy.
REFERENCES
1. G.L. Wilson, R.F. Challen, D.J. Bosack, "Transmis-
sion Line Models for Switching Studies: Design Crite-
ria, I. Effects of Nontransposition and Frequency,"
submitted to IEEE, September 1971.
Combined Discussion 1,2
Dr. K.R. Shah (Commonwealth Associates Inc., Jackson, Mich. 49201):
The authors should be commended for their work. This paper gives, for
the first time, a sound analysis for selecting required number of lumped
sections for simulating distributed parameter transmission line behavior
over a large frequency range. In the past, selection of a number of
sections to simulate certain transient behavior was based on trial and
error methods. As pointed out by the authors, there is very little
published work on this aspect.
I believe that using the approach given in this paper one should be
able to make an intelligent selection of numberof sections required for
a given length, voltage rating of a line and desired frequency response.
In view of the above, I believe that this work should be kept as a
permanent record, that is, it should be up-graded as a Transactions
paper.
Few typographical errors:
(i) Pt. I, p. 3, fig. 3, the ordinate should read:
V receiving
V sending
(ii) Pt. II, Eqn. (6), - it seems Q is missing.
Manuscript received August 3, 1973.
M. Ramamoorty, (University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L
3G1, Canada): The authors discuss a criterion for accurate modelling of
transmission lines for transient analysis.' They also bring about the
effects of non transposition of conductors and the frequency depend-
ency of line parameters on the accuracy of transmission line models.
The authors are not correct in their statement that very little work has
been done to assess the inaccuracies resulting from simplified representa-
tions of line models ignoring asymmetry of conductors and assuming
frequency independent parameters. There is much published literature
in this field which the authors have not included in their references.
Recently Magnussonl and Perzl have published data on modal
components for different frequencies and line configurations.
The authors used a criterion based on the comparison of poles of
the open and short circuit impedance functions for a lumped parameter
model and a distributed line. An identical procedure is described in
may be inade- reference 3 by the discusser. An approprimate method for including the
ground effect on wave propagation is given in reference 4. In this paper
Manuscript received August 6, 1973.
1Transmission Line Models for Switching Studies: Design Criteria Part 1:
Effects of Nontransposition and Frequency, G.L. Wilson, R.F. Challen, and D.J.
Bosack, this issue, pp. 3 83
2Transmission Line Mvodels for Switching Studies: Design Criteria Part II:
Selection of Section Length, Model Design and Tests, G.L. Wilson and K.A.
Schmidt, this issue, PP- 389
394
 the discusser considers the line parameter variation with frequency and
the effect of line asymmetry.
REFERENCES
[11 P.C. Magnussion. "Travelling waves on multi conductor open wire
lines" T72 5684. Presented at IEEE, Summer power meeting
1972.
[21 M.C. Perz et al. "Effects of earth resistivity on Modal parameters
of an EHV Horizontal line" T73 2284, Presented at IEEE winter
power meeting 1973.
[3] M. Ramamoorty et al, High Speed Protection of Power Systems
based on Improved models." CIGRE 1968 Session 10.
-[4] M. Ramamoorty, "An approximate method to include ground
effect on Travelling waves, Proc. IEE Vol. 120, 1973.
G.L. Wilson, R.F. Challen, D.J. Bosack, and K.A. Schmidt. The authors
appreciate Dr. Shah's comments and particularly his corrections. The
Manuscript received September 28, 1973.
395
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ordinate in Figure 2 is correct and is the ratio of the sending end to
source voltage. Similar curves can be obtained for the ratio of receiving
end to sending end voltage, but these were not included in the paper.
Dr. Shah is correct that an £ is missing in equation 6.
The authors stand by their statement that "Very little has been
published concerning the justification for ignoring the effects of non-
transposition and parameter variations with frequency." Since the paper
was submitted in September of 1971, it would have been very difficult
to include the papers (1), (2), and (4) referred to by Dr. Ramamoorty
all of which were published or presented after the paper under
discussion. The authors are not aware of data in the previous literature
that contradicts our statement.
We were unfortunately not aware of Dr. Ramamoorty's paper in
CIGRE which briefly discusses pole comparisons for lumped lines. We
do not claim to have developed the procedure; the procedure is
standard. We do claim to have employed the procedure for a variety of
section lengths and frequencies and presented it in a form for use in
transmission line model design. The paper of reference 3 gives Series
Impedance and Shunt Admittance information, not pole frequency
error, and does so for a 25 km section only at discrete frequencies up to
1 kilohertz. Figures 2 and 3 of Part II of the paper under discussion
contain information in a form that we have found to be useful for
transmission line model design.