The lightning transient behaviour of a driven rod earth electrode in multi-layer soil

Abstract

The work presented extends and contributes to research in earthing and lightning protection and focuses on the transient behaviour of a driven rod earth electrode. Although previous work in this area has produced practical guidelines and models that may be used for lightning protection system design and analysis purposes, there has not been an investigation into the commonly encountered scenario of multiple layers of di erent soil types, particularly where high current densities cause ionisation to occur in the surrounding soil. In the research presented, the behaviour of a practical driven rod earth electrode subjected to peak impulse currents of up to 30 KA is analysed. Measurements obtained using a large-scale experiment arrangement are compared against results obtained using a time-domain circuit model simulation. It is shown that a single apparent resistivity value calculated from the steady state resistance equation and the measured steady state resistance can be used as a simpli cation for modelling the lightning current transient behaviour of a driven rod earth electrode in multi-layer soil. This represents a unique and valuable contribution to engineers working in the eld of earthing and lightning protection.