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LIGHTNING INDUCED VOLTAGES ON BARE

AND INSULATED BURIED CABLES

Conference Paper · February 1999

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Arturo Galvan Vernon Cooray

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LIGHTNING INDUCED VOLTAGES ON BARE AND INSULATED BURIED
CABLES
A. Galván and V. Cooray
Institute of High Voltage Research, Uppsala University
Husbyborg 752 28, Uppsala, Sweden
Arturo.Galvan@hvi.uu.se
Abstract. In analysing the coupling mechanism
between lightning electromagnetic fields and
horizontally buried cables, there are two key parameters
that have to be evaluated: the current and voltage
propagation characteristics of the cable and the
underground horizontal electric field that interacts with
the cable. Several formulations to calculate the
propagation constant and the lightning generated
horizontal electric field at the depth of buried cable are
available in the literature. However, not much studies
that attempt to quantify the lightning induced voltages
and currents in buried cables, taking into account both
the distance of the lightning flash as well as the current
in the return stroke channel, are available in the
literature.
In an attempt to fill this gap, a study was undertaken to
evaluate the voltages induced in underground cables,
with different lengths and with different characteristics
(i.e. bare or insulated), when they are exposed to
lightning generated electromagnetic fields. The
Sunde’s formulation is used to obtain the propagation-
constant of the cable. Results are presented for typical
cable geometry (radius and dielectric thickness), typical
soil characteristics (permitivity and conductivity) and
for depths of burial that are of practical interest.
1. Introduction
The use of buried cables for both power and
communication systems is very common nowadays.
The general consensus is that the voltages and
currents that result from the interaction between the
lightning electromagnetic field and buried cables are
not large enough to produce adverse effects in power
systems. However, the voltages induced in buried
cables could be a significant threat to sensitive
electronics that are an integral part of modern day
telecommunication networks. In this respect, a strong
need exists to quantify the amplitude and shapes of
underground cable transients generated by lightning
flashes. The data to be presented in this paper result
from an attempt to satisfy that need. The procedure we
have adopted in carrying out this investigation is the
following. First, the electric field incident on the cable
is calculated by first taking into account the
propagation effects introduced by the finitely
conducting ground as the electromagnetic fields
propagate the distance between the lightning channel
and underground cable, and then introducing the
attenuation effects experienced by the field as it
penetrates into the ground. Second, the cable is treated
as a lossy transmission line with a propagation
constant as given by Sunde’s formulation and the
interaction between this transmission line and the
horizontal field is simulated by introducing continuous
distribution of voltage sources along the line. The turn
on time of each voltage source is governed by the
angle between the direction of propagation of the
electromagnetic field and the axis of the cable. The
treatment is analogous to that used in evaluating the
interaction of horizontal electromagnetic fields with
overhead power lines. The calculations are performed
for bare and insulated conductors for different cable
lengths, dielectric thickness, depths of buried and
different soil conductivities. The results are given for
the worst case in which the direction of propagation of
the field is along the axis of the cable and the cable
termination is open-circuited.
2. Electric field into the ground
The procedure used to calculate the horizontal electric
field at the depth of buried is the one introduced
recently by Cooray[1]. He provided equations to relate
the underground horizontal electric field to the
corresponding field at the surface of the ground. The
horizontal electric field at the surface of the ground can
be obtained either by using the formula for the wavetilt
or the concept of surface impedance. In this study, the
horizontal electric field is calculated from the azimuthal
magnetic field using the concept of surface impedance.
The surface impedance connects the horizontal electric
field Eh ( jω ) to the azimuthal magnetic field Bh ( jω ) point, the return stroke current was assumed to be 13
through the relationship, kA and the dielectric constant of the soil was ε g = 15 .
The calculations were performed assuming two
Eh ( jω ) / Bh ( jω) = c / (ε g + σ g / jωε 0 ) 0.5 (1) conductivity soil conditions: 0.01 and 0.001 S/m and
several depths: 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 meters. Note that, from
where c is the speed of light in free space, ε o is the numerical results (figure 1), the electric field is strongly
affected by the variation of the depth only when the
permitivity of free space, ε g is the relative dielectric soil conductivity is high.
constant of the soil, σ g is the soil conductivity and
ω is the angular frequency. Equation (1) is known as
Cooray-Rubinstein approximation [2,3,4] and it has
been shown that this relationship can be used to
calculate the horizontal electric field to a high degree of
accuracy even at distances as close as 200 m from the
lightning flash. In this paper the time domain
equivalent of this relationship is used to calculate the
horizontal field from the calculated azimuthal magnetic
field. The latter at the distance of interest is calculated
by using a return stroke model introduced by Cooray
[5] and employing the procedure outlined in [1]. This
model is capable of generating the return stroke current (a)
and return stroke velocity as a function of height in the
return stroke channel.

The evaluation of the horizontal electric field at

different depths of the buried cables used in this study
was obtained by the time domain equations derived by
Cooray [1], in which the horizontal electric field at
depths below the ground Eunder is related to the surface
field Esurface by the equation

t
Eunder ( t, D) = ∫ Esurface (t − τ , D) Υ (τ ) dτ (2)
0
(b)
Figure 1. Calculated horizontal electric field at different
where,
depths and different soil conductivities from a return
dt stroke at 20 km far from the point of interest and 13 kA
−
e 2  d t2 − k2 
dk −
dt
for the return stroke current. a) For 0.01 S/m and b) for
Υ(t ) = I   u(t − k ) + e 2 δ ( t − k )
2 t 2 − k 2  
o
2  0.001 S/m of soil conductivity. First 2.5 µs of the field is
shown in the inset.
σg , k = h µ 0 ε 0 ε g and h is the depth.
d=
ε 0ε g
3. Propagation constant evaluation

I o (t ) is the zeroth order modified Bessel function of The propagation constant of the cable is one of the
the first kind and δ (t ) and u(t ) are the delta function most important parameters for the calculation of the
and the Heaviside’s unit step function, respectively. In transient response to an incident electromagnetic field.
deriving the underground fields, the equations to This propagation constant can be evaluated either by
calculate electromagnetic fields generated by lightning using exact formulations, transmission line
return strokes at the surface of a perfectly conducting approaching techniques [6,7] or by using iterative
earth were considered. These equations were then methods [8,9,10]. The geometry relevant to this study
modified to take into account the finite ground is shown in figure 2.
conductivity and, finally, the underground fields were
related to the surface fields mainly by the soil
properties. The horizontal electric fields calculated at
several depths by using the formulation given above
are shown in figure 1. In these calculations, the return
stroke was located 20 km away from the observation
 linear two-port network is applied in the frequency
domain. Then, the input f (ω ) and the output g(ω ) are
related by the transfer function H(ω ) in the following
way,

g(ω ) = H (ω ) f (ω ) (8)

Assuming the transfer function of equation (8) is the

propagation term, that is, H(ω ) = e −Γx , in which Γ is
Figure 2. Buried cable geometry used in this study.
For buried bare cables, the approximate formula for the defined by the propagation and the phase constant,
propagation constant evaluation proposed by Sunde equations (3), (5) or (6), the output in time domain is
[7] is:
1 ∞ −Γ x j ωt (9)
G(t) = ∫−∞ f ( jω )e e dω
1 2π
1  σ g  2
(3)
Γ=  jω  + j ω  
v   ε 0 ε g   If the input signal is the Heaviside step function,
f ( jω ) = 1 / j ω , equation (9) becomes,
where σ g , ε g and ω have been already defined above.
1 ∞ 1 − Γx jωt (10)
The velocity of propagation in m/s is defined by, G(t) = ∫ e e dω
2π −∞ jω
1
 2 2 (4) 0.3
v =  
 µ 0 ⋅ ε 0ε g 
0.25 50 m

where µ 0 is the permeability of the earth. Equation (3) 0.2

AMPLITUDE

is defined for a conductor in direct contact with and

0.15 100 m
half buried in the earth. For cables located in practical 800 m
depths, the following approximation for the 0.1 400 m
1000 m
propagation constant is also given by Sunde [7],
0.05 200 m
1
 log 1.12 / Γa  2
(5)
Γ ′ = Γ  0
 log 112
. / Γa ′  0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
TIME (µ s)
(a)
where a is the radius of the cable, a′ = 2ah and h is
the depth of the buried cable. For insulated buried 50 m 100 m 200 m 400 m
cables, Sunde gives the transcendental equation,
which is solved by iterative means, 0.5

(6) 0.4
 jωµ 0 .  jωµ 0
112 185
.
Γ 2 Yi−1 + 2 ⋅ log  = 2π ⋅ log
 πγ aΓ 
1
AMPLITUDE

a (γ 2 + Γ 2 ) 2 0.3 800 m 1000 m

[ ]
1
where γ = jωµ 0 (σ g + jωε g ) 2 (7) 0.2

0.1
is the propagation constant of a plane wave in the
ground. In this approximation, the propagation 0
constant of the insulated cables approaches that of 0 2 4 6 8 10
bare cables at high frequencies [6,9], because at these TIME(µ s)
frequencies the susceptance of the insulation becomes (b)
large. Therefore, the insulated and bare cable have
similar behaviour at high frequencies. Figure 3. Propagation effect on a step function with
amplitude of 0.5 as it propagates along a buried cable.
4. Propagation effects on a unit step The parameters are σ g = 0.01 S/m, ε g = 15, a = 0.03 m
and h = 1.0 m. (a) bare cable and (b) insulated cable
Once the propagation constant of the cable is with b / a = 1.05 and ε r = 2.3.
evaluated, the way in which a step pulse injected into
the cable changes its signature can be easily obtained.
Consider the cable as a transmission line, in which the
When the response for such a function is known, the
behaviour for an arbitrary signal is evaluated by
assuming the latter to be composed of infinitesimal
step functions. That is,
t d (11)
F(t ) = f (0 )G(t ) + ∫ f (τ )G (t − τ )d τ
0 dt
where F (t ) is the response of the cable to an arbitrary
function, f (t ) is the arbitrary input function used as
excitation and G( t ) is the response in time domain to
the Heaviside step function. As an example, figure 3
shows the propagation effects on a Heaviside step
function with amplitude of 0.5 calculated by using
equations (3), (5) and (6) as it is propagated along a
buried cable in both directions from each source. It can
be seen from figure 3a that the contribution of the step
sources beyond 400 m from the point of interest is
negligible in bare cables, as it will be shown later in a
numerical example.
5. Coupling mechanism
The coupling between the horizontal electric field and
the underground cable can be simulated by a
continuous distribution of voltage sources located
along the length of the cable. Consider an element
dx of the cable. The component of the horizontal
electric field directed along the axis of the cable at this
element is E h ( x, t) cosθ , where θ is the angle between
the axis of the cable and the direction of propagation of
the electromagnetic field. The interaction of this
horizontal field with the element dx gives rise to a
voltage source which will produce two elementary
voltage waveforms travelling in opposite directions
along the cable and with magnitude
Eh ( x, t ) cos θ( dx / 2) . The total voltage at a given point
is the sum of contributions from all the elements,
distributed along the cable, evaluated by taking into
account the time of arrival and the effects of
propagation along the cable [11].
The location and the turn-on time of elementary
voltage sources is dictated by both, the direction of the
incident field and the time resolution needed in the
calculation [11]. In our case the angle formed by the
incoming electric field front and the buried cable was
assumed to be 0o. This situation provides the maximum
coupling between the electromagnetic field and the
cable. Furthermore, the angle formed between the
incident field and the surface of earth was always
assumed to be zero, i.e. grazing incidence. The velocity
of propagation of each voltage source was determined
by equation (4) and the total voltage step response at
the ends of the cable was the sum of contributions
from all the sources located along the cable. It is
important to note that in the simulation each voltage
step source was affected by the attenuation and
distortion effects as they propagate in distance.
Finally, the calculated voltage step response was used
to evaluate the actual contribution to the induced
voltage from the incoming horizontal electric field by
applying the Duhamel’s integral [12], defined by
equation (11).
The interaction between lightning electromagnetic
fields and horizontal buried cables presented in this
study is similar to the Agrawal et al. model [13], in
which the horizontal field impinging upon the cable
gives rise to voltage sources travelling along the cable.
However, due to the fact that the cable is represented
as a lossy transmission line, attenuation effects are
taken into account as the signal travels along the cable.
6. Results and discussions
In order to quantify the induced voltage generated in a
buried cable, we performed simulations in which
several parameters, such as length of the cable, soil
conductivity, dielectric thickness of the insulation
jacket and depth of the buried cableawere= 0.03 m
changed. The
results given in this study are for the horizontal
ε r = 2.3 electric
field depicted in figure 1 and used as excitation. A
conductor with a radius a = 0.03 σg m = was
0.01used
S/m and,
h = 1.0 m a lossless
when the insulated situation was considered,
dielectric jacket ( ε r = 2.3) with several thickness
( b / a = 1.05, 2.0 and 5.0) was included. Two different
electrical characteristics of the soil were analysed
( σ g = 0.01 and 0.001 S/m), in which the dielectric
constant of the soil was ε g = 15.
(b/a)=5.0
35
30 (b/a)=2.0
INDUCED VOLTAGE (V)
25
20 (b/a)=1.05
15
10
5
0 bare
-5
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
TIME (µ s)
Figure 4. Induced voltage at one end of the buried
cable for different insulation conditions and a total
length of 100 m .
Figure 4 shows the total induced voltage at one end of
the short cable (100 m) for different cable parameters.
First, note that for the case of bare cable, the
contribution of the voltage sources that are located far
away from the evaluation point is negligible, resulting
in a small induced voltage and no oscillations due to
reflections. As a dielectric jacket is used to coat the
conductor ( b / a = 1.05), the induced voltage has a
significant increase and the oscillations due to
reflections take place. The number of oscillations due
to reflections in a specific period of time will depend of
the velocity of propagation and the length of the cable. Figures 7, 8 and 9 show the results of the induced
It can also be seen that the induced voltage increases voltage for the same conditions, but for a cable of 1000
in slower ratio as the insulation thickness is increased. meters in length. In this case, only the first 40
microseconds are shown, because the induced voltage
Figure 5 shows the influence of the buried depth of the is strongly attenuated in the third reflection, due to the
cable on the induced voltage. It is observed that the long length of the cable. The amplitude of the induced
attenuation of the induced voltage with the depth is voltage increases significantly compared with the 100
mainly governed by the attenuation suffered by the m long cable. However, especially in bare cables, the
horizontal electric field as it propagates into the soil increase in voltage with the length is not linear because
(see figure 1a). Furthermore, the σ gattenuation
= 0.01 S/m of the it is governed by the way in which elementary voltage
induced voltage is more pronounced a = 0.03
in the
m case of pulses generated by voltage sources are attenuated as
insulated cables than in the case ofε bare cables. Figure they travel towards the point of observation - different
r =
2.3
6 shows the strong influence of the soil conductivity voltage pulses experience different amount of
(0.001 S/m) in both the amplitude and waveshape of the attenuation because they travel different distances to
induced voltage, mainly for bare cables. In this case, reach the point of observation. In order to illustrate this
the propagation effects in both the sources along the effect, figures 10 and 11 show the amplitude and
line and the horizontal electric field into the soil have a waveshape of the induced voltage when a bare cable is
great influence in the total induced voltage. used and the conductivity and depth are 0.001 S/m and
1.0 m respectively.
35
h=0.5m
30 h=1.0m 60
INDUCED VOLTAGE (V)

(b/a)=5.0
h=2.0m (b/a)=2.0
25
INDUCED VOLTAGE (V)
40
σ g = 0.001 S/m
20 (b/a)=2.0 (b/a)=1.05

15 a = 0.03 m 20

10 ε r = 2.3 0

5 h= 1.0 m -20
bare
h=2.0m
0 h=1.0m
bare -40
h=0.5m
-5
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
-60
TIME (µ s) 0 10 20 30 40
Figure 5. Induced voltage at one end of the buried TIME (µ s)
cable for different depths and a total length of 100 m. Figure 7. Induced voltage at one end of the buried
cable for different insulation conditions and a total
80 length of 1000 m. Electrical and geometrical parameters
(b/a)=5.0
70 (b/a)=2.0 like in figure 4.
INDUCED VOLTAGE (V)

60
60
50 (b/a)=1.05

40
INDUCED VOLTAGE (V)

40 h=2.0m
30 h=1.0m
20 h=0.5m (b/a)=2.0
20
bare
10 0
0
-10 -20 h=2.0m
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
h=1.0m
TIME (µ s) -40
bare
h=0.5m
Figure 6. Induced voltage at one end of the buried
-60
cable for different insulation conditions and poor 0 10 20 30 40
conditions of the soil. Length of the cable is 100 m. TIME (µ s)
Figure 8. Induced voltage at one end of the buried
Comparing figures 4 and 6 in absolute terms, the cable for different depths and a total length of 1000 m.
induced voltage increases from about 7 V to 42 V in the Electrical and geometrical parameters like in figure 5.
case of bare cable, from 23 V to 54 V in the case of an
insulated cable with b / a = 1.05, from 29 V to 68 V with
b / a = 2.0 and from 32 V to 73 V with b / a = 5.0 when
the conductivity goes from 0.01 to 0.001 S/m. In relative
terms, this represents a change of about 6.0 times for
bare cables and 2.3 times for insulated cables.
 200 As mentioned above, the lightning induced voltages
(b/a)=5.0
150 upon buried cables given in this study are for a peak
INDUCED VOLTAGE (V)

return stroke current of 13 kA located at a distance of

100
(b/a)=2.0 20 km from the cable of interest. The amplitudes of the
50 (b/a)=1.05
induced voltage for other peak currents can be
0
bare
obtained approximately by linear extrapolation of the
-50 data given here, with voltage increasing with
-100
increasing peak current. This is the case since there is
an approximate linear relationship between the peak
-150
current and the peak radiation field. Furthermore, since
-200 the radiation field varies linearly with distance and
0 10 20 30 40
TIME (µs) since it is the radiation field that dominates the first few
Figure 9. Induced voltage at one end of the buried microseconds of the lightning generated
cable for different insulation conditions and poor electromagnetic field even at distances as close as 1
conditions of the soil. Length of the cable is 1000 m. km, the amplitude of the induced voltages for other
Electrical and geometrical parameters like in figure 6. distances can also be obtained by linear extrapolation
with voltage increasing with decreasing distance.
It can be observed that contribution of the voltage However, it is important to point out that the results
sources are effective only within about 400 m from the given in this study should be applied with caution for
point of origin. This causes the total amplitude of the striking distances of lightning less than 1 km due to the
induced voltage to remain more or less constant as the fact that static and induction field components become
cable length is increased beyond about 400 m. important.
Acknowledgements. The research work reported here
45
is conducted within the framework of the EMC research
40
g program at the Institute of High Voltage Research,
f
Sweden. A. Galván thanks CONACYT and Instituto de
INDUCED VOLTAGE (V)

35 e

30
d Investigaciones Eléctricas, México, for their financial
25
c support. The authors thank Prof. Viktor Scuka, the
20
head of the department, for his encouraging interest in
15 b
our study.
10
8. References
5 a
0
[1] Cooray V., “Underground electromagnetic fields
-5
0 1 2 3 4 5 generated by the return strokes of lightning flashes”,
TIME (µs) paper submitted to IEEE(EMC), 1998.
Figure 10. Induced voltage at one end of the bare [2] Cooray V., “Horizontal Fields Generated by Return
buried cable as the length of the cable varies from a) Strokes”, Radio Science, Vol.27, No.4, pp. 529-537,
10m, b) 20m, c) 50m, d) 60m, e) 70m to g) 100m. July-August 1992.
[3] Rubinstein M., “An approximate formula for the
60 calculation of the horizontal electric field from lightning
50 a at close, intermediate, and long range”, IEEE
INDUCED VOLTAGE (V)

b Transaction on Electromagnetic Compatibility,

40 Vol.38, No.3, August 1996.
c

30 [4] Rachidi F., Nucci C.A., Ianoz M. and Mazzetti C.,

d
“Influence of a lossy ground on lightning-induced
20 e
voltages on overhead lines”, IEEE Transactions on
f
10 Electromagnetic Compatibility, Vol.38, No.3, August
g 1996.
0
h [5] Cooray V., “A model for the subsequent return
-10 stroke”, J. Electrostatics, Vol.30, 343-354, 1993.
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
[6] Vance E., Coupling to Shielded Cables, New York:
TIME (µs)
Wiley, 1978
Figure 11. Induced voltage at one end of the bare
[7] Sunde E., Earth Conduction Effects in
buried cable as the length of the cable varies from a)
Transmission Systems, New York: Dover, 1968.
200m, b) 300m, c) 400m, d) 500m, e) 700m, g) 800m to h)
[8] Zeddam A. and Degauque P., “Lightning Surge
900 m.
Waves induced on Overhead and Buried Transmission
Lines”, International Wroclaw Symposium on
7. Conclusions
Electromagnetic Compatibility, EMC-86, pp. 263-271.
[9] Zeddam A. and Degauque P., “Disturbing Currents
Induced on Buried Telecommunication Cables”,
 International Symposium on EMC, Tokyo, Vol.2, pp.
925-929, 1984.
[10] Blumer W. and Ianovici M., “Calculation of the
Propagation Constant of Buried Insulated
Conductors”, 5th. Symposium and Technical
Exhibition on EMC, Zurich, pp. 51-54, March 1983.
[11] Galván A. and Cooray V., “Analysis of Lightning-
Induced Voltages in a Network of Conductors Using
the ATP-EMTP Program”, International Conference
on Electromagnetic Compatibility, IEE-London, UK,
pp. 153-157, 1997.
[12] Weber E., Linear Transient Analysis. Wiley; 1954.
[13] Agrawal A.K., Price H.J. and Gurbaxani S.H.,
“Transient Response of Multiconductor Transmission
Lines Excited by a Nonuniform Electromagnetic Field”,
IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility,
Vol.EMC-22,No.2,May 1980, pp 119-129.

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