operating temperatures than the rest of the

system.
The authors are to be commended for a
realistic, logical approach in the evaluation
of motor insulation systems by actual performance tests.
REFERENCES
1. See reference 5 of the paper, Figures 11 and 12.
2. MOTOR INSULATION LIFE AS MEASURED BY
AcCELERATED TESTS AND DIELECTRIC FATIGUE,

C. J. Herman. AIEE Transactions, vol. 72, pt. III,

1953 (Paper 53-301).

C. B. Leape, J. McDonald, and G. P. Gibson: The discussers have made some pertinent comments on the techniques of evaluating motor insulation. Mr. Herman states
that the technique of reversing the motor to
generate heat and mechanical shock is not
well suited for single-phase motors. This is
undoubtedly the case. In evaluating insula-

tion for single-phase, fractional-horsepower

motors, the method he uses with an enlarged
air gap between stator and rotor would
definitely appear to be more suitable.1 However, the larger-size 5-horsepower 3-phase
motor was used on these evaluations because it was felt that the data obtained
would be more representative of a wider
range of motor sizes than would be the

data from a smaller motor.

Mr. Mathes points out that the evaluation
of complete motors may not be feasible in
the larger sizes, and therefore it would be
necessary to turn to motorette evaluations
or functional tests on components. It is
true that functional tests on components are
the only practical means, aside from field
experience, of evaluating large motor and
generator insulation; however, the intention
in this method has been not only to obtain
evaluations of random wound motor insulation systems representative of a wide range
of motor sizes using the 5-horsepower
motor but also to evaluate components and
motorette tests so that they may be applied
more accurately to the larger motors.
Mr. Mathes is of the opinion that test
motors should be started immediately after
the humidification cycle rather than after an
air-dry cycle following humidification.
Starting motors wet corresponds to field experience in which motors are shut down
during naturally occurring periods of high
humidity and then started later under the
same conditions with condensation on the
insulation. The effect upon the insulation
of starting motors immediately after humidification when condensation is present has
been considered by us. However, it is our
opinion that such severe conditions are not
frequently encountered in the field and

rounding Grids ror High-Voltage

Stations

E. T. B. GROSS
FELLOW AIEE

B. V. CHITNIS

ASSOCIATE MEMBER AIEE

Synopsis: Grounding grids are used in

high-voltage stations when rocky ground
makes the use of driven ground rods impractical. The characteristics of grounding
grids are investigated in this paper, and the
results are applied to the basic design elements of this type of grounding system.

THE maximum value of the allowable

resistance between uninsulated parts

of electric equipment of an electric power
system and ground will depend upon the
single-line-to-ground fault current at the
switchyard concerned. A large station
on a system with small fault current may
have a higher allowable ground resistance than a small station on a system with
large fault current. The importance of
the magnitude of the fault current needs
emphasis. It is evident that the type
of system grounding used influences the
resistance level. The material covered
in this paper will be concerned with station grounds which should in most cases
have a resistance of less than a few ohms.

AUGUST 1 953

L. J. STRATTON

ASSOCIATE MEMBER AIEE

The term "resistance to ground" needs

definition since it is the determination of
this quantity with which this investigation is concerned. The resistance to
ground is the "resistance between the electrode system and another electrode in the
ground at infinite spacing."' It does not
refer to the resistance of the copper wires
used in connecting the electric equipment to the point where these wires
enter the ground. The resistance of the
copper wires is almost always negligible,
but it is the resistance that the current
encounters in going from the wires into
the ground that is appreciable.

Nature of a Grounding Grid

Grounding is usually accomplished most
readily by using deep-driven gTound rods.
Sometimes the nature of the soil is such
that the substratum is mostly rock, thus
making the driving of deep rods impractical. For these cases, the most economical method of obtaining a low ground-

consequently will be treated as a separate

requirement of insulation systems. Since
only a minority of motors in the field would
be expected to encounter condensation on
the insulation, we feel that this severe condition could be overemphasized if all test
motors were subjected to it.
We plan to expose insulation systems to
operating voltage, after humidification,
while they are still wet, as well as to continue to air-dry the motors after humidification before the starting voltage is applied.
In this way the effect of condensed moisture
on aged insulation will be able to be
evaluated fully.
In summary, there are two main purposes
for which this method was developed. To
satisfy these purposes a procedure was devised which is intended to simulate field
operating conditions and to give data which
correlate with field experience on accepted
or standard insulation systems. With this
procedure the field performances of new
insulation systems are to be predicted. With
the data obtained from this procedure evaluations shall be made of motorette and other
component tests.
REFERENCES
1. See reference 2 of C. J. Herman's discussion.
See reference 5 of the paper.

2.

ing resistance is to bury a number of conductors at a depth of from 1 to 2 feet

parallel to the surface of the earth. The
conductors are usually arranged in a
criss-cross fashion, and the configuration
is spoken of as a grounding mat or grid
system. Such a mat not only effectively
grounds the equipment, but has the added
advantage of controlling the voltage
gradients at the surface of the earth.
As the number of buried conductors is
increased, the condition of a buried plate
of conducting material is approached.
The use of a solid buried horizontal plate
of sufficient size to produce a low resistance to ground would be very expensive;
it is really unnecessary in view of the fact
that as the number of buried conductors
is increased (thus approaching the condition of a plate), the addition of more conductors does less and less to reduce further
Paper 53-239, recommended by the AIEE Substations Committee and approved by the AIEE
Committee on Technical Operations for presentation at the AIEE Summer General Meeting,
Atlantic City, N. J., June 15-19, 1953. Manuscript submitted March 16, 1953; made available
for printing May 4, 1953.
E. T. B. GROSS is with Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Ill., B. V. CHITNIS is with the
American Gas and Electric Service Corporation,
New York, N. Y., and L. J. STRATTON is with
Armour Research Foundation, Chicago, Ill.
The practical importance of, and the need for, a
thorough analysis of this problem was pointed out
to one of the authors by H. H. Plumb, Head, Electrical Division, Bureau of Reclamation, Denver,
Colo., and many discussions with Mr. Plumb have
greatly advanced this investigation.

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799

the resistance to ground. This is so because a volume of ground surrounding

each conductor is necessary to distribute
the current in the ground. As the conductors are moved closer together, the
ground volumes will overlap and the volume which is common to both will not
effectively distribute the current.
In designing a groundirg grid, many
factors must be taken into account, such
as the form of the material to be used, be
it strips, rods, or tubes, and the relationships between length, depth, separation,
and radius of the buried conductors. It
is an analysis of this grid system of buried
conductors which will be presented in the
body of this investigation.

Calculation of Resistance to Ground

GENERAL EQUATION FOR RESISTANCE
The resistance of any body to the flow
of current through it is given by
L

R=pA

(1)

For the case of earth having a resistivity p,

the effective length L of the current path
and the effective cross-sectional area A
through which the current flows are very
large. In distributing the current into
ground through the grounding grid, only
a limited area of earth is in contact with
the electrodes. As the current spreads
out into ground, the cross-sectional area
and length of current path are increasing;
therefore, within a short distance from
the electrode system, the resistance is
extremely small. For this reason almost
all of the ground resistance is near the
electrodes. Jensen2 states that "measurements show that 90 per cent of the
total electrical resistance surrounding an
electrode is generally within a radius of
six to ten feet from the electrode." Because the cross-sectional area and length
of the current path associated with a
grounding grid are of such a complex
nature, a different approach of calculating
the resistance to ground is used.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESISTANCE AND
CAPACITANCE
In order to arrive at expressions for the
resistance to ground of a grid system, an
analogy will be used. This analogy is
based on the fact that the flow of current
into ground from the electrode system has
the same path as the emission of electric
flux from a similar configuration of conductors having isolated charges. It has
been shown by Peters' that if R is the
resistance to ground of an electrode system deeply buried in ground, and if C is

Soo

the capacitance of the same (isolated)

electrode system in a medium of dielectric constant unity, then

R=-P4r C

(2)

where p is the resistivity of earth assumed

constant throughout the region. If the
electrode system is near the surface of
the earth, the flow of current is altered
and the relationship is

Rp

27r C

(3)

where C is now the capacitance of the

electrode system and of its image with
respect to the surface of the earth. By
equation 3, the relationship between the
resistance to ground of the grounding grid
and its capacitance is established, and the
problem resolves itself into that of determining the capacitance of the grid and its

image.

RESISTIVITY OF EARTH p

The factor of proportionality between

the resistance to ground and the reciprocal of the capacitance involves the resistivity of the earth represented by p. The
value of p covers a wide range and is
dependent on many factors. The most
important factors are soil material,
whether clay, sand, etc.; moisture content
of the soil; and temperature.
The resistivity may vary from 0500
to 50,000 ohms per centimeter cubed. It
is sometimes convenient to express the
resistivity in terms of ohms-centimeter.
The expression "'ohms-centimeter" represents the resistance between the opposite
faces of a cube of soil 1 centimeter on a
side. The literature on variations of resistivity contains many tables which give
the approximate range of resistivity for
different conditions.4 For the purposes
of this investigation it will be sufficient to
say that the type of soil, as determined by
its chemical composition, is variable.
Many times an attempt to alter the chemical composition is made by salting the
earth in the vicinity of the ground electrodes. Even though this is sufficient to
lower the ground resistivity by a great
deal in many cases, it provides only temporary relief at best, because the salting
process must be repeated periodically,
sometimes as often as every 6 months.
The moisture content of the soil also
alters the resistivity. Since the moisture
content varies with the seasons, the resistivity is a function of the time of the year.
The moisture content of the soil also depends on the height of the water table;
therefore, in order to reduce the seasonal
variations in resistivity due to moisture

variation, an attempt is usually made to

install the grounding electrodes in such
manner as to reach the permanent water
table. However, this will not be possible
here, since this investigation is concerned
with a grid arrangement buried at a depth
of 1 to 2 feet. At this depth, the variation of moisture may be considerable,
and the range of variation of resistivity
with moisture must be determined beforehand.
Temperature also greatly affects resistivity and at a small depth the temperature
variation may be considerable. Thus,
with a grid arrangement buried at a depth
of only 1 or 9 feet, the specific resistivity
depends on the soil composition at that
depth. Because the shallow depth of
burial allows variations in temperature
and moisture content, the resistivity value
must be determined for the worst conditions of these factors, namely, dry cold
earth. After obtaining this value, it may
be assumed that it remains constant so
that the computations lead to the highest
resistance which will be experienced.
The resistivity of the soil at the location
of the station must be found by tests.
A number of test methods have been
developed which may be employed, and
many references to such literature are
available. However it is well to stress
that these tests should be conducted over
a long period of time, since resistivitv
will vary greatly with the seasons. It is
worth while to extend them over a period
of at least 1 year. Such tests constitute
the first steps in installing a grounding

grid.

DETERMINATION OF CAPACITANCE

The determination of the capacitance

of the grounding grid and its image presents a formidable task since the electrode structure of a grid is rather complex.
There are two very important methods
employed in the calculation of capacitance. They are:
1. Howe's average potential method.5
2. Maxwell's method of subareas.6,7

In the case of any electt-ode system

made up of conducting material and carrying an electric charge, the charge distributes itself over the body of the electrode
system in such a manner that the potential everywhere on the surface of the body
is the same. Hence the charge densitx
over the different points of the body would
not be the same. An average value of
potential is taken and used in calculating
the capacitance of the body, assuming
that the charge distribution is uniform at
the start.
This method was developed by Howe

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AUGUST 1 953

Fig. 1 (left). Typical

grounding grid

40

4c
b2 a
I4

a44 b4

a7

a8

b7

C7
C6

C8

b5
9

a6

4-0

a5
C

_1_

a30 aT3

,-SURFACE OF
*

EARTH

af

Fig. 2 (right). Subdivision of grounding d - 2s

grid with one mesh
TZ

---

b3

C3

Ci

C3

cl

1. The charge density qi over Ai is essentially constant.

2. The potential Vij produced by the
charge on Ai over the area occupied by Aj
may be chosen to calculate the potential of
Aj due to charge on Ai. Similarly, the potential Vii produced by the charge on Ai
over the area occupied by Ai is constant.

Since the potential

Vij produced

on

Aj by the constant charge density qi on Ai

is proportional to qi, the following may be
written

Vij = Kijqi

(4)

and the total potential

n

E] Vij :EKi.qj
=

i=l

(5)

i=1

If in this fashion the potential of each

subarea may be computed, obtaining n
linear equations in n variables, qi (i = 1,
2
n). However, since the charges are
in equilibrium over this charged conducting electrode system, the potential is constant everywhere on it, therefore
...

Vo

EKijqi
i=

(6)

where VO is the potential of the electrode

AUGUST 1 953

o3 Ib-'D3 C3

_0

system. Hence qi (i=1, 2

n) can be
solved in terms of VO. The total charge
Q is then given by
n

...

Vj =

Q=

5A iqi

(7)

=1

and Q is obtained in terms of VO. Finally

the capacitance C is given by

VO

Q(8)

The finer the subdivision, the more acFortunately, in

many cases, a reasonably small value of n
gives results that are quite accurate.
curate is the result.

Effect on Capacitance of Number

of Meshes of Grid
The conductor configuration to be
analyzed is a grid buried horizontally at a
depth of 1 to 2 feet. To simplify the
calculations, it will be assumed that the
grid occupies a square area rather than a
rectangular area, Fig. 1. In this way,
symmetry will greatly reduce the amount
of analytical work required to determine
the capacitance.
The actual grid will cover a certain
area which will be criss-crossed by the
grid wires. The density of the mesh will
depend upon the separation between the
wires. If the separation between the
wires is increased, all that will be left in
the limit will be four wires which enclose
the area formerly occupied by the grid.
The resistance to ground of these four
conductors, forming a square, will give

rIMAGE

d,:GROUNDING

a 1

a\,

SURFACE OF EARTH

,,

and later used by Dwight.8'9 In many

cases, the values of capacitance calculated
by this method are accurate to within a
few per cent.
The method of subareas was first used
by Maxwell to calculate the capacitance
of a square. The electrode system carrying electric charge is divided into subareas Ai (i=1, 2
n), each of them
carrying a charge density qi (i = 1, 2
n).
The subdivision is so made that each subarea is small enough to make the following
assumptions :10

Ilar

GRID

limit for the resistance of the

grid.
As conductors are placed within the
area, the resistance to ground will decrease.
Just how much the resistance is reduced
for each conductor that is added is one
of the problems of this investigation.
The limiting condition is reached when
the spacing between the grid wires becomes zero, so that the grounding system
has become a plate. This will establish
a lower limit on the resistance to ground
which could be obtained for the actual
grid. These limiting conditions will be
discussed first and then the grid itself
will be analyzed.

an upper

CAPACITANCE OF A SQUARE OF WIRE

To obtain the upper limit of the resistance to ground of the grid, it is necessary
to determine the expression giving the
capacitance of a large square of wire
which encloses the area occupied by the
grid. The capacitance of a square of
wire and its image may be closely approximated by the capacitance of a circle
of wire and its image, if the circumference of the circle is equal to the perimeter of the square. This is so because the
resistance to ground of a buried conductor
configuration depends primarily upon the
lengths of wire buried in ground which
are not surrounded by adjacent wires.", 12
This is most easily seen if the resistance
to ground is calculated for a straight wire,
a right angle turn of wire, a 4-point star,
etc. If the over-all lengths of wire buried
in ground are the same, the resistance of

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801

04b4

b2

07

02

a8a

C4

Fig. 3 (left).
Subdivision of
grid
grounding
with
four meshes

a4

C2

07

be

C2

Wa

di

b5

d3

a5

C3

d =2s

cl

bi
b,I

0a
,

a3
e*- L --*1

--

,'-GROUNDING GRID

b3

b,

a,

all configurations will be almost the same

with slightly increasing values for the
latter cases. This is due primarily to the
mutual coupling at the junction points in
the more complex configurations. An
equation for the capacitance of a circle of
wire and its image located a distance d
away is giv-en by Dwight as

4D1

C 1 Ln 4D
-In dIn

( 9)

where r is the radius of the conductor and

D is the diameter of the circle. If equation 9 is to approximate the reciprocal of
the capacitance of a square of wire which
encloses an area A, then D = 4/A /r
since for this condition the length of wire
in ground is the same.
By the method of subareas, the capacitance of a square wire and its image may
be calculated to any desired degree of
accuracy. To make the analytical expressions as simple as possible, an equation for the capacitance of a square of
wire and its image is derived in Appendix
III. Comparison of equation 9 and of
equation 13 in Appendix III shows that
the capacitance of a circle that has a circumference equal to the perimeter of a
square is slightly larger, the per-cent error
decreasing for increasing areas. This is
to be expected since the conductors are
mutually coupled at the corners of the
square. The calculation of the capacitance by either the use of a square of wire
or a circle of wire gives an upper limit
for the resistance to ground for a ground-

rIMAGE

al

C'

a'

as

co

al \

IMAGE

SURFACE OF EARTH

S/////X//XC/?

Fig. 4 (right).
Subdivision of
grounding grid
with nine meshes

-Jr

0
03

OF A PLATE
If the meshes of the grid are increased
while the over-all dimensions of the grid
are maintained the same, then in the limit
the grid becomes a plate. Thus the resistance of a plate with the outside dimensions of the grid indicates the lower limit
of the resistance to ground of a grid covering a specific area. Equations for a plate
are given in Appendix IV.

CAPACITANCE

GRID
An attempt was made to calculate the
capacitance of a grounding grid by the
average potential method and a number
of approximations. The grounding grid
was considered to be composed of a
number of squares, the number depending
OF A

the number of meshes. The

capacitance of the squares and their
images was approximated by the use of
equivalent circles. These circles of wire
were in turn assumed to be represented
by equivalent vertical rods whose length
and diameter were functions of the dimensions of the circle. The capacitance of
these vertical rods and their images was
then calculated by the use of equations
which apply to a group of long rods. This
method of replacing the ground grid by
an equivalent configuration gives good
results providing the equivalent rods are
long and thin, and such is the case for
large grids with few meshes. As the
spacing between the conductors of the
grid is decreased, the equivalent configuration is no longer valid. Since the calculation of the capacitance of the grid by the

0-

GROUNDING GRID

----LW

CAPACITANCE

upon

06

03

d 2s

/-SURFACE OF EARTH
C

b5 fb62

05

Os

S02

C4

b3

03

ing grid.

b2

b7

C2

-0

GI
o

method of subareas gives results which are

accurate to any desired degree, the
method of subareas is preferable and was
used.
The subdivision of the grounding grids
is shown in Fig. 2, 3, and 4. The grounding grid with one mesh and its image are
divided into 48 subareas (that is, n = 48).
Because of symmetry a number of subareas will carry the same charge density
and only three different charge densities
are needed. All subareas carrying the
same charge density are denoted by the
same letter (a, b, or c) but distinguished
by its accompanying numerals (a,, a2, . . .
etc.). The image of a, is denoted by a1'.

Hence there will be three different charge

densities, qa, qb, and q,. The grounding
grid with four meshes is subdivided into
48 subareas with only four different charge
densities, q,1, qb, qC, and qd. The grounding grid with nine meshes is subdivided
into 48 subareas with only four different
charge densities, qa,, qb, q, and qd. It
should be noted that each subarea consists of the curved surface of a length L
of wire of radius r. However, because of
the large length to radius ratio, each
subarea is, in fact, a linear element and
consequently the charge density, instead
of being a surface charge density, is a
linear charge density and Maxwell's
method is modified to that extent.
The equation used in calculating the
potential at any point due to charge on a
linear element is given in Appendix I.
A sample calculation for a grounding grid
of one mesh is shown in Appendix II.

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AUGUST 1 953

Before proceeding to grids with more

meshes, a closer examination of the solution given in Appendix II is in order.
1. Major contribution to Kaa' is from a,
and al'.
2. Any change in the radius of the conductor is reflected in the coefficients Kaa', Kbb',
and Kcc' through the contribution from al,
b1, and cl respectively. The other coefficients remain unaltered. This is evident
from the equations given in Appendix I.
3. Any change in the depth of the grid is
reflected in all the coefficients in varying
degrees. Whereas the change in Kaa',
Kbb', and K11' with any change in the depth
of the grid is of major importance, the
change in the mutual coefficient is so small
that it can be neglected. The difference between the contribution of any subarea on
the main grid and the contribution from the
corresponding subarea on the image of the
grid (for example, a2 and a2') indicates
whether any change in the depth of the grid
will affect the coefficients to an appreciable
degree. When the distance between the
center of the subarea from the point at
which the potential is calculated is very
large compared with the depth of the grid,
this difference is quite small. For example,
for the sample calculation given in Appendix
II, the contributions of a, and a,' to Kaa' are
5.7914 and 1.8115 respectively, and those of
a7 and a2' are 0.0725 and 0.0725 respectively.
If the depth of the grid is now changed
from 1.5 feet (as used in this calculation) to
3.0 feet, the contributions from a1 and a2 are
unaffected and the contributions from a1'
and a2' are 1.1894 and 0.0725 respectively.

These observations are quite helpful

when examining the effects of radius and
depth on the capacitance of the grid. A
set of coefficients is first obtained for a
particular area, radius of the conductor,
and depth of the grid. Then, when it is
desired to obtain a new set of coefficients
corresponding to the same area but for a
different radius of the conductor and a
different depth of the grid, coefficients
Kaa', Kbb,' and K,,' are obtained from
the original set by recalculating the contributions from a, and a,' (for Kaa'), bi
and bl' (for Kbb'), and cl and cl' (for K,,1).
There would be some change due to contributions from other subareas, but it is
so small that it can be neglected. Similarly, the mutual coefficients remain unaltered for the same reason. Thus a
new set of simultaneous linear equations
is obtained. This is solved for qa, qb, and
q, and the new value of capacitance results.
It was observed in the case of grids
with one mesh that the charge density
along the wire is almost constant. If this
is assumed, then it facilitates the solution of the simultaneous linear equations.
Validity of this assumption can always
be checked once the solution is obtained.
This assumption is used to obtain an analytical expression for the capacitance of a
square grid with one mesh.
AUGUST 1953

One might expect the mutual coefficients

like Kab' and Kba' to be reciprocal. They
are almost, but not exactly, reciprocal.
For example, for the sample calculation
given in Appendix II, K,b' is equal to
2.4368 while Kba' is equal to 2.4568.
These coefficients depend not only on the
distance between the center of one subarea to the center of the other but also
on their orientation with respect to each
other. This dependence on the orientation is less important when the distance
between the subareas is much larger than
the length L of each subarea. This can be
explained when it is noted that the equipotential surfaces for a charge uniformly
distributed over a conductor of length L
are ellipsoids of revolution. When the
distance from this charged conductor is
large compared with its length L, the
equipotential surface can be approximated
to a sphere instead of an ellipsoid of revo-

lution. Whereas the contribution from

b6 to Kba' is equal to 0.2828, that from a6
to Kab' is equal to 0.2715. However,
the contribution from b5 to Kab' is equal
to 0.0766 and that from a8 to Kab' is
equal to 0.0765.

Results of Calculations
The results are expressed as the reciprocal of the capacitance and not as the
capacitance of the grid since this value
can be used more conveniently in obtaining the resistance to ground of the
grounding grid. This is evident from
equation 3. The results are tabulated in
Tables I, II, and III. Values that were
obtained by using the short cuts mentioned in the previous section are distinguished by an asterisk (*). However,
the values thus obtained are reasonably
accurate.

Table 1. Results of Calculations for a Square Grid with One Mesh

Radius r of
conductor,
Feet

Area A,
Square Feet

Depth of grid
s= d/2, Feet

(1/C) X 104
(C in

rd/A

Centimeters)

W/C
(W in Feet)

.
..
..
.
0.1268
12.68
9 .0X 10-6
1.5 ......
10,000
0.031 ............ 9.36 .........4.5X1O-6 ......... 0.1323
20,000.
.
1.5.6.25.
1.8X10
.........1397
50,000 .......... .03 .....
0.03 ............. 1.5. ........... .59 . ........ 9.1X10-7 ......... 0.1450
100,000 ...
1.5X10-6 ......... 0.1414
1..............0 *
20,000 .... .......
0.1360
..
...........62*. ........0X106.
20,000 .......... .02
.0X10-6 ......... 0.1302
0.04 ............ 1.5 .
.21*.
...........
20,000 ...
0.1285
9.08*
.
7.X10-6
0.05
.........
1.........
20,000
.
0.1555
.
8X10 t.
.......
...........
20,000 ........ 0.0748 ............ 0 .
. .
1
0.03
.......... 12.0........ 4.5X160X- ......... 0.1704
20,000...
0.03.
............. 10.5.........7.5X10-7 ......... 0.1470
20,000 ...
0.1418
.
0.03
...1.5X10-6 ....
20,000...
........... 5.50 ............ 10.02*.
0.03.
............ 9.62* ......... 3.0X10-6 ......... 0.1360
20,000 ...
0.03 .............00 ............ 9.23* ......... 6.0X10-6 ......... 0.1306
20,000 ...
0.03 ............ 3.00 ............ 8.99*.
9.OX10-6 ......... 0.1270
20,000 ...
.........

............

............

......

............

..

*,tSee

text for

explanation.

Table IL. Results of Calculations for a Square Grid with Four Meshes
Area A,
Square Feet

Radius r of
conductor,
Feet

10,000 ...
20,000 ..........
50,000 ....
100,000 ....
20,000 ...
20,000...
20,000 ...
20,000 ...

Depth of grid
s =d/2, Feet

(1/C) X 104
(C in

Centimeters)

rd/A

W/C

(W in Feet)

0.03 ............ 1.5 ............ 11.0 ......... 9.OX 10-6 ......... 0.1100
.
4.5X10-6 .........0.1136
0.03 ............ 1.5 ............ 8.03.
0.03 ............ 1.5 ............ 5.33 ... 1.8X10 -6 ......... 0.1192
.. 9.OX10-7......... 0.1228
.
0.03
........... 3.88
0.1290
0 ............ 9.12 ... 2.8XI0-7t...
0.0748 .........
0.1395
0.
0.03 .........
...........9.86 ......... 4.5X10-t ...
0.1233
0.25
.7.5X10-7 ..
8.72*
0.03 .
0.1095
.
0.03
9.0X10-6 ..
........... 7.74*...
............

*,tSee text for explanation.

Table Ill. Results of Calculations for a Square Grid with Nine Meshes
Area A,
Square Feet

Radius r of
conductor,
Feet

Depth of grid
s = d/2, Feet

0.03 ............
10,000 ....
0.03 ............
20,000 ....
0.03 ............
50,000 ....
0.03 ............
100,000 ....
0.0748 .........
20,000 ...
.
20,000
03.......03 . ...........
...
0.03 .
20,000 ...

(1/C) X 104
(C in

Centimeters)

rd/A

W/C

(W in Feet)

1.5 ............ 10.15 ......... 9.0X 10-6 .........

. .4.5X10-6 .........
1.5 ............ 7.39
1.5 ............ 4.84 ......... 1.8X10-6 .........
.. .9.OX10-7 .........
1.5 ............ 3.53
0 ............ 8.21 ......... 2.8X10 -7t .
8
4.5X10-8t .
.............75
7.5X10-7
0.25 ............ 7.91* ...

0.1015
0.1045
0.1082
0.1115
0.1160
0.1237
0.1119

*,tSee text for explanation.

Gross, Chitnis, Stratton-Grounding Grids for High- Voltage Stations

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803

ship between the capacitance of the grid

and its physical dimensions was obtained.
The derivation is given in Appendix III,
where the relationshil) is expressed as

I 'A

12
s
; 10 -

<1
1

CONDUCTOR RADIUS = 0.03 FT.

___ DEPTH OF THE GRID = 1.5 FT.

itr(C SQ.
|
~~~~~~~~~~2
AREA = 0,000
210r(0)Q
A~~~REAFT.

0 8

-x

-J' 6

_,

AREA

=20,000

AREA

AREA

10

feet = v A
C = capacitance of the grid, centimeters
r =radius of the conductor, feet
d = distance betweeni the grid and its image=2s, feet
1 = area of the grid, square feet

50,000 SQ. FT.

100,000 SQ.. FT.
10,000

1000
100
NUMBER OF MESHES

When the grid is on the surface of the

ground and not buried, s would be equal
to zero. However, d should be put equal
to r in equation 13 since the potential of
the grid is the potential on the surface
of the wire; these values are indicated
by a dagger (t) in Tables I, II, and III.
Equation 13 is valid only for grids buried
very close to the surface of the earth
since d/W<<1. If the grid could be
buried deeply in the ground, obvious
choice would be deep-driven rods for
ground connections rather than a grounding grid buried parallel to the surface of
the earth. Hence, equation 13 has practical usefulness.
Equation 13 is plotted in Fig. 6 on a
semilogarithmic system of co-ordinates to
give a straight line. The points plotted
are the values that were actually calculated; see Table I. The close agreement
is noticeable since the calculated points
lie on the curve representing equation 13.
The calculated values for 4- and 9mesh grids are also plotted in Fig. 6.
They satisfy a relationship similar to the
one for the 1-mesh grid given by equation
13. In this case a wide range of values
for rd/A has been covered, hence the
validity of this relationship can be assumed for values of rd 'A likelv to occur

100,000

Fig. 5. Influence of the number of meshes on the resistance

Fig. 5 shows a plot of the reciprocal of
the capacitance of the grounding grid
against the number of meshes. The
areas were arbitrarily chosen as 10,000,
20,000, 350,000, and 100,000 square feet.
The radius of the conductor was chosen
-to be equal to 0.03 foot and the depth
below the surface of the ground was
taken as 1.5 feet. The capacitance is
expressed in electrostatic units (that is,
in centimeters): hence if the resistivity p
is expressed in ohms-centimeter, then the
-resistance to ground is given by equation
3. The resistance of the grid decreases
with increasing numbers of meshes. The
decrease is quite rapid in the beginning
but slow after about 16 meshes. The
lower limit is reached when the crisscross conductors touch each other and
-form a square plate. This value for a
square plate is plotted for a number of
meshes equal to 100,000. However, this
value corresponds to zero depth (that is,
corresponding to a plate on the surface
of the earth It is assumed here that
the resistance of a plate on the surface of
ground is almost equal to the resistance
of a plate buried at a depth of 1.5 feet. It
will be evident from Fig. 7 that the effect
of increasing the depth of a 1-mesh grid
from zero to 1.. feet is to decrease the
resistance by about 25 per cent. Since
the radius of the conductor is very small
compared to the depth of the grid, even
this small depth is effective in reducing the
resistance of the grid by some amount.
However, for a square plate of the same
over-all dimensions as the grid, a depth
of 1.5 feet is verv small compared to the
dimensions of the plate and the reduction
in the resistance would not be large.
The experimental data obtained by McCrocklin and W'endlandt14 show that if
the depth of the plate is increased from
-S04

zero to 1.5 feet, the reduci tion in resistance

is only about 6 per centt for an area of
10,000 square feet, andI is smaller for
larger areas. Hence, Ithe assumption
made in drawing the cwrves of Fig. 5 is
quite reasonable.
It is evident from Fig. 5 that the reduction in resistance obtained by using more
than 16 meshes is uIneconomical. A
better way of reducing thle resistance is to
increase the area enclosecI by the grid.
UNIVERSAL CURVE FOR C,ROUNDING
GRIDS
It has been mentioned that in the case
of a square grid with one mesh the linear
charge density along the wire is constant.
Of course, in the neighiborhood of the
corners of the grid the cbharge density is
bound to be higher, but for all practical
purposes it can be assumed to be constant. On the basis of thiis assumption an
analytical expression fcDr the relation-

0.20

(13)

--

Mx here
1li=wxidth of the grid,

SQ. FT.

2
1

-0= .0316-0.0189 logn ,if I-V1d-<<I

I MESHI

0.18

< ~~~~~~~~~~-a-

0.16

14L

4 MESiH

0.12
0.10 i
0.08

._
__ _ _ _

lo-9

IC' ICF'

I__

i07

-6

io-5
rd
A
Fig. 6. Resistance to ground. Universal curve for grounding grid
5

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10-4

AUGUST 1953

16

14
0
x

12 9

16

Fig. 7 (left). Effect of depth

on the resistance

AREA=20,000SQ.FT.
CONDUCTOR RADIUS 0.03 FT.
ONE MESH ONLY

AREA 20,000 SQ. FT.

DEPTH = 1.5 FT.
ONE MESH ONLY
-

14

II

ri

-IC

10

-P

108
1.0
2.0
DEPTH IN FEET

3.0

in practice. Specifically, it must be

stated that the d/W ratio should be very
much smaller than one.
EFFECT OF DEPTII AND CONDUCTOR
RADIUS
Although thle curves presented in Fig. 6
are of great usefulness, they do not indicate the relationship between the individual parameters and the resistance of the
grid with enough clarity. The variation
of resistance with the number of meshes
and with the area is already shown in
Fig. 5. The variation of resistance with
the depth of the grid is shown in Fig. 7
and the variation of resistance with tlle
radius of the conductor is shown in Fig. 8.
The curves are drawn through points
actually calculated as given in Table I.
Although these curves are drawn for a
grounding grid with one mesh enclosing
an area of 20,000 square feet, the conclusions drawn are applicable to grids with
larger number of meshes. The resistance
of a grid is very high when the grid is on
the surface of the earth. It decreases
with increase in depth, quite rapidly at
first and afterwards slowly. The variation of resistance with the radius of the
conductor is quite small for the sizes of
conductor that would be used normally.
The curve is asymptotic for values of r
approaching zero. It is evident from
Fig. 6, 7, and 8 that the effect of doubling
the radius of the conductor is the same as
that of doubling the depth. Normally,
thermal and mechanical considerations
would determine the radius of the conductor, and the nature of the soil would
determine the depth.

COMPARISON OF CALCULATED \ ALUES

WITH AVAILABLE EXPERIMENTAL DATA
Some experimental work has been done
on this subject by McCrocklin and Wendlandt'4 and the comparison between the
experimental data and the calculated
values is shown in Table IV. The depth
of the grid was chosen to be equal to zero
because some difficulty was encountered
in reading their

depth.

AUGIJST 1953

curves

for

very

small

8~~~f >i_>0

Fig. 8 (right). Effect of conductor radius on the resistance

The experiments were made with

model grid in a natural lake.

Conclusions
The problem of calculating the resistto ground of a grounding grid is, in
fact, a problem of calculating the capacitance of the grounding grid and its image
because there is a simple relationship
between this capacitance and the resistance to ground. Maxwell's method of
subareas is a very powerful tool in calculating the capacitance of a symmetrical
body. The results can be obtained to
any desired degree of accuracy, although
the numerical work involved is considerable for a very high degree of accuracy.
The method also gives useful information
regarding the charge distribution on the
body. Only numerical results can be
obtained with this method.
The method of subareas was used in
calculating the resistance to ground of
square grids buried in ground, parallel
to the surface of the earth, to very shallow
depths. It was found that the charge
distribution, in the case of a 1-mesh grid,
is very nearly uniform along the wire.
Hence it is expected that the results for a
1-mesh grid are good to within slide-rule
accuracy. This is also borne out by the
fact that. the calculated values closely
check the values obtained from the analytical expression derived for one mesh
grid; this means that there is no change
in the answer when going from eight subareas to 48 subareas in the calculations.
Calculations for 4-mesh grids were made
with 48 subareas. However, when one
of these calculations was repeated with
96 subareas, the answer was only 0.2
per cent higher than the one obtained
for 48 subareas. Therefore, it is expected
that the results for 4-mesh grids are also
good to within slide-rule accuracy. The
ratio of minimum charge density to
maximum charge density in the case of 4mesh grids is about 0.65 to 0.70, depending on the size of the area whereas the
same ratio for 9-mesh grids is about 0.58
to 0.65 for the calculations made in this
ance

0.02
0.04
CONDUCTOR RADIUS IN FEET

0.06

investigation (charge densitv here refers

to the average charge density over a
subarea). This ratio gives a good indication as to how many subareas should be
used to give an accurate answer. The
lower the ratio, the finer ought to be the
subdivision. Since a fairlv accurate
answer was obtained for 4-mesh grids
with 48 subareas, it can be assumed that
the same order of accuracy would be obtained with 9-mesh grids with 48 subareas because the ratio just mentioned is
of the same order.
The grid usually occupies a large area
and an average value of ground resistivity
has to be used in the calculations. The
seasonal variations in resistivity are very
marked at the depths to which the grids
are usually buried. Because of these two
reasons the accuracy with which the
resistivity is known is not of high order
and the degree of accuracy obtained in the
calculations of the capacitance of a grid is
considered quite adequate.
The resistance of a grounding grid decreases with increase in the area enclosed.
It also decreases with increase in the
diameter of the wire used and the depth
to which it is buried. When the depth
of the grid is of the same order of magnitude as the diameter of the wire the resistance is quite high, but as the depth is
increased the resistance decreases quite
rapidly at first and then very slowly.
Variation of resistance with the size of the
wire is of a similar nature except for the
fact that very thin wires are rarely used
and therefore ranges where variations
are rapid are seldom encountered.
Table IV. Comparison Between the Calculated Values and the Available Experimental
Data
Ared=20,000 Square Feet; Conductor Radius=0.0748 Foot; Depth of Grid =0
Number
of
Meshes
1.

4.
9.

Experimental
Value of
Deviation,
(1/C) X 104
(1/C) X 104 (Reference 14) Per Cent
Calculated
Value of

11.0

9.12
8.2...

.10.5 ... -4.5

9.95
+9.0

Gross, Chitnis, Stratton-Grounding Grids for High Tloltage Stations

-

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23.2

+11.25

805

TabIt V. Sample Calculation for a Square Grounding Grid with One Mesh
IDue
Kij'

Due to b

Due to a

K1i'

to c

Potential on al

a2

0. 2219
c
.........
0.4771.
0.2213
0.4710 ....
cl' ......
c
.
0. 0688
C
..
0.0712
0
0.0712
..C... 2...... 0.0688
C3 ........O.0.1461
0. 1083 .....
0.1461
0.1083 ....I
C3......
0.0647
0.0600 ....
co......
... 0.0647
C4 ...
. 0600.LI...
0.0766 .
05 ,.O.. 0720
...
0.0720
0.0763 ....
c5 ..
.1725
0.2828. .... 06
..b6
.1722
0.2816 ............0
C6
b.
6
0c.0665
. . 0.0607.
.....

.la
.
5.7914
..bi
l .1.8115 ....
bi' .
.
0.0725 ....
b2
.
.0.0725.b...
. a3
.
0.0873 .....
b.
.
b3'
' a3 .0.0873 ....
.
0.
0.0556 ......
a4
0
5
.0.0556.
... ..0
O
.
.0.0784
....
b5
.
,
0.0787
....
b5'.

a2'0.
a4 0

.0.6269
a6

a6. 0.6151 ....

a7

0.0558
.
a7
0.0558 ....
0.0866
a8
a8 .0.0866 .

.9.7176

Kaa'.

....

.....

0.0607

b' .

..b8

..

Kba'

....

0.0956....
.

c8

...

V==qln-

..

al

L-+

-I(;)+ra
L( 2)

it2)

2~

='2q ln

2.4568 .............a............. 1.8715

.
.0.1236
C.

Potential on b1
5. 7914....
0.4771 ..........
ci .......... 0.4771
0.4710
.
1.8115
.. cl'.
.0.4710 ....
bi' ..
0.0712
.
.
.
.
.. c.
0.0712
0.0725
a2
0.0712
0.0725 ....
b2' ..
c2l ..
a2. 0.0712 ....
0.2219
0.1461 ........ c3 ..
.
0.1083 .....
b. ..
a3
0.2213
.
0. 1461
0.1083 ....
.. cat
a3'..
b3' ..
0.0688
0.0647 ....
..0.0600 ....
N ..
a4
C4 .
.0688
0.0647 .
b4l ..
.... 4
a4. 0.0600 ....
0.0844
. .a.
0.0918
a
0.0959 ....
c ..
..
b5 ..
.
0.0918
b5' ...
............. 0.0844
.0.0959 ....
a6'
.1500
0.2056 ....
b6 ..
.0.2715 ....
C6 ..
a6
'
.C60.
a6
0.2708 ..
1500
.0.2051..
.. b6'..
0.0762
b ..
.
0.0681 ....
0.0613 ....
C7 ..
a7
0.0762
0.0681 ....
b7' ..
0.0613 ....
a7'..
C7l ..
0.1143
.
0.0916 .
.
c
s
.
0.0765
.. b8
a8
s
0.1143
0.0916
.
'
c
'
0.0765
a8'..
..
.. b8
....
a

Hence x Oand y r, where r is the radius

of the wire. It is evident that in this case

0.0665
0.1236

.
.

' 0.0954

All throughout the calculations whenever

potential over any linear element is calculated, it is taken as the potential at the midpoint of the corresponding linear element.
Whenever self-potential (that is, potential
due to its own charge) is calculated, it is
taken as the potential on the surface of the
wire at the mid-point of the element.

(1)

if r<<L

Appendix 11. Sample Calculation

for a Square Grounding Grid
with One Mesh

..........

The

..

..

Kab'.

Kbb'.

.2.4368 ...

Potential on Ci

a, .
aa'.
.
a2

a2'
a3

a4

a4f
a6

a6

0.2219

.0.2213

....

.0.0688 ....
0.0688 ....
0.1461
.
a3 .0.1461 ....
.
0.0647
0.0647 ....

.........0.1225 ...

a6'

a6'.
a7

a7'
a

18'

Kac'.

.0. 1223 ......

.
0.1693
.
0.1692 ......
.
.
0.0665
0.0665 ......
.0.0721 ......
s
.

b'.

...

0.4771

Krcb..

b'
.0.4710....
b2 .0.0712.
.0.0712 .
b2'

b'.

9.0832

ba ..
b1'

.. b6

0.2219....
0.2213 ....
... 0.0688.
0.0688.
.. 0.1137..CD .

....

b6'....
.. b7
b7' ....
b8

.....

.0.0721

......

b8' ....

1.8629

......

Kb,c ...

.. cl
....

..

...

....

....

0.1140.

0.1486 .
0.1486 .
0.0763.

2.5170

....

cl ....
C2 ....

c2f

....

c3
C3

....

C4

C4

....
....

c6

....

.
C6

C6f.

0.0763.C. .
0.0842.
0.0840 ..C.. .

2.5211

.
C7
C7

.s

5.7914
1.8115
0.0725
0.0725
0.4771
0.4710
0.0712
0.0712
0.1012
0.1009
0.1231
0.1230
0.0876
0.0876
0.1014
0.1013

Kcc' .

of

the

1. The area enclosed by the grid should be

as large as possible. If further decrease in
resistance is desired, criss-cross conductors
should be added. However, the number of
meshes need not exceed 16 in an economical
design.
2. The diameter of the wire is determined
by thermal rather than by electrical considerations. Tubing may be advantageously used instead of wire.
3.X The depth to which the grid is buried is
determined by the nature of the soil. The
grid should be buried as deeply as possible
without involving too much expense in
excavation.

Fig. 6 is a very useful in determining the

resistance to ground of grounding grids.
It gives the ratio of the width of the grid
(in feet) to the capacitance of the grid

806

Appendix 1. Potential

at

Point Due to Charge on a

Linear Element

any

x- +
2

IL2
-I-+y2
X+tIl22)

Ix-I_
\2/

+y2

depth

natural

tity.

11

in the

indicate

logarithm

that

Kij

is

of a dimensionless

Using logarithms

equations

Kijqi.

theory Vij =

to

base

the

quan-

ten,

the

will be

Vij = 2.3026Kij'qi
The calculations

(12)
are

The three simultaneous

given in Table V.
equations are

9.7176qa+2.4568qb+ 1.8715qc Vo/2.3026

1.8629qa+2.5170qb+9.6645qC Vo/2.3026
=

2.4368q,+9.0832qb+2.52lqc = Vo/2.3026
=

Substituting
2.3026qa,
Xa=
V

and
Xb= 2.3026qb
V

2.3026q,

obtain

9.7176Xa+2.4568Xb+ 1.8715Xc

2.4368X a+9.0832Xb+2.521 lXc = 1

1.8629Xa+2.5170Xb+9.6645Xc

(A)
(B)
(C)

Using the Doolittle method of solving

simultaneous linear equations"8 (Table VI)
the solution is
Xa 0.0713, qa 0.0309 Vo
Xb 0.0713, qb 0.0309 Vo
Xc 0.0712, qc 0.0309 Vo
=

and
1
-

Let the linear charge density on the wire

of length L be q. Then the potential at any
point P(x,y), where the x-axis is coaxial
with the wire, is given by'5

L
x+-2
V=q ln

explained

As was

Equations

9.6645

(in centimeters) as a function of the radius

of the conductor, depth to which it is
buried, and the area enclosed by the grid.
When the capacitance of the grid is determined, then the resistance is given by
equation 3.

the

conductor

radius=0.03 foot.

we

The following points should be borne

in mind when considering the resistance
in designing a grounding grid:

area=20,000 square feet;

grid= 1.5 feet; and the

(10)

x104 = 9.36

Appendix Ill. Analytical

Expression for the Capacitance
of a Square Grid with One Mesh
Consider a square grounding grid of the
following dimensions (refer to Fig. 9):

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AUGUST 1 953

Area enclosed by the grid = A

Width of the grid = W
Radius of the conductor = r
Depth to which buried =s
Distance between the grid and its image=
d =2a

Fig. 9. Diagram used in connection with the derivation given in

Appendix Ill

Let the linear charge density be considered constant along the grid and let its
value be equal to q. Then the potential at r
(mid-point of mn) is obtained by using
equation 11.

Potential at r due to charge on mn

Wr

if
=21 in-,
r

TV

<<1

Potential at r due to charge on m'n' (m'n'

being image of mn)
2
2
W
-2

dI

=q
In

F-

d s 2s
=2qIn

d'

if

/W
2

Potential at r due to p'q'

+n2+d

wl+
In (2+ 5)

W)+WTT2+d2
1

Potential at r due to charge

W+ I'T2+QY)2+d2

Total potential at r is given

=2q ln

Potential at r due to charge on n'p'

if

V=c 4 In

Q=8qW
and

/T72

=q In

-(W2+d 2

1 V
C Q

(2-+f-5), w <<1
if

Potential at r due to charge

Potential at r due to pq

+ (W)2+W2
=qIn

_f+ (W)2+ W2

2~ ~
=2q ln

on

Wf+ lW2+ (W

Therefore

q'm'

+d2

4 ln-+

+.\'-

+X),if2

W=

Coefficient

of Xa

Coefficient

of Xb

Coefficient
of

Xc

Right
Number

.....

.....

.....

.....
.....

AUGUST 1953

.....

.....

if

<<1

where W is in feet and C is in centimeters.

.+15.046

A .................................. +9.718..... +2.457 ..... +1.871 ..... +1.0

A'=A/9.718 ..................
+1.0 .....+0.253 ..... +0.1925 ..... +0.103 .....+ 1.548
B........
+2.437 .....+9.083..... +2.521 ..... +1.0 .
+15.041
-2.437A' .-2.437 ..... -0.617 ..... -0.469 ..... -0.251
- 3.770
B-2.437A'.........
0
+8.466 ..... +2.052 ..... +0.749 ..... +11.271
B'=(B-2.437A')/8.466.
0 ... +1.0 ..... +0.242 .....+0.0885 ..... + 1.331
C .....
+1.863 .....+2.517 ..... +9.664.+1.0
+15.044
-1.863A' .....
-1.863 ..... -0.472 ..... -0.359 ..... -0.192 ..... - 2.885
C-1.863A'.......................... 0
+2.045.....+9.305 .....+0.808 .....+12.159
-2.045B' ........................... 0
-2.045 ..... -0.495 . -0.181 ..... - 2.720
0
C-1.863A'-2.045B'................. 0
+8.810 . +0.627 ..... + 9.439
C'=(C-1.863A'-2.045B')/8.810 .. 0
0
+ +1.0
+0.0712 .....+ 1.071
*The check sum is the sum of all coefficients and the right-hand member of each equation. The check
sums are treated exactly as the coefficients of the corresponding equations. Thus, if the equation is multiplied by a factor, the check sum is to be multiplied by the same factor. Or, if the two equations are added
or subtracted, the corresponding check sums are to be added or subtracted. The result of the operations
carried out with the check sums of the original equations has to be equal to the check sum of the final equation. This fact is used as the check on the computation.
.....

rd

0.0316-0.0189 log A

(13)

Check
Sum*
....

l1I,if
d4
d

Hence

2~~~~~~J2

= n

Table VI. Doolittle Method of Solving Simultaneous Linear Equations

Designation of Equation

IL2n ( ++) In (2+-\2)

2 In -+2
n-]
r
d

Total charge

on qrn

by

2+V%4 ln (2+\W)+

<<1

W+lTr2+( 2

=q In

=q In

=q

IP

W~WW2
In

PI

q-

II s

<1

Potential at r due to charge on np

=q

Appendix IV. Capacitance of a

Square Plate
The plate will have to be square in order
that the calculations obtained by considering it will be applicable to the over-all
problem. Dwight gives an equation for
the reciprocal of the capacitance of an
isolated thin rectangular plate. If the
equation is altered so that it is applicable
only to a square plate, the result is
1

'

2.973

VA

(14)

where -VA is the length of one of the sides

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807

of the square plate expressed in centimeters.

Dwight points out' that, because of the
error in the average potential method when
applied to a plate, the value of (11C)' is too
high and 8 per cent should be subtracted.7
If this is done, then the corrected value for
the reciprocal of the capacitance is
_1 2.736
(15)

VA
V

It is important to notice that equation 15

applies to an isolated plate. Therefore, if
the plate is deeply embedded in ground, the
resistance to ground is given by
p

R4=

(16)

If the plate is not deeply buried, but is at

the surface of the ground, the resistance is
twice as great, since the image must be
considered along with the plate. For the
case of a plate buried at the shallow depth of
3/2 feet, the resistance to ground is approximately the same as that of a plate at the
surface. Therefore, the expression for the
resistance to ground of the plate which provides the lower limit for the grid is given by
equation 3 where 1 C is giveni by equation 15
and p is the resistivity expressed in ohmcentimeters. An accurate computation using the method of subareas to determine the
capacitance of a plate, and of its im'cge, near
the surface of the earth is in preparation.

Discussion
Martin J. Lantz (Bonneville Power Administration, Portland, Oreg.): The authors are
to be congratulated on their analysis of
grounding grids. A number of interesting
relationships have been determined regarding the optimum physical layout of grounding grids. The conclusions state that an
economical design does not require more
than 16 meshes in the grid. It is stated
elsewhere that it is evident from Fig. 5 of

the paper that the number of 16 meshes is

the point of optimum reduction of resistance
of a mesh; however, from the curve it is
not apparent to the discusser how the value
16 was determined.
The subject of mat resistances is of considerable interest. Obtaining the correct
values of mat resistance is important to
system engineering problems such as determining probable substation mat potential
rise during fault and the effect of towerfooting resistances on the magnitude of
fault currents.1
The primary variables of mat resistance
for large grids in service such as substations
are as stated: moisture content and temperature. An important factor for the
smaller grids such as transmission tower
footings seems to be the magnitude of fault
current passing through the limited area.
A limited study of actual system fault made
by the discusser indicates that the towerfooting resistance varies with the magnitude of fault current, usually decreasing
with increase in current. The variation of
resistance in some cases is as much as 2 to
21/2 to 1. Oscillographic records of fault
data have been analyzed where current
values and the location of the fault are
known. This prosvides two values of current, one prior to the first circuit-breaker

808

References
EARTHING PROBLEMS, R. W. Ryder.

1.

Proceed-

inigs, Institution of Electrical Engineers, London,

England, vol. 95, 1948, pp. 175-84.

2. GROUNDING PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE. II-ESTABLISHING GROUNDS, Claude Jensen. Electrical Engineering, vol. 64, Feb. 1943, pp. 68-74.
3. GROUND CONNECTIONS FOR ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS, 0. S Peters. Technological Paper No. 108,
National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D. C.,
1918.
4. GROUNDING ELECTRIC CIRCUITS EFFECTIVELY,
J. R. Eaton. General Electric Review, Schenectady,
N. Y., vol. 44, 1941, pp. 397-404.
5. CAPACITY OF RADIO-TELEGRAPH ANTENNAE,

G. W. 0. Howe. The Electrician, London, England, vol. 73, 1914, pp. 829, 859, and 906.
6. A TREATISE ON ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM
VOLUME I (book), J. C. Maxwell. Oxford University Press, Oxford, England, 3rd ed., 1892, pp.
148-54.
7. ELECTRICAL RESEARCHES (book), H. Cavendish. Edited by J. C. Maxwell. Cambridge
UJniversity Press, Cambridge, England, 1879, pp.
426-27.

CALCULATION OF THE RESISTANCE TO GROUND

AND OF CAPACITANCES, H. B. Dwight. Journal of
cathewnatics and Physics, Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., vol. 10, 1930-31,

8.

pp.

30-74

9. CALCULATION OF RESISTANCES TO GROUND,

H. B. Dwight. AIEE Transactions (Electrical
Engisneering), vol. 33, Dec. 1936, pp. 1319-28.
10. AN APPROXIMATE CALCULATION OF THE
El ECTRICAL CAPACITIES OF RECTANGULAR AND

openinig and the second one after. Two

calculations of fault resistance nsay be
made for the same fault location with two
values of current magnitude. An attempt
has been made to correlate meggered values
of footing resistance with values calculated
from actual faults. The results have not
been conclusive mainly because of the
different times of measurement and the
apparent variation of resistance with current. One controlled test, however, provided the results given in Table I of the
discussion.
The data in Table I of the discussion are
based on two successive faults on each
tower with the meggered measurement of
resistance made before and after the tests.
The successive measured fault currents were
in very close agreement as well as the before and after meggered values. The first
high-resistance tower shows substantial
agreement while the second high-resistance
tower shows the characteristics of a negative coefficient of resistance for the footing.
All three footings were of the grillage type
buried about 7 feet in the ground. There
are no driven ground rods. Tower 72 is
located on loose gravel and dirt, tower 82
is located on sand and white chalk, and
tower 91 is located on broken rock and dirt.
It may also be of interest to note the
comparison of measurement of the mat re-

Meggered Ohms

Calculated Ohms
Based on Fault
Test

72......943.8.. 82 i
8.0 .......12.3
82 .......

91............76.3 ..

14. DETERMINATION OF RESTSTANCE TO GROUND)

OF GROUNDING GRIDS, A. J. McCrocklin, Jr, C W.
Wendlandt. AIEE Tranisactions, vol. 71, pt. II,
1952, pp. 1062-64.
15. THE CLASSICAL THEORY OF ELECTRICITY AND
MAGNETISM (book), M. Abraham, R. Becker.
Translated by J. Dougall. Hafner Publishing
Company, New York, N. Y., 1932, p. 63.

16. TRANSPOSITION OF HIGH-VOLTAGE OVERHEAD

LINES AND ELIMINATION OF ELECTROSTATIC UNBALANCE TO GROUND, Eric T. B. Gross, Andrew H.
Weston. AIEE Tranisactionts. vol. 70, pt. II, 1951,
pp. 1837-44.
17. GROUNDING EFFECTIVENESS AT GRAND
COULEE 230-Kv SWITCHYARDS VERIFIED BY
STAGED FAULT TESTS, A. C. Conger, R. K. Seely,
W. H. Clagett. AIEE Trailsactions, vol. 70. pt. II,
1951, pp. 1347--52.
18. GROUNDING GRIDS FOR HIGH V OL TAGE
STATIONS, L. J. Stratton. M. S. Thesis, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Ill.. Jan V951.
19. GROUNDING GRIDS FOR HIGH V(OLTAGE
STATIONS, B. V. Chitnis. M. S. Thesis, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Ill.. Jan, 1932

large substation by twvo

approximate dimensions of
grid are 880 by 600 feet
a connected metal fence
approximately 1,170 by 850 feet. The
actual grid is irregular in shape and consists
of approximately 200 meshes of varying
sizes. In addition, three other ties are made
approximately 500 feet to an adjacent
ground mat of an aluminum company. A
curve of the mat resistance determined by
the 3-point megger method out to 8,000 feet
results in a resistance of 0.60 ohm. The
average of five fault tests in which the mat
rise (261 to 281 volts average 273) was
measured and the mat current (527 amperes) determined from calculations based
on the measured total fault current resulted
in a mat resistance of 0.52 ohm. Twenty
miles of a 230-kv unenergized transmission
line radial to the substation in an opposite
direction to ground currents flowing to the
mat was used as a remnote ground probe for
the test and the potential measured across
a partially opened ground switch at the
substation. The meggered value was measured in early June and the test value measured in September. The two values are in
close enough agreement for practical purposes.

sistance of a
methods. The
the substation
surrounded by

REFERENCE
1. EFFECT OF FAULT RESISTANCE ON GROUND
CURRENT, M. J. Lantz. AIEE Transac!iomns, vol.
p 53-331).
72, pt. III, 1933 (Pape

Table I
Tower

ANNULAR AREAS, D. K. Reitan. M.S Thesis,

University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis., 1949.
11. GROUNDING PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE. I
FUNDAMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS ON GROUND CURRENTS, Reinhold Rudenberg. Electrical Enigineering, vol. 64, Jan. 1945, pp. 1-13.
12. TRANSIENT PERFORMANCE OF ELECTRIC
POWER SYSTEMS (book), R. Riidenberg. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, N, Y., 1950,
pp. 316, 324-39.
13. COMPARATIVE PROPERTIES OF GRCOUNDING
ELECTRODES, R. Ruidenberg. Electrical World,
New York, N. Y., vol. 129, Jan. 31, 1948, p. 72.

48.8

W. A. Morgan (Ebasco Services Inc., New

York, N. Y.): The authors are to be commended upon their solution of a complex
problem. The analysis covers the effect of
the different factors that enter into the
design of a grounding rnat.

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AuIGUST 1 953

There is still the practical problem of

measuring the resistivity of the soil. In
actual practice it is not always possible to
make this measurement accurately under
the desired conditions because of variations
of moisture content and temperature and
the season of the year to which the measurements might be limited. Thus, even with
the tools made available by the authors, an
exact determination of the resistance to
ground of a grounding mat may still be
difficult to achieve.
However, the main point is to know which
factors are important in laying out a grounding mat where the soil is shallow and the
resistivity of the soil is expected to be high.
Fig. 5 of the paper shows that the area of
the grounding mat is important, and that
it is not important to increase the number
of meshes above 16. Fig. 8 of the paper
shows that the diameter of the conductor
has very little effect on reducing the resistance to ground of the grounding mat.
A question may be raised regarding the
suggestion of using tubing instead of wire
for thermal reasons. Actually, it may be
difficult to justify on a theoretical basis anything near the sizes of conductors ordinarily
used for grounding mats if an exact determination on a thermal basis were made.
Consider the short times that fault currents
may flow with modern protective devices
and practices. A very small size wire will
handle a large current for a fraction of a
second, especially when surrounded by a
heat conducting material. It is suggested
that a reasonably large size conductor
is justified for a grounding mat to give
mechanical strength for the physical handling of the conductor and to resist abrasion
by the rock cover such as when a heavy
truck would be driven over the top of the
mat. Another reason for using larger conductor than theoretically justified would be
to allow for a certain amount of corrosion
throughout the life of the grounding mat.
In certain areas of the country, especially
in the West, there is a high salt content in
the soil which causes corrosion of metals.
It would appear that tubing would be more
vulnerable to both mechanical abrasion and
corrosion.
These points are raised merely to review
some of the practical aspects of laying out
grounding mats beyond the scope of this
paper. It is to be emphasized that a theoretical analysis such as this is very helpful
to the designer in laying down basic fundamentals and in simplifying an otherwise
complex problem for practical application.

Henry H. Plumb (United States Bureau of

Reclamation, Denver, Colo.): Without
reading any of the bibliography, but after
a careful reading of this paper, I am highly
pleased to find that there is now available
an easy-to-use tool for guiding the grid
designers as to the proper land area to use
for the grid, size of wire, depth to be buried

in the soil, etc.

It has plainly demanded much original
effort on the part of the authors to solve
this very important basic problem of economics. Every designer of grids will appreciate that until now there was no rational
approach known whereby such grids could
be intelligently designed. I am afraid we
all have put much more copper into our
grids thain we needed just to cover our

AUGU'S,T 1953

margin of ignorance, and to be sure we

would have a sufficiently low resistance grid.
In these times of national emergency, it is
very necessary not to waste strategic copper
supplies or construction costs that may add
directly or indirectly to the burden of the
taxpayers. Due to the difficulty of this
problem, our use of too much copper could
not be recognized, because we never got too
low a resistance such as would indicate gross
overuse of copper. Now by making each
foot of copper grid work at maximum
efficiency, as this paper makes possible for
the first time, I am convinced that some
very worth-while savings can be achieved,
thanks to the authors.
Fig. 7 of the paper strongly suggests that
a substantial reduction in construction cost
could safely be realized by adopting a
shallower burying of the conductor to, say,
about 6 inches. A plow furrow would easily
embed it that deep in most soils, and the
backfill would be cheaper also. The slight
loss in resistance (increase) by the shallower
burying can be more cheaply recouped by
making the grid area slightly larger, or by
other obvious means.
Lewis H. Austin (Bonneville Power Ad-

ministration, Portland, Oreg.): The au-

thors have supplied a much needed clarification of the fundamental characteristics

of grounding grids, and have provided a
tool for calculation which should enlighten
many who are seeking economical and
effective means of obtaining better grounds.
In the interest of clarity, it is believed
that the definition of "resistance to ground"
could be improved, although the definition
given does faithfully agree with that of
reference 1 of the paper. It is suggested
that three words, "of zero resistance," be
inserted, to make the definition read "The
resistance to ground is the resistance between the electrode system and another
electrode of zero resistance in the ground at
infinite spacing." It may be that the
original definition implied zero resistance in
the distant electrode by the term "infinite
spacing." Yet the discusser was at first
led to think that it implied infinite distance,
only, to the distant electrode. A correct
definition which makes reference to another
electrode would require said other electrode
to be at a great distance to avoid proximity
effects, and would require it to be of zero
resistance to avoid introducing two resistances in series.
The mathematical work and the explanation of the purpose of using capacitance in
the calculations are helpful to the formation
of a correct concept in the reader's mind.
There are many practical applications where
the correct concept will assist in choosing
worth-while corrective measures. For example, it is of value when a designer encounters a situation, where it is next to
impossible to drive ground rods, to picture
the benefit of horizontal buried conductors,
and to see that the substitution is adequate,
and the reasons why it is so.
The conclusion that 16 meshes is the
optimum number seems to be supported by
the picking of a point of apparent reduced
gain on a curve. Such choices generally can
be altered by plotting the curve to a different scale. However that may be, the
number of meshes is often dictated by the
location of equipment.

M. H. Kight (Bureau of Reclamation,

Denver, Colo.): Even though a very high
percentage of the total electrical resistance
surrounding an electrode buried in the earth
is generally within a radius of 10 feet from
the electrode, the accurate calculation of
the resistance to ground is difficult due to
the uncertainty as to the cross-sectional
area and length of the current path for
such ground currents. The relationship
between the resistance and the capacitance
to ground of a grid system, as established
by the authors, eliminates the need for
determining the cross-sectional area and
length of this current path. In accordance
with equation 3 of the paper, this leaves for
determination the resistivity of the earth
in the vicinity of the grid and the capacitance of the grid.
The resistivity of the soil for the particular
location and conditions can be determined
by one of several test methods, as covered
by considerable literature on the subject.
It is noted that in deriving the equation
for the capacitance of a grounding grid
several assumptions and approximations
were made, mainly to simplify the calculations. However, it is believed that any
errors resulting therefrom are minor, when
consideration is given to the fact that the
value for the resistivity of the earth is
determined for the worst condition, which
is for dry, cold earth. In other words, for
a given grid in a particular location which
is subject to large temperature and moisture
changes during the year, the variation in
the resistance of the grid to ground due to
the changes in the resistivity of the earth
will be very great as compared to any errors
caused by the various assumptions and
approximations made in connection with
the determination of the capacitance of the
grid. This is especially true for grids buried
only 6 to 12 inches deep in normally dry
soil, which is subject to seasonal rainfall.
It is well that the authors stress the importance of considering the magnitude of
the fault current to ground when determining the required value of the resistance
to ground, as this determines to a large
extent, for any particular soil condition, the
size of the grid required to keep the voltage
during faults down to a safe level. Reference 17 of the paper gives some interesting
examples of voltage rises in various portions
of the grounding system at the Grand
Coulee 230-kv switchyards due to various
values of staged fault currents to ground.
For a given value of ground resistance
required, it is a matter of economics and soil
conditions as to the type of grounding
system used, that is, whether only ground
rods are driven, whether a grid without
ground rods is used, or whether a combination of both driven ground rods and a grid
are used, the ground rods being connected
to the grid at various points.
This paper is very interesting and will
undoubtedly be quite useful to designers of
grounding systems for electric installations.
G. D. Floyd (The Hydro-Electric Power
Commission of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada): There has been some confusion
in the past with respect to grounding
methods. The practice has been to a great
extent empirical and very little information
on the fundamental basis of ground resistance has appeared in the literature. This

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Soo

14l

12

u)--_

AE
AREA= 10,

10

4~~~~~~~~~~~~~4
__

_
2C__

__

2
0

400

800

1200

1600
FEET 01F COPPER

Fig. 1. Influence of the length off copper on the resistance to ground

paper fills a gap in this respect in so far as
the grounding grid is concerned. Although
the paper states that grounding grids are
used when rocky ground makes the use of
driven ground rods impractical, it should he
noted that in high-voltage stations where
grounding conditions are good the equivalent of a grounding grid is used, In these
situations, a ground rod is driven at the
base of each steel column and these ground
rods are all connected together with one or
more copper ground wires. This in effect
produces the equivalent of the grounding
grid discussed in the paper.
This paper would have been of more value
if the theoretical analysis had been supported by test data. It is noted that only a
single series of tests was compared with the
theoretical analysis and Table IV of the
paper shows good agreement between the
calculated values and the experimental
data. However, it would be wrong to base

definite colnclusionls on the comparison of

calculated values and one set of experimental data. As this analysis forms the
material for a graduate student thesis, I
assume that it was not possible in the time
available to check the theoretical analysis
with experimental observations. I would
suggest that those utilities interested might
do well to check the theoretical results
given in the paper with the experimental
data on their ownI systems so that the industry can be provided with verification of
the theoretical analysis given in the paper.
E. T. B. Gross, B. V. Chitnis, and L. J.
Stratton: The discussions seem to indicate
that this paper may be of help in the design
of grounding grids for high-voltage stations
which are used when rocky soil makes the
application of driven ground rods impractical. It should be emphasized that the

Determining Optimum
Ground-Rod Dimensions

Design Charts

ror

J. ZABORSZKY
MEMBER AIEE

JC)SEPH W. RITTENHOUSE
MEMBER AIEE

M ECHANICAL ground-rod drivers,

which have become quite commonly available in recent years, make it
possible to drive thinner ground rods to
greater depths than is possible with
manual methods; for instance, the feasibility of driving ground rods to depths
of 100 feet has been demonstratedl2 at
many locations in the country.
These developments permit wider
810

from which to choose ground rod

dimensions; so there arises a need for
some guide which the practical engineer
can use to select the optimum dimensions and number of ground rods required
for obtaining satisfactory ground resistance with a minimiium amount of the
critical materials of which ground rods are
composed.
AWhile many aspects of ground resistranges

paper deals exclusivelv with this oie component of the grounding problem, that is, a
grounding mat used primarily for establishing a low-resistance station ground.
Some of the discussers referred in particular to a 16-mesh grid; Fig. 1 of the discussion shows directly the effects of added
conductor length on the mat resistance.
This figure checks other results summarized
in the paper. If a particular length of wire
is to be used, the 1-mesh grid, with the
largest area, will give the lowest resistance.
However, a 1-mesh grid would be impractical since the grounded parts of the highvoltage equipment, as well as the structures,
must be connected to the grid, and these
connections lead automatically to meshes.
The curves in Fig. 1 of the discussion level
off considerably with the increasing number
of meshes and the added cost of copper plus
installation for additional meshes will not
be justified. A much greater gain would
result from using the added copper for an
increased area. As pointed out by Mr.
Austin, the number of meshes is often dictated by other factors, such as the location

of equipment.
Mr. Floyd refers to a general type of
grid, where driven rods are also used. The
analysis does not apply to such cases. It
appears that this investigation is based on
sound assumptions and we would feel inclined to apply the proverb "Nothing is
more practical than a good theory." The
results check well with the results of the
only tests known to us, and made independently by others for development purposes at considerable cost; it does not seem
that further experimental work could add
much to our knowledge. How-ever, it
would be of interest to compare resistance
values measured at stations grounded
through such mats with values computed
for the same station.
The other discussions bring out many
pertinent points of considerable interest and
practical importance to design and operating engineers, and their remarks are very
valuable additions to the paper. We wish
to sincerely thank all discussers for their
interest in this paper, and for their contributions.
ance have been subjected to very thorough
studies3 -I little has been publighed in the
form of such a guide; it is the purpose
of this paper to attempt to fill this void.

Reference Rod
The results of this study are presented
in simple graphs in which the resistances of arbitrary grounds are expressed
in general as percentages, with the
ground resistance of a 10-foot-deep 3/4Paper 53-240, recommended by the AIEE Substations Committee and approved by the AIEE
Committee on Technical Operations for presentation at the AIEE Summer General Meeting,
Atlantic City, N. J., June 15-19, 1953. Manuscript submitted March 16, 1953; made available
for printing May 3, 1953.

J. ZABORSZKY and JOsEPH W. RIrrENHOUsE are

with the University of Missouri School of Mines

and Metallurgy, Rolla, Mo., and consultants to
James R. Kearney Corporation.

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AuGU ST 1 953