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Recent progresses in Bus-ducts

design
bus-ducts design
J. Faiz, H. Ehya and A.M. Takbash
Center of Excellence on Applied Electromagnetic Systems, 117
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering,
University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran, and Received 26 February 2015
S. Shojaee, M. Hamidian and A. Ghorbani Revised 26 April 2015
Accepted 29 April 2015
Generator Engineering and Manufacturing Co. (Pars), Mapna Group,
Tehran, Iran
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Abstract
Purpose – Electrical energy distribution systems must be low losses systems in order to enhance the
system efficiency. Therefore, it is preferred to distribute electrical energy by bus-ducts in the place of
cables over all energy levels and decrease the losses. The purpose of this paper is to focus on a
comprehensive survey of various aspects of bus-ducts design including electromagnetic, mechanical
and thermal. Advantages and disadvantages of different available design techniques are reviewed.
Design/methodology/approach – Different works on various bus-based power transmission and
distribution systems are reviewed. Generally these are done in three categories including systems
modeling methods, heat transfer in the systems, short circuit and electromagnetic force. The attempt is
made to provide geometrical and materials specifications in order to present the analyzed system well.
Findings – Different types of bus-ducts from used materials, voltage level and insulation types are
reviewed. Bus-duct modeling techniques are introduced which can be easily applied for bus-ducts
design. Electromagnetic field distribution, thermal pattern inside and outside of the bus-duct in normal
and short circuit modes and finally mechanical considerations are dominant factors which must be
taken into account in the bus-ducts design. This leads to an optimal design of bus-ducts which prolong
the life span of the bus-ducts fixed in the installations.
Originality/value – This paper for the first time systematically reviews the latest state of arts in the
design of bus-ducts for efficient electrical energy distribution. It summarizes a variety of design
techniques applicable to bus-ducts design.
Keywords Electromagnetics, Modelling, Thermal modelling, Thermal analysis, Bus-ducts,
Electromagnetic analysis, Modelling methods
Paper type General review

1. Introduction
Bus-ducts have wide applications in industrial complex and large residential buildings.
Beside good safety of these systems, its most important advantages include easy
fixing, suitable maintenance and repairs (Hwang et al., 1998). Generally, bus-duct
system consists of a number of insulated copper or aluminum conductors, normally
surrounded by a earthed enclosures. Due to the wide spread of electrical equipment and
importance of their manufacturing safety, the bus-ducts are covered by electrical
insulation materials. This has a number of advantages; the most important advantage
is that the bus-ducts containing different currents can be placed beside each other. COMPEL: The International
This can reduce the size of electrical distribution system as well as leakage reactance of Journal for Computation and
Mathematics in Electrical and
Electronic Engineering
Vol. 35 No. 1, 2016
This paper was originally accepted for the special issue on “Numerical Field Calculation in pp. 117-136
Electrical Engineering (IGTE 2014)”, Vol. 34, Iss. 5. The authors wish to thank Mapna-Pars © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0332-1649
Generator Company in Iran for financial support of the bus-duct design project. DOI 10.1108/COMPEL-02-2015-0099
 COMPEL the system; this leads to a lower voltage drop (WETOWN BUSWAY Co., 2010).
35,1 Enclosures around conductors prevent the bus-ducts from mechanical damages and dust.
The high voltage (HV) bus-ducts are utilized in the following cases (Sarajcev, 2012):
(1) main circuit;
(2) main transformer connections;
118 (3) auxiliary transformer connections;
(4) station auxiliary circuits;
(5) generator connections;
(6) excitation transformer connections;
(7) current transformers assembly structures;
(8) wall through seal and expansion joint structures;
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(9) removable expansion joint structures; and

(10) PT-LA cabinet connections.
Bus-ducts design depends on the application type and manufacturing company.
The common feature of these systems is the existence of copper or aluminum
conductors with aluminum or galvanized steel enclosure. Isolated phase Bus-bars have
enclosure around different bus-bars and thus they are isolated from each other.
The enclosures around different phases are linked at the end of the bus-ducts route.
This prevents the axial induced currents in the bus-ducts. Generally, high current
passes through the bus-bars, therefore, bus-bars and their enclosures are chosen cheap
aluminum material (Niemoller, August 1968). On the other hand, bus-ducts and all
belonging must be able to supply electrical energy in the following conditions
(Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, 2015):
(1) ambient air temperature 40°C;
(2) maximum ambient air temperature 48°C;
(3) relative humidity not exceeds 95 percent non-condensing; and
(4) ingress protection degree (acc. IEC 60529) at least P65.
In thermal and hydro power plants, high current buses link generators to unit
transformers. These bus-bars consist of a conductor inside an enclosure filled by the air
under atmosphere pressure. Such line has capacity to pass 10 kA at rated voltage of
36 kV in hydro power plant and 20 kA in thermal power plant. These bus-ducts have
been used since 70 decades. One of the common gases used in these systems was SF6.
Recently the mixture of 95 percent N2 and SF6 has been used. Such power lines at
voltage higher than 245 kV and power between 2,000 and 4,000 MVA, have the most
advantages (Piatek et al., 2010). Transmission gas insulated lines (GIL) as an
economical method for large power transmission over short and long paths have been
proposed. These lines can be used on the ground, buried underground and in the rail
way tunnels. When these systems are used underground, a steel cover is included
(Piatek et al., 2010). In a bus-duct system, different phases can have separate enclosures
and this system is called non-segregated three-phase bus-duct. In this case, different
bus-ducts may be replaced in an enclosure by separators and they are called segregated
three-phase bus-duct (Piatek et al., 2010).
 To justify the advantages of bus-ducts application over cables, two systems, GIL Bus-ducts
and over head line (OHL), for a 420 kV transmission line can be compared (Piatek et al., design
2010). GIL system advantages include low losses, low capacitive load, longer electrical
and thermal age, low impact on the environment and high reliability (Sarajec, 2011).
Difference between the OHL and GIL losses is 64 MW. Cross-sections of bus-ducts
conductors can be circular, rectangular (flat), hollow octagon and U-shape (Sarajcev
and Goic, 2010). Figure 1 shows the segregated three-phase bus-duct with rectangular 119
cross-section.
In this paper, different works on various bus-based electric power transmission
systems are reviewed. Generally, these are done in three categories including system
modeling methods, heat transfer in these systems, and short circuit and
electromagnetic force. It is tried to give the geometrical and materials specifications
in order to specify the analyzed system well.
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2. Bus-duct modeling methods

Two general approaches are proposed in modeling bus systems such as bus-ducts.
The first approach is analytical method based on mathematical equations and second
approach is numerical method. Some references have been devoted to comparison of
these two methods and their efficiencies. In Canova and Giaccone (2009), analytical and
numerical methods in modeling a bus system have been compared. At this end,
analytical equations for a system with arbitrary number of conductors has been
obtained based on a current supply and/or voltage supply bus system, and then the
proposed system has been modeled considering the supply type. The mentioned
method has been used to examine the industrial bus system problems. In this modeling
method, each conductor is divided into a number of thinner conductors and any of
these conductors is taken equivalent with a wire. Cross-section of these wires has
significant impact on the accuracy of the method. To achieve precise results using this
method, the cross-section of the wires must not exceed the defined skin depth.
The lumped parameter circuits of the system for two currents and voltages supply
cases have been presented in (Canova and Giaccone, 2009). In the model, each branch
indicates one of the wires; and inductance between any two-wires is modeled by a
voltage-dependent source. The proposed bus system has double-conductor per phase
and cross-section of each conductor is 10 × 100 mm. The space between the bus
conductors of each phase is 37 mm. In this circuit, a set of currents satisfying the
Kirchhoff’s current law is applied to branches considering the supply type.
It is shown in Canova and Giaccone (2009) that the current density in the conductors
is not constant due to the skin and proximity effects. Referring to the structure of the

separation partition

Figure 1.
Segregated
three-phase bus-duct
with rectangular
cross-section
phase conductor conductor
shield
 COMPEL bus-ducts, only there is a force along horizontal axis. In addition, the current
35,1 density along the line using the magnetic equivalent circuit and finite elements (FE)
methods is very close. Other structures of bus systems have been also analyzed and
their impacts upon system behavior have been considered by a factor defined as
geometry factor vs electromagnetic force exerted on the conductors. Advantage of
this analytical method is its simplicity and capability to extend to different bus
120 systems. Various parameters are considered to improve analytical modeling method.
For example, in Coneybeer et al. (1994), skin effect and proximity effect have been
taken into account. In addition, electromagnetic coupling between conductors
and enclosure in two high current bus-ducts with identical cross-section has
been considered.
Equivalent circuit (EC) method is one of the analytical modeling methods used in
electrical devices. In Piatek et al. (2010), the EC method for a three-phase bus-duct has
been introduced. In this case, it is assumed that the enclosure of bus-duct is earthed and
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then the impact of the return current on the induced magnetic fields in the enclosure is
investigated (Figure 2). Ie1, Ie2 and Ie3 are return currents and their amplitudes depend
on many factors such as impedance of return phase current path, the related
phase current and transmission line parameters, particularly the mutual inductance
between the conductors and enclosures. In Figure 2, mutual inductances between
phases 2 and 3 have been eliminated and Zg is the earth inductance. Since enclosures
may be connected directly or through the earth, the return current path and its
related phase current are not identical and consequently unique impedance cannot be
introduced for phase system.
To study the magnetic field of the circular cross-section of high current bus-ducts,
an analytical model considering geometric mean distance has been introduced in
Coneybeer et al. (1994). In this model skin effect, proximity effect, mutual impacts of
conductors and enclosure effect have been taken into account in order to enhance the
accuracy of the model. This model also is used in GIL systems. The most important
problem in an analytical modeling method of bus-duct is determining correct current
distribution in the system. The accuracy of remaining parameters and elements of the
model depends on the current distribution. This method is based on filament method in

I1 Z11
L1
Ze1 Z1e1
Ie1

Z1e2 Z12
I2 Z22
L2

Ie2 Ze22
Z1e3 Z13

I3 Z33
L3
Figure 2.
Equivalent circuit of Ie3 Ze33
a high current three-
phase bus-duct with
I1L Zg
earthed enclosure
 which each conductor is divided into a set of smaller wires. There are the following Bus-ducts
assumptions in this method: design
• current passes along filaments;
• electrical resistance and magnetic permeability are identical along filaments; and
• all filaments are in series and this is the base for skin effect estimation.
Structure of a three-phase bus-duct system has been given in Imamura et al. (1998).
121
The dimensions of conductor of each phase are: 5 mm thickness, and 50 mm width and
required length. The space between the phases conductor is 70 mm.
In Imamura et al. (1998), ac and dc magnetic fields due to a three-phase bus-duct
system are estimated in order to model an optical transformer. Figure 3 shows the
magnetic field distribution due to dc current in open conductor and conductor with
fence. In this case, 424 A dc current pass through two lateral buses and 848 A pass
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through the middle conductor. As shown in Figure 3, in the first case the center of the
magnetic loops in two lateral buses is displaced from the bus center due to the current
passing the middle conductor where there is an enclosure around each bus and center
of magnetic field loops coincide with the bus center. Magnetic field components for
different types of dc and ac supplies in a bus system having two conductors with
enclosure and with no enclosure close to the buses have been investigated in Imamura
et al. (1998).
Impact of particles and metal contents in the gas isolated bus-ducts upon the
efficiency of these bus-ducts has been examined by Nageswara Rao (2012). Around
20 percent of the reported faults in this type of bus-ducts are caused by metal particles.
Impact of the metal particles dimensions on their movements in different electrical
fields in the bus-ducts has been investigated. The thinner particles more likely lead to
electrical discharge. Also aluminum particles are more than copper particles under
influence of voltage level.

3. Thermal analysis
It is essential to inspect the losses, thermal analysis and temperature of bus-ducts.
Ohmic losses in bus-ducts are important from some aspects. First, Ohmic losses due to
passing current through different conductors in various operating conditions must
be considered. Second aspect in losses discussion is related to eddy current in the
enclosure around the bus-duct. Magnetic field generated by bus-duct conductors
current induces eddy currents in the enclosure; these eddy currents cause Ohmic losses
in the bus-duct enclosure. Importance of Ohmic losses in heat dissipation and

(a) (b)

Figure 3.
Magnetic field
distribution due to
Notes: (a) Open conductor; (b) conductor with fence dc current
Source: Adapted from Imamura et al. (1998)
 COMPEL temperatures rise in different parts of bus-ducts are very clear. In Hwang et al. (1998),
35,1 heat dissipation in bus-duct has been examined. In addition to the mechanical and
physical protection role of the external enclosure, it also plays an important role in the
heat dissipation. These losses have been estimated using FEM in a bus-duct
where cross-section (Figure 4), specifications, material properties and heat transfer
coefficients have been given in Table I (Hwang et al., 1998).
122 Losses density due to the eddy current in the upper layer of bus-duct enclosure is in
y-direction, and in middle axis of upper layer is minimal. The reason is that considering
the symmetry between phases, induced eddy current in this region is lower and
consequently the Ohmic losses is smaller; while the eddy current losses in the lateral
sheets close to the buses is maximal. Figure 5 shows the temperature distribution in the
bus-duct cross-section.
Temperature of the outer bus is only 0.5°C lower than that of the middle bus.
The reason is that the heat dissipation close to the heat exchange surface is better and it
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has lower temperature.

Figure 6 shows the temperature profile along y-axis for different types of
insulations with different heat conduction. In this figure, k is the heat transfer
coefficient. As expected using insulations with higher heat conduction results in
lower temperature of bus. In addition, there is a good agreement between the test
and predicted results.
Mutual heat impacts of two adjacent buses have been examined in Coneybeer et al.
(1994). Two bus-duct systems in the output of a medium voltage and very high
current generator influence the heat exchange. In addition, magnetic field due to a
bus-duct has negative impacts on the efficiency of adjacent bus-duct. The first step in
such analysis is examining the current distribution in the conductors and inspecting
the impacts of the conductors’ current on the bus-duct enclosure (Canova and
Giaccone, 2009).

X
Top surface

Spacing Busbar
Bottom Surface

Side Surface
125 mm

Side Surface

Figure 4.
Cross-section of 340 mm
proposed bus-duct
Source: Adapted from Imamura et al. (1998)

Thermal conductivity Electrical conductivity Electrical

Table I. (W °C−1 m−1) (S m−1) permeability (μr)
Dimensions,
properties and heat Bus-bar 386 5.8 × 107 1
transfer coefficients Insulation 0.15 0 1
of modeled 2 kA and Bottom surface 16.286 1.03 × 107 200
50 Hz bus-duct Side surface 0.52 0 1
 B: Steady-State Thermal Bus-ducts
whole system temperature
design
Type: Temperature
Unit: °C
Time: 1
10/6/2013 5:53 AM
123
73.482 Max
72.698
71.914
71.13
70.345
69.561
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68.777
67.993
67.208
66.424 Min

Figure 5.
Temperature
distribution
in bus-duct
cross-section
Source: Adapted from Hwang et al. (1998)

90

85

80
Temperature (°C)

75
K1=0.2
70 K2=0.25
K3=0.3
65
Figure 6.
60
Temperature
55 distribution along
y-axis for different
50 types of insulations
−150 −100 −50 0 50 100 150
with different heat
Location along Y - axis (mm)
transfer conduction
Source: Adapted from Hwang et al. (1998)

Heat dissipation in the air-isolated high current bus-ducts has been considered by
Bachorec et al. (2004) in which two Ansys-Emag and Ansys-Flotran softwares have
been coupled. In addition, three types of three-phase bus-ducts consisting of insulated
three-phase bus-duct, no segregated three-phase bus-duct and segregated three-phase
bus-duct have been investigated.
 COMPEL Figure 7 shows the schematic of insulated three-phase bus- duct. Simulations
35,1 and tests have been carried out at rated current of 8.4 kA, frequency of 50 Hz
and environment temperature of 16°C. Figure 8 shows the thermal analysis of the
insulated three-phase bus-duct in which mutual impacts between phases from
electromagnetic and thermal point of views are minimal because of insulated
enclosure. Losses density as output of the electromagnetic analysis is the input
124 of thermal analysis. Figure 9 shows 2D heat distribution in an insulated three-phase
bus-duct.
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Figure 7.
Schematic of
insulated three-phase
bus-duct
Source: Courtesy of Pars Generator

1
NODAL SOLUTION
ANSYS 7.0
STEP = 35
SUB = 1
TEMP
SMN = 15.406
SMX = 56.785

!0.8 m

Figure 8.
Thermal analysis
of an insulated
15 17.5 20 22.5 25 27.5 30
three-phase bus-duct
Source: Courtesy of Pars Generator
 1
AVG ELEMENT SOLUTION ANSYS 7.0
Bus-ducts
STEP = 1 design
SUB = 1
FREQ = 50
PLOSSO2 (AVG)
SMN = 28.443
SMX = 0.101E+08
125
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Figure 9.
0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000
Heat distribution of
an insulated three-
Insulated three-phase duct: Joule heat per unit volume
phase bus-duct
Source: Courtesy of Pars Generator

Table II summarizes the heat losses of different parts of the above-mentioned

bus-ducts based on 2D and 3D analysis (Isfahani et al., 2009).
Parameters of two types of high current flat and symmetrical bus-ducts have been
analytically estimated considering skin effect (Piatek et al., 2010). In three-phase flat
bus-duct, each phase is placed in an insulated enclosure and it is used in HV or very
HV. Figure 10 presents eddy current due to conductor itself and adjacent conductors in
the conductor enclosure. Since the cross-section in such transmission lines is large, the
skin effect must be included in calculation process. In Piatek et al. (2010), the estimated
values for two above-mentioned types of bus-ducts have been summarized.
Considering high current and medium voltage in the generator output to transformer
input, a bus-duct with low Ohmic losses is used. In this case, the solution key for Ohmic
losses estimation is the conductors current and induced current in the bus-duct enclosure
(Imamura et al., 1998). The skin effect in the phase cross-section is clear in Figure 10;
as shown the current tends to pass through the conductor surface. Figure 11 presents the
effective induced current in the lower and lateral surfaces of the bus-duct enclosure.
Current in the lower surface of the enclosure is very asymmetrical and the highest

Power losses/unit length (W/m) 2D 3D Difference (%)

Right phase conductor 199 215 7.5

Middle phase conductor 199 211 5.7
Left phase conductor 199 222 10.4
Right phase enclosure 229 218 5.0 Table II.
Middle phase enclosure 251 258 2.7 Heat losses of
Left phase enclosure 222 237 6.3 different parts of
Sum of Joule losses in enclosures 702 713 1.5 bus-duct based on
Total sum of Joule losses 1,298 1,361 4.6 2D and 3D analysis
 COMPEL current is generated close to the phase conductor. Such current is also induced in the
35,1 upper surface of bus-duct enclosure.
There is the similar situation in the lateral surface. Table III presents the currents in
different parts of bus-duct and its Ohmic losses (Imamura et al., 1998).
Thermal model of an air insulated HV bus system has been introduced by
Del Vecchio (2003). Also heat dissipation coefficients in the boundary regions have been
126 estimated analytically. Figure 12a shows a bus system and its eddy current. Figure 12b
presents the heat dissipation of such system. Heat dissipation in this case is both

(a) (b)
Z

Hw
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X(γ,θ) R2
Figure 10. I1 Je1
Je1
Eddy current in θ I2
e
conductor enclosure Je2 Y
due to magnetic field Je1 µ0 γ1 R1
due to: (a) conductor
R3
itself and (b)
R4
adjacent conductor
d v

(a) (b)
× 10−3 × 10−3
5 5
Current (A)
Current (A)

0 0

Figure 11. −5
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
−5
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Effective induced Time (ms) Time (ms)
current
Notes: (a) Lower face; (b) lateral of bus-duct enclosure

Part Current (A) Power losses (W/m)

1st phase 4,603.26 ⩽ 1.3 293.23

2nd phase 4,604.39 ⩽ 238.7 293.34
3rd phase 4,603.45 ⩽ 118.7 292.82
Shield 8.62 ⩽ 22.6 287.97
Shield section current
Bottom and top side 97.92 ⩽ 32.4
Table III. Left-most side 1,038.38 o 180.4
Current and losses Right-most side 1,120.38 ⩽ 59.3
in different parts Left separation partition 989.20 o130.9
of bus-duct Right separation partition 1,009.73 o 18.8
 (a) (b) Bus-ducts
Current q 2rad design
Q1
q 1rad
q 2conv
q 1conv
Eddy SF6 127
Current

Tank
Conductor SF6
Conductor Figure 12.
(a) A bus system
Tank Flux
and its eddy
Q1 = q 1rad + q 1conv, Q1 + Q2 = q 2rad + q 2conv currents; (b) heat
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exchange of system
Source: Adapted from Bachorec et al. (2004)

convection and radiating types. The power losses (heat) and estimated exchange
coefficient have been given in Table III. According to Table IV, losses in the conductors
are higher than that of the enclosure of bus system. Table V summarizes the measured,
analytically estimated and numerically (FEM) estimated temperature of different parts
of the system. As shown in Table III, losses in conductors are higher than that of bus
system enclosure.
According to Kim et al. (2005), the estimated temperature in different parts of the
system such as conductors and tank using FEM, analytical method and measured are
agreed well. It is also seen that the temperature in an enclosure of bus system is lower
than that of conductors of heat dissipation. Eddy current, magnetic field and heat

Table IV.
Comparison of
Temperature (°C) Analytic method FEM Measured calculated and
measured
Conductor 43.75 41.44 42.6 temperature of
Tank 24.31 21.82 20.3 system

Plate materials Analytic FE

Horizontal placement (H ¼ 175, s ¼ 101.6)

TS 214 213
SS 236 230
AL 34.1 32.4
CU 27.2 26.1 Table V.
Vertical placement (H ¼ 175, s ¼ 101.6) Estimated losses
TS 111 112 (W/m) in buses with
SS 119 118 different structures
SL 12.9 12.6 and enclosure
CU 27.2 10.1 material
 COMPEL losses have been considered by Ho et al. (2003) using 3D-FEM. This analysis has been
35,1 done in an insulated 20 kV, 12.5 kA three-phase bus system and the results have been
compared with the test results. Figure 13 shows magnetic flux distribution in
conductors and enclosures at peak current of phase B.
Additional losses due to the buses carrying high current in the transformer tank
have been discussed by Tasic (2000).
128 Impact of different structures of buses shearing using analytical and FEMs has
been addressed. Figure 14 shows two horizontal and vertical structures. Table V
summarizes the impacts of system structure type, bus system geometry and enclosure
material upon the losses. These losses have been estimated in a 5 kA and 60 Hz three-
phase bus duct. According to Table V, losses in the horizontal structure are higher than
that of vertical structure. The reason is that in the horizontal structure, conductors of
the bus is closer to the enclosure and consequently more intensive magnetic field is
induced in the tank leading to a higher eddy current. In addition, losses reduce in
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copper enclosure due to a lower electrical conductivity of copper compared to

other materials.

(a) (b)
Z Z
Y
X
X
Y

Figure 13.
Magnetic flux
distribution in
(upper) conductors
and (lower)
enclosures at peak
current of phase B
Source: Courtesy of Pars Generator Co.

(a) (b)

S
S S

Figure 14. H
H
Two horizontal (a)
and vertical (b) plate d plate d
structures of buses
Source: Adapted from Xu et al. (2007)
 In Sarajec (2011), thermal capacity of buses in steady-state and transient modes has Bus-ducts
been addressed using different models (Figure 15). Estimated results are obtained by: design
T ðt Þ$T 1
¼ 1$e$t=t (1)
T 2 $T 1
Figure 15 are well agreed with the test results. The results are valid only for step
change. Also in Coneybeer et al. (1994), a simple method has been introduced using 129
algebraic equations instead of partial differential equations which studied the thermal
analysis in non-steady case. Results of this modeling method have been compared with
the measured values which confirm the model.
In Del Vecchio (2003), thermal analysis of bus with industrial loads has been done
using magneto-thermal method by applying analytical magneto-dynamic method.
The results obtained by this method are in good agreement with the industrial data as
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such that the minimum and maximum temperatures in the analytical method are very
close to the measured data. One of the advantages of this method is considering the
magneto-dynamic coupled with electrical circuit equations.

4. Electromagnetic forces in bus-duct

Force is exerted on the current carrying conductors in the magnetic field. This force is a
deterministic factor in the electrical equipment design. These forces in bus-duct have
been considered in normal conditions as well as short circuit fault. Oscillations and
noises in a bus-bar system are very important problems which play vital role in the
design of bus-ducts. In Tasic (2000), existing noises in normal conditions of LV and
high current buses has been addressed by 3D-FEM.
According to Table VI, amplitude of the electromagnetic force exerted on different
parts depends directly on the system current amplitude. In addition, a proper analysis
of the noise and acoustic oscillations on bus-duct has been done by Tasic (2000).
Short circuit fault is dangerous and it must be investigated in bus-ducts particularly
in indoor sites with short buses. In Hedia et al. (1999), short circuit electromagnetic
forces in a three-phase bus system have been estimated by FEM. In this estimation,
a sinusoidal current with the amplitude equal to the short circuit current is applied
(Tasic, 2000). To determine meshes in FE analysis, different methods including neural
network has been applied and impact of different meshes upon FE modeling has been
investigated.
Accuracy of the maximum electromagnetic forces per unit length of bus-duct
calculated by FEM depends on the mesh type (LIG, graded and CDET) and number of
nodes. Lower number of iteration belongs to LIG mesh type which is four but CDT

(a) (b)
hforced ht
ht hs
hfree hs
hs

hs hs hs ht ht
hs hs
Figure 15.
hs hb hs hb Surface areas used
with Nusselt number
Tubular Rectangular Angular Tubular Rectangular Angular correlations
Free convection situations Forced convection situations
 COMPEL mesh type takes 98 iterations. Obviously, more iteration needs longer CPU time and
35,1 this is 638 s for CDT mesh type compared with 289 s for LIG mesh type. The maximum
difference between the CDT and LIG types is around 10 percent.
In Xu et al. (2007), a 3D non-linear model has been introduced for electromagnetic
forces analysis due to short circuit in a three-phase gas insulated bus system. In this
modeling, skin effects and non-linear permeance of materials have been considered.
130 In Kim et al. (2005) and Tasic (2000), electromagnetic analysis in short circuit of
buses has been carried out. In Triantafyllidis et al. (2003), the mentioned force with
eddy current and magnetic field distribution have been analyzed using FEM in
insulated phase bus (IPB); then a point having the highest impact, from electromagnetic
force caused by short circuit, has been determined. Figure 16 shows IPB cross-section.
Figure 17 shows the magnetic flux lines and flux density in IPB cross-section. When
short circuit occurs, magnetic flux density increases. Also in Figure 17, the impact of
bus-duct enclosure, which has no considerable effect on the internal magnetic field,
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upon the environment, is observed. As expected, short circuit causes the increase of the
magnetic field density particularly around bus-duct conductor. Figure 18 presents the
induced eddy current in bus-duct enclosure during the short circuit fault. The phase
induced current in the enclosure has phase difference with the current passing the
conductor due to the inductance of the enclosure. Also amplitude of this current is
lower than the current passing the corresponding phase conductors. Figure 19 presents
the force exerted on the conductors at the time of short circuit fault.
Electromagnetic force exerted on the conductor and bus-duct enclosure is identical.
Frequency of the electromagnetic force oscillations is equal to the supply current
frequency (50 Hz). After approaching this force to its peak value it damps in 1 s.

Left Right Upper Lower Max. on

Current (kA) plates (mN) plates (mN) plates (mN) plates (mN) bus-bar (N)

1 5.8 9.0 0.46 0.28 0.005

1.9 2.9 0.56 0.21
2 23.2 36.1 1.84 0.45 0.018
7.70 11.5 2.24 0.84
Table VI. 3 7.09 110.4 5.64 3.47 0.056
Variations of 23.5 35.2 6.86 2.52
electromagnetic force 4 92.6 144.2 2.16 5.28 0.073
in different parts 30.7 46.1 8.01 3.36

Phase A Phase B Phase C

Figure 16.
Cross-section Shell Conductor
of a typical IPB
Source: Adapted from Del Vecchio (2003)
 Downloaded by Professor Jawad Faiz At 09:51 07 January 2016 (PT)

(a) (b) 0.222E–11

0.017347
0.034693
Y 0.05204
0.069387
MX Z X 0.086734
0.10408
0.121427
0.138774
0.15612
Source: Courtesy of Pars Generator Co.
Bus-ducts

cross section
lines and (b) flux
(a) Magnetic flux
design

density in IPB
Figure 17.
131
 COMPEL (a) × 105
35,1 5

−5
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
132 (b)
× 105
Shells Currents (A)

−5
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

(c) × 105
Downloaded by Professor Jawad Faiz At 09:51 07 January 2016 (PT)

4
2
Figure 18. 0
Induced eddy −2
current in bus-duct −4
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
enclosure during
Time (Sec)
short circuit fault
Source: Courtesy of Pars Generator Co.

(a)
1,000
X Component
Y Component
0

−1,000
Forces on Conductors (N)

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

(b)
2,000

−2,000
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
(c)
500

0
Figure 19.
Force exerted on −500
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
conductors at time of
Time (Sec)
short circuit fault
Source: Courtesy of Pars Generator Co.

Damping time differs for different phases. Figure 20 shows the electromagnetic force in
the middle phase conductor at two phase angles of current. As shown in Figure 20,
amplitude of the electromagnetic force varies by variations of the current phase angle,
but these variations have no influence on the force amplitude. Figure 21 shows the
electromagnetic force at the time of short circuit fault in the enclosure with two
 1,500
Current Phase Angle = PI/2
Bus-ducts
1,000
Current Phase Angle = PI/3 design

500
Force on Conductor (N)

0 133
−500

−1,000
Figure 20.
Electromagnetic
−1,500 force in middle
phase conductor
Downloaded by Professor Jawad Faiz At 09:51 07 January 2016 (PT)

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
at two phase
Time (Sec)
angles of current
Source: Courtesy of Pars Generator

(a)
1,000 Steel 416
Aluminum
0

−1,000
Forces on conductors (N)

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
(b)
2,000

−2,000
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
(c)
1,000 Figure 21.
0 Electromagnetic
force at time of short
−1,000 circuit fault in
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
enclosure with two
Time (Sec)
different materials
Source: Courtesy of Pars Generator

different materials. Figure 21 indicates the maximum force for two materials is almost
the same. In the steel, this force reaches its peak earlier and damps quicker and
therefore it applies less stress on the supports.
Aluminum enclosure makes it possible to cut the circuit by protection devices before
approaching the maximum force (Isfahani et al., 2009). Impact of distance between
phases on the electromagnetic force due to short circuit fault is shown in Figure 22
(Hassanpour and Vaezzadeh, 2008).
Increasing distance between the phases has influence on the volume and affects
seriously the electromagnetic force as such that the force decreases largely, but at the
time fault occurring it has no impact on the maximum force. Effect of the enclosure
material on the short circuit force has been shown in Figure 23 in which aluminum
 COMPEL alloy having larger resistivity leads to lower amplitude of the electromagnetic force.
35,1 In Triantafyllidis et al. (2003), a method has been introduced to examine the operating
conditions of a bus with several ac conductors. This method is based on the lumped
parameters method assuming linear magnetic material. Table VII summarizes the bus
short SC currents (Labridis and Dokopoulos, 1996).
Asymmetrical current distribution in short circuit case applies large short circuit
134 force (Chiampi et al., 1993). In Ho et al. (2003), magnetic forces in bus-bars with low
current used indoor has been studied. The obtained forces using FEM has been

2,400

2,200

2,000
Downloaded by Professor Jawad Faiz At 09:51 07 January 2016 (PT)

1,800
Force (N)

1,600

Figure 22. 1,400

Impact of distance
between phases 1,200
on electromagnetic 1,000
force due to short
circuit fault 1.15 1.2 1.25 1.3 1.35 1.4 1.45 1.5 1.55 1.6
Distance (m)

1,850

1,800

1,750
Force (N)

1,700

1,650

1,600

Figure 23. 1,550

Effect of enclosure
material on short 1,500
circuit force 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Resistivity of Enclosure (nano ohm - m)

Ph. no. R1 S1 T1 R2 S2 T2 R3 S3 T3

3 33.1 41 42.5 42.2 43.1 42.4 42 45.3 33.6

Table VII. 3&N 29.8 40 43 42.3 42.7 42.8 42.2 43.3 41.6
Short circuit current 3&PE 32.9 39.5 42.6 42.4 42.8 42.6 42.2 44.4 36.9
for different 3 N, PE 33.3 39.2 42.8 42.4 42.6 42.8 42.4 43.2 41.4
conductors in 2-RS 32.8 36.6 2.8 37.6 36.1 2.8 37.6 35.3 5.6
different bus 2-RT 25 2.4 37.1 36.7 0.2 37.1 36.7 2.5 24.1
systems 2-ST 35 35 37.8 2.7 35.9 37.9 2.7 36.8 32
 compared with DIN VDE 0103 and IEC 865 standards and larger than 50 percent Bus-ducts
difference has been observed. The reason for this difference is neglecting the proximity design
effect in the standard results.

5. Conclusion
This paper reviewed different types of bus-ducts from used materials, voltage level and
insulation types point of views. Bus-duct modeling methods were proposed and their 135
resultant signals were investigated. Bus-duct design must be based on electromagnetic,
thermal and mechanical considerations and all dominant factors upon these analyses
were introduced in the paper.

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Further reading
Ho, S.L., Li, Y., Lo, E.W.C., Cheng, K.W.E. and Wong, K.F. (2007), “Calculation of eddy current,
fluid and thermal fields in an air insulated bus-duct system”, IEEE Transactions on
Magnetics, Vol. 43 No. 4, pp. 1433-1436.

Corresponding author
Professor J. Faiz can be contacted at: jfaiz@ut.ac.ir

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