Measured and Computed Current Densities in Buried Ground Conductors

Measurements on scale models of grounding electrodes buried in uniform and two-layer soils show that current densities vary widely over the length of the ground conductors. The results show the effect of the frequency of the current, electrode configuration, soil structure and other significant parameters, on the current density distribution function. Most measured results are compared with results obtained using recently developed analytical methods; excellent agreement is obtained. The significant variations observed in the shape of the current density curves suggest that it is unlikely that these could be derived using simplified calculation methods.