Application of the Partial Element Equivalent Circuit Method to Analysis of Transient Potential Rises in Grounding Systems

This paper presents calculations of lightning transient potential rises in grounding systems. A partial element equivalent circuit (PEEC) method, adopting a modified image method, is employed in this paper. The modified image method in this paper has two options either including or neglecting images of conduction currents along conductors for calculating series impedances. The effect of retardation in the PEEC method is also investigated. Comparisons of simulation results by the proposed method with those by the method of moments, the finite-difference time-domain method, and experimental results collected from the literature show that the PEEC method with the modified image method is quite effective in the evaluation of transient potential rise in a grounding system.