• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.119-125
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• 2009

This paper deals with the characteristics of soil ionization affecting the dynamic performance of grounding systems under lightning impulse voltage. A concentric hemispherical electrode system was employed in order to facilitate the field calculation and analysis of the experimental results. The parameters such as the ionization threshold and breakdown field intensity, the pre-ionization and the post ionization resistances, the time-lag to ionization, the transient impedance, the equivalent ionized radius for various soil media were measured and analyzed. The dynamic characteristics of ionization processes under lightning impulse voltage are strongly dependent on the types of soil and water content. As a result, a soil ionization reduces the ground resistance and there is a little effect of applied impulse polarity on the soil ionization threshold field intensity. Although the ionization threshold field intensity of wet clay with 30% water content is the highest, its ionized zone was found to be the smallest amongst the test samples.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.98-105
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• 2009

This paper presents the characteristics of soil ionization for different water contents, and the parameters associated with the dynamic properties of a simple model grounding system subject to lightning impulse currents. The laboratory experiments for this study were carried out based on factors affecting the soil resistivities. The soil resistivities are adjusted with water contents in the range from 2 to 8% by weight. A test cell with a spherical electrode buried in the middle of the hemispherical container was used. As a result, the electric field intensity $E_c$ initiating ionization is decreased with the reduction of soil resistivities. Also, as the water content increased, the pre-ionization resistance $R_1$ and the post-ionization resistance $R_2$ became lower with increasing current amplitude. The time-lag to ionization $t_1$ and the time-lag to the second current peak $t_2$ at high applied voltages were significantly shorter than those of low applied voltages. It was found that the soil ionization behaviors are highly dependent on the water content and the applied voltage amplitude.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.446-454
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• 2016

In this paper, we present experimental results of the soil discharge characteristics as a function of moisture content when a 1.2/50-㎲ lightning impulse voltage is applied. For this study, laboratory experiments were carried out based on factors affecting the transient behavior in soils. The electrical breakdown voltages in soils were measured for a 0-6% range of moisture content for sand and a 0 - 4% range of moisture content for gravel. A test cell with semi-spherical electrodes buried face-to-face in the middle of a cylindrical container was used. The distance separating the electrodes is 100 mm. As a result, the time-lag to breakdown in soils decreases as the amplitude of applied voltage increases. The time-lag to initiation of ionization streamer is decreased, with an increase in the moisture content. However, the formative time-lag is rarely changed. The behavior of soil discharges depend not only on the type of soil and its moisture content but also on the amplitude of the impulse voltage. When the test voltage is applied repeatedly, electrical breakdown occurs along different discrete paths, leading radially away from the injected electrode. i.e., the fact that the ionization streamers propagate in different paths from shot to shot was observed.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.66 no.2
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• pp.363-369
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• 2017

This paper presents the experimental results related to soil ionization and electrical breakdown in a concentric hemispherical electrode system under lightning impulse voltages. Dynamic voltage-current and impedance-time characteristics of soil ionization were measured and analyzed. Also the electrical breakdowns of the soil gap were investigated. The time-lag to the peak current corresponds to the soil ionization propagation. The time of ionization propagation in wet sand is found to decrease with increasing the impulse currents. A drastic decrease in ground resistance was observed during the impulse current spreading in sand. The electrical breakdown appears at the wave tail of impulse voltage and results in a wide scatter in V-t curves. The voltage-current curves have a fan-like shape attributed to ionization processes which result in increasing current and decreasing voltage.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.288-295
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• 2001

Predischarges in nonuniform electric field stressed by lightning impulse voltagesin SF(sub)6-$N_2$mixtures are initiated by streamer coronas. Due to field ehnancement at a protrusion point of electrodes new ionization processes occur and a precursor, which leads to a first leader, is created. The leader proceeds step by step to the opposite electrode and the final jump bridges the test gap. It was found that the predischarge is propagated with a leader mechanism of stepwise expansion from the predischarge current waveforms measured by a shunt. The predischarge current is closely related to the amplitude and polarity of applied voltages, the gas pressure and the gap geometry. The time intervals between step leaders for the positive and negative polarities were inversely proportional to V.P$^2$. When the gas pressure increases in the positive polarity, statistical time lag to statistical time lag to streamer corona inception increase slightly, but the formative time lag to flashover is significantly decreased.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.65 no.12
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• pp.1971-1978
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• 2016

In this paper, electrical and physical characteristics associated with the ionization growth of soil under impulse voltages in a coaxial cylindrical electrode system to simulate a horizontally-buried ground electrode were experimentally investigated. The results were summarized as follows: Transient ground resistances decreased significantly by soil ionization. The voltage-current (V-I) curves for non-ionization in soil lined up in a straight line with the nearly same slope that is the ground resistance, but they showed a 'cross-closed loop' of ${\infty}$-shape under ionization. The conventional ground resistance and equivalent soil resistivity were inversely proportional to the peak value of injected impulse currents. On the other hand, the equivalent ionization radius and time-lag to the maximum value of ionization radius were increased with increasing the incident impulse voltages. An analysis method for the transient ground resistances of the ground electrode based on the ionization phenomena was proposed. The proposed method can be applied to analyze the transient performances of grounding systems for lightning protection in power system installations.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.95-101
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• 2015

This paper presents experimental results about characteristics of soil discharge as a function of moisture content when the $1.2/50{\mu}s$ lightning impulse voltage is applied. The laboratory experiments, for this study, were carried out based on factors affecting the transient behavior in soils. The electrical breakdown in soils was measured over a 0-6% range of moisture content for sands and a 0-4% range of moisture content for gravels. Needle-plane electrode systems was used As a result, the conduction current prior to ionization growth in dry soil is a little, but it in wet soil is increased with the applied voltage because the wet soil particles act as conductors. The soil impedance curves show an abrupt reduction just after breakdown. The general tendency measured in different soils is that the higher the water content, the lower the breakdown voltage and the shorter the time-lag to breakdown.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.103-109
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• 2010

In this paper, breakdown characteristics of soil in a coaxial cylindrical electrode system stressed by impulse currents were experimentally investigated. The breakdown voltage and current waveforms for 4 types of soils were measured, and the threshold electric field intensity, the time-lag to breakdown and the voltage-current (V-I) curves were analyzed and discussed. As a result, the breakdown voltage and current waveforms are strongly dependent on the grain size of soil, and the voltage and current waveforms for gravel and sand differ from those for silt and loess. The threshold electric field intensity Ec is increased in the order of gravel, sand, loess and silt. The V-I curves for all test samples show a 'cross-closed loop' of ${\infty}$-shape. Also, the time-lag to breakdown for gravel and sand are longer than those for silt and loess. It is expected that the results presented in this paper will provide useful information on the design of improving transient performance of a grounding electrode system subjected to lightning current considering the soil ionization.