Investigating the impact of transmission line design parameters in the rocky mountain regions to improve the lightning back-flashover performance

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering-University of Science and Technology of Mazandaran

Abstract

When lightning strikes the guard wires or the top of a transmission tower, the lightning current is discharged into the ground through the tower structure. This causes an increase in the tower's potential, resulting in an overvoltage across the insulator string. If the voltage across the insulator exceeds its dielectric withstand level, a back-flashover (BFO) may occur. Overhead transmission lines (OHLs) passing through rocky mountainous regions are particularly vulnerable to lightning, due to shorter striking distances and high soil resistivity. Therefore, accurately estimating the maximum overvoltage caused by lightning in mountainous regions is an important issue. This paper presents an analysis of BFO patterns to investigate the impact of various OHL design parameters in rocky mountainous areas particularly the design of an effective tower footing grounding system, with the aim of improving lightning performance. The simulation was conducted on a 132 kV double-circuit OHL using EMTP-RV software. The obtained results were validated with the presented results in reference and demonstrated good agreement.

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Journal of Modeling in Engineering

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 05 October 2025

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History

  • Receive Date: 31 March 2025
  • Revise Date: 30 May 2025
  • Accept Date: 18 August 2025

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