Cymgrd 6.5 Reference Manual and Users Guide: July 2011

CYMGRD 6.
5
Reference Manual and
Users Guide
July 2011
Copyright CYME International T&D Inc.

All Rights Reserved
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CYMGRD 6.5 Reference Manual and Users Guide
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
1.10
1.11
1.12
Getting Started............................................................................................1
General introduction .....................................................................................1
Software and hardware requirements ..........................................................1
Installing CYMGRD.......................................................................................2
CYMGRD modules .......................................................................................2
First-time user...............................................................................................3
Interactive data entry ....................................................................................3
How to use CYMGRD to design a new grounding grid ................................3
Dividing the grid into elements .....................................................................4
How to use CYMGRD to reinforce and verify existing grounding grids .......5
Creating and opening Projects and Studies .................................................5
The Windows layout of CYMGRD ................................................................7
Default Parameters.......................................................................................9
Chapter 2
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
Soil Resistivity and Safety Assessement ..............................................11

Soil resistivity measurements and soil models...........................................11
Soil resistivity: Methodology and algorithm ................................................12
How to perform a soil analysis....................................................................13
How to specify the soil model type .............................................................15
How to perform Safety Analysis .................................................................17
Transferring the results of Safety Analysis for danger point evaluation .....19
Importing Projects from the previous version .............................................20
Importing Projects from the previous version An alternative method......21
Chapter 3
3.1
3.2
3.3
Grid Analysis Module...............................................................................23

General introduction ...................................................................................23
Electrode types and terminology ................................................................23
Electrode Sizing..........................................................................................24
3.3.1 LG fault parameters........................................................................27
3.3.2 Electrode Material ..........................................................................28
3.3.3 Electrode Sizing report ...................................................................28
3.4 Grounding system structure and location...................................................29
3.5 Split-factor (Sf), Decrement- factor (Df) and Definition for RemoteContribution in [%] ......................................................................................31
3.5.1 Decrement Factor (Df)....................................................................32
3.5.2 Split Factor (Sf) ..............................................................................32
3.6 Entering the Grid data.................................................................................34
3.6.1 Symmetrically-arranged grid Conductors.......................................34
3.6.2 Asymmetrically-arranged grid Conductors.....................................36
3.6.3 Symmetrically-arranged ground Rods............................................37
3.6.4 Asymmetrically-arranged ground Rods..........................................38
3.6.5 Rod Encasement............................................................................39
3.6.6 Arc Conductors...............................................................................41
3.7 Modifying and inspecting the station Geometry data .................................42
3.7.1 Enabling and disabling entries .......................................................42
3.7.2 Reviewing and verifying the data ...................................................42
3.8 Importing/Exporting Grid data and Station layouts.....................................43
3.9 Overlapping conductor elements................................................................43
3.10 Grid analysis and reports............................................................................44
3.11 Visualize the station layout in 3-Dimensions. .............................................46
3.12 The station layout and the Installation view. .............................................49
TABLE OF CONTENTS
3.13 A note on modeling Grounding Structures .................................................49

3.14 Soil data from earlier versions of the application........................................50
Chapter 4
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.8
4.9
4.10
4.11
4.12
Plotting Module.........................................................................................51
General introduction ...................................................................................51
How to generate Touch and Surface potential Contours ........................51
Touch and Surface potential contours........................................................54
Contour color coding and Safety Analysis..................................................54
Allowable LG fault current ..........................................................................56
How to generate 3-D contour plots.............................................................57
Contour graph reports ................................................................................58
Contour graph management.......................................................................59
How to perform spot-check danger point evaluation ................................59
How to generate Profile voltage plots.........................................................60
Inspecting potential profile plots .................................................................62
Comparing contour plots from two different studies ...................................62
Chapter 5
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
Example Studies.......................................................................................65
Example 1: Primary electrode only.............................................................65
Methodology ...............................................................................................66
First step: Soil Analysis and interpretation of resistivity measurements ....66
Second step:Calculation of the maximum permissible touch and step
voltages for the soil model ..........................................................................67
Third step: Grounding installation data entry..............................................69
Fourth step: Danger point evaluation and surface analysis .......................73
Example 2: Primary, Return and Distinct electrodes..................................75
Grounding installation data and layout .......................................................75
5.5
5.6
5.7
5.8
Chapter 6
6.1
Comparison with the IEEE80 Guide .......................................................81

Comparison with the IEEE80 Guide ...........................................................81
6.1.1 CASE NAME: Example 1: Preliminary design stage .....................82
6.1.2 CASE NAME: Example 2: Improved design ..................................83
6.1.3 CASE NAME: Example 3: Finalized design ...................................85
6.1.4 CASE NAME: Example 4: L-Shaped with rods ..............................86
Chapter 7
7.1
7.2
CADGRD - The CYMGRD - AutoCAD Interface module........................89

Program summary ......................................................................................89
Drawing a station ground grid with AutoCAD .............................................91
7.2.1 General outline ...............................................................................91
7.2.2 Drawing the Grid Layout using AutoCAD:......................................92
7.2.3 Example..........................................................................................98
Validation & Update of the AutoCAD drawing ..........................................107
7.3.1 Validating the AutoCAD drawing..................................................108
7.3.2 Updating the AutoCAD drawing. ..................................................111
Importing from AutoCAD to CYMGRD .....................................................112
Exporting from CYMGRD to AutoCAD .....................................................114
Working with AutoCAD .............................................................................115
7.3
7.4
7.5
7.6
Chapter 8
ii
Troubleshooting .....................................................................................117
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1
1.1
Getting Started
General introduction
CYMGRD assists engineers to design grounding facilities for substations and buildings.
The program can be used to perform soil resistivity measurement interpretations, elevation of
ground potential rise and danger point evaluation within any area of interest.
The program supports soil resistivity analysis taking into account field measurements, an
analysis necessary to arrive at a soil model that will subsequently be used for the analysis of the
potential elevations. The module supports both single-layer and two-layer soil model analysis.
The same module also computes the tolerable Step and Touch Voltages per IEEE Standard 802000. The user defines the prospective fault current magnitude, the thickness and resistivity of a
layer of material (such as crushed rock) applied to the soil surface, the body weight and the
anticipated exposure time.
CYMGRD is capable of performing ground-electrode sizing and ground potential rise
calculations. CYMGRD can also determine the equivalent resistance of ground grids of arbitrary
shapes that are composed of ground conductors, rods and arcs since it employs matrix
techniques for resolving the current distribution to ground. Directly energized and/or passive
electrodes, not connected to the energized grid, can be modeled to assess proximity effects.
CYMGRD calculates surface voltage and touch voltage potential gradients at any point of
interest within the area of investigation. The program can also generate equipotential contours for
surface and/or touch potentials, and potential profiles showing touch and step voltages along any
direction. Color-coding is used to view the results. These can be displayed in either two or three
dimensions, making it easy to evaluate the safety of personnel and the equipment in and around
the grounding grid.
The results of alternative grid designs may be displayed simultaneously for comparison.
1.2
Software and hardware requirements

CYMGRD can be used with Windows NT or Windows 9X platforms.
The minimum hardware requirements are:
Pentium computer
64 MB RAM
20 MB free memory on the hard disk
A Microsoft mouse or equivalent;
A color monitor with Super VGA and a graphic card supporting 256 colors or more
Any printer or plotter supported by Windows
CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED
1.3
Installing CYMGRD
The CYMGRD package requires a license to operate. Access is granted with the use of
either a physical hardware key (Parallel port / USB) and/or a license string (Added manually or by
importing a license file). You may, however, install the CYMGRD package independent of the
license.
Installation steps:
1. Start Microsoft Windows.
2. Insert the CYME CD into the CD-ROM reader. If installing the WEB based package,
open the executable and proceed to step 7.
3. The installation program should start automatically after a few seconds.
If it does not start by itself, use Windows Explorer to inspect the main directory of
the CYME CD. Locate the icon Setup32 and double-click on it.
4. Click on the option to Install Products or Demos.
5. Choose English and then your version of Windows.
6. Choose CYMGRD from the list of software names.
7. Follow the prompts and screen instructions.
1.4
CYMGRD modules
The functions outlined in the General introduction (section 1.1) can be performed using
the following modules:
Soil Analysis module (includes Safety Assessment): Defines either a two-layer, a
uniform, or a user-defined soil model CYMGRD plots the measured and calculated resistivity on
the same graph to allow easy verification of the quality of the soil model. The maximum
allowable step and touch voltages are calculated according to IEEE Standard 80-2000. The
results are automatically communicated to the other modules.
Electrode Sizing module: Determines the minimum required ground electrode
(conductor and/or rod) size in accordance with the IEEE 80-2000 standard. To determine the
electrode size, CYMGRD uses the parameters of the electrode material and the ambient
temperature setting. Users can select one or more of the materials from the CYMGRD library. A
number of parameters for the materials can be modified and retained on a per-study basis.
Grid Analysis module: Calculates the current diffused by every element of conductor in
the grounding grid. The potential at the soil surface is determined from these results. You may
define the grid one conductor at a time and/or by using groups of conductors arranged in
rectangular sub-grids. You can define the grounding rods in a similar way. Other buried
conductors (such as nearby foundations) and/or neighboring grounding structures may also be
defined, to be able to assess the influence of their presence on the surface voltages. These
structures may be included in the analysis or excluded at any time for comparison purposes.
Plotting module: Generates a visual representation of the grid analysis results on
Potential Contour and/or Potential Profile plots. Potential Contour plots can be used to display
both touch and surface voltages. Both representations can be color-coded in 2 or 3 dimensions.
Potential Profile plots can be used to display both step and touch voltages along a straight line, in
any desired direction. The voltage variations, along with the corresponding maximum allowable
voltages, can be shown simultaneously on the same graph. Both Potential Contour and Potential
Profile graph types allow for easy identification of hazardous areas (i.e. areas where tolerable
voltages are exceeded). These graphics can be sent to a printer, a plotter or copied to the
Windows clipboard.
1.5
First-time user
If you have not used CYMGRD before, we suggest you read this manual before
performing a grounding study, to familiarize yourself with the capabilities of the program.
Illustrated step-by-step examples have been included in Chapter 5 Example Studies to assist you
in the utilization of CYMGRD.
Note:
1.6
The ReadMe file includes important information as well. Please refer to the
contents of this file before operating the program.
Interactive data entry
CYMGRD features a modern multi-window interface for data entry. A spreadsheet is

used to enter the data about station layout, soil resistivity, bus, and electrode sizing. Any
remaining data is provided via standard dialog box entries.
Note:
1.7
Besides interactive data entry, the program remains backwards compatible

with earlier releases. All cases entered via earlier Windows versions can be
directly imported. In the unlikely case where users are interested in importing
cases entered with the DOS version of the package, they should contact
Customer Support for further assistance.
How to use CYMGRD to design a new grounding grid
The first step in performing a grounding study is to define a Project and then a Study
within CYMGRD. A Project can be viewed as a container of Studies. The studies may be
variations on a design theme towards optimizing a grid design.
The second step is to determine the soil model that will be used for the subsequent
analyses. This is done using the Soil Analysis module. It is the same module that performs the
Safety Assessment calculations, thus yielding the maximum permissible step and touch voltage
for particular surface and exposure conditions as defined in IEEE Standard 80-2000.
The third step is to determine the electrode sizing (conductors and rods) taking into
account the worst single line to ground fault parameters in the substation and material of the
electrodes.
The fourth step is to actually enter the geometrical configuration of the station layout. All
electrodes (conductors and rods) need to be entered with their exact coordinates, burial depth
and physical dimensions.
Note:
AutoCAD drawings of the station layout may be directly imported into

CYMGRD assuming that certain design rules are followed. Please refer to
Chapter 7 CADGRD - The CYMGRD - AutoCAD Interface module for more
details.
The final step is to make certain that the design for the station meets the necessary
safety criteria. This can be accomplished through direct inspection of the danger points on the
surface. Entire areas may need to be verified by generating Potential Contours plots of the touch
voltages, particularly near the grid edges. Finally, Potential Profiles plots should be generated to
ascertain that touch and step potentials are not exceeded. If any of the safety criteria is not met,
the grid design may need to be reinforced or modified. This is accomplished by repeating this
procedure from the third step until acceptable results are obtained.
1.8
Dividing the grid into elements
The Grid Analysis module calculates the surface potentials by dividing the conductors
and rods into smaller segments called elements. These elements are the basic units that diffuse
the injected fault current to ground. Using a higher number of smaller elements may give greater
precision. However, the total number of elements in any grounding study cannot exceed 3500,
including the main Primary electrode and any Return or Distinct electrode.
Note:
You must select the number of elements so that the length of each element is
greater than 0.275 meters. So if you are presented with the error message
element(s) with minimum resolution found after performing a grid analysis,
you will need to reduce the number of elements for each of the conductors
shown.
The number of elements defined is not necessarily related to the number of
conductors in the grid or to the number of meshes the grid features.
How many elements per conductor/rod the program uses does not appear in
any graphical representations and is solely related to the desired accuracy of
the numerical simulations. There are cases for which increasing the number
of elements may result in higher accuracy. This is not, however, necessarily
the case despite the fact that the computational burden increases
considerably whenever the number of elements is increased.
An increased number of elements does not necessarily mean a more
accurate estimate of neither the station resistance nor the ensuing surface
potentials. A general rule of thumb is to begin by creating a study using one
or two elements per grid conductor (assuming the conductors physical length
does not exceed 1 meter). If greater accuracy is desired, a new study with
further conductor/rod subdivisions may be carried out to see if there is indeed
a significant change in the results.
1.9
How to use CYMGRD to reinforce and verify existing grounding

grids
For existing grids, soil measurements may be available from the original design. If the
soil model has already been determined and remains valid, it is not necessary to enter the soil
measurements.
1. To take the existing soil model into account, choose the User-defined model for soil
analysis type in the Soil Parameters dialog box and enter the required information for
the upper, the lower and the surface layers. If desired, you may also enter Userdefined data for use with the safety assessment data, which will be used to
determine the maximum permissible touch and step voltages.
2. Verify the station conductor and rod data entries and make certain any
reinforcements and/or additions are included in the station data. Determine the
Ground Potential Rise (GPR) and station resistance using the Grid Analysis module.
3. Use the plotting facilities, potential contours and/or profiles, to visualize touch and
step potentials in selected areas of interest.
4. Based on the results, judge the adequacy of the existing or reinforced grounding
system.
5. If the grid is not adequate, return to Step 2 and make the necessary changes to the
grid layout by adding or removing conductors and/or rods.
1.10 Creating and opening Projects and Studies

A Project can be viewed as a container of Studies, which may be variations on a
design theme towards optimizing a grid design. The real container of data and results, however,
remains the Study. Defining a project and a study is done via the Files menu, as shown below,
from the menu bar of CYMGRD.
To define a new project, the New option needs to be chosen for the File menu. In this
case, the dialog box shown provides the possibility to define a new Study, as well as a new
Project that will contain the study. If, a new study is desired within the active project, click on the
check box Insert into the active project and the lower project-related prompt will no longer be
accessible.
To open an existing Project, click on the Open Project command of the File menu.
The browse function is activated that lets you see the various Projects already created in
the active folder.
1.11 The Windows layout of CYMGRD

Once a Project has been created and a new Study generated within that Project, you will
need to begin entering your substation data. The CYMGRD interface is sub-divided into
dedicated sections that occupy specific regions within the overall display.
The upper-left section is referred to as the Workspace view. It is reserved for the
Studies and the corresponding Project file, shown in a tree structure. If more Studies were
included, they would be shown as part of the root Project. The active Study is shown using a red
checkmark as part of its icon. Note that this window features 3 tabs. The tab named Studies
shows the Project/Study tree structure. The tab named Contours shows the various potential
contour plots generated for the active Study. The tab named Profiles shows the potential profile
plots generated within the active Study. Thus, the second and third tabs are context-sensitive and
dependent on the first tab.
The middle-left section is the Installation view. It displays a condensed view of the
station grounding grid layout (NOT UNDER SCALE AND WITHOUT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT
THE ASPECT RATIO OF THE MAIN GRID LAYOUT WINDOW). The Installation View contents
appear only when data is has been entered for the station layout. Gradual station data entry
enriches the view accordingly.
The upper-right section is the Workbook view. It is reserved to show the Grid Layout,
Soil Model and Potential Contour and Profile plots generated during the simulation. It is the main
display area of the application. The Soil Model tab displays a visual representation of all the soil
measurement data and possibly any calculated results due any soil analysis. The Grid Layout
tab displays a visual representation of all the conductor data representing the station geometry.
The lower-left section is the Data Entry view. It is used for data tabular input. The tab
named Soil measurements is reserved for soil measurement data entry. The tab named
Asymmetrical Conductors is reserved for the grid conductor asymmetrical data, and so on.
The lower-right section is the Reports view. It is used to display the reports pertinent to
all analysis options. The tab named Soil Analysis contains the report of soil analysis module,
while the tab named Grid Analysis contains the report of the Grid analysis module. Any contour
or profile plots shown in the Workbook view will also have a corresponding report shown here.
The default view of a study with actual data is shown below to illustrate these principles:
1.12 Default Parameters

The user can set the default parameters values, such as Shock Duration and Nominal
Frequency, when creating a new Study.
The Default-Parameters dialog box can be called by clicking the Defaults button in the
File > New dialog box.
Chapter 2
2.1
Soil Resistivity and Safety

Assessement
Soil resistivity measurements and soil models
The ambient soil may contain a uniform resistivity to a significant depth. It is however
more common to find that soils are stratified (i.e. composed of layers having different
resistivities). In general, to identify the exact soil stratification is a difficult problem. Many
approaches have been suggested over the years, both graphical and analytical, but on many
occasions, a judgment call will need to be made in order to arrive at practical soil models. There
are currently techniques to interpret a set of soil resistivity measurements as a multi-layer soil
model. CYMGRD offers a choice between Uniform and Two-layer soil models. Multi-layer soil
models are not currently supported by CYMGRD.
The Two-layer model has an upper layer of a definite depth and a lower layer of an
infinite depth and with a different resistivity. The approach is a practical one and has been
followed for many years in substation grounding practice. Of the various soil measurement
techniques, CYMGRD supports only the Wenner technique, in which the distance (a) between
each pair of probes is equal.
A current (I) is injected and the resulting voltage (V) is measured by the voltmeter. The
apparent or measured resistivity is given by
=
4a(V I)
2a
a
1 +
a 2 + 4 b2
a2 + b2
or
= 2a(V I )
if a >> b
where b is the length of the probe.
CHAPTER 2 SOIL RESISTIVITY AND SAFETY ASSESSMENT
11
2.2
Soil resistivity: Methodology and algorithm
Let a be the apparent earth resistivity as computed by a two-layer model, 1 and 2 the
resistivity of the upper and lower soil layers, and h the thickness of the upper soil layer
(CYMGRD assumes that the thickness of the lower layer is infinite). The module will find 1, 2
and h according to the mathematical equations described below. The results will be automatically
communicated to the Grid Analysis module, which calculates the surface potentials.
K = reflection coefficient = (2 - 1) / (2 + 1)
n = integer varying from 1 to
h = upper layer thickness

a = electrode spacing
1, 2 = upper & lower soil layer resistivity
By finding 1, 2, and h, CYMGRD minimizes the following function:
N
f ( x) = [( Pmi P(i )) 2 / Pmi2 ]

i =1
where the sum spans all the available measurements.
Pmi = Measured value of earth resistivity at probe distance Di
P (i ) = Computed value of earth resistivity at probe distance Di

Note:
CYMGRD uses reduced gradient techniques to calculate the optimal model

and to minimize the RMS error. The term optimal signifies that the soil model
that will be deduced will be the one that best fits the available measurements.
CYMGRD identifies measurements that do not seem to fit very well the
computed resistivity function. In order to try to improve the accuracy of the
soil model, you may remove one or more such measurements from the input
data and run the analysis again. These Suspect measurements can be
found in the Soil analysis report and are also shown in the graphical
representation of the soil model marked with a cross and labeled Doubtful
points.
CYMGRD interprets either resistivity measurements or resistance values.
12
When the soil model is determined, all subsequent electrodes (no matter the type)
and grounding structures analyzed by CYMGRD will assume the same soil model.
2.3
No pockets of soil discontinuity are supported by the embedded technique. In other

words, any local soil resistivity discontinuities, like regions of very high conductivity
surrounded by the native soil are not accounted for.
Only horizontal soil stratification type is supported by CYMGRD. No vertical

stratification is taken into account.
Whenever two sets of soil measurements with identical probe spacing are entered,
the program will not interpret the soil measurements and a warning will be generated
in the Soil Analysis report. This will be the case even if the two sets of measurements
feature different resistivities.
Whenever measurement sets along different search directions are made for the
same site, it is not advisable to enter the various measurements as one set, not only
because duplicate probe spacing is not permitted but, more importantly, because, a
distorted soil model may result.
You must enter at least one measurement for uniform soil. You must enter at least
three measurements for two-layer soil. CYMGRD can accept a maximum of 100
measurements.
How to perform a soil analysis
Soil resistivity and/or safety assessment analysis are done within the Soil Analysis
module, which is activated by selecting the Soil Analysis engine from the drop-down list that
contains all available analysis modules.
13
The available data is shown in the Data Entry view window at the Soil Measurements
tab that uses a spreadsheet-like interface as shown above. Note that any of the measurements
can be disabled using the checkmark in the dedicated column. This is where you can remove any
suspect measurements before recalculating the soil model.
The calculation is performed by clicking on the Run Engine button, which is the button
that has the lighting bolt as a symbol, next to the drop down list for the selection of the analysis
module.
The soil model is seen graphically in the Workbook view. Any measurements that the
simulation found departing from the average RMS errors that resulted from the optimization fit are
marked with an X on the graphic. The RMS error is computed to indicate the degree of
correspondence between the calculated soil model and the measured values, and is calculated
as follows:
N
RMS error =
error
(i )
The user will need to decide either to retain or to discard them by performing a new
simulation with a reduced set of measurements.
You can track the curve values with the mouse. Select any point on the curve with the
cursor to see the probe distance and the calculated apparent resistivity values.
The text results of the soil analysis simulation can be seen in the Report view, within the
Soil Analysis tab. The measured and calculated resistivities for the provided probe spacing are
listed along with the associated errors. The same measurements marked with an X in the
Workbook View are shown in red in the Report view. You can enlarge the Report view section by
dragging the split bar to the position you want. The reports are shown here for illustration. The
calculated soil model results are translated in the written report. This, actually, is a very good way
of verifying the soil model that the program has in memory before proceeding with the potential
rise calculations.
14
2.4
How to specify the soil model type
The report shown in the illustration above pertains to a two-layer soil model. For a twolayer soil model, the program calculates the resistivity of the upper and of the lower layers of soil,
along with the thickness of the first layer (or upper layer). The second layer (or lower layer) is
assumed infinitely thick and the program simply calculates a resistivity for it.
To specify the soil model desired, select the Parameters option in the Soil menu item.
The module provides the options of interpreting the soil measurements as a two-layer soil
model or as a uniform model. It also gives the possibility of entering any soil model desired
(user-defined). If a uniform soil model is selected, the program will provide only one soil
resistivity value, which is the average of all the entered measurements.
15
Note:
CYMGRD no longer supports the function of entering the Soil data as part of
the Grid analysis as some earlier versions did. Thus, the Soil data can no
longer be bypassed if new soil data are to be used for analyzing the same
grid. ALL SOIL DATA NEEDS TO BE DEFINED AS PART OF THE SOIL
ANALYSIS. However, once analyzed, the Soil data results are still
communicated to the Grid module.
Whenever a User-defined model is selected, the results are calculated and
transferred automatically to Grid module without requiring the user to perform
an analysis.
Whenever one or more measurements are changed a new calculation must
be performed. The calculation will assure that the new soil model is used by
the program for subsequent analysis.
16
2.5
How to perform Safety Analysis
This option allows the user to estimate the maximum permissible touch and step voltages
under specific surface and exposure conditions. The safety assessment calculations comply with
standard North American practice as described in the IEEE Guide for Safety in AC Substation
Grounding, 2000 edition.
This standard requires the following data:
Body weight of the shock victim (by default equal to 70 kg, with an alternative of 50
kg).
The thickness and resistivity of the material (i.e. crushed rock) on the surface of the
station native soil.
Soil resistivity of the upper and lower layers, and thickness of the upper layer of the
native soil (additional surface material excluded).
Shock duration (0.1 seconds by default). Protection reaction time.
CYMGRD uses the following equations, taken from IEEE 80-2000, to calculate the
maximum permissible touch and step voltages.
For a 50 kg body weight:
E touch = (1000+1.5CsPs) 0.116/ t
E step = (1000+6.0CsPs) 0.116/ t
For a 70 kg body weight:
E touch = (1000+1.5CsPs) 0.157/ t
E step = (1000+6.0CsPs) 0.157/ t
17
where:
t is shock duration in sec.
Cs is the de-rating factor when high resistivity surface material is present. The
reduction factor Cs is a function of the reflection factor k and the thickness of the
upper layer h.
Ps is the resistivity of the surface material in ohm-m.
This safety assessment data is defined in the same dialog box that specifies the soil
model data. The purpose of the calculation is to arrive at a de-rating factor that will permit to
take advantage of the high resistivity surface layer, thus permitting a higher touch voltage to be
tolerated. The de-rating factor Cs can either be calculated or obtained from graphs according to
the IEEE 2000 Guide. CYMGRD calculates the de-rating factor Cs according to Equation 27 of
IEEE Std 80-2000, i.e.
Cs = 1
0.09(1
s )
2hs + 0.09
where:
hs is the thickness of the high resistivity surface layer material
is the resistivity of the surface material
is the resistivity of the earth below the high resistivity surface material.
Note:
For metal-to-metal calculations, of this kind assume

the de-rating factor, and
= s
when calculating
= s = 0 , when calculating maximum permissible
touch and step voltages (IEEE Std 80, 2000).

The safety calculations are the only part of CYMGRD that uses the surface
layer high resistivity and it does so for the sole purpose of calculating the
maximum permissible touch and step voltages. Actual potential rise analysis
of the grounding assemblies takes into account only the native soil resistivity
model reported by the Soil analysis.
The results of the Safety Analysis are included in the Soil Analysis report.
When User-Defined Safety is selected, CYMGRD will use the Maximum Permissible
Touch and/or Step as constant value to determine the Maximum Permissible Shock Duration.
When touch and/or step voltage must be limited by the specified value for Maximum
Permissible Touch and/or Step, this feature helps user to determine protection speed (ShockDuration) to achieve the specified values for the voltage limits.
The calculation can be based on touch and/or step voltages limits. But when both are
selected, CYMGRD reports only the minimum calculated value for Shock-Duration based on the
Maximum Permissible Touch or Step voltage.
18
By choosing the above option, Shock-Duration will be reported as one of the output
results under the Soil Analysis tab in the report view.
2.6
Transferring the results of Safety Analysis for danger point

evaluation
Once the Safety Analysis has been performed, or, if user-defined safety thresholds are
entered, maximum permissible touch and step voltages have been established, the results are
automatically transferred to the Plotting module. (See Chapter 4 Plotting Module)
Note:
The Plotting module will only permit the utilization of the maximum
permissible step and touch voltages as calculated by the Soil analysis or
defined by the user.
19
2.7
Importing Projects from the previous version
A Project may be imported from a previous version of CYMGRD by using the Import
option found in File menu.
Once this is selected you will need to specify the directory in which the projects that are
to be updated reside. Click on the (i.e. Browse) button to change directories and navigate.
20
Once a directory is selected, any projects found are listed by name.
Continue by selecting the project you want to import, followed by clicking the OK button.
Note:
Only one project at a time can be imported.

All studies within the selected project will be automatically imported as well.
If a project has already been imported into version 6.00 or higher, OR has
been constructed using the version 6.00 or higher of the application, an
asterisk will be shown under Exists to show that there is no need for the
import operation to take place for this particular project. You do, however,
retain the option to overwrite it by rebuilding it from the older version.
2.8
Importing Projects from the previous version An alternative

method
A Project may be imported from a previous version of CYMGRD (prior 6.0) using the
following alternative procedure. Start by running the old version of CYMGRD and open the
Project you wish to import. Then, verify the Project number indicated at the right of the Project
title on the status bar at the bottom of the application window. The number in question is shown
in white with a gray background. This value represents the extension of the project file on your
hard drive (i.e. grdprj.001). It will also be necessary to note the working directory for the Project
on the title bar at the top of the application window. Start the new version of CYMGRD and select
the 'Open' item from the File menu. Change the working directory to that of the old Project as
outlined previously and select the file extension 'grdprj.*' in the Open dialog window. You should
see one or more files with the name 'grdprj' but with different extensions. Selecting and opening
the one with the same extension as the Project number from the old version of CYMGRD, should
import the contents of your Project into the application. At the same time, a file with the same
name as the Project name from the previous version of CYMGRD, but with the extension 'cgp',
will be created in the working directory. From now on, when you wish to open this Project from
the new version of CYMGRD, you need only select this 'cgp' file using the Open item from the
File menu.
Note:
This alternative technique can be used if, for any reason, the directory cannot
be scanned with the previously described technique.
Only one project can be imported at the time, importing along all the studies
within that project.
21
Chapter 3
3.1
Grid Analysis Module
The GRID module is used to calculate the grounding systems resistance, the ground
potential rise (GPR) and the potential gradients at the soil surface. These results are needed to
assess the adequacy of the grid design and to evaluate the safety of the personnel working at the
site.
3.2
Electrode types and terminology
CYMGRD supports three types of electrodes also referred to in this guide as grounding
systems, since they may be composed of both conductors and ground rods. The first type is the
Primary electrode and is the electrode that absorbs the grounding current. The second type is
called the Return electrode and is used to model electrodes. It there is no Return electrode all
the current absorbed by the primary electrode would have been diffused to ground. Finally, the
third type, the Distinct electrode, is not connected to the primary or the return electrode but may
be subjected to the influence of their electric fields. Although Return and Distinct electrodes are
not often found as components of a grounding system, it is sometimes necessary to represent
them.
The Primary electrode
This is the grounding grid that absorbs the fault current. You may build it up out of
conductors and rods. The vast majority of grounding studies will consider only the Primary
electrode.
The Return electrode
If two grounding grids are in the vicinity of each other, and current injected to ground at
the first grid returns to the system via the second, then the second grid is a Return electrode. The
presence of a Return electrode will alter the surface potential distribution.
You can model the Return electrode in the same way that you model the primary
electrode. Even a single rod can serve as a Return electrode. In addition, you must enter the
current absorbed by the return electrode, in Amperes. This value must be negative.
The Distinct electrode
Conductive structures like pipelines and building foundations, which are near a grounding
installation, but not connected to the electric network (not energized), are Distinct electrodes.
You model the Distinct electrode in the same way that you model the Primary electrode.
Even a single rod or buried conductor can act as a Distinct electrode.
CHAPTER 3 - GRID ANALYSIS MODULE
23
Note:
Within CYMGRD, Conductor means horizontal ground-electrodes, and Rod

means vertical or none-horizontal ground-electrodes.
No Return electrode should be modeled in the absence of a Primary
electrode.
By using a Split-factor, CYMGRD takes into account Return current via the
locally grounded transformers, transmission line and distribution feeders.
If the substation fence is not bonded to the grounding grid, model the fence
posts as parts of a Distinct electrode. Otherwise, model them as part of the
Primary electrode.
You must define whether or not all elements of the Distinct electrode have the
same potential. They have the same potential if they are connected together.
If the Distinct electrode is comprised of insulated sections, they do not have
the same potentials. This will have a bearing on the simulation and needs to
be specified as part of the Grid data.
3.3
Electrode Sizing
If desired, prior to designing the grounding grid, the minimum required conductor and/or
rod size can be determined. Simply enable one or more electrode types provided in the
Electrodes tab of the Data Entry view. CYMGRD calculates the minimum required ground
conductor or rod size in accordance with IEEE 80-2000.
The selection of the suitable conductor material and size should satisfy the following
criteria: electrical conductivity, corrosion resistance, current carrying capacity and mechanical
strength.
Any conductor should be capable of conducting the entire ground fault current without
exceeding a specified temperature.
As per ANSI/IEEE Std. 80-2000: ,
Is the conductor section (in cmils)
is the RMS fault current (in A)
LG
constant dependent of the conductor material

( K = 7.01 for Copper, Soft Drawn)
f
fault duration (in sec.)
The size of the ground electrode must be specified prior to the grounding system design.
CYMGRD calculates the minimum required size of the ground conductor or rod in accordance to
IEEE standards.
To determine the minimum required electrode size, the constant parameters of the
material of the electrode (conductor/rod), the Ambient-temperature, the Maximum fault-current
and the Fault-duration are required.
24
The default value for the fault current is 1000 [amps], and the Fault-duration is equal to
the Shock-duration as default. However the user should change the values to the desired values
in the Buses tab in the Data Entry window. (See below)
In order to consider auto-recloser reaction if any the Fault-Duration is assumed to be
equal to the summation of the Shock-Durations.
Notes:
The Fault-Duration in the Buses tab cannot be less than the ShockDuration in the Soil Parameter dialog box.
Ambient temperature can be specified in the Soil Parameters dialog box.
In order to specify the electrode material, the user can choose one of the materials from
the CYMGRD library in the Electrodes tab. (See below). In addition, the user can change the
material parameters in the CYMGRD library to specify a user-defined material.
The following figure shows the CYMGRD library (Electrodes data entry tab), which
includes the list of the most common grounding electrode materials and corresponding parameter
values.
After all the required parameters are specified, the result will appear in the Output
window under the Electrode Sizing tab. There is no need to run electrode-sizing analysis. The
following figure shows an electrode-sizing result.
25
After the electrode material and size have been chosen by the user, the diameters of the
electrodes are required. CYMGRD has a feature to help entering the diameter of the electrodes.
When one or more Conductor and/or Rod items are selected in the Electrodes data entry tab
and that the Electrode Sizing report has been generated (a valid Soil Model analysis must be
available for the active study), a list of corresponding Materials and Sizes will be available for
selection in the data entry windows for all matching Electrode types.
By picking a Material from the list, the Nominal Size (this is the default setting as
reported in the Electrode Sizing results) for the Conductor will be set and its Diameter will be
adjusted accordingly.
Proceeding to change the Size will alter the Conductor Diameter. Modifying the
Diameter directly will cancel both the Material and Size selections.
26
3.3.1
LG fault parameters
LG fault current and corresponding X/R are the results of fault analysis and are required
for Electrode Sizing analysis.
In the Buses tab of Data Entry view, the user must enter data for all the buses in the
substation. CYMGRD will automatically choose the bus that requires the thickest electrode and
apply it towards the Electrode Sizing analysis.
As shown under the Buses data entry tab above:
When the Enabled box is checked, it means that the bus data will be considered in
the analysis.
Usually a substation has two or more buses. CYMGRD identifies each bus and the
corresponding parameters by a Bus ID. The results of the analysis appear in the
Electrode Sizing tab in the Reports view with corresponding Bus ID (See following
image).
LG Fault Current is the total single line- to-ground fault current in amperes.
Remote Contribution is the summation of the contributions (of the LG Fault Current)
from the transmission lines (not the local transformers within the substation) divided
by total fault current and multiplied by 100.
LG X/R is (2x1+Xo)/(2R1+Ro) for the corresponding single line-to-ground fault

current.
Note:
CYMGRD does not use the following parameters for Electrode Sizing,
however, in order for the bus data as a whole to be saved, they must be
supplied. CYMGRD uses this additional data for grid analysis when a Current
Split Factor needs to be determined.
Transmission Lines is the number of the lines connected to the bus.
Rtg is the ground electrode resistance of the above transmission line (Default = 100
Ohms).
27
3.3.2
Distribution Feeders is the number of the feeders connected to the other side of the
transformers which, in turn, is connected to the bus.
Rdg is the ground electrode resistance of the above feeders (Default = 200 Ohms).
Electrode Material
To determine the minimum required electrode size, a correction factor (i.e. Decrement
factor), the constant parameters for the electrode material and ambient temperature value are
required:
The ambient temperature is defined in the Grid Parameters dialog box (Default = 40
degrees Celsius). The Grid Parameters dialog box can be accessed under the
Parameters item of Grid menu.
The type of the material along with its parameters is specified in the Electrodes tab
of the Data Entry view (See below).
CYMGRD uses the information in the Buses tab to calculate the Decrement factor in
accordance with the standard. This factor is used to take into account the DC
components, resulting in the asymmetrical fault current for the corresponding fault
duration.
The following image shows the CYMGRD ground conductor library (Electrodes tab). In
this example, Copper commercial hard-drawn is selected for the conductor sizing and Copperclad steel is selected for the rod sizing.
Note:
3.3.3
Certain parameters, such as the Melting Temperature (Tm) can be modified

in order to better define the materials in use. Any altered values will be saved
only as part of the active study.
Electrode Sizing report
After all the required data for the Electrode Sizing has been specified, the result of the
analysis automatically appears in the Electrode Sizing tab of the Reports view.
28
3.4
Grounding system structure and location
CYMGRD is capable of analyzing grounding systems of either symmetrical or

asymmetrical configuration. A grounding system is made of electrodes, which the program
divides into elements for calculation purposes. If a two-layer soil model is used, then the grid
conductors must be located in the upper layer. Grid rods may cross the two-layers boundary.
Important factors for the calculation of station resistance are the station geometry and the soil
model as determined from the Soil analysis. When calculating the Ground Potential Rise, the
injected current needs to be known as well.
While the station geometry data is entered in the Data Entry view, the remaining data
can be entered through the Grid Parameters dialog box, which can be accessed under the
Parameters item of Grid menu.
That same dialog box allows the user to specify the attributes of the Distinct electrode
and specify the current for the Return electrode.
The single line-to-ground fault current (LG) at the fault location produced by the
substation, does not necessarily flow to the ground via the grid. Some of it may be diverted back
to the system through line-to-ground wires, cable sheaths and/or tower counterpoises. The fact
that only a part of the total fault current usually flows between the grounding system and the
surrounding earth has implications on both personnel safety and equipment requirements.
29
To calculate that portion of the fault current, CYMGRD presents three options in the Grid
Parameters dialog box.
Infinite Z: CYMGRD considers that total LG current goes to the surrounding earth via
the ground grid.
Current Split Factor: CYMGRD estimates the current split factor (Sf) in accordance
to IEEE Std-80. The current split factor is a ratio based on the portion of the LG
current that goes back to the remote sources via the ground grid. Thus;
GPR = S f I LG R g
User Defined (Split Factor or Parallel Z): When you choose this option, you can
directly enter your desired Splitting Factor or Parallel-Z.
Note:
The check box Include Local Contribution accounts for the case where a
local source is solidly grounded to the ground grid. This is option is available
for the Infinite Z and User Defined options.
When this option is checked then the % Remote Contribution (% RC) can be
entered in the Bus Data entry field.
If it is unchecked the field to enter the Remote Contribution is defaulted to 100

% and can not be edited.
The equivalent resistance in parallel with the grounding grid, Parallel R (Rp p is the total
equivalent resistance (in ohms) of the sky wires and counterpoises of all the lines connected to
the substation. The LG fault current is divided between these two resistances (Rg and ParallelZp).
The following equation shows the relationship between Split Factor (Sf), Parallel-Z (Rp p)
and Ground resistance.
30
The same dialog box allows the activation or deactivation of entire sets of electrode
components to assess their effect on the performance of the grid grounding design without
resorting to extensive editing of the station data.
Note:
To direct the entire ground fault current into the grid, without any current
division, set the Parallel-Z (User-defined) to 9999 or the Split Factor (Userdefined) to 1.
For a Return electrode enter the return electrode current. If not, the current is
0.
If you change any of the electrodes after performing an analysis, you will have
to re-analyze the ground potential rise and grid resistance
Grid conductors cannot bridge two soil layers if a two-layer soil model is used.
However, Rods can bridge the two layers of the soil model.
3.5
Split-factor (Sf), Decrement- factor (Df) and Definition for

Remote-Contribution in [%]
To avoid overdesigning in substation grounding systems, CYMGRD takes into account

the correction factors (Split factor and Decrement factor) in accordance with IEEE 80-2000.
IEEE Standards emphasis is on the determination of the actual fault-current flowing,
between the substation grounding system and the surrounding earth.
The fact that only a part of the total fault current usually flows between the grounding
system and the surrounding earth has implications on both personnel safety and equipment
requirements. (See figure below)
To account for both the Decrement (Df) and Split (Sf) Factors, the Ground Current is
now computed as per the following equation of the IEEE STD 80 2000.
31
For conservative and desired approximation of the above mention correction factors, the
following parameters are required in the Buses tab.
3.5.1
[Total fault current]
The single phase to fault (LG) current at the Buses.
[Remote Contribution
(%)]: =
(Summation of the contributions from the lines)/(LG fault

current) X 100.
[LG X/R] =
(2X1+Xo)/(2R1+Ro) from the bus fault analysis result.
[Transmission Lines]:
Number of lines (which has sky-wire) connected to the bus.
[Rtg]:
Ground electrode resistance of the transmission line (the

conservative default value is Rtg=100 Ohm).
[Distribution feeders]:
Number of grounded neutrals at the other sides of

transformers.
[Rdg]:
the ground electrode resistance of a distribution feeder

neutral. (The conservative default value is Rdg=200 Ohm).
Decrement Factor (Df)
To complete the calculation correction in accordance with the standard, the Decrement
factor (Df) must be included in the calculation of the Ground Current. This factor is used to take
into account the DC components, resulting in the asymmetrical fault current, for corresponding
fault duration.
Df = 1+
Ta
2t / T
1 e f a
tf
Where:
3.5.2
tf is the fault duration.
Split Factor (Sf)
In order to take into account that portion of the fault current, the Split factor (current
division factor) must be used.
This implies that the GPR, touch, and step voltages are also lower than might be
expected. Thus, substation and personnel require less or lower rated protective equipment. This
translates to savings when designing the grounding system.
In order to estimate and take into account the Split Factor in the analysis, choose the
option Current Split Factor in the Grid Parameters dialog box.
32
The following diagram is a detailed illustration of how the line to ground current is
distributed between the Ground Grid, Tower Footings, Sky Wires, Local and Remote
Contributions.
The electrical equivalent circuit of the above is as follows:
33
The above equations should always be valid and therefore the GPR is computed as:
Or
Note:
3.6
% RC is the Remote Contribution % entered in the Bus data entry

parameters.
Entering the Grid data
Ground Grid data can be entered by either specifying directly their geometrical
coordinates or can be imported from an AutoCAD file formatted for use with CYMGRD. This
section describes data entry for the case where AutoCAD data files are not available. In
CYMGRD, the grid components data is classified into five categories: Symmetrically arranged
grid conductors, asymmetrically arranged grid conductors, arc conductors, symmetricallyarranged ground rods and asymmetrically arranged ground rods. All are explained in the
following sub-sections. Section Symmetrically-arranged grid Conductors explains the
import/export of AutoCAD data.
3.6.1
Symmetrically-arranged grid Conductors
This type of array is rectangular, with a number of conductors laid out along the long and
short axes, creating a grid. CYMGRD assumes that symmetrically-arranged grid conductors are
buried horizontally and are oriented along two perpendicular axes (the X and Y axes in the
graphic window). The spacing between the conductors is assumed to be equal along each axis,
but the spacing along the Y-axis can be different from the spacing along the X-axis. The data for
symmetrically-arranged components is entered using the Symmetrical Conductors tab of the
Data Entry view.
34
Symmetrical Conductor data is shown above. Note that the check box Enabled is
selected, which means that it will be considered in the Grid Analysis. Furthermore, the Primary
electrode type is selected (default). The drop-down box allows modifying that default to Return
or Distinct.
For this example, we have used the symmetrical conductor arrangement to represent the
lower rectangular part of an L-shaped grid.
The following set of data is used to define a symmetrically-spaced grid:
Type
Primary, Return or Distinct.
[X1, Y1] and

[X2, Y2]
Coordinates of two opposite corners of the rectangular

array.
Grid conductors parallel

to X
The number of grid conductors parallel to the X-axis.
Elements per conductor

parallel to X
CYMGRD considers this number of elements in finiteelements analysis, for conductors parallel to the X-axis
Grid conductors parallel

to Y
The number of grid conductors parallel to the Y-axis.
Depth
The distance between the soil surface and the center of

the conductor.
Diameter
Ground conductor diameter.
35
Note:
3.6.2
If the electrodes (Conductors or rods) placed in the grid cannot satisfy a

placement pattern with some symmetry, then they should be defined using
asymmetrical electrodes.
Asymmetrically-arranged grid Conductors
An asymmetrically-arranged conductor is a single straight conductor stretched between

two points defined by two coordinates (X1, Y1, Z1) and (X2, Y2, Z2). Asymmetrical conductors
that are slanted may be represented in the model (Z coordinate), which is not the case for the
symmetrical arrangements, which are entered using a common burial depth (X,Y). Furthermore,
each conductor may have a different diameter, which is not the case for the symmetrical
arrangements with a common diameter for all conductors.
Asymmetrical conductor data is shown above. Note that the check box Enabled is
selected, which means that it will be considered in the Grid Analysis. Also, the Primary electrode
Type is selected (default). The drop-down box allows modifying that default to Return or
Distinct.
For this example, we have used the asymmetrical conductor arrangement to represent
the upper left protruding part of an L-shaped grid.
The following set of data is used to define an asymmetrical grid:
36
Type
Primary, Return or Distinct.
[X1, Y1, Z1] and

[X2, Y2, Z2]
Coordinates of two ends of each conductor. Conductors may

be inclined with respect to the soil surface, which CYMGRD
assumes to be horizontal.
3.6.3
Number of
conductor elements
CYMGRD considers this number of elements for conductors

parallel to the X (or Y-axis) in finite-elements analysis.
Diameter
Ground conductor diameter.
Symmetrically-arranged ground Rods
A symmetric array of ground rods covers a rectangular area in which rods are located in
rows parallel to the X-axis with all rods in a row equally spaced. All rods defined in the same
array have the same burial depth, length and diameter.
Symmetrical rod data is shown above. Note that the check box Enabled is selected,
which means that it will be considered in the Grid analysis. In this example, the Primary
electrode Type is selected (default). The drop-down box allows modifying the default to Return
or Distinct.
The following set of data is used to define symmetrically-arranged rods:
Type
Primary, Return or Distinct electrode.
[X1, Y1] and

[X2, Y2]
Coordinates of the two opposite corners of the area where the

rods are placed.
Rod rows parallel

to the X-axis
Number of the horizontal rod rows on the display.
Number of ground
rods per row
Number of rods along each row (Defined above).
37
3.6.4
Length
Ground rod length.
Depth
Burial depth (the distance between the soil surface and the top
of the rods).
Diameter
Ground rod diameter.
Asymmetrically-arranged ground Rods
An asymmetric array of ground rods is a single row of equally spaced rods. The position
of the first rod is given by the coordinates (X1, Y1, Z1) and the position of the last rod in the row
is given by the coordinates (X2, Y2, Z2). The upper end of each rod lies on the straight line
between these two points. All rods defined in the same array have the same length and
diameter. If a single rod is specified (Number of Rods along axis = 1), then only the starting point
coordinates (X1, Y1, Z1) need to be entered.
Asymmetrical rod data is shown above. Note that the check box Enabled is selected,
which means that it will be considered in the Grid analysis. The Primary electrode Type is
selected (default). The drop-down box allows modifying the default to Return or Distinct.
For this example, we have used the asymmetrical rod arrangement because all the rods
placed in the grid were strategically positioned at specific coordinates. It is seen in the data that
we have entered the rods one at a time using different coordinates for the beginning and the end
points.
The following set of data defines a row of rods:
Type
38
3.6.5
[X1, Y1, Z1] and [X2,

Y2, Z2]
Coordinates of the two end points of the row of rods.
Number of rods
along axis
Number of rods in the row.
Elements per Rod

in upper soil layer
Number of elements for rods in upper soil layer for the finiteelements analysis.
Elements per Rod

in lower soil layer
Number of elements for rods in lower soil layer for the finiteelements analysis.
Length
The rod length.
Diameter
The rod diameter.
Rod Encasement
In order to improve the impact of a rod in

the grid, the rod may be installed in a cylinder of
semiconductor material buried in the soil. See the
following picture from IEEE 80.
This is of particular interest in medium and
highly resistive soils.
To enter a rod encase in CYMGRD:
1) Activate the check
Encased for the rod.
box
Material-
2) Enter the Material Thickness (the

cylinder radius).
39
3) In the Grid Parameters dialog box,

enter the Resistivity of the material
around the rod in the encasement
(cylinder). The default value is 100
[Ohm-m].
40
3.6.6
Arc Conductors
An arc conductor is a circular or arced conductor laid in the ground.
Arc conductor data is shown above. Note that the check box Enabled is selected, which
means that it will be considered in the Grid analysis. The Primary electrode Type is selected
(default). The drop-down box as allows modifying that default to Return or Distinct.
The following set of data defines an arc conductor:
Type
[X1, Y1]
Coordinates of the arc center.
Starting angle
Beginning of the arc in degrees.
Ending angle
End of the arc in degrees, assuming a counter-clockwise

rotation.
Radius
The radius of the arc.
Number of
conductor elements
Number of conductor elements the arc is to be approximated

with as an inscribed polygon.
Depth
The arc burial depth (common for both ends).
Diameter
The arc conductor diameter.
41
Note:
A positive value of Z denotes a position below the surface of the soil for all
electrode types and arrangements. No negative Z is permitted.
Both ends of an asymmetrical grid conductor must be in the same soil layer.
Only ground rods are permitted to bridge two separate soil layers.
The minimum number of conductor elements that an arc can be approximated
to is 3.
Electrodes are color-coded in the graphic window. Primary electrodes are
red, Return electrodes are blue and Distinct electrodes are green.
3.7
Modifying and inspecting the station Geometry data
3.7.1
Enabling and disabling entries
Click on the Enabled check box located in the dedicated spreadsheet column of the
Data Entry view. If a check mark is shown the component is enabled. To disable it remove the
check mark.
3.7.2
Reviewing and verifying the data
Any spreadsheet entry can be highlighted on the station layout drawing for verification
and inspection. In order to do that, the appropriate cell on the far left column needs to be
highlighted. It is the column that shows the entry number of the component. When you select a
conductor in this fashion, it is highlighted in yellow on the grid layout, so that you may see which
electrode you have selected. This is particularly useful when erroneous coordinates have been
entered and you wish to correct them.
42
3.8
Importing/Exporting Grid data and Station layouts
These commands allow you to import from or export to an AutoCAD drawing the grid
layout design. The menu commands are listed under Grid > Electrodes.
More details about the preparation of the data in AutoCAD, the import/export mechanism
of CYMGRD and its CAD Editor function is detailed in Chapter 7 CADGRD - The CYMGRD AutoCAD Interface module.
Note:
Data files from earlier DOS versions of CYMGRD can still be imported. If such
a case arises, please contact CYME International T&D Customer Support for
instructions.
CYMGRD does not save station data in dedicated files. Instead, they
constitute an integral part of the entire study.
3.9
Overlapping conductor elements
CYMGRD cannot perform a station analysis if conductor elements are found to overlap
each other. The term elements pertains to the subdivision of ground conductors and rods in
order to increase the accuracy of the calculations. If overlapping elements are found during
execution the calculations will stop and an appropriate error message will be generated indicating
which components overlap. Common errors causing that condition are duplicates of either
asymmetrical conductor elements or grounding rods that are placed one on top of another. When
the duplicate is disabled or removed from the grid design, the problem should be alleviated.
43
3.10 Grid analysis and reports

The Grid analysis can be performed in the same manner that the Soil analysis was
invoked. Run the Grid Analysis by clicking on the lightning bolt button. The time bar at the
bottom of the desktop provides an estimate of the time required to complete the analysis.
The results of the simulation are shown in the Grid Analysis tab within the Reports view
of the application, the first part of which is illustrated below. It is seen that, at first, the soil model
used in the calculations is echoed in the report. It is important to verify that the soil model used in
the grid analysis is indeed the one obtained from the soil analysis results. Otherwise, the grid
analysis results may not be relevant.
Next, the coordinates of the grid elements and the current every each element diffuses to
ground are listed. Note that for each element, a column indicates whether it belongs to a
symmetrical or an asymmetrical assembly and a second one indicates the reference number of
the assembly it belongs to. The reference number is the row item number of spreadsheet data
entry. This way, it is easy to track the elements even if they might represent subdivisions of
original data entities.
The last part of the Grid Analysis report is shown below. Conductor data is listed first,
followed by the rod data. Similarly, Primary electrode results will be followed by any Return
electrode results and finally, by Distinct electrode results, if any.
44
The Ground potential rise and the station resistance is displayed at the beginning of the
report.
Note:
The various elements of the grounding installation, as resulted from the

partitioning of the grid conductors and ground rods diffuse a positive current
into the ground.
The simulation may however indicate that the current diffused to ground by
one or more elements is zero. This indicates that CYMGRD found that each
such element diffused a small negative current and consequently set it to
zero. This situation is due to numerical instability. To avoid this problem,
change the number of elements in the affected conductors or rods so that
these elements are about as long as other elements in other conductors in
the grid.
If negative currents are found for some of the elements of the Primary
electrode during the analysis, CYMGRD will indicate these elements in the
grid report flagging them in Red. This may be the result of false numerical
representation, since currents from all elements should be positive (diffused
to ground). If the negative current, from one or more elements, adds up to
more than a few percent of the totally injected current, a new simulation
should be performed with the number of elements changed as explained
above. The same considerations apply if a positive current is found for any of
the elements of the Return electrodes. No such considerations apply to the
Distinct electrodes.
Experience has shown that the negative current is a very small fraction of the
injected fault current and that the error introduced in calculating the station
resistance and GPR is negligible. Simulations performed after changing the
number of elements in conductors should indicate no change in the overall
results, apart from correcting the negative currents.
It is always advisable to verify that strictly positive currents are diffused to the
ground by all the elements.
45
3.11 Visualize the station layout in 3-Dimensions.

The station layout shown in previous illustrations was a 2-D representation (Default). It is
however, possible to view the station layout in three dimensions as well. The 3-D view is often
useful, since a common error when entering input data is to introduce disparities in the burial
depth of both conductors and grounding rods. A 3-D view of the station layout usually helps to
locate these inconsistencies via a simple inspection.
To generate a 3-D representation, position the mouse on the window containing the grid
layout and right-click.
This provides access to the Chart Settings dialog that allows access to the actual graph
settings.
By default, the Style setting Area is selected, which means that the grid layout will be
shown as a function of the dimensions and aspect ratio of the display window. If the option
Scaled Area is selected, the grid will be drawn to scale with proper consideration of its actual
dimensions.
46
More options are available for the Graph and other components of the Chart from within
the Chart Settings dialog.
Similar settings can also be applied to all other electrode types.. The same settings are
used for both the 2-D and 3-D representations.
47
Note:
48
The Grid Analysis calculations are not affected even if an electrode

component is made invisible. It is solely a method for the visual examination
of the Grid layout.
3.12 The station layout and the Installation view.

A representation of the station layout is always shown in the Installation view of the
application. The station layout can be visualized in 2-D, 3-D or Auto mode. When in 2-D mode,
the station layout is always shown in 2-D. When in 3-D mode, the station layout is always shown
in 3-D. With the Auto mode, the station layout is shown using the opposite mode defined for the
Grid Layout in the adjacent Workbook view.
3.13 A note on modeling Grounding Structures

The Primary electrode is the grounding structure that absorbs the fault current. The basic
analytical assumption CYMGRD makes, in compliance with International Standards, is that the
entire grounding system that absorbs the fault current, and diffuses it to the ground, is elevated to
a single potential. This is the Ground Potential Rise of the Primary electrode (i.e. the calculated
GPR). Thus, voltage drop along the grid electrodes is not modeled. Furthermore, the ground
structures are assumed to contain only resistance (i.e. no reactive component for the grounding
grids and structures is modeled by CYMGRD). Modeling of the reactive component of the grid
impedance may be necessary for stations possessing either a resistance of less than 0.5 Ohms
or if they extend over an unusually large area.
Any metallic structures bonded and/or connected to the primary electrode by accident or
with purpose such as fences, building foundations etc, and that help in reducing the GPR should
be modeled as part of the Primary electrode.
The Return electrode should only be used in the case where a grid absorbing current
from the ground exists and is located in the vicinity of the energized Primary electrode. Both
Primary and Return electrodes can only be energized by virtue of currents, not voltages.
The Distinct electrode should be used to model underground metallic structures that are
adjacent to the Primary electrode but are inert (i.e. they are not energized by any current).
Despite the fact of being inert, they should be modeled since they absorb currents, thus altering
the surface potentials in the vicinity.
49
When a simulation comprises Primary, Return and Distinct electrodes, all electrodes are
assumed to be within the same soil featuring the soil model obtained from the Soil analysis
module of CYMGRD. Neither the Return nor the Distinct electrode can feature a galvanic
connection with the Primary electrode.
3.14 Soil data from earlier versions of the application

The application provides dedicated embedded safeguards against inconsistent data and
is less permissive than earlier versions. It has already been mentioned that soil model values can
no longer be entered separately within the grid parameters. Earlier versions, however, did permit
this. As a result difficulties may be experienced when importing studies generated with previous
versions. If inadvertent program termination or inconsistent results are seen, an effective remedy
will be to re-affirm a slight modification to the soil data. Re-typing in the same value should be
sufficient. This will simply invalidate all analysis results. Simply perform a new set of analysis to
obtain new and consistent results.
50
Chapter 4
4.1
Plotting Module
The Plotting module is used to calculate and view the results of the surface potential
analysis. With this module the user can perform danger-point evaluation on various surface
points and/or areas of the substation. 2-D and 3-D contour plots illustrating the equipotential
touch and/or surface contours can be generated. These can be color-coded for easy evaluation.
Finally, touch and step potential graphs can be generated for linear directions by specifying the
beginning and end points and the step size.
4.2
How to generate Touch and Surface potential Contours
Equipotential contours can be generated only after the Grid analysis has been
performed. A graph containing equipotential contours is a graph that pertains to a particular
portion of the station layout (that can be the entire grid) and that shows the variations of the touch
or surface potential.
When the area of interest is specified, CYMGRD performs calculations taking into
account the various surface points and the current diffused to the ground from all grid elements.
To specify the area of interest, position the mouse on the station layout graph and left click. The
crosshair that appears determines one corner of the area. Hold and drag the mouse to select the
area, as shown below.
Once the mouse button is released, the program displays the coordinates of the
encompassed area. At this point, the number of intervals in the X and Y directions can be
specified. CYMGRD uses these values to divide up the area before calculating the surface
CHAPTER 4 PLOTTING MODULE
51
potentials. By default, the program considers 20 intervals in both X and Y directions. More can be
specified for higher accuracy since more intersections will result for the area under consideration.
Once the area and the resolution are defined the program generates a graph that
portrays the potential gradient in the selected area.
The generated graph is solid-filled. Actual equipotential contours can be seen along with
their associated levels if the appropriate options are applied. Position the mouse on the contour
graph and right click.
Select the Settings item, which will open the Chart settings dialog. By highlighting
Contours, it is seen that different options are available for drawing contours in the Style dropdown box.
52
The default setting is Solid-filled. If another option is selected, Lines with labels for
example, then the equipotentials appear along with their levels indicated in the form of labels as
shown in the following image.
If, for some reason, the number of generated equipotentials is too large generating a
graph that looks too busy, less can be plotted so the graph will be amenable to inspection. The
number of equipotentials Levels can be controlled from within the Chart settings dialog.
As shown above, it can be controlled by increasing or decreasing the desired number of

Levels that are to be drawn.
53
4.3
Touch and Surface potential contours
Once the equipotentials have been generated it is very easy to switch between Touch
and Surface potential contours. In fact, both are contained within the same graph. Right-click on
the generated contour plot to access the Contours sub-menu. Switching from Touch to Surface
creates the reverse stress patterns as shown below. This is due to the fact that areas with high
touch potential are actually characterized by low surface potentials.
Note:
It is not necessary to access the contour settings to ascertain whether an

equipotential contour plot pertains to Touch or Surface potentials.
When moving over the chart with the mouse, Touch contour plots display the
mouse cursor in the shape of a hand instead of an arrow to designate the
touch nature of the potentials shown.
4.4
Contour color coding and Safety Analysis
Equipotential contours plots are color-coded based on the results of the safety analysis
calculations as conducted within the Soil Analysis module. Whenever a safety analysis is
conducted, maximum permissible touch and step voltages are calculated. The program considers
4 thresholds for the touch potentials and another 4 for the surface potentials. The thresholds
considered for the touch potentials are 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of the maximum tolerable
touch voltage. Anything above the maximum permissible touch voltage is shown in various
shades of red to signify dangerous areas.
The user can define the colors although default settings are provided by CYMGRD. As
shown below the threshold colors can be accessed under the tab thresholds in the appropriate
Chart settings. In this example, for the Touch potentials Chart settings, the first threshold region
is defined to be between 0 and 25% of the maximum permissible touch voltage, and the default
color is coded as green.
54
The last threshold region is defined such that everything above 100% will be red, while
everything between 75% and 100% of the maximum permissible touch will be plotted in blue.
Thresholds are defined for the surface potentials as well. Four thresholds are defined
here as well; the difference being that the maximum threshold is set to the Ground Potential Rise
as calculated by the Grid analysis module. The thresholds are accessed in the same way as with
the touch equipotentials. The last threshold is shown here for illustration.
The color-coding of the Surface Potential thresholds are by default the reverse of the
touch potentials.
55
4.5
Allowable LG fault current
Based on the grounding analysis result, CYMGRD calculates the maximum allowable LG
fault for each contour of the grounding system under the study.
CYMGRD calculates and reports Allowable LG Current for the selected area in each
contour plot. The Allowable LG Current is maximum LG fault current that causes safe touch
voltage in the entire selected area in the contour.
If the LG fault current in the Buses tab is more than this value, the contour shows the
unsafe area in the plot.
56
4.6
How to generate 3-D contour plots
The plots shown in 2-D can also be generated in 3-D, in the same way that station layout
plots were generated in 3-D. Right click on the 2-D graph, select Settings, and under Graph
check 3-D. All contours, both touch and surface, are now shown in 3-D.
3D graphs can be rotated with the mouse (left click, hold and move) to position the graph
for better inspection.
57
4.7
Contour graph reports
Whenever a contour plot is generated the program produces a corresponding tabular

report. This report contains among other things, the point of maximum potential found within the
area selected. This point may be of interest since it represents, for touch voltage contours, the
steepest gradient found during the analysis. The same point is shown with a yellow cross-hair on
the contour graph both in the 2-D and the 3-D views.
58
4.8
Contour graph management
All contour plots generated within a study are saved as part of the study and displayed in
the Contours tab of the Workspace view. The contour plots shown in the Workbook view
pertain only to the active study and are identified with a user-definable title. Charts can be deleted
and renamed using the facilities shown in the illustration below. Right click with the mouse on any
contour chart and select an activity to either rename or delete it all together.
4.9
How to perform spot-check danger point evaluation
Besides generating contour plots that, essentially, assess the safety of certain areas of
interest, specific points can be checked for their potential values using the mouse.
As we move the mouse within the contour graph., the program generates a tool tip
showing the coordinates (the first two numbers) and the voltage value (the last number). At each
location, that last value is the touch or surface voltage depending on whether the contour graph is
a touch or a surface contour plot.
59
Another important feature of this facility is that whenever the mouse is moved within the
contour plot, a cross hair appears in the Installation view indicating the actual position of the
searched point with respect to the entire grid. This option may prove useful, when the contour
graph encompasses only a small region of the grid area as opposed to the entire grid area, which
is always shown in the Installation view.
4.10 How to generate Profile voltage plots

Profile plots are useful whenever an analysis along an axis is desired in order to assess
the touch and surface potential instead of an entire grid area or single coordinate. Another
important use for generating these graphs is the evaluation of step potentials. In order for
CYMGRD to generate profile plots, the appropriate option must be selected in the same manner
as for performing Soil analysis, Grid analysis etc. The Profile Plot item can be selected from the
drop-down menu of the engine selection list.
A starting and an end point can be defined using the mouse (left-click, hold and move),
as shown below.
Once the two points have been identified, and the mouse is released, and the
coordinates appear in the Profile Parameters dialog box. In the same dialog box, the step size is
specified for the step potential evaluations. The step interval defines the distance between the
two feet of a potential shock victim for the purpose of displaying the step voltage between two
points along the profile.
Once the step size is specified and the coordinates are re-entered to eliminate any
manual selection inaccuracies, a graph is generated by clicking on the OK button.
60
In the example above, surface, touch and step potentials are indicated with red, blue and
green curves respectively. The dashed curves of the same colors pertain to the limiting values for
each (i.e. the GPR along with the maximum permissible values, as resulted from the safety
analysis). It is clearly seen that violations for the step potential are recorded in the area where no
grid conductors are placed, as expected.
Note:
The same philosophy for tabular report generation applies to the profile plots
as seen in the appropriate tab of the Reports view.
The same chart management principles for the generated profile plots can be
seen in the appropriate tab of the Workspace view.
Graphs can be tracked with the mouse to visualize potentials along the
search direction. Activating the Scroll-Lock button will restrict movement of
the mouse to one of the graph curves. Moving the mouse up or down
switches between curves.
The Installation view indicates the actual position of mouse on the station
layout when moving over an active profile plot window.
61
4.11 Inspecting potential profile plots

You can track the profile plot curves with the mouse. Move the mouse along the curve to
see the distance and the voltage between a selected point and the starting point.
You can also show the absolute coordinates of a specific point along the axis. In order to
do this, track the curve with the mouse and every time the X-Y coordinates are needed, simply
left-click the mouse and hold. The same applies for the step potential curve. However, since the
step potential is the difference between the surface potentials of two consecutive points, the
coordinates displayed define the second point only.
4.12 Comparing contour plots from two different studies

It is common to compare two contour plots from different studies in order to ascertain
station design improvement and/or danger point elimination. While any two graphs from the same
study can be concurrently visualized, graphs from different studies first need to be exported to
CYMVIEW for concurrent visualization. CYMVIEW is a general-purpose chart viewer that is
provided with the CYMGRD application.
For purposes of illustration, assume that we want to assess the difference the addition of
an arc conductor makes in the local touch potential distribution of a station. First, generate the
graph from within the study that contains no arc in the station layout and export it to CYMVIEW.
62
Then generate the same graph from the study that contains the arc conductor in the
station layout and export it to CYMVIEW as well. Tile the windows within the CYMVIEW
application to readily view the two situations.
It is seen that adding an arc conductor significantly reduces the risk of shock exposure by
diminishing the touch potentials.
63
Chapter 5
Example Studies
In this chapter, two step-by-step sample studies are detailed: A primary electrode only
model, below, and a Primary, Return and Distinct electrodes model.
The descriptions of the two examples show how the most commonly used functions of
the application are actually utilized.
5.1
Example 1: Primary electrode only
In this example, the grounding grid is square and symmetrical (meshes of equal area). It
is 76.2 meters long and 76.2 meters wide. All conductors are buried at a depth of 0.5 meters.
Nine conductors lie parallel to the X-axis and Nine parallel to the Y-axis. The diameter of all the
conductors is 19.1 millimeters. Finally, 25 grounding rods are connected to the grounding grid at
the perimeter. The rods are 10.9 meters long with diameter 2.858 centimeters (1-1/8 inches).
There are no auxiliary grounds in the vicinity and the fence of the station is to be disregarded, for
now.
The grounding installation is in parallel with a resistance of 25 ohms, simulating the
presence of overhead sky wire and counterpoise resistance. The total fault current is 4000
Amperes, but since the equivalent impedance of the sky wires is not infinite (9999 ohms), not all
of that current will contribute to the station potential rise.
This example shows how to build the station from scratch with all resistivity
measurements taken along the same direction, using the Wenner technique, in order to
determine the soil characteristics.
In order to test the Soil Analysis module in CYMGRD, the following measurements were
obtained from one of IEEE sample. (IEEE 80-2000, page 168 & 169. Soil type 2)
The station surface is to be backfilled with crushed rock of 2500 Ohm-meter resistivity at
a thickness of 0.2 meters. Safety design considerations focus concerns on an exposure duration
of 500 milli-seconds and a weight of 70 Kilograms for the potential shock victim.
CHAPTER 5 EXAMPLE STUDIES
65
5.2
Methodology
The first step is to interpret the soil resistivity measurements and arrive at a soil model
for the subsequent analysis. It is at this point that CYMGRD is used to calculate a two-layer soil
model from the measurements.
The second step is done automatically by CYMGRD as part of the soil model
calculations. The maximum permissible touch and step voltages for the soil model is determined
according to the IEEE Std 80-2000 and in accordance with the station surface treatment
conditions and safety requirements.
The third step is to enter the dimensions of the grounding assemblies and perform
station potential rise analysis as well as to determine the station resistance.
The fourth step is to carry out a danger point evaluation.
5.3
First step: Soil Analysis and interpretation of resistivity

measurements
Activate CYMGRD and define a new Project and Study. Enter the soil measurements in
the appropriate Data Entry view tab.
You will notice that as soon as the measurements are entered, they are reflected as dots
on the Soil Model chart in the Workbook view.
Continue by opening the Soil Parameters dialog box by selecting the Parameters item
in the Soil menu, to define the safety analysis settings.
66
5.4
Second step:Calculation of the maximum permissible touch

and step voltages for the soil model
Click the lightning bolt symbol on the main toolbar to perform the analysis. The results
will be shown in the Soil Analysis tab of the Reports view. This is the second step of the
process.
67
Despite the fact that the results show a considerable RMS error of around 14 percent,
the user can accept the soil model as is without discarding any measurements. But, should the
user decide to reject some of the measurements in order to improve (i.e. reduce) the RMS error,
the third or fourth items in the list can be good choices. For this example, we decided to disable
the first four measurements, which produces the following results:
The following table shows the comparison between CYMGRD results and the values
obtained from IEEE. (See IEEE 80-2000 pages 168 and 169)
68
5.5
Upper Layer
Upper Layer
Lower Layer
Thickness [m]
Resistivity [Ohm-m]
Resistivity [Ohm-m]
CYMGRD
6.11
298.24
99.98
IEEE 80-2000
6.1
300.0
100.0
Third step: Grounding installation data entry
In this example, all conductors are buried at a depth of 0.5 meters. Nine conductors lie
parallel to the X-axis and nine are parallel to the Y-axis. For analysis purposes, the conductors
parallel to the X-axis are subdivided into 16 elements and the conductors parallel to the Y-axis
into 24 elements.
We can enter all pertinent general type data in the dialog box shown below, which is
accessed from Parameters item under the Grid menu. Since there is no return electrode, the
return current is 0.
69
The geometrical data can now be entered. Since the conductor assembly is a
symmetrical arrangement (i.e. it can be defined as equally spaced and equidistant both X and Y
directions), we will use the Symmetrical Conductors tab in the Data Entry view to supply the
data. As soon as the data is entered the station layout is shown on the screen.
70
We will now add the ground rods to the conductor assemblies. We can enter the grid and
the rods in any order, but it is better to enter the grid layout first and then the ground rods.
Similarly the symmetrical ground rod layout allows us to use the Symmetrical Rod tab for
entering the data. The rods are now shown superimposed on the grid conductors. The rod depth
is defined as the distance from the surface of the earth to the top of the rods and is always
entered as a positive value.
71
For illustration purposes, the station layout is shown in 3-D in the following image.
Perform a grid analysis by selecting the Grid Analysis engine and clicking on the lightning
bolt icon.
The results are shown in the Report view under the Grid Analysis tab. The station
Ground-resistance is found to be Rg=0,72 ohms (The same as IEEE Std 80-2000 result in Table
E.1) and the ground potential rise is approximately equal to 2886 [kV].
72
5.6
Fourth step: Danger point evaluation and surface analysis
To plot a contour of grid voltages (touch or surface), choose the corresponding engine as
shown below, and then click on the lightning bolt icon.
The following dialog box is displayed. You can select the desired area to plot and the
accuracy of the contour.
Touch voltages contours will be generated for the entire grid area. They can be shown in
both 3-D and 2-D in the images that follow.
73
A profile along the main diagonal of the grid (i.e. from the lower left to the upper right
corner) will be now be analyzed using a step value of 0.22 meters (the minimum step value).
Select Profile Plot from engine selection box on the main toolbar. Select the start and end
coordinates of the profile using the mouse which will then open the Profile Parameters dialog
box.
You can use this dialog box to refine the final coordinates for the analysis, and then click
Ok.
74
The surface touch and step potentials are shown once the analysis in complete. The
results show that no cause for concern exists since all calculated values are well below their
corresponding maximum values. If more details are desired, the profile plot can be tracked with
the mouse, and the exact movement monitored in the Installation view.
5.7
Example 2: Primary, Return and Distinct electrodes
If a ground fault occurs within the substation, and that another electrode at a certain
distance from the grid absorbs the current injected to the grid, this electrode becomes a Return
electrode. Also, if adjacent building foundations are present, but are not energized, they will need
to be modeled as a distinct electrode.
5.8
Grounding installation data and layout

The following installation data and layout apply to our example:
The soil is to be uniform with a resistivity of 100 Ohm-meters.
The station surface is reinforced with a 10 cm thick layer of material and has a
resistivity of 1000 Ohm-meters. A body weight of 50 Kilograms is required for the
shock calculations, along with an exposure time of 0.1 seconds.
The Primary grounding grid is square (10 meters by 10 meters), with its origin at 0, 0.
The grid conductors are buried at a depth of 0.5 meters, with four parallel conductors
along the X-axis partitioned into four elements each and five parallel conductors
along the Y-axis partitioned in five elements each. The diameter of the (#4/0 AWG)
grid conductors is 1.34 cm (0.528 in.)
A fault current of 300 Amps is injected into the grid, all of which contributes to the
station potential rise (Parallel impedance of 9999 Ohms).
75
The return electrode is also a square symmetrical electrode equipped with a rod at its
lower right corner. The rod, with a diameter of 0.14 meters and a length of 2 meters,
is positioned 25 meters away from the origin coordinates of the primary grid, along
the X-axis, and is buried at a depth of 0.5 meters. The return electrode is assumed to
collect all of the injected current diffused to the ground by the primary electrode (i.e.
the Return electrode current will be entered in the program as 300 Amperes). The
symmetrical Return electrode is a 7.5 by 4 m square grid with four parallel
conductors on both the X and the Y-axes, buried at a depth of 0.9 meters. The same
material was used for its conductors as for the primary grid.
The distinct electrode, representing a simplified version of the adjacent building

foundations will also be modeled for illustration purposes as a symmetrical electrode.
It will be defined as a 5 meter by 10 meter rectangle with it lower-left corner located
15 meters away form the primary electrode origin in the X direction and 5 meters in
the Y direction. Again, a burial depth of 0.9 meters is assumed. The conductor
diameter is assumed to be 15 centimeters. Since the building foundations are
galvanically connected, all the distinct electrode elements will be assumed to be at
the same potential.
The following illustration shows the corresponding data entry dialog to enter the soil and
safety parameters.
The illustration below shows the grid layout for the installation..
76
If you generate a contour plot for an area encompassing the entire installation, you will
see the distortion of the equipotential contours due to the presence of the return and distinct
electrode.
For comparison purposes, the same plot can be generated in the absence of the distinct
electrode. First, disable the distinct electrode entries in the Grid Parameters dialog box.
77
Then, generate the same area contour graph using the new design elements.
In the absence of both the Return and Distinct electrodes, and following the same
procedure, we obtain:
78
Finally, a surface plot in 3-D is also shown, portraying all 3 electrodes:
79
Chapter 6
6.1
Comparison with the IEEE80 Guide
Comparison with the IEEE80 Guide
We have used the following four IEEE cases in order to provide a comparison with the
results obtained using CYMGRD.
Example 1: Preliminary design stage
IEEE80 GUIDE, 2000 Edition, Page 129.
Square grid 70m x 70m, 100 meshes with no ground rods.
Example 2: Improved design
Square grid 70m x 70m, 100 meshes with ground rods placed along the perimeter.
Example 3: Finalized design
Rectangular grid 63m x 84m, 108 meshes with ground rods placed along the
perimeter and at selected places in the gird in an effort to further minimize surface
touch potentials.
Example 4: L-Shaped Grid with Ground Rods
CYMGRD utilizes a finite element analysis algorithm, which is more accurate than
the approximate formulas provided in the IEEE80 GUIDE. The finite element analysis
algorithm enables CYMGRD to analyze grounding systems of either symmetrical or
asymmetrical configuration of ground conductors and rods.
CHAPTER 6 COMPARISON WITH THE IEEE80 GUIDE
81
6.1.1
CASE NAME: Example 1: Preliminary design stage

REFERENCE
: IEEE80 GUIDE, 2000 Edition, Page 129.
SOIL MODEL : Uniform. Soil resistivity = 400 ohm-meters.

A. SAFETY CALCULATIONS:
Input data:
Body weight
Crushed rock surface layer resistivity
Crushed rock surface layer thickness
Clearing time
Uniform soil resistivity
Max LG fault current, X/R (Local)
LG fault current (Remote)
Split factor Sf
Conductor material
Ambient temperature
70 Kg
2500 -m
0.102 m
0.50 sec
400 -m
6814 A, 16.2
3180
0.6
Copper hard-drawn
40 Celsius
Results:
REFERENCE
CYMGRD
IEEE Guide 80
Conductor
Sizing
2/0 AWG
2/0 AWG
MAX.
ALLOWABLE
TOUCH
840.55 Volts
838.20 Volts
MAX.
ALLOWABLE
STEP
2,696.10 Volts
2,686.00 Volts
REDUCTION
FACTOR CS
0.740
0.740
B. GRID DESIGN ASPECTS:

Input data:
Square grid, 70m x 70m, 100 meshes with no ground rods as shown in the IEEE 80
EXAMPLE 1 STATION LAYOUT figure shown below.
Square grid
Grid conductor diameter
Burial depth
Remote contribution of the LG-fault current
Split factor
70m x 70m, 100 meshes

0.01 m
0.5 m
3180 Amps
0.6 (User defined)
400 -m
Results:
In the table that follows Rg and GPR respectively mean the station resistance and
the ground potential rise.
REFERENCE
CYMGRD
IEEE Guide 80
82
RG
2.675 Ohms
2.780 Ohms
GPR
5,105.61 Volts
5,304.00 Volts
CHAPTER 6 - COMPARISON WITH THE IEEE80 GUIDE
Note:
6.1.2
For Example 1, the RG calculated with the EPRI TR-10062 computer

program, is 2.67 Ohms (see IEEE Guide 2000, page 134).
CASE NAME: Example 2: Improved design

REFERENCE

Input data:
Body weight
Clearing time
Uniform Soil Resistivity
70 Kg
2500 -m
0.102 m
0.50 sec
400 -m
Results:
REFERENCE
CYMGRD
IEEE Guide 80
MAX.
ALLOWABLE
TOUCH
840.55 Volts
838.20 Volts
MAX. ALLOWABLE
STEP
2,696.10 Volts
2,686.00 Volts
REDUCTION
FACTOR CS
0.740
0.740
83

Input data:
Square grid 70m x 70m, 100 meshes with ground rods placed along the perimeter as
shown in the IEEE 80 EXAMPLE 2 STATION LAYOUT figure shown below.
Square Grid
Length of Ground rods
Ground rod diameter
Burial Depth
Injected ground current

0.01 m
7.50 m
0.01 m
0.5 m
1,908 Amps
400 -m
Results:
REFERENCE
RG
GPR
CYMGRD
IEEE Guide 80
2.500
2.750
4,780.00 Volts
5,247.00 Volts
Note:
84

6.1.3
CASE NAME: Example 3: Finalized design

REFERENCE

Input data:
Body weight
Clearing time
Uniform Soil Resistivity
70 Kg
2500 -m
0.102 m
0.50 sec
400 -m
Results:
REFERENCE
CYMGRD
IEEE Guide 80
MAX.
ALLOWABLE
TOUCH
840.55 Volts
838.20 Volts
MAX. ALLOWABLE
STEP
2,696.10 Volts
2,686.00 Volts
REDUCTION
FACTOR CS
0.740
0.740

Input data:
Rectangular grid 63m x 84m, 108 meshes with ground rods placed along the
perimeter and at selected places in the gird in an effort to further minimize surface
touch potentials, as shown in the IEEE 80 EXAMPLE 3 STATION LAYOUT figure
shown below.
Rectangular Grid
Length of Ground rods
Ground rod diameter
Burial Depth
Injected ground current

0.01 m
10.0 m
0.01 m
0.5 m
1,908 Amps
400 -m
Results:
REFERENCE
RG
GPR
CYMGRD
IEEE Guide 80
2.278 Ohms
2.620 Ohms
4,348.00 Volts
4,998.96 Volts
85
Note:
6.1.4

CASE NAME: Example 4: L-Shaped with rods

REFERENCE

SAFETY CALCULATIONS: Same as CASE NAME: Example 3: Finalized design (see
6.1.3.
A. GRID DESIGN ASPECTS:
86
L-Shaped Grid, with the same effective grounding area as before, as shown in IEEE
Std 2000, page 140.
Results:
REFERENCE
CYMGRD
IEEE Guide 80
Note:
RG
2.330 Ohms
2.740 Ohms
GPR
4,562.49 Volts
5,227.92 Volts

The 12 IEEE samples study files included in the above analysis cases are available
upon request. Please contact CYME and ask for the CYMGRD Benchmark cases.
87
Chapter 7
7.1
CADGRD - The CYMGRD - AutoCAD

Interface module
Program summary
CYMGRD has a bi-directional interface with AutoCAD to import ground grid layouts
already entered via AutoCAD and to export grid layouts to AutoCAD whenever ground grids have
been entered within CYMGRD.
The improvement that was introduced in version 6 of the CYMGRD application is that this
interface utility has now been merged with the CYMGRD program. CYMGRD, therefore, now
features the additional capability of allowing the user to alternate easily between the AutoCAD
and the CYMGRD environments.
This CYMGRD-AutoCAD interface allows the user to:
Enter a ground grid via the CYMGRD drawing/design facilities and then export it to
AutoCAD.
Import to the CYMGRD a ground grid already entered in the AutoCAD drawing
environment, an operation normally performed to either verify/reinforce existing grid
designs.
Enter a grid layout directly in AutoCAD and prepare it for import, for further
engineering analysis into CYMGRD.
In order, however, for the Import facility to work properly, certain rules must be followed
when entering the station layout in the AutoCAD environment. The description of these rules is
the very purpose of this chapterand they are examined in detail further below. The following
important points should be noted:
Due to the fact that the ground grid contains many different entities (i.e.
ground conductors, ground rods, arc-type conductors etc), and that these
very variants can belong to different electrode types, the notion of reserving
dedicated AutoCAD layers for every type of these components is crucial in
order for the CYMGRD AutoCAD Interface to work.
The AutoCAD interface is conceived to accommodate ONLY the geometrical

aspects of the station grid layout. In other words, no soil data can be
communicated from the AutoCAD module to the CYMGRD application data
structures. Therefore, the soil model that CYMGRD can export to the AutoCAD
information structures is meant only to be informative data.
AutoCAD is not a firm software requirement for CYMGRD. In fact, the application
can be operated totally independently from AutoCAD if so desired. The standalone drawing facilities imbedded within CYMGRD support very adequately both
grid design and/or grid component editing. The AutoCAD interface is provided as
an add-on facility intended to facilitate grid data entry, thus providing a more
rapid alternative to the interactive data entry supported by the CYMGRD
application.
CHAPTER 7 - CADGRD - THE CYMGRD - AUTOCAD INTERFACE MODULE
89
AutoCAD and CYMGRD produce the necessary *.DWG and/or *.DXF files that contain
the information to convey the geometrical description of the substation ground grid. Additional
properties for the grid components like electrode sizes are also supported within the AutoCAD
data structures in order to avoid further editing of the entire grid upon importing it to the CYMGRD
application. All data structures within the AutoCAD environment follow the same philosophy and
input data patterns of the CYMGRD data input interface in order to ascertain continuity of
information exchange. This is done by properly assigning attributes to the AutoCAD drawn
entities using special data blocks supported by CYMGRD.
Whenever this function is to be exercised, AutoCAD becomes a firm software
requirement for CYMGRD.
General functionality for the AutoCAD interface can be seen as:
CYMGRD importing the station data from *.DXF and/or *.DWG files.
CYMGRD exporting the station data (already entered, designed/optimized within

CYMGRD), by producing the relevant *.DWG and/or *.DXF files necessary for
describing the grounding assemblies in the AutoCAD environment.
The advantages are as follows:
CYMGRD has now access to the powerful drawing facilities of the AutoCAD
environment with full support of its GUI data structures.
Grounding grid layouts can be entered independently and communicated to

CYMGRD so that an engineering analysis can proceed for verification, correction or
further design optimization.
The engineering analysis results for designing a new or reinforcing/optimizing the

design of existing ground grids can now be efficiently exported in the AutoCAD
environment without any loss of information.
Exchange of information between the AutoCAD and CYMGRD environment is

rendered transparent and seamless, even when different persons service either
end of the link.
All the above advantages are possible with drawing packages other than AutoCAD,
at the condition that the same *.DWG or *.DXF files are supported.
The following pages describe the CYMGRD-AutoCAD interface. A working level of

familiarity with AutoCAD is assumed in order to present this information in a concise manner and
avoid duplicating AutoCAD user manual details.
This users guide should not therefore be used as an aid to comprehend the hereby
implicated AutoCAD functions but, instead, as a means to efficiently use CYMGRD within the
AutoCAD environment.
90
7.2
Drawing a station ground grid with AutoCAD
7.2.1
General outline
To draw a grid layout, CYMGRD always starts from the CYMDEF.dwg file. No matter
how many times the export module of CYMGRD is activated, it is this template it uses to create a
new drawing. This file is the default template used by CYMGRD to start the AutoCAD
drawing and should never be overwritten. Furthermore, this file should reside in the same
directory as the CYMGRD program and should never be deleted. When the station drawing
is finalized within AutoCAD, make sure it is saved using a different name.
The CYMDEF.dwg file contains seven layers, which are used to draw the GRID layout
and define the data for the CYMGRD analysis. These layers are also reserved in name and
function for CYMGRD and should not be modified in any fashion. In fact, the very
functionality of CYMGRD depends on them when exporting the grid design to AutoCAD.
These seven layers are defined as:

Layer Name
Layer Use
DISTINCT DATA:
Store data for the Distinct electrodes.
DISTINCT:
Define the layout of the Distinct electrodes.
PRIMARY DATA:
Store data for the Primary electrodes.
PRIMARY:
Define the layout of the Primary electrodes.
RETURN DATA:
Store the data of the Return electrodes.
RETURN:
Define the layout of the Return electrodes
GENERAL:
Define the system units (Imperial or Metric)
Note:
The layout data should be drawn in the appropriate layers. If they are
represented in any other layers they will be ignored.
91
7.2.2
Drawing the Grid Layout using AutoCAD:
The Grid Layout should be drawn in AutoCAD without the use of a scaling factor. One
unit in AutoCAD drawing represents either 1 meter or 1 foot in CYMGRD, depending upon the
system unit you define in the General Data Block. The coordinates (0, 0, 0) in AutoCAD
correspond to the coordinates (0, 0, 0) in the CYMGRD grid layout.
Note:
CYMGRD recognizes both Imperial and Metric unit systems. Thus, a grid
entered via AutoCAD say, in Metric units, is imported into CYMGRD as such
respecting the system of units selected within AutoCAD. The same data could
however be converted to Imperial units within CYMGRD once imported. Upon
exporting the same grid layout to AutoCAD, the data will now be represented
using Imperial units.
7.2.2.1 Entities
The Grid Conductor entity:
Grid Conductors are represented as line objects in AutoCAD via their end points
coordinates (X1, Y1, Z1) and (X2, Y2, Z2). The burial depth of the Conductor ends, Z1
and Z2, are represented by negative Z coordinates.
Note:
In CYMGRD, the burial depth is always entered as a positive value. This

apparent inconsistency, however, is automatically taken into account when
data is transferred back and forth to and from CYMGRD.
The diameter of the Grid Conductor is defined in the Conductor Data Block,
which is discussed later.
The Arc Conductor entity:

Arc Conductors are represented as arc objects in AutoCAD via their center point
(X1, Y1, Z1), starting angle and ending angle. The two latter assume a counter-clockwise
sense of direction. The burial depth of the Arc is represented by a negative Z coordinate.
Note:
In CYMGRD, the burial depth is always entered as a positive value. This

apparent inconsistency, however, is automatically taken into account when
data is transferred back and forth to and from CYMGRD.
The diameter of the Arc Conductor is defined in the Arc Data Block, which is
discussed later.
The Grid Rod entity:

Grid Rods are represented as Circles in AutoCAD via the coordinates (X, Y, Z) of
their center. The Rod length is defined by the Thickness of the Circle. A negative value
for the Thickness represents the Rod pointing downwards from the center point (X, Y, Z).
The diameter of the Circle in the AutoCAD drawing is only used for display
purposes. The actual diameter of the Rod used by CYMGRD is defined in the Rod Data
Block, which is discussed later.
92
Note:
In CYMGRD, the Rod length is always entered as a positive value and it is

implicitly assumed that the Rod points downwards. This apparent
inconsistency however, is automatically taken into account when data is
transferred back and forth to and from CYMGRD.
7.2.2.2 Data Blocks for the entities

Data blocks are used to define the data for the Conductors, Rods, Arcs and
System Units. The AutoCAD INSERT command can be invoked to bring up the data
Insert dialog box as shown below. There are four insertion blocks supported by
CYMGRD with AutoCAD.
Data Block #1: General Data Block (CY_GEN)
The General Data Block is used to define the global attributes for the Grid
design.
93
Click on Next to view the remaining attributes:

Note:
Only the System Units from the CY_GEN data block is

communicated to CYMGRD. This value is either M for metric or I
for imperial. All the other values of this data block are ignored. In
other words, even if data relevant to Soil resistivity is entered here it
will not be communicated to CYMGRD. This is intentional since the
very same station layout may be analyzed under different soil models,
within the CYMGRD application.
Block #2: Grid Conductor Data Block (CY_GRID)

The Grid Conductor Data Block is used to assign data to a Grid Conductor entity:
94
# of elements
Number of elements in the Grid Conductor.
Conductor diameter
Diameter of the Grid Conductor used for CYMGRD analysis.
Conductor group no
0 for Asymmetrical, 1 to 9999 for Symmetrical.
Entity Handle
Unique AutoCAD ID to associate the Grid Conductor with its

Data Block.
Grid Conductor group

number
Each Grid Conductor is assigned a group number based on

whether the conductor is part of a Symmetrical Conductor
assembly or not. This notion is borrowed from CYMGRD,
which permits entry of many conductors exhibiting a certain
pattern of symmetry. Normally, a grounding Grid will feature
symmetrically-spaced as well as stand-alone Conductors
that do not necessarily belong to a symmetrical pattern. It is
the latter that will feature a group number of 0 and are
hereby referred to as asymmetrical Conductors. A set of
Conductors with the same group number, any number
between 1 and 9999, is treated as a group of symmetrical
Conductors.
Note:
The symmetry of Conductor assemblies entered in AutoCAD will be retained

as entered in CYMGRD, as long as this symmetrical pattern is not disturbed
in any way within AutoCAD.
If, for instance, a symmetrical assembly of three conductors parallel to the Xaxis has been defined in CYMGRD, this assembly will be retained within
AutoCAD and transferred back to CYMGRD if left as is. If, however, any
spacing of the original coordinates or even the number of elements for any
one of the three Conductors is disturbed, the symmetrical assembly will be
broken down into its individual components and communicated back to
CYMGRD as a new set of asymmetrical Conductors.
The number of elements per conductor is another value used for electrical
analysis within CYMGRD. These values are crucial for actual CYMGRD
simulations. A value of 1 is suggested when data for the grid is entered for the
first time via AutoCAD, and it remains up to the CYMGRD analyst to redefine
this parameter. If, however, data are communicated to AutoCAD from
CYMGRD, this parameter should not be modified because the modified value
will be passed once again to CYMGRD. A symmetrical group of Conductors
should feature at least a minimum order of 2 by 2 (equal to 4 Conductors).
Block #3: Conductor Data Block: (CY_ARC)

The Arc Conductor Data Block is used to assign data to an Arc Conductor entity:
# of elements
Number of elements in the Arc Conductor.
Conductor diameter
Diameter of the Arc Conductor used for CYMGRD analysis.
Entity Handle
Unique AutoCAD ID to associate the Arc Conductor with its

data block.
95
Block #4: Grid Rod Data Block: (CY_ROD)

The Grid Rod Data Block is used to assign data to a Grid Rod entity:
96
# of upper layer
elements
Number of elements per Grid Rod in the upper soil layer.
# of lower layer
elements
Number of elements per Grid Rod in the lower soil layer.
Rod diameter
Diameter of the Grid Rod used for CYMGRD analysis.
Enter group no
0 for Asymmetrical, 1 to 9999 for Symmetrical.
Entity Handle
Unique AutoCAD ID to associate the Grid Rod with its data block.
Grid Rod Group

Number
Each Grid Rod is assigned a group number based on whether the

rod forms part of a Symmetrical Conductor assembly or not. This
notion is borrowed from CYMGRD, which permits entry of many
rods exhibiting a certain pattern of symmetry. Normally, a
grounding Grid will feature symmetrically-spaced as well as
stand-alone Rods that do not necessarily belong to a symmetrical
pattern. It is the latter that will feature a group number of 0 and
are hereby referred to as asymmetrical Rods. A set of Rods with
the same group number, any number between 1 and 9999, are
treated as a group of symmetrical Rods.
Note:
Equidistantly-spaced Rods along the same line can still be entered with the
same group number in AutoCAD as if they were part of a symmetrical
assembly. CYMGRD will properly support this data structure.
The symmetry of Rod assemblies entered in AutoCAD will be retained as
entered in CYMGRD, as long as this symmetrical pattern is not disturbed in
any way within AutoCAD.
If, for instance, a symmetrical assembly of three rods along the X-axis has
been defined in CYMGRD, this assembly will be retained within AutoCAD and
transferred back to CYMGRD if left as is. If, however, any spacing of the
original coordinates for any one of the three Rods is disturbed, the
symmetrical assembly will be broken down into its individual components and
communicated back to CYMGRD as a new set of asymmetrical Rods
A symmetrical group of Rods should feature at least a minimum order of 2 by
2 (equal to 4 Rods).
7.2.2.3 AutoCAD Entity Handle

The entity handle is a unique ID
(Conductor, Rod, or Arc) with its associated
because vital data for the entity are contained
handle must be present for every data block. In
and unique handle.
used to couple the drawing element

Data Block. This coupling is important
in the Data Block. That is why an entity
fact, every data block demands a distinct
When the user places the data block for an entity anywhere in the drawing area,
the handle must be explicitly defined. This can be laborious particularly if the drawing
contains a large number of entities, a very likely situation for sizeable transmission
ground grids. In order to circumvent this difficulty and ease the data entry, CYMGRD can
automatically assign the entity handle assuming the Data blocks are inserted at the
correct insertion points in the AutoCAD drawing. A proper insertion point for the data
block is considered for the purposes of automated entity handle assignment to be any
point of the entity itself. In order for CYMGRD to automatically assign the entity handles,
the Update Drawing function needs to be invoked from within CYMGRD for the
drawing at hand.
If the grid data is imported into CYMGRD, it will take care of both assigning the
entity handles and positioning the data blocks automatically.
Note:
If, for any reason, the entity handle is not assigned and the data block is
present at the proper insertion point, the entity handle will be assigned
automatically by CYMGRD.
97
7.2.3
Example
This following example illustrates the basic procedure to draw the station grounding grid
layout using AutoCAD.
The following hypothetical data apply to this installation:
The grounding grid is square (10 meter by 10 meters), with its origin at (Xo = 0
meters and Yo = 0 meters)
The grid Conductors are buried at 0.5 meters, with five parallel Conductors along the
X-axis partitioned in three elements each and five parallel Conductors along the Yaxis partitioned in four elements each. The diameter of the #4/0 AWG grid Conductor
wire is 1.34 centimeters (0.528 inches).
There is a Return electrode composed of a single grounding Rod, with a diameter of

0.02 meters and a length of 1 meter, positioned 45 meters away from the grid. We
will assume the top of the Rod is at the surface of the earth (Z1 = 0.0).
To draw the above-depicted grounding system, start with the template file CYMDef.dwg.
This file, as pointed out earlier, is a reserved file and should only be used to initialize a drawing. It
should always be resident in the directory of CYMGRD program and should never be modified,
overwritten or moved.
1
Open file
Open the CYMDef.dwg file using AutoCAD and save the file under a new
name: PROJ2.dwg.
Draw the Primary electrode
2.1
Set the Layer to Primary.

Draw one Primary conductor parallel to X-axis and one parallel to the Y-axis:
Command: line
98
Specify first point: 0,0,-0.5

Specify next point or [Undo]: 0,10,-0.5
Specify next point or [Undo]: <ENTER>, for the X-axis
Command: line
Note:
2.2
Specify first point: 0,0,-0.5

Specify next point or [Undo]: 10,0,-0.5
Specify next point or [Undo]: <ENTER>, for the Y-axis
When drawing the lines, you may also want to use the standard
command Zoom with a convenient associated option like All or
Extend to have a clear view of the entities drawn so far. This may be
necessary when elements distant from the coordinates 0.0, 0.0 are
drawn first, because the CYMDef.dwg file is configured to make the
point (0.0, 0.0) visible right from the beginning.
Specify the data blocks for the two entities already entered
At this point we need to specify the data blocks for the two entities already
entered. They will both be used later by the array command to initialize copies
of any data blocks generated. By specifying their data blocks, we will also
properly duplicate the attributes of the entities.
2.3
Set the Layer to Primary data
Insert the Conductor data block on the Conductor parallel to the Y-axis.
Specify Insertion Point

The insertion point can be any point along the Conductor, but it must be on the
Conductor (See note below). As you move the cursor close to the conductor,
the cursor will be highlighted with a yellow square to indicate the insertion point.
The reason the insertion point must be on the conductor is that the entity handle
can automatically be assigned by CYMGRD for all entities in the group thus
avoiding specifying the handle for a great number of entities. Do not insert the
data block at the END points of the line.
99
Note: It will help to properly configure AutoCAD, at least for the CYMGRD
session, to conveniently display the insertion point along the Conductor.
To do that, use the command OSNAP and make sure that the boxes
ENDPOINT, CENTER and NEAREST are checked.
Command: insert
Select CY_GRID on the Insert window
Specify insertion point or

[Scale/X/Y/Z/Rotate/PScale/PX/PY/PZ/PRotate]:
Enter attribute values:
2.4
# of elements <1>: 4
Conductor diameter <.01>: 0.0134
Enter group no (0 = none) <0>: 1
Enter Entity handle:<ENTER>
Insert the Conductor data block on the Conductor parallel to X-axis.

Command: insert
Select CY_GRID on the Insert window

Enter attribute values
100
# of elements <1>: 3
Conductor diameter <.01>: 0.0134
Enter Entity handle:<ENTER>
2.5
Make arrays of the Primary conductors & Data blocks

Complete the Primary Grid layout by making arrays of the Primary conductors &
Data blocks.
It is well known that by exploiting this AutoCAD option, we enter more efficiently
symmetrical structures as the one we mean to emulate in this example.
Command: array
Select the conductor parallel to Y-axis along with its Data block
Select objects: 1 found

Select objects: 1 found, 2 total
Select objects: <ENTER> (to denote end of selected
objects)
Enter the type of array [Rectangular/Polar] <R>:<ENTER>
Enter the number of rows (---) <1>:<ENTER>
Enter the number of columns (|||) <1> 5
Specify the distance between columns (|||): 2.5
101
Command: array
Select the conductor parallel to X-axis along with its Data block
102
Select objects: 1 found

Select objects: 1 found, 2 total
Select objects: <ENTER> (to denote end of selected objects)
Enter the type of array [Rectangular/Polar] <R>: <ENTER>
Enter the number of rows (---) <1>: 5
Enter the number of columns (|||) <1>:<ENTER>
Enter the distance between rows or specify unit cell (---): 2.5
2.6
We will now enter the Arc entity.

Command: arc
2.7
Specify start point of arc or [CEnter]: 10,0,-0.5 <ENTER>

Specify second point of arc or [CEnter/ENd]: 11,-0.5
<ENTER>
Specify end point of arc: 12,0 <ENTER>
Insert the CY_ARC data block

Then insert the CY_ARC data block at the center point of the arc with the
following command.
Command: insert
Select CY_ARC on the Insert window
Specify the center point of the arc for the insertion point.

[Scale/X/Y/Z/Rotate/PScale/PX/PY/PZ/PRotate]: <ENTER>
# of elements <3>:<ENTER>
Conductor diameter <.01>: 0.0134 <ENTER>
Enter Entity handle: <ENTER>
At this point all relevant data for the primary electrode have been entered. The
next step is to proceed by entering the data for the return electrode.
103
Enter the data for the Return electrode
3.1
Set the layer to Return Data.

Draw the Return Rod at a distance 45 meters away from the grid.
Command: circle
Specify center point for circle or [3P/2P/Ttr (tan tan radius)]:

55,5,0
Specify radius of circle or [Diameter] <0.1000>: 0.5
Set the layer to Return Data.

Insert the Rod Data block.
Command: insert
Select CY_ROD on the Insert window.

The insertion point must be at the center of the circle. Move
the cursor close to the center of the Rod; the cursor will be
highlighted with a yellow square to indicate the insertion
point.
104
# of upper layer elements <1>: 1

# of lower layer elements <1>: 1
Rod diameter <.01>: 0.02
Enter Entity handle: <ENTER>
3.2
Specify the depth of the Rod

Change the Thickness of the Circle to 1.0 (Rod Length = 1 meter). The
Thickness is the way to specify the depth of the Rod without resorting to full 3-D
description.
The Thickness can be modified in two ways:
1. By the ddmodify command and then selecting the circle.
2. By selecting our circle first, then right click on it, and select properties
from the menu.
Command: ddmodify
Click on the Circle and change the thickness to -1.0.
This completes the Return Rod data entry.
105
Specify the General Data Block

The next entry will be for the General Data Block. This block must be inserted
in the drawing even if only the System Units are retained. The rest of the data is
ignored when importing into CYMGRD. The rest of the values can be entered
and modified in CYMGRD. The data contained in this data block, except for the
System Units, pertain to the engineering analysis performed by CYMGRD and
have no direct relevance to the drawing itself.
4.1
Set the Layer to General.

Insert the General Data Block.
Command: insert
Select CY_GEN on the Insert window.

106
Title: Example: <ENTER>

System units (M=Metric or I=Imperial) <M>: M
Distinct electrode flag (0 or 1) <0>: <ENTER>
Return electrode current (A) <0>: <ENTER>
Upper layer depth (m) <1.0>: <ENTER>
Upper layer resistivity (Ohm-m) <100.00>: <ENTER>
Lower layer resistivity (Ohm-m) <100.00>: <ENTER>
Primary electrode current (A) <1.0>: <ENTER>
Parallel impedance (Ohm) <9999.0>: <ENTER>
The completed Grid layout with its Data blocks is shown here:
7.3
Validation & Update of the AutoCAD drawing
Once the AutoCAD drawing is completed and before importing it into CYMGRD, the Grid
drawing must be Validated and subsequently Updated using the appropriate CYMGRD
commands. It is important to run these functions, since they supplement the drawing and render
the AutoCAD drawing ready to be imported into CYMGRD for analysis. Neither one should be
omitted.
These commands can be accessed from the CYMGRD menu: Grid > Electrodes > Cad
Editor. Under this Cad Editor sub-menu, you have two items, Validate Drawing and Update
Drawing.
107
7.3.1
Validating the AutoCAD drawing
The Validation option is used to verify the AutoCAD drawing. This will only highlight the
errors caused by the Grid layout, Data insertion points, etc. More specifically. the validation will
address the following salient aspects:
It verifies that all entities have an associated data block.
If a data block is not defined for a stand-alone entity (i.e. an entity that has not been
defined via the command array), CYMGRD assigns a data block to that entity,
identical to the last valid data block of a similar stand-alone entity. In other words, if a
data block is missing for an individual Rod, the data block for the last valid individual
Rod will be in effect. This practice assures that once data for an individual Rod,
Conductor, or Arc entity is entered, there is no need to enter them again for a good
number of like entities. Following this practice can be very efficient but it could also
lead to inadvertently assuming wrong data for a good number of entities.
In the case a data block has not been assigned to a stand-alone entity and if there is
no similar entity entered previously, the internal default values of CYMGRD for data
blocks are used.
These defaults are as follows:
Stand-alone Conductor
# of elements in Conductor = 1
Conductor diameter = 0.01
Stand-alone Rod
# of rod elements in upper soil layer = 1
# of rod elements in lower soil layer = 1
Rod diameter = 0.01
Stand-alone Arc
108
# of elements in Conductor = 3
Conductor diameter = 0.01
If entities have been generated using the array command and if no data block has
been assigned to the seed entity (i.e. the entity that was used as a template to
generate copies), CYMGRD does not retain the structure as symmetrical. The
symmetrical structure of entities is broken down into individual entities while their
geometry is retained and the internal default values are assigned to each of them.
The disadvantage of this is that when the .DWG file is imported into CYMGRD, the
symmetrical structure for this particular set of entities will be lost and they will be
shown within CYMGRD as individual entities. This, in turn, may have a considerable
bearing on the flexibility of the modifying data very conveniently within CYMGRD. It is
therefore preferable before using the array command to make certain that a data
block is assigned to the seed entity so that the symmetrical structure is retained for
all future data exchanges with CYMGRD.
CYMGRD verifies that all entities and associated data blocks are within acceptable
coordinate limits. The boundary limits are set to be 10,000 meters in all directions for
Metric units and 32,820 feet for Imperial. This check is carried out once the units of
the drawing are defined in the General data block. That is why a General data
block needs to be inserted in the drawing.
CYMGRD imports the units in Metric if no General data block is inserted in the
XXX.DWG file representing the station grid.
Note:
If no General data block has been entered, CYMGRD generates a

warning that the General data block is missing when the drawing is
being validated. When the DWG file is simply saved from session to
session without being validated, no general data block is put in it.
If the DWG file is not validated and is sent to CYMGRD, the default
General data block contents will be assumed.
All entities must be assigned to any of the seven reserved layers.

Note:
Verify that the length of the Rods is not positive. If positive values were accidentally
entered, they will be converted to negative for the sake of consistency.
Note:
CYMGRD functions by assuming a positive rod length, since it implies

that the rod always points downwards. Consistent with this convention,
the interface of CYMGRD shows all rod lengths as positive in its dialog
boxes. It is CYMGRD that will convert all negative Zs coming from the
XXX.DWG drawing to positive for interface and calculations within
CYMGRD. Similarly it is also CYMGRD that will convert all Zs to negative
when generating the equivalent XXX.DWG file.
Verify that the Z coordinates are entered as negative. Positive Zs coordinates will be
converted to negative Zs to assure information consistency.
Note:
Ideally, all entities belonging to a given layer should have all their
corresponding data blocks in the corresponding data layer. For instance
primary electrode entities should find their correspondent data blocks in
the primary data layer. There are reserved color codes for every layer and
its correspondent data blocks.
CYMGRD functions by assuming that a positive Z coordinate points

downwards. That is why when calculations are performed within
CYMGRD the Zs are considered positive. Consistent with this
convention, the interface of CYMGRD shows all Zs as positive in its
dialog boxes. It is CYMGRD that will convert all negative Zs coming from
the XXX.DWG drawing to positive for interface and calculations within
CYMGRD. Similarly it is also CYMGRD that will convert all Zs to negative
when generating the equivalent XXX.DWG file
To Validate the drawing click on Grid > Electrodes > Cad Editor > Validate
drawing.
109
110
Then select the drawing (Proj2.dwg) file and click open.
The Report window lists the errors/warnings (if any) as shown below.
7.3.2
Updating the AutoCAD drawing.
Once the Validating of the AutoCAD drawing is done, the Update Drawing option is
used to assign the proper Entity Handles to the Conductor, Rod, and Arc data blocks and
associate the symmetrical groups of Conductors and Rods in the drawing.
This option re-builds the AutoCAD drawing file (*.DWG, *.DXF) and updates the
drawing with default data for undefined parameters. Before using this option, the
AutoCAD drawing must be closed. This option also keeps a backup of the original drawing
as *.BK2 before it updates the drawing.
To Update the drawing click on Grid menu > Electrodes > Cad Editor > Update
drawing.
Select the drawing (Proj2.dwg) file and click open.
The Report window lists the errors/warnings (if any) as shown below.
111
7.4
Importing from AutoCAD to CYMGRD
To import a drawing from AutoCAD (*.DWG, *.DXF) file, one must be positioned within
CYMGRD. The following steps illustrate the procedure:
112
Open a new Project and an associated Study using CYMGRD.
Click on the Grid > Electrodes > Import from. This will open the file selection
dialog box.
Select the AutoCAD file name (Proj2.dwg) and click Open. The AutoCAD drawing
will be validated and updated.
The GRID layout will appear in CYMGRD after conversion as shown below:
113
7.5
Exporting from CYMGRD to AutoCAD

The Export of a Grid layout from CYMGRD, is done from within the CYMGRD package.
The following steps illustrate the procedure:
114
Open the Project, Study using CYMGRD.
From the menu, select Grid > Electrodes > Export to .This will open the file
selection dialog box.
Specify a file name (proj updated.dwg), which you want to save to:
The exported AutoCAD file with the Grid layout is shown below.
7.6
Working with AutoCAD
When entering data for a station grid using AutoCAD, it is often necessary to maximize
the efficiency of data entry particularly when large grids are an issue and when the data attributes
for a large number of components needs to be entered.
Tip #1:
Make full use of the symmetrical structure of groups of elements by utilizing the array
command of AutoCAD, particularly for symmetrical arrays of Conductor assemblies and Rod
structures. When, however, the array command is used, the data block containing the seed
entry,(a Conductor or a Rod), must be entered so that for the rest of the Conductors and Rods
within the symmetrical structure of the data block attributes are properly duplicated.
Tip #2:
Whenever data are exported from CYMGRD and the station layout comprises
symmetrical structures, make certain that no coordinate displacement or change in any of the
associated data blocks is modified within AutoCAD. If this is the case, CYMGRD will decompose
the symmetrical structure into elementary non-symmetrical structures, and data modification
within CYMGRD will be far more laborious. For example if an array of 6 by 6 Conductors is
exported as a symmetrical structure to AutoCAD and the coordinates or data block of any of the
36 Conductors is modified the whole assembly will be broken down to 36 individual Conductors
upon importing the same grid back to CYMGRD.
115
Tip #3:
Whenever a large number of asymmetrical (stand-alone) Conductors and Rods is to be
entered, entering the data block for one of them only may be sufficient because CYMGRD will
assign the missing data blocks to the values of the last like data block entered. Make certain,
however, that the last valid data block does reflect the desired data attributes.
Tip #4:
The system units (Metric or Imperial) must be entered when a station grid is entered in
AutoCAD. The rest of the parameters for the General Data Block will not be retained when
importing a DWG file. They must be entered in CYMGRD. If no system unit is specified, it will be
defaulted to Metric.
Tip #5:
For simplicity of data entry, the number of elements for Conductors can be set to 1 when
a station grid is entered in AutoCAD. It will be up to the analyst working with CYMGRD to assess
whether an increased number of elements per Conductor is needed for the finite elements
simulation performed within CYMGRD. It is important to realize however that if the number of
elements per Conductor have already been entered within CYMGRD, they should not be
modified within AutoCAD. If this is the case, they will be exported back as such to CYMGRD and
important data having a detrimental effect on simulation integrity may be lost. By virtue of the
same arguments, the same logic applies to the number of elements in the upper and lower soil
layer entered for the grounding Rods.
116
Chapter 8
Troubleshooting
If CYMGRD crashes, especially when you are trying to open a project file:
y
Go to the option, Start > Run and select regedit to open Registry Editor of the MS
window.
Delete the CYMGRD folder in the Software > CYME path.
CHAPTER 8 - TROUBLESHOOTING
117
INDEX
Allowable LG fault current .........................56
Arc Conductors..........................................41
Asymmetrically-arranged grid
Conductors.............................................36
Asymmetrically-arranged ground Rods .....38
AutoCAD Entity Handle .............................97
AutoCAD Interface module........................89
Comparing contour plots ...........................62
Comparison with the IEEE80 Guide..........81
Contour color coding .................................54
Contour graph management .....................59
Contour graph reports ...............................58
Creating and opening Projects and
Studies .....................................................5
CYMGRD modules ......................................2
Danger point evaluation and surface
analysis ..................................................73
Data Blocks for the entities........................93
Decrement Factor (Df)...............................32
Design a new grounding grid.......................3
Dividing the grid into elements ....................4
Drawing a station ground grid with
AutoCAD ................................................91
Drawing the Grid Layout using AutoCAD ..92
Electrode Material......................................28
Electrode Sizing.........................................24
Electrode Sizing report ..............................28
Electrode types and terminology ...............23
Enabling and disabling entries ..................42
Entering the Grid data ...............................34
Entities .......................................................92
Example 1: Preliminary design stage ........82
Example 2: Improved design .....................83
Example 3: Finalized design......................85
Example 4: L-Shaped with rods ................86
Example Studies........................................65
Exporting from CYMGRD to AutoCAD ....114
First-time user..............................................3
General introduction ....................................1
Generate 3-D contour plots .......................57
Generate Profile voltage plots ...................60
Getting Started.............................................1
Grid analysis and reports...........................44
Grid Analysis Module.................................23
INDEX
Grounding installation data and layout ..... 75

Grounding installation data entry.............. 69
Grounding system structure and location
.............................................................. 29
Importing from AutoCAD to CYMGRD ... 112
Importing Projects............................... 20, 21
Importing/Exporting Grid data and
Station layouts....................................... 43
Inspecting potential profile plots ............... 62
Installing CYMGRD..................................... 2
Interactive data entry .................................. 3
LG fault parameters .................................. 27
Methodology and algorithm ...................... 12
Modeling Grounding Structures................ 49
Modifying and inspecting the station
Geometry data ...................................... 42
Overlapping conductor elements.............. 43
Perform a soil analysis.............................. 13
Plotting Module ......................................... 51
Primary electrode...................................... 65
Primary, Return and Distinct electrodes ... 75
Program summary .................................... 89
Reinforce and verify existing grounding
grids......................................................... 5
Reviewing and verifying the data.............. 42
Rod Encasement ...................................... 39
Safety Analysis ................................... 17, 54
Second step:Calculation of the
maximum permissible touch and step
voltages for the soil model .................... 67
Software and hardware requirements ........ 1
Soil data .................................................... 50
Soil models ............................................... 11
Soil Resistivity and Safety Assessment.... 11
Specify the soil model type ....................... 15
Split Factor (Sf) ......................................... 32
Split-factor (Sf), Decrement- factor (Df)
and Definition for RemoteContribution in [%]................................. 31
Spot-check danger point evaluation ........ 59
Station layout and the Installation view... 49
Symmetrically-arranged grid Conductors . 34
Symmetrically-arranged ground Rods ...... 37
Touch and Surface potential contours...... 54
119
Touch and Surface potential Contours ...51

Transferring the results..............................19
Troubleshooting.......................................117
Updating the AutoCAD drawing ..............111
Validating the AutoCAD drawing .............108
120
Validation & Update ................................ 107

Visualize the station layout in 3Dimensions ........................................... 46
Windows layout of CYMGRD.................. 7, 9
Working with AutoCAD ........................... 115
INDEX

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CYMGRD 6.

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No part of this publication may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form

CYMGRD 6.5 Reference Manual and Users Guide

Soil Resistivity and Safety Assessement ..............................................11

Grid Analysis Module...............................................................................23

CYMGRD 6.5 Reference Manual and Users Guide

3.13 A note on modeling Grounding Structures .................................................49

Comparison with the IEEE80 Guide .......................................................81

CADGRD - The CYMGRD - AutoCAD Interface module........................89

CYMGRD 6.5 Reference Manual and Users Guide

Software and hardware requirements

20 MB free memory on the hard disk

A Microsoft mouse or equivalent;

Any printer or plotter supported by Windows

CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED

CYMGRD 6.5 Reference Manual and Users Guide

CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED

CYMGRD 6.5 Reference Manual and Users Guide

Interactive data entry

CYMGRD features a modern multi-window interface for data entry. A spreadsheet is

Besides interactive data entry, the program remains backwards compatible

How to use CYMGRD to design a new grounding grid

AutoCAD drawings of the station layout may be directly imported into

CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED

CYMGRD 6.5 Reference Manual and Users Guide

Dividing the grid into elements

CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED

CYMGRD 6.5 Reference Manual and Users Guide

How to use CYMGRD to reinforce and verify existing grounding

1.10 Creating and opening Projects and Studies

CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED

CYMGRD 6.5 Reference Manual and Users Guide

CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED

CYMGRD 6.5 Reference Manual and Users Guide

1.11 The Windows layout of CYMGRD

CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED

CYMGRD 6.5 Reference Manual and Users Guide

CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED

CYMGRD 6.5 Reference Manual and Users Guide

1.12 Default Parameters

CHAPTER 1 GETTING STARTED

CYMGRD 6.5 Reference Manual and Users Guide

Soil Resistivity and Safety

Soil resistivity measurements and soil models

where b is the length of the probe.

CHAPTER 2 SOIL RESISTIVITY AND SAFETY ASSESSMENT

CYMGRD 6.5 Reference Manual and Users Guide

Soil resistivity: Methodology and algorithm

h = upper layer thickness

f ( x) = [( Pmi P(i )) 2 / Pmi2 ]

where the sum spans all the available measurements.

Pmi = Measured value of earth resistivity at probe distance Di

P (i ) = Computed value of earth resistivity at probe distance Di

CYMGRD uses reduced gradient techniques to calculate the optimal model

CHAPTER 2 SOIL RESISTIVITY AND SAFETY ASSESSMENT

CYMGRD 6.5 Reference Manual and Users Guide

No pockets of soil discontinuity are supported by the embedded technique. In other

Only horizontal soil stratification type is supported by CYMGRD. No vertical

How to perform a soil analysis

CHAPTER 2 SOIL RESISTIVITY AND SAFETY ASSESSMENT

CYMGRD 6.5 Reference Manual and Users Guide

CHAPTER 2 SOIL RESISTIVITY AND SAFETY ASSESSMENT