HIFREQ: An Overview

Page 1 of 7

HIFREQ: An Overview
The program HIFREQ computes the current distribution in networks of buried and overhead conductors
and the electric, magnetic and scalar potential fields generated by this current distribution (see figure
below). The computation frequency can vary from 0 Hz to several tens of MHz. HIFREQ can model
horizontally layered soils with any number of layers of distinct resistivities. It can also perform these
calculations for conductors in an infinite medium.

The conductors are restricted to rectilinear, that is straight, segments which can be horizontal, vertical or
slanted. They can be insulated or not. Conductors can be in the form of single wires, concentric cables or
multi-core (pipe-type) cables.
The program can model voltage and current sources, as well as externally applied fields. The presence of
lumped impedances (resistors, capacitors and inductances) and of transformers can be taken into
account. The theory underlying the computations allows for the soil (and air) layers to have arbitrary
conductivity, permittivity and permeability.
After the currents in a network have been computed by HIFREQ (or defined by the user), the following
electromagnetic quantities can be obtained.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

The electric field (three complex quantities: Ex, Ey, Ez).

The magnetic field (three complex quantities: Hx, Hy, Hz).
A scalar potential (one complex quantity: P).
A vector potential (three complex quantities: Ax, Ay, Az).
Mid-point potential at the surface of each conductor.

file:///C:/Users/eddie.seyedi/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh1305.htm

10/22/2015

HIFREQ: An Overview

Page 2 of 7

At low frequencies, the electric field is essentially the gradient of the scalar potential, more precisely its
negative. At higher frequencies, this is no longer true. The difference between the electric field and the
scalar potential gradient is given by the vector potential. For more details on selected topics, refer to:
Applications of HIFREQ
Coordinate system used by the program
Information needed to run the program
Available soil types
Conductor segmentation
Conductor types
Types of network energizations available in HIFREQ

file:///C:/Users/eddie.seyedi/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh1305.htm

10/22/2015

HIFREQ: An Overview

Page 3 of 7

Computation specifications
Restart facility
Common problems

Note:
The status bar AT the bottom of the screen contains:
The path and name of the current work file;

"Changed" indicator:

By default, the icon will be green and it will maintain its color as long as there are no modifications
performed since the last Load, Save or Submit action. The icon will become red as soon as a
modification occurs.

Application Areas
HIFREQ is a very flexible program that can be used to model a wide variety of electromagnetic
problems. Examples of HIFREQ applications include:

The grounding performance of metallic grids attached to overhead structures.

The electric and magnetic fields around transmission lines and substations.

The induced currents and voltages in pipes and other buried objects caused by the presence of overhead conductors
(transmission line, etc.).

Eddy currents in the soil caused by overhead structures or buried, energized conductors. (The Eddy currents are
proportional to the electric field).

Fault current distribution on a portion of a transmission line, and the electromagnetic fields at the fault site.

HIFREQs computational engine is based on field theory. As such, it takes induction effects fully into
account. This allows the computation of the self-inductance of arbitrary circuits and of the mutual
inductances between any two such circuits. Capacitances can likewise be computed. In particular, this
means that the following problems can be studied with HIFREQ:

Currents and voltages induced on a secondary circuit caused by the presence of a large current on a primary circuit.

Induced currents in an arbitrary, three-dimensional wire-frame structure (such as a metallic building frame) caused by
the presence of nearby electromagnetic field sources.

It is also possible to specify that lumped impedances (resistors, capacitors and inductances) be attached to the

file:///C:/Users/eddie.seyedi/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh1305.htm

10/22/2015

HIFREQ: An Overview

Page 4 of 7

conductors. This means that it is possible to perform ordinary circuit analysis with HIFREQ.

HIFREQs computations are valid up to several tens of MHz. In fact, HIFREQ can be used to do wire
antenna calculations! This high-frequency capability, coupled with Fourier analysis (such as that
performed by SES powerful FFTSES program), means that HIFREQ can be used to study time
dependent phenomena, such as:

Lightning performance of towers and grids.

Behavior of transients caused by lightning or switching.

Effects of higher harmonics on the electromagnetic fields (non-sinusoidal currents and voltages, pulse trains, etc)

Coordinate System used in HIFREQ

The HIFREQ program employs a left-handed Cartesian coordinate system with three coordinates (x, y,
z). The numbers x and y give the horizontal coordinates, and z provides the vertical coordinate. The
positive z direction is downward. Physical space is divided into two adjoining half-spaces separated by
the interface z=0. A positive value of z indicates the depth of a point beneath the interface, while a
negative value together with its magnitude indicates the height of a point above the interface.

Basic Information Required by HIFREQ

The following information is usually sufficient in order to run HIFREQ.

To help distinguish runs, a run-identification of up to 20 characters.

The soil resistivity in ohm-meters. The default value is 100 ohms-meters.

The conductor data. Here you will need to identify the coordinates of the origin and end-point of all conductors, the
radius of each, the number of segments into which it should be subdivided and the electromagnetic properties of the
metal and its coating.

The location and strength of the network energizations (currents, GPR or voltages).

The frequency or frequencies of interest.

The location of the observation points where the electromagnetic fields are to be computed.

Conductor Segmentation
A conductor is specified by giving the cartesian coordinates of its origin (Xo, Yo, Zo) and those of its
end (Xe, Ye, Ze). Note that positive Z is down in HIFREQ. The origin and the end of a conductor play a
dissimilar role when a conductor is energized (see Energization), therefore, these must be determined
carefully. The outer radius of the metal (Ro) and the desired number of segments for the conductor must
also be specified.

This last quantity is very important. It must be chosen so that the length of the segments satisfies two
conditions:

The thin wire condition: the segment length must be at least 5 times longer than its radius.

file:///C:/Users/eddie.seyedi/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh1305.htm

10/22/2015

HIFREQ: An Overview

Page 5 of 7

The segment length must be such that the leakage current distribution over the segment can reasonably be
approximated by a constant value.

The second condition means that shorter segments should be used wherever the current is expected to
vary rapidly in space, such as close to energization points. In particular, at higher frequencies, the
current tends to vary sinusoidally along the conductors, with a wavelength (in meters) roughly equal to:

wavelength = 3.0E8/f in the air

wavelength = 3160 * sqrt(rho/f) in the soil where f is the frequency in Hz and rho the resistivity of the soil in ohmmeters. For reliable results, the maximum length of a segment should be about 1/6 of the wavelength.

The first condition can be relaxed by setting the Thin-Wire ratio to the desired number. Usually, the
presence of a few shorter conductors will not decrease the accuracy of the computations appreciably.
Note: HIFREQ automatically segments conductors that cross the layer boundary interfaces so that all
segments are either located entirely in one layer. Also, conductors are automatically segmented at the
contact points with other conductors.

Energization Forum
There are three main Energization types in HIFREQ: Lead, Voltage and GPR. In order to explain their
functions, some definitions will be needed. For a detailed description on how to enter the energization
data in the HIFREQ Input Toolbox screen, refer to the Energization topic.
Pseudo-node and Proper-node
A node in HIFREQ is defined as one of a conductor segment's end points (origin or end). A Pseudonode is a conductor segment end point which is not in contact with another conductor segment, i.e., a
point which terminates in the surrounding medium, while a Proper-node is a conductor endpoint which
is in contact with another conductor segment. In other words, a Pseudo-node is an isolated node at which
there is only one conductor, while a Proper-node is a common node shared by two or more conductors.
External and Internal Energizations
In general, it may well prove impossible to model the entire electrical network under consideration,
because of its size. However, complete modeling is rarely necessary: the local electromagnetic fields do
not depend critically on the details of the remote parts of the network. It is usually sufficient to represent
the remote network as a source of currents and voltages for the local network. This is referred to as
"External Energization". External Energization can be achieved by specifying the currents flowing into
(or out of) the local network (with Lead energizations at pseudo-nodes) and the potentials at which the
various parts of the network are kept (with GPR energizations). It can also be achieved by specifying the
Thevenin equivalent of the remote system (a combination of Voltage energization and an impedance).
It is also possible to have "Internal Energizations" in the local network. These are current sources (Lead
energization at proper-nodes) and voltage generators (Voltage energization). They behave in exactly the
way same as in circuit analysis.
Which approach is used for external energization depends on the problem under consideration. In many
cases, this is only a matter of taste, as different methods of energization can be used equivalently.
However, in some cases, one method can be greatly superior to the others. As an example, a lightning
stroke is much more easily represented as a current source than in any other way.
Lead Energization
The Lead energization is used to specify the current to be injected into the network. It can be applied to

file:///C:/Users/eddie.seyedi/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh1305.htm

10/22/2015

HIFREQ: An Overview

Page 6 of 7

both pseudo-nodes and proper-nodes. With the Lead energization, a current of Ireal + j Iimag is forced
to flow into the origin of the energized conductor towards its end. If the origin of the energized
conductor is a proper-node, the Lead energization acts as a current source, familiar from circuit theory.
The proper-node energization can be used, for instance, to model a loop with a specified circulating
current. If the origin of the energized segment is a pseudo-node, the current is assumed to be drawn from
an adjacent network which is not modeled.

GPR Energization
The GPR energization forces the scalar potential to be ReV + j ImV on the energized conductor. At the
same time, an unknown current Ix determined by HIFREQ is allowed to flow into the origin of the
energized conductor so that the right value of the scalar potential ReV + j ImV is produced. As in the
case of the Lead energization, Ix is assumed to be drawn from an adjacent network. It is important to
note that presently the GPR energization can only be applied to a pseudo-node. This restriction will be
lifted in the future. The GPR energization can be used to model a voltage generator with one lead
connected to remote ground. It works well at relatively low frequencies (< 1 MHz).
Voltage Energization
The Voltage energization inserts a zero-gap voltage generator in the middle of the energized conductor
to establish a voltage difference of ReV + j ImV across that point. Note that the program automatically
segments the energized conductor in the middle. Note also that no further segmentation of that
conductor is allowed, i.e., a conductor subject to a Voltage energization must not cross a layer interface
or any other conductors. Also, the desired number of segments for this conductor must be 1.
The voltage difference is imposed so that the voltage close to the end of the conductor minus the voltage
close to its origin is given by the specified ReV + j ImV.
The Voltage energization behaves precisely as a voltage generator in circuit theory.
To energize a conductor, its Lead-Type connection code must be set to 0 and its Energization-Type
connection code must be set to the value corresponding to the desired energization. Setting the LeadType connection code to -1 informs the program that the corresponding conductor is not directly
energized.
Note that the electromagnetic fields close to energization points can be somewhat inaccurate due to the
idealized modeling of the energizations. This is usually not a big concern for internal energizations but it
can have a substantial effect for external energizations. A rule of thumb is that whenever the distance
between the observation point and the closest conductor is about 10 times smaller (or less) than the
distance between the observation point and the closest external energization, the fields should be very
accurate. Also, the magnetic field is much less sensitive to this effect than the electric field and scalar
potential.
In case of doubt, it is always possible to model a little bit more of the remote network (thereby pushing
the external energizations further away) to ascertain the extent of the effects of the external energizations
on the fields.
Important Note

file:///C:/Users/eddie.seyedi/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh1305.htm

10/22/2015

HIFREQ: An Overview

Page 7 of 7

The currents at all pseudo-nodes are physically forced to be zero, except when the pseudo-nodes are
subjected to Lead or GPR energization. This leads to a very common mistake when in-air conductors are
energized. For example if one end of a long conductor is energized with a 100 Amps lead and its other
end is a pseudo-node, the entire 100 Amps will be forced to leak into the air, creating huge, unphysical,
electric fields and potentials.
Unless a current of zero is specifically desired, all in-air pseudo-nodes should be subject to either a Lead
or a GPR energization. Since these energizations can only be applied at the origin of the segments, one
must make sure that in-air pseudo-nodes are located at the origin of each such segment, by orienting
these segments appropriately. Whether a Lead or a GPR energization should be used depends on the
problem being modeled, as does the magnitude of the energization.

Restart Facility
The conductor data and the current distribution in a network of conductors for each excitation frequency
is written to a special current save file.
You have the option of computing the current distribution once, and then reusing it to compute the
associated electromagnetic fields at locations which appear to be of interest. The subsequent HIFREQ
runs must be carried out using exactly the same network specifications, using the Recovered option for
the current computation. Here, HIFREQ will check that the input is consistent with the excitation
conditions in the original input. An inconsistency here suggests that the original input file may have
changed since the information in the report file was created.

Common Problems
Unacceptably Large Currents
In HIFREQ, as in the real world, very large currents are usually the result of a short-circuit. This may be
caused, for instance, by a Voltage energization inserted in a closed metallic loop. Another possibility is
that two different GPR energizations are imposed at different points on the same metallic structures.
This is often caused by an extra, unwanted conductor that closes the loop or brings two distinct metallic
structures, energized at different GPRs, into contact.
Unacceptably Large Voltages
This is invariably caused by the presence of a pseudo-node in the air that is not attached to either a
LEAD or a GPR energization. See the Energization topic for a guide on how to avoid this situation.

file:///C:/Users/eddie.seyedi/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh1305.htm

10/22/2015