General introduction Sayfa 1 / 6

General introduction
C YM G RD assists engineers to design grounding facilities for substations and buildings. The
program can be used to perform soilresistivity m easurem ent interpretations, elevation of
ground potentialrise and danger point evaluation w ithin any area of interest.
The program supports soilresistivity analysis taking into account field m easurem ents, an
analysis necessary to arrive at a soilm odelthat w illsubsequently be used for the analysis
of the potentialelevations. The m odule supports both “single-layer” and “tw o-layer” soil
m odelanalysis. The sam e m odule also com putes the tolerable Step and Touch Voltages per
IEEE Standard 80-2000. The user defines the prospective fault current m agnitude, the
thickness and resistivity of a layer of m aterial(such as crushed rock) applied to the soil
surface, the body w eight and the anticipated exposure tim e.
C YM G RD is capable of perform ing ground-electrode sizing and ground potentialrise
calculations. C YM G RD can also determ ine the equivalent resistance of ground grids of
arbitrary shapes that are com posed of ground conductors, rods and arcs since it em ploys
m atrix techniques for resolving the current distribution to ground. D irectly energized
and/or passive electrodes, not connected to the energized grid, can be m odeled to assess
proxim ity effects.
C YM G RD calculates surface voltage and touch voltage potentialgradients at any point of
interest w ithin the area of investigation. The program can also generate equipotential
contours for surface and/or touch potentials, and potentialprofiles show ing touch and step
voltages along any direction. Color-coding is used to view the results. These can be
displayed in either tw o or three dim ensions, m aking it easy to evaluate the safety of
personneland the equipm ent in and around the grounding grid.
The results of alternative grid designs m ay be displayed sim ultaneously for com parison.

Software and hardware requirements

C YM G RD can be used w ith W indow s N T or W indow s 9X platform s.
The m inim um hardw are requirem ents are:
7 Pentium com puter;
7 64 M B RAM ;
7 20 M B free m em ory on the hard disk;
7 A M icrosoft m ouse or equivalent;
7 A color m onitor w ith Super VG A and a graphic card supporting 256 colors or
m ore;
7 Any printer or plotter supported by W indow s.

Installing CYMGRD
The C YM G RD package requires a license to operate. Access is granted w ith the use of
either a physicalhardw are key (Parallelport / U SB) and/or a license string (Added
m anually or by im porting a license file). You m ay, how ever, installthe C YM G RD package
independent of the license.
Installation steps:
1. Start M icrosoft W indow s.

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2. Insert the C YM E CD into the CD -RO M reader. If installing the W EB based package,
open the executable and proceed to step 7.
3. The installation program should start autom atically after a few seconds.
If it does not start by itself, use W indow s Explorer to inspect the m ain directory of
the C YM E CD . Locate the icon “Setup32” and double-click on it.
4. C lick on the option to “InstallProducts or D em os”.
5. C hoose English and then your version of W indow s.
6. C hoose C YM G RD from the list of softw are nam es.
7. Follow the prom pts and screen instructions.

CYMGRD modules
The functions outlined in the G eneralIntroduction can be perform ed using the follow ing
m odules:
Soil Analysis module (includes Safety Assessment): D efines either a tw o-layer, a
uniform , or a user-defined soilm odelC YM G RD plots the m easured and calculated
resistivity on the sam e graph to allow easy verification of the quality of the soilm odel. The
m axim um allow able step and touch voltages are calculated according to IEEE Standard 80-
2000. The results are autom atically com m unicated to the other m odules.
Electrode Sizing module: D eterm ines the m inim um required ground electrode
(conductor and/or rod) size in accordance w ith the IEEE 80-2000 standard. To determ ine
the electrode size, CYM G RD uses the param eters of the electrode m aterialand the am bient
tem perature setting. U sers can select one or m ore of the m aterials from the CYM G RD
library. A num ber of param eters for the m aterials can be m odified and retained on a per-
study basis.
Grid Analysis module: Calculates the current diffused by every elem ent of conductor in
the grounding grid. The potentialat the soilsurface is determ ined from these results. You
m ay define the grid one conductor at a tim e and/or by using groups of conductors
arranged in rectangular sub-grids. You can define the grounding rods in a sim ilar w ay.
O ther buried conductors (such as nearby foundations) and/or neighboring grounding
structures m ay also be defined, to be able to assess the influence of their presence on the
surface voltages. These structures m ay be included in the analysis or excluded at any tim e
for com parison purposes.
Plotting module: G enerates a visualrepresentation of the grid analysis results on
PotentialC ontour and/or PotentialProfile plots. PotentialContour plots can be used to
display both touch and surface voltages. Both representations can be color-coded in 2 or 3
dim ensions. PotentialProfile plots can be used to display both step and touch voltages
along a straight line, in any desired direction. The voltage variations, along w ith the
corresponding m axim um allow able voltages, can be show n sim ultaneously on the sam e
graph. Both PotentialC ontour and PotentialProfile graph types allow for easy identification
of hazardous areas (i.e. areas w here tolerable voltages are exceeded). These graphics can
be sent to a printer, a plotter or copied to the W indow s clipboard.

First-time user
If you have not used C YM G RD before, w e suggest you read this m anualbefore perform ing

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a grounding study, to fam iliarize yourself w ith the capabilities of the program . Illustrated
step-by-step exam ples have been included in Chapter 5 to assist you in the utilization of
C YM G RD .
Please note:
The ‘ReadMe’ file includes important information as well. Please refer to the
contents of this file before operating the program.

Interactive data entry

C YM G RD features a m odern m ulti-w indow interface for data entry. A spreadsheet is used
to enter the data about station layout, soilresistivity, bus, and electrode sizing. Any
rem aining data is provided via standard dialog box entries.
Please note:
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 perform ing a grounding study is to define a ‘Project’and then a ‘Study’
w ithin CYM G RD . A ‘Project’can be view ed as a container of ‘Studies’. The studies m ay be
variations on a design them e tow ards optim izing a grid design.
The second step is to determ ine the soilm odelthat w illbe used for the subsequent
analyses. This is done using the SoilAnalysis m odule. It is the sam e m odule that perform s
the Safety Assessm ent calculations, thus yielding the m axim um perm issible step and touch
voltage for particular surface and exposure conditions as defined in IEEE Standard 80-
2000.
The third step is to determ ine the electrode sizing (conductors and rods) taking into
account the w orst single line to ground fault param eters in the substation and m aterialof
the electrodes.
The fourth step is to actually enter the geom etricalconfiguration of the station layout.
Allelectrodes (conductors and rods) need to be entered w ith their exact coordinates, burial
depth and physicaldim ensions.
Please note:
Auto™CAD drawings of the station layout may be directly imported into CYMGRD
assuming that certain design rules are followed. Please refer to Chapter 7 for
more details.
The finalstep is to m ake certain that the design for the station m eets the necessary
safety criteria. This can be accom plished through direct inspection of the danger points on
the surface. Entire areas m ay need to be verified by generating PotentialContours plots of
the touch voltages, particularly near the grid edges. Finally, PotentialProfiles plots should
be generated to ascertain that touch and step potentials are not exceeded. If any of the
safety criteria is not m et, the grid design m ay need to be reinforced or m odified. This is
accom plished by repeating this procedure from the third step untilacceptable results are

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obtained.

Dividing the grid into elements

The G rid Analysis m odule calculates the surface potentials by dividing the conductors
and rods into sm aller segm ents called ‘elem ents’. These elem ents are the basic units that
diffuse the injected fault current to ground. U sing a higher num ber of sm aller elem ents
m ay give greater precision. H ow ever, the totalnum ber of elem ents in any grounding
study cannot exceed 3500, including the m ain ‘Primary’ electrode and any ‘Return’ or
‘Distinct’ electrode.
Please 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.

How to use CYMGRD to reinforce and verify

existing grounding grids
For existing grids, soilm easurem ents m ay be available from the originaldesign. If the
soilm odelhas already been determ ined and rem ains valid, it is not necessary to enter
the soilm easurem ents.
1. To take the existing soilm odelinto account, choose the ‘U ser-defined’m odelfor soil
analysis type in the SoilParam eters dialog box and enter the required inform ation
for the upper, the low er and the surface layers. If desired, you m ay also enter
‘U ser-defined’data for use w ith the safety assessm ent data, w hich w illbe used to
determ ine the m axim um perm issible touch and step voltages.
2. Verify the station conductor and rod data entries and m ake certain any
reinforcem ents and/or additions are included in the station data. D eterm ine the
G round PotentialRise (G PR) and station resistance using the G rid Analysis m odule.
3. U se the plotting facilities, potentialcontours 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

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system .
5. If the grid is not adequate, return to Step 2 and m ake the necessary changes to the
grid layout by adding or rem oving conductors and/or rods.

Creating and opening Projects and Studies

A ‘Project’can be view ed as a container of ‘Studies’, w hich m ay be variations on a design
them e tow ards optim izing a grid design. The real‘container’of data and results, how ever,
rem ains the ‘Study’. D efining a project and a study is done via the ‘Files’m enu, as show n
below , from the m enu bar of C YM G RD .
To define a new project, the ‘N ew ’ option needs to be chosen for the File m enu. In this
case, the dialog box show n provides the possibility to define a new Study, as w ellas a new
Project that w illcontain the study. If, a new study is desired w ithin the active project, click
on the check box “Insert into the active project” and the low er project-related prom pt w ill
no longer be accessible.

To open an existing Project, click on the ‘O pen Project’com m and of the File m enu.

A brow se function is activated that lets you see the various Projects already created in the
active folder.

The Windows layout of CYMGRD

O nce a Project has been created and a new Study generated w ithin that Project, you w ill
need to begin entering your substation data. The CYM G RD interface is sub-divided into
dedicated sections that occupy specific regions w ithin the overalldisplay.

The upper-left section is referred to as the ‘W orkspace’view . It is reserved for the Studies
and the corresponding Project file, show n in a tree structure. If m ore Studies w ere
included, they w ould be show n as part of the root Project. The active Study is show n using
a red checkm ark as part of its icon. N ote that this w indow features 3 tabs. The tab nam ed
‘Studies’show s the Project/Study tree structure. The tab nam ed ‘Contours’show s the
various potentialcontour plots generated for the active Study. The tab nam ed ‘Profiles’
show s the potentialprofile plots generated w ithin the active Study. Thus, the second and

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third tabs are context-sensitive and dependent on the first tab.

The m iddle-left section is the ‘Installation’view . It displays a condensed view of the station
grounding grid layout (N O T U N D ER SCALE AN D W ITH O U T TAKIN G IN TO AC CO U N T TH E
ASPEC T RATIO O F TH E M AIN ‘G RID LAYO U T’W IN D O W ). The Installation View contents
appear only w hen data is has been entered for the station layout. G radualstation data
entry enriches the view accordingly.
The upper-right section is the ‘W orkbook’view . It is reserved to show the G rid Layout, Soil
M odeland PotentialContour and Profile plots generated during the sim ulation. It is the
m ain display area of the application. The ‘SoilM odel’tab displays a visualrepresentation of
allthe soilm easurem ent data and possibly any calculated results due any soilanalysis. The
‘G rid Layout’tab displays a visualrepresentation of allthe conductor data representing the
station geom etry.
The low er-left section is the ‘D ata Entry’view . It is used for data tabular input. The tab
nam ed ‘Soilm easurem ents’is reserved for soilm easurem ent data entry. The tab nam ed
‘Asym m etricalConductors’is reserved for the grid conductor asym m etricaldata, and so on.
The low er-right section is the ‘Reports’view . It is used to display the reports pertinent to
allanalysis options. The tab nam ed ‘SoilAnalysis’contains the report of soilanalysis
m odule, w hile the tab nam ed ‘G rid Analysis’contains the report of the G rid analysis
m odule. Any contour or profile plots show n in the ‘W orkbook’view w illalso have a
corresponding report show n here.
The default view of a study w ith actualdata is show n below to illustrate these principles:

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