Transient analysis of multiconductor lines above a lossy ground

In this paper, we first extend the Sunde logarithmic approximation for the single-wire line ground impedance to the case of a multiconductor line. The new approximate forms are compared to the general expressions which involve integrals over an infinitely long interval and an excellent agreement is found. The inverse Fourier transform of the ground impedance presents singularities which complicate the numerical solution of the transmission line equations. The order of the singularity is reduced by 1, and a careful numerical treatment is then employed to derive an equivalent and numerically more appropriate form of coupling equations in which there is no longer a singular term. Finally, finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) solutions of the coupling equations are presented and the theory is applied to calculate lightning-induced voltages on a multiconductor line. The lightning-induced voltages are calculated for the case of lossless/lossy, single-conductor/multiconductor lines and the effect of ground losses and the presence of other conductors on the magnitude and shape of induced voltages are illustrated.