EBOOK

Power Cable Design

& Optimization
simulation success stories

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Power Cable Design & Optimization
Whether underground, underwater, or aboveground, cables In addition, you will meet NKT, a global cable supplier, and
keep the world connected. Certain environments come at the learn how their team uses numerical models to calculate
risk of harsh conditions, requiring engineers to develop cables armor losses in 3D cable designs. Finally, you will see how
that can operate efficiently despite challenging climates. For engineers at Wuhan NARI Group Corporation of the State
this reason, organizations have been turning to modeling Grid Electric Power Research Institute created a simulation
and simulation to better understand potential designs and app based on a cable model in order to predict cable faults
measure their strength and efficiency. In this ebook, you will and improve troubleshooting efficiency.
learn how four companies ensure safe, strong, and effective
power cables.

In the first story, you will see how Hellenic Cables used finite
element modeling to analyze subsea cables and validate
prospective designs. On page 11, you will see how, in England
and Wales, National Grid used simulation to predict the
rating of underground electric cables, ensure safety standards
are upheld, and streamline approaches to minimize costs.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
3 Powering Offshore Wind 14 3D Modeling of
Farms with Numerical Armor Losses in
Modeling of Subsea Cables High-Voltage Cables
Hellenic Cables, Greece NKT, Sweden

11 National Grid Models 19 Efficient Grid Operation

Underground Cable Routes and Maintenance with
U.K. National Grid, United Kingdom Simulation Apps
State Grid Electric Power Research
Institute, China

COMSOL and COMSOL Multiphysics are registered trademarks of COMSOL AB 2

HELLENIC CABLES, GREECE

POWERING OFFSHORE WIND

FARMS WITH NUMERICAL
MODELING OF SUBSEA CABLES
Wind turbines for offshore wind farms are starting to be built further out into
the ocean. This creates a new need for well-designed subsea cables that can
reach longer distances, survive in deeper waters, and better connect our world
with sustainable power. Hellenic Cables in Greece uses finite element modeling
to analyze and validate underground and subsea cable designs.

by BRIANNE CHRISTOPHER

FIGURE 1 Submarine cables keep the world connected.

“Laws, Whitehouse received five minutes signal. Coil ranging from a short 131 km cable between Ireland and
signals too weak to relay. Try drive slow and regular. I the U.K. to the 20,000 km cable that connects Asia with
have put intermediate pulley. Reply by coils.” North America and South America. We know what the
world of submarine cables looks like today, but what about
Sound familiar? The message above was sent through the
the future?
first transatlantic telegraph cable between Newfoundland
and Ireland, way back in 1858. (“Whitehouse” refers to
the chief electrician of the Atlantic Telegraph Company MOVING WIND POWER OFFSHORE
at the time, Wildman Whitehouse.) Fast forward to
The offshore wind (OFW) industry is one of the most
2014: The bottom of the ocean is home to nearly 300
rapidly advancing sources of power around the world. It
communications cables, connecting countries and
makes sense: Wind is stronger and more consistent over
providing internet communications around the world.
the open ocean than it is on land. Some wind farms are
Fast forward again: As of 2021, there are an estimated
capable of powering 500,000 homes or more. Currently,
1.3 million km of submarine cables (Figure 1) in service,
Europe leads the market, making up almost 80% of OFW

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capacity. However, the worldwide demand for energy The future of offshore wind lies in wind farms that float
is expected to increase by 20% in 10 years, with a large on ballasts and moorings, with the cables laid directly on
majority of that demand supplied by sustainable energy the seafloor. Floating wind farms are a great solution when
sources like wind power. wind farms situated just off the coast grow crowded. They
can also take advantage of the bigger and more powerful
Offshore wind farms (Figure 2) are made up of networks
winds that occur further out to sea. Floating wind farms
of turbines. These networks include cables that connect
are expected to grow more popular over the next decade.
wind farms to the shore and supply electricity to our power
This is an especially attractive option for areas like the
grid infrastructure (Figure 3). Many OFW farms are made
Pacific Coast of the United States and the Mediterranean,
up of grounded structures, like monopiles and other types
where the shores are deeper, as opposed to the shallow
of bottom-fixed wind turbines. The foundations for these
waters of the Atlantic Coast of the U.S., U.K., and Norway.
structures are expensive to construct and difficult to install
One important requirement of floating OFW farms is the
in deep sea environments, as the cables have to be buried
installation of dynamic, high-capacity submarine cables
in the seafloor. Installation and maintenance is easier to
that are able to effectively harness and deliver the generated
accomplish in shallow waters.
electricity to our shores.

DESIGN FACTORS FOR RESILIENT SUBSEA

CABLES
Ever experienced slower than usual internet? Failure of a
subsea cable may be to blame. Cable failures of this kind
are a common — and expensive — occurrence, whether
from the damage of mechanical stress and strain caused
by bedrock, fishing trawlers, anchors, and problems with
the cable design itself. As the offshore wind industry
continues to grow, our need to develop power cables that
can safely and efficiently connect these farms to our power
grid grows as well.
FIGURE 2 Offshore wind farms are expected to help Before fixing or installing a submarine cable, which
meet increasing demands for sustainable energy. Image can cost billions of dollars, cable designers have to
by Ein Dahmer — Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA ensure that designs will perform as intended in undersea
4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. conditions. Today, this is typically done with the help of
computational electromagnetics modeling. To validate cable
simulation results, international standards are used, but
these standards have not been able to keep up with recent
advancements in computational power and the simulation
software’s growing capabilities. Hellenic Cables, including
its subsidiary FULGOR, use the finite element method
(FEM) to analyze their cable designs and compare them to
experimental measurements, often getting better results
than what the international standards can offer.

UPDATED METHODOLOGY FOR

CALCULATING CABLE LOSSES
FIGURE 3 Examples of three-core (3C) submarine The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)
cables available from Hellenic Cables. provides standards for electrical cables, including
Standard 60287 1-1 for calculating cable losses and

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 FIGURE 4 The so-called cross-pitch (CP, left) and short-twisted (ST, right) cable models.

FIGURE 5 The results of two bonding scenarios, solid and single-point bonding, based on a specific cable geometry.
The results include losses from IEC 60287 (standard), analytical calculations (Ref. 1), conventional FEM (Ref. 2),
improved CP FEM (based on the cross-pitch model), improved ST FEM (based on the short-twisted model), and
measurements (Ref. 2).

current ratings. One problem with the formulation used leader of the Numerical Analysis group at Hellenic Cables.
in Standard 60287 is that it overestimates cable losses The new methodology will enable engineers to reduce
— especially the losses in the armor of three-core (3C) cable cross sections, thereby reducing their costs, which is
submarine cables. Cable designers are forced to adopt a the paramount goal for cable manufacturing.
new methodology for performing these analyses, and the
An electric cable is a complex device to model. The
team at Hellenic Cables recognizes this. “With a more
geometric structure consists of three main power cores
accurate and realistic model, significant optimization
that are helically twisted with a particular lay length, and
margins are expected,” says Dimitrios Chatzipetros, team
hundreds of additional wires — screen or armor wires —

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 overestimates cable losses, but results visualization and
comparison to actual measurements can build confidence in
project stakeholders (Figure 5).

FINITE ELEMENT MODELING OF CABLE

SYSTEMS
Electromagnetic interference (EMI) presents several
challenges when it comes to designing cable systems —
especially the capacitive and inductive couplings between
FIGURE 6 Cable model geometry. cable conductors and sheaths. For one, when calculating
current ratings, engineers need to account for power
losses in the cable sheaths during normal operation. In
addition, the overvoltages on cable sheaths need to be
within acceptable limits to meet typical health and safety
standards.
As Chrysochos et al. discuss in “Capacitive and Inductive
Coupling in Cable Systems – Comparative Study between
Calculation Methods” (Ref. 3), there are three main
approaches when it comes to calculating these capacitive
and inductive couplings. The first is the complex impedance
method (CIM), which calculates the cable system’s currents
and voltages while neglecting its capacitive currents. This
method also assumes that the earth return path is represented
FIGURE 7 Results comparison between EMT, FEM, by an equivalent conductor. Another common method is
and CIM. electromagnetic transients program (EMT) software, which
can be used to analyze electromagnetic transients in power
that are twisted with a second or third lay length. This systems using both time- and frequency-domain models.
makes it difficult to generate the mesh and solve for the
electromagnetic fields. “This is a tedious 3D problem with The third method, FEM, is the foundation of the
challenging material properties, because some of the COMSOL Multiphysics® software. The Hellenic Cables
elements are ferromagnetic,” says Andreas Chrysochos, team used COMSOL Multiphysics® and the add-on AC/
associate principal engineer in the R&D department of DC Module to compute the electric fields, currents, and
Hellenic Cables. potential distribution in conducting media. “The AC/DC
Module and solvers behind it are very robust and efficient
In recent years, FEM has made a giant leap when it comes for these types of problems,” says Chrysochos.
to cable analysis. The Hellenic Cables team first used FEM to
model a full cable section of around 30 to 40 meters in length. The Hellenic Cables team compared the three methods
This turned out to be a huge numerical challenge that can — CIM, EMT software, and FEM (with COMSOL
only realistically be solved on a supercomputer. By switching Multiphysics®) — when analyzing an underground cable
to periodic models with a periodic length equal to the cable’s system with an 87/150 kV nominal voltage and 1000 mm2
cross pitch, the team reduced the problem from 40 meters cross section (Figure 6). They modeled the magnetic field
down to 2–4 meters. Then they introduced short-twisted and induced current density distributions in and around
periodicity, which reduces the periodic length of the model the cable system’s conductors, accounting for the bonding
from meters to centimeters, making it much lighter to solve. type with an external electrical circuit. The results between
“The progress was tremendous,” says Chrysochos (Figure 4). all three methods show good agreement for the cable
system for three different configurations: solid bonding,
Although the improvements that FEM brings to single-point bonding, and cross bonding (Figure 7). This
cable analysis are great, Hellenic Cables still needs to demonstrates that FEM can be applied to all types of cable
convince its clients that their validated results are more configurations and installations when taking into account
realistic than those provided by the current IEC standard. both capacitive and inductive coupling.
Clients are often already aware of the fact that IEC 60287

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 The Hellenic Cables team also used FEM to study
thermal effects in subsea cables, such as HVAC submarine
cables for offshore wind farms, as described in “Review of
the Accuracy of Single Core Equivalent Thermal Model
for Offshore Wind Farm Cables” (Ref. 4). The current IEC
Standard 60287 1-1 includes a thermal model, and the
team used FEM to identify its weak spots and improve
its accuracy. First, they validated the current IEC model
with finite element analysis. They found that the current
standards do not account for the thermal impact of the
cable system’s metallic screen materials, which means
that the temperature can be underestimated by up to 8°C.
Deriving analytical, correcting formulas based on several
FEM models, the team reduced this discrepancy to 1°C!
Their analysis also highlights significant discrepancies
between the standard and the FEM model, especially when
the corresponding sheath thickness is small, the sheath
thermal conductivity is high, and the power core is large.
This issue is particularly important for OFW projects, as the
cables involved are expected to grow larger and larger.

FURTHER RESEARCH INTO CABLE

DESIGNS
In addition to studying inductive and capacitive coupling and FIGURE 8 Magnetic flux distribution along the
thermal effects, the Hellenic Cables team evaluated other circumference above the three cores for two conductor
aspects of cable system designs, including losses, thermal designs (top) and the compared IEC, measurement, and
resistance of surrounding soil, and grounding resistance, FEM results (bottom).
using FEM and COMSOL Multiphysics®. “In general,
COMSOL Multiphysics® is much more user friendly and the Hellenic Cables team was able to study how conductor
efficient, such as when introducing temperature-dependent proximity effects influence losses generated in sheaths
losses in the cable, or when presenting semi-infinite soil in submarine cables with lead-sheathed cores and a
and infinite element domains. We found several ways to nonmagnetic armor. They then compared the IEC standard
verify what we already know about cables, their thermal with the results from the finite element analysis, which
performance, and loss calculation,” says Chatzipetros. showed better agreement with measured values from an
experimental setup (Figure 8). This research was discussed
Losses in the paper “Induced Losses in Non-Magnetically
The conductor size of a subsea or terrestrial cable affects Armoured HVAC Windfarm Export Cables” (Ref. 5).
the cost of the cable system. This is often a crucial
Thermal Resistance of Soil
aspect of an offshore wind farm project. To optimize the
conductor size, designers need to be able to accurately Different soil types have different thermal insulating
determine the cable’s losses. To do so, they first turned characteristics, which can severely limit the amount
to temperature. Currents induced in a cable’s magnetic of heat dissipated from the cable, thereby reducing
sheaths yield extra losses, which contribute to the its current-carrying capacity. This means that larger
temperature rise of the conductor. conductor sizes are needed to transmit the same amount
of power in areas with more thermally adverse soil,
When calculating cable losses, the current IEC standard
causing the cable’s cost to increase.
does not consider proximity effects in sheath losses. If cable
cores are in close proximity (say, for a wind farm 3C cable),
the accuracy of the loss calculation is reduced. Using FEM,

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 FIGURE 9 FEM representation of multilayer soil (with boundary conditions included).

section, and aluminum conductors. The team analyzed

three different cable installation scenarios (Figure 10).
The first scenario is when a cable is installed beneath a
horizontal layer, such as when sand waves are expected to
gradually add to the seafloor’s initial level after installation.
The second is when a cable is installed within a horizontal
layer, which occurs when the installation takes place in a
region with horizontal directional drilling (HDD). The third
scenario is when a cable is installed within a backfilled
trench, typical for regions with unfavorable thermal
behavior, in order to reduce the impact of the soil on the
temperature rise of the cable. The numerical modeling
FIGURE 10 Installations beneath a horizontal layer results prove that FEM can be applied to any material or
(left column), within a horizontal layer (center column), shape of multilayer or backfilled soil, and that the method
and within a backfilled trench (right column) for a is compatible with the current rating methodology in IEC
submarine cable (top row) and underground cable Standard 60287.
(bottom row).
Grounding Resistance
In the paper “Rigorous calculation of external thermal The evaluation of grounding resistance is important to
resistance in non-uniform soils” (Ref. 6), the Hellenic Cables ensure the integrity and secure operation of cable sheath
team used FEM to calculate the effective soil thermal voltage limiters (SVLs) when subject to earth potential
resistance for different cable types and cable installation rise (EPR). In order to calculate grounding resistance,
scenarios (Figure 9). First, they solved for the heat transfer engineers need to know the soil resistivity for the problem
problem under steady-state conditions with arbitrary at hand and have a robust calculation method, like FEM.
temperatures at the cable and soil surfaces. They then The Hellenic Cables team used FEM to analyze soil
evaluated the effective thermal resistance based on the heat resistivity for two sites: one in northern Germany and one
dissipated by the cable surface into the surrounding soil. in southern Greece. As described in the paper “Evaluation of
Simulations were performed for two types of cables: a Grounding Resistance and Its Effect on Underground Cable
typical SL-type submarine cable with 87/150 kV, a 1000 Systems” (Ref. 7), they found that the apparent resistivity of
mm2 cross section, and copper conductors, as well as a the soil is a monotonic function of distance, and that a two-
typical terrestrial cable with 87/150 kV, a 1200 mm2 cross layer soil model is sufficient for their modeling problem

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 FIGURE 11 Two-layer soil model (left) and the model geometry and boundary conditions (right).

FIGURE 12 The underground cable system with cross-

bonded (CB) and single-point bonded (SFB) sections.

(Figure 11). After finding the resistivity, the team calculated

the grounding resistance for a single-rod scenario (as a
means of validation). After that, they proceeded with a
complex grid, which is typical of cable joint pits found
in OWFs. For both scenarios, they found the EPR at the
substations and transition joint pit, as well as the maximum
voltage between the cable sheath and local earth (Figure
12). The results demonstrate that FEM is a highly accurate FIGURE 13 Simulation results for the three-phase
calculation method for grounding resistance, as they (top) and single-point (bottom) short circuit scenarios,
show good agreement with both numerical data from showing the EPR for the substations and joint pit (top
measurements and electromagnetic transient software row) and maximum voltage in the cross-bonded and
calculations (Figure 13). single-point bonded sections (bottom row).

Like the wind used to power offshore wind farms,

BRIGHT AND WINDY FUTURE
electrical cable systems are all around us. Even though we
The Hellenic Cables team plans to continue the important cannot always see them, they are working hard to ensure we
work of further improving all of the cable models they have have access to a high-powered and well-connected world.
developed. The team has also performed research into Optimizing the designs of subsea and terrestrial cables is an
HVDC cables, which involve XLPE insulation and voltage important part of building a sustainable future.
source converter (VSC) technology. HVDC cables can be
more cost efficient for systems installed over long distances.

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REFERENCES
1. M. Hatlo, E. Olsen, R. Stølan, J. Karlstrand, “Accurate analytic
formula for calculation of losses in three-core submarine cables,”
Jicable, 2015.
2. S. Sturm, A. Küchler, J. Paulus, R. Stølan, F. Berger, “3D-FEM
modelling of losses in armoured submarine power cables and
comparison with measurements,” CIGRE Session 48, 2020.
3. A.I. Chrysochos et al., “Capacitive and Inductive Coupling in Cable
Systems – Comparative Study between Calculation Methods”, 10th
International Conference on Insulated Power Cables, Jicable, 2019.
4. D. Chatzipetros and J.A. Pilgrim, “Review of the Accuracy of Single
Core Equivalent Thermal Model for Offshore Wind Farm Cables”,
IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. 33, No. 4, pp. 1913–1921,
2018.
5. D. Chatzipetros and J.A. Pilgrim, “Induced Losses in Non-
Magnetically Armoured HVAC Windfarm Export Cables”, IEEE
International Conference on High Voltage Engineering and
Application (ICHVE), 2018.
6. A.I. Chrysochos et al., “Rigorous calculation of external thermal
resistance in non-uniform soils”, Cigré Session 48, 2020.
7. A.I. Chrysochos et al., “Evaluation of Grounding Resistance and Its
Effect on Underground Cable Systems”, Mediterranean Conference
on Power Generation, Transmission, Distribution and Energy
Conversion, 2020.

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U.K. NATIONAL GRID, UNITED KINGDOM

NATIONAL GRID MODELS

UNDERGROUND CABLE ROUTES
The use of simulation to accurately predict the rating of underground electric
cables within clear safety margins is enabling National Grid to maximize output,
ensure reliability, and keep costs as low as possible.

by JENNIFER HAND

If homeowners plugging in new entertainment and kitchen

devices were asked to describe their expectation of household
electricity, the answers might well include the words “safe,”
“reliable,” and “affordable.”
Managing the electrical grid, ensuring that it matches
demand throughout the day, and keeping voltage and
frequency within acceptable limits are fundamental for
safety, reliability, and affordability. In England and Wales,
this responsibility lies with National Grid, which owns,
constructs, maintains, and operates the high-voltage
transmission network that provides electricity to homes
and businesses. Figure 1 shows a photo of one of the high-
voltage underground cable systems.
Challenges faced by National Grid include improving
the thermal management of these enormous networks
optimizing routes for laying new cable and ensuring
the accuracy of cable ratings, especially in cases where
repairs of older sections have led to combinations of
different materials in the same cable line. Meeting these
needs requires a thorough understanding of the impact of
surrounding soil, cable age, repairs, and how the proximity
of other cables will affect a given section’s performance.

RATING CHALLENGES
Most transmission and distribution networks use standards
issued by the International Electrotechnical Commission
(IEC) and supported by the International Council on Large
Electric Systems (CIGRE), to work out the rating of a
FIGURE 1 A section of a high-voltage cable system in a cable — the maximum load it can support while remaining
tunnel (top) and buried (bottom). within temperature limits and avoiding potential damage.

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 David Scott, network mapping engineer, looks after and specialized backfill materials that we populate in the
overhead and buried cable capabilities at National Grid’s model. Soil does vary, so we tend to adopt a pessimistic
Asset Integrity Department. He explains, “The testing assumption of how it will affect a cable,” Scott explains.
of high-voltage systems is not the easiest business. These
cables are up to 165 feet [50 meters] underground and
THERMAL AND ELECTRICAL PROFILING
exist in the context of a larger system, not in isolation. The
temperature of the earth around a cable may vary along its For National Grid the result of this modeling work is a new
length, and the thermal load changes where other cables, outlook, particularly for rating cables that lie close together
such as those of distribution or rail power networks, cross and optimizing the configuration of new cable routes. Close
or pass close by. It is difficult to validate test results. We are proximity between cables can impede heat loss, lead to a
always looking for more accurate cable ratings.” rise in the temperature of both cables, and reduce their
current-carrying capacity. However, sometimes assessments
The Tony Davies High Voltage Laboratory (TDHVL) at
are overly cautious and can result in unnecessary costs
the University of Southampton, which collaborates with
in the form of extra cable being laid. “We have found that
National Grid on innovation projects, has led the way in
standards-based methods of assessing cable ratings are
modeling different cable components and using simulation
generally conservative,” says Scott. “They have the potential
to better understand the changes in performance that occur
to suggest overheating issues when two cables are actually
as they undergo environmental changes and begin to age.
over 330 feet (100 meters) apart and have very little bearing
The research partnership between TDHVL and on each other.”
National Grid began with the creation of empirical models.
Engineers at TDHVL work closely with National Grid
and undertake finite element analysis (FEA) with the
COMSOL Multiphysics® software. Focusing primarily on
heat transfer, they first validated the ratings of particular
types of cables, and then began to analyze cable ratings
at specific “pinch points” in isolation and for different
environments (see Figure 2).
For example, when soil is wet heat dissipates relatively
quickly. Dry soil is more resistant due to the presence of
small air pockets, which limits heat dissipation and affects
the cable’s thermal performance (Figure 3). The team
accounts for soil dryness and cracking when modeling the FIGURE 2 Simulation results in COMSOL® software of
trench in which a cable runs. “There are standards for soil the thermal profile of cable laid directly in soil.

FIGURE 3 Simulation results of a normalized airflow profile within a cross section of a long horizontal tunnel.

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 Another challenge is the availability of spares for
maintaining older systems and repairs that result in mixed
materials (see Figure 5). “Many older cables include a lead
outer sheath, whereas new cables tend to be aluminum.
If we need to do repairs we prefer to replace only the
damaged section because of the obvious cost implications.
However, many cable systems are designed to minimize
induced currents, thus maximizing capacity. By mixing
materials in any given repair, this element of the cable
design may be compromised. Existing industrial standards
do not consider the case of mixed conductors in parallel.
COMSOL allows us to calculate cable circuit losses and
understand what countermeasures are required when
specific materials are combined.”

RELIABLE RESULTS UNDERPIN DECISION-

FIGURE 4 COMSOL model showing the current-
MAKING
carrying capacity of four identical circuits as the
separation between them is varied. The real value of simulation becomes clear when Scott
discloses the cost of a new transmission cable. “A ballpark
figure is 20 million pounds [26 million USD] per kilometer
of buried 400-kV cable. Where work that necessitates the
installation of a cable is triggered, lean asset design and
the maximization of cable capacity are the top priorities for
minimizing costs. The knowledge we gain from simulation
means we can safely opt for much less deep and convoluted
options.” This knowledge is of particular benefit when
working in tightly constrained parts of a power transmission
system such as in central London, where there is often little
scope to extend the footprint of a substation horizontally.
There is no shortage of ideas for how to use modeling
in the future to inform decision making regarding the
life cycle, compatibility, and connectivity of high-voltage
FIGURE 5 Photos of field joints being used to connect equipment, including aboveground cables. “If we model
separate sections of cables together. wind and air temperature around overhead lines and add
in the system load for a given time, we’ll have a powerful
His team uses the relevant COMSOL model to ascertain method for identifying potential issues early, such as where
whether a new cable can be laid on top of an existing route and pollution may have congealed on the surface of the line,”
still adhere to safety and performance standards, as well as Scott explains. There is also the potential to search for
the optimal position (Figure 4). “With modeling, we can now, issues with compression fittings, perhaps as a result of
for example, give precise feedback on the design of the new fatigue cycling or mechanical damage, and predict potential
system and how it impacts the existing network,” says Scott. failure modes for such fittings.
“Previously we might have had to ask for specific Scott adds: “It is easy to focus on the physical problem
mitigation, mostly by asking the relevant third party to without getting caught up in mathematical complexities.
separate their cables further or bury them more deeply. We can use the work of TDHVL and adjust key parameters
Deeply buried cables do not perform particularly well, and a to explore design options while remaining confident in
widely spread cable is expensive in terms of land required — the results. If we ensure accurate input, the simulation
and in confined urban areas may not be possible. With FEA has proven extremely reliable and helps us to make good
we gain a clearer understanding of the real situation, the decisions about cable laying and repairs.”
true cable rating, and what is possible.”

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NKT, SWEDEN

3D MODELING OF ARMOR
LOSSES IN HIGH-VOLTAGE
CABLES
NKT in Karlskrona, Sweden uses numerical models to investigate
electromagnetic fields and calculate armor losses in 3D cable designs. To
confidently perform design analyses with simulation, they then validated their
modeling results with experimental measurements.

by BRIANNE CHRISTOPHER

Wires and cables make up a global industry worth

hundreds of billions of dollars. In fact, Infinium Global
Research reports that the cable market is poised to
reach $220 billion by 2025 (Ref. 1). A major portion of
the rapidly growing cable industry’s revenue is from
installation, maintenance, and development. For instance,
the NorNed cable, a joint cable project connecting the
power grids of Norway and the Netherlands, cost roughly
€600 million (approx. $700 million USD) to install,
and that was back in 2008 (Ref. 2). When cables of this
magnitude need to be repaired or replaced, it can also be
expensive. A 2010 report from the SubOptic submarine
cable conference estimated that submarine cable repairs
can cost more than $12,000 a day, and over $1 million per
project. (Ref. 3) Since cable costs are so large, getting a
return on investment also takes many years.
Apart from being major project investments, cables are
demanding to test experimentally as well (Figure 1). In fact,
cables researched by NKT, a global cable supplier, have been
tested experimentally for many years, and it has been both
time and resource consuming. “Cable losses are a complex
thing to measure,” says Ola Thyrvin, senior analysis
engineer at NKT. FIGURE 1 High-voltage cables connect the world.
They can also be expensive to maintain and difficult to
analyze. Image courtesy NKT.

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 One tool that can help in this regard? Electromagnetics project is sold and manufacturing starts, and cables need to
modeling, which enables the NKT team in Karlskrona, be designed already in the tender phase. With the adoption
Sweden to test cable designs virtually, visualize how of numerical analysis, the study of cables and armor wires
different cable parameters affect armor losses, and predict became easier, but still left a lot to be desired. In fact, the first
cable performance in different installation conditions 3D models of a cable were created less than a decade ago. Even
(Figure 2). With cable costs as steep as they are, designers more inhibiting: Models of this kind, up until recently, could
can, with simulations, analyze the cable losses and reduce take several days to a few weeks to run on a supercomputer.
the amount of required conductor size and, thereby, cable Advancements in both computer hardware and modeling
cost. However, they need to be absolutely confident that techniques have made cable design and analysis quicker,
their modeling tools can perform the analyses they need — easier, and more robust. A cable model that used to require
and give them the correct results, since the cable cannot be a supercomputer, for example, can now be run on a standard
measured until it is manufactured after the design is sold. laptop and take minutes instead of days. These enhancements
have opened up new possibilities for NKT’s research.

FIGURE 3 The 3D cable model geometry, which includes

the basic features of an armored submarine cable; the
main conductors, the screens, and the armor.
FIGURE 2 A 3D cable modeled in the COMSOL
Multiphysics® simulation software.

BYPASSING LIMITATIONS IN CABLE

MODELING
One issue when it comes to testing cable designs is that
the standards are a bit outdated. In fact, some IEEE and
IEC standards for cables are still based on analytical
expressions that were derived about 80 to 100 years ago
and simplified to enable hand calculations. Over the last
decade, several publications have provided measurements
that show that the formulas in the standard overestimates
the armor losses. For some cases, the losses are around 50%
of what the IEC standard gives. As the possible current a
cable can carry is limited by a maximum allowed conductor
temperature, a reduction of the losses enables a possibility FIGURE 4 Different degrees of meshing for the cable
to reduce the conductor size. A reduced conductor size model, from one to four mesh elements per wire diameter
means less copper or aluminum, which are expensive (shown clockwise from top left).
metals, and therefore cost savings for the cable project.
It is possible to measure the armor losses accurately with
the methods developed ten years ago, but it requires that
you have the cable. Almost all high-voltage offshore cables
are custom made and therefore not available to test before a

15
 FIGURE 5 The geometry of the 3D magnetic flux in the air gap between the conductors in the armored cable model.

FIGURE 6 Magnetic properties of the cable calculated from the hysteresis curves.

MODELING AN ARMORED CABLE IN 3D The group turned to the COMSOL Multiphysics®

simulation software, as well as the add-on AC/DC Module,
Part of the work at NKT in Karlskrona, Sweden involves
which is especially suited for cable analysis. This software
the electrical simulation of cables, as well as calculating
enables the 3D modeling of an armored cable in order to
their temperature distribution and corresponding losses.
analyze the magnetic fields and compute the armor losses
In an armored cable, it is difficult to calculate the losses
(Figure 5). Going back to the computational expense of
in the magnetic steel armor. This is because of a complex
cable modeling, Ola Thyrvin mentions a feature from the
interaction between active and passive conductors,
COMSOL® software that he found particularly helpful:
combined with nonlinear material properties (hysteresis)
the Periodic boundary condition, which enabled the
and temperature dependence. Further, the geometry
team to model a small piece of the cable, keeping it as
of an armored cable model (Figure 3) includes small,
short as possible. The reduced size of the model saves on
detailed features, like the narrow gaps between the armor
computational time and memory requirements that are
wires, leading to a large number of mesh elements, long
specific to this application area, while also ensuring that all
computation times, and increased memory requirements. To
of the relevant physics are captured in the model. “The model
address these challenges, NKT set to find out if they could
needs to capture one conductor meeting one armor wire up
use a coarse mesh for their cable model (Figure 4) while still
until they meet again,” says Thyrvin. Another memory-saving
accurately describing the nonlinear magnetic behavior of
modeling approach is the use of infinite elements, which
the steel material, a strongly magnetic soft steel with high
lets the designers include a sufficient amount of air around
permeability and large hysteresis losses.
the cable in the modeling domain, while still limiting the
required mesh and memory.

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INCREASED PERFORMANCE, ACCURATE
COMPUTATIONS
The NKT team’s modeling approach involved three main
stages. First, they set up a current-driven model with
predefined temperatures. The current is not affected by the
cable impedance or variations in temperature and is instead
controlled by the system load. Next, the team calculated the
eddy current losses as losses that are induced by local currents
flowing in the armor wires at the predefined temperature.
They found that the losses are dominated by the screening
currents around the armor wire perimeters, in the wire
sections near the phase conductors. Third, they calculated
the magnetic hysteresis losses by integrating a function of the
magnetic B-fields over the armor wire volume (Figure 6).
FIGURE 7 Modeled μ(Have ) for three different currents in
In their 2019 paper “Fast Modelling of Armour Losses a cable design, as well as the measured μ-H curve for the
in 3D Validated by Measurements” at the 10th International armor wire.
Conference on Insulated Power Cables in 2019 (Ref. 4),
NKT demonstrate additional ways to increase performance
without significantly harming accuracy. First, even without VALIDATING THE CABLE MODEL RESULTS
resolving the skin depth in the armor, they have discovered
All of the modeling in the world will not matter, however,
that with the proper geometric correction factors and
if the results of the model do not accurately represent
fitted material parameters, it is still possible to compute
the physics of the device in reality. To make sure that the
realistic loss values — typically more realistic than what
simulation results for the cable analyses are accurate,
the IEC standard provides, and in several cases, within the
Thyrvin and his team validated them with the existing cable
measurement accuracy.
data. When computing the armor losses of the cable, they
Furthermore, while running the model with a coarse found that the modeled results were within 3% of the losses
mesh, they used a uniform, real μ-value that has been fitted measured from cables experimentally (Figure 8). While that
to experimentally obtained material data by considering sounds impressive in itself, these results are actually more
only the average H-field in the armor wire, not the local one. accurate than the IEC standard for the type of cable being
Therefore, the permeability is not nonlinear or imaginary. modeled, in which the total loss differs between 10 and 30%
Instead, it is set to the correct value for the average armor compared to measurements.
wire H-field, given the particular operating point of the
cable. Once the solution has been obtained, the losses can
be computed afterward as a postprocessing step. This is
because from measurements, they know precisely what
losses they get for a certain field intensity. So in their
models, the hysteresis losses are not electrically linked to
either the voltage or the current response of the cable.
To get the correct effective permeability, the team
ran the 3D model for different μ-values for each modeled
current. They calculated and averaged the H-values from
each solution and took into account the reduction in
armor wire cross section, when using coarse meshes. Then,
the μ-values and average H-values were plotted on the
measured μr(H) wire curve. The team found that higher
μ-values meant lower average H-values in armor, and
vice versa. Finally, the intersection of the curves with the
measured one gave the correct effective value at the cable’s
operating point (Figure 7).

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 PUTTING TRUST IN CABLE ANALYSES
The validated results of the 3D cable model proved to NKT
that simulation is a reliable and trustworthy way to study
cable designs. This knowledge has had far-reaching effects
for the organization. For one, they feel confident studying
cables without comparing to measurements each time,
because they have already confirmed that the simulations
are accurate based on the previously validated results. “We
can now simulate instead of measure,” says Thyrvin. “You
can simulate before making, but you can’t measure before
making.” Now, with simulation software, NKT knows how
large the losses are in a cable before manufacturing, based
on the simulation analyses.

REFERENCES
1. “Wire and Cable Market (Type - Wire, and Cable; Voltage Type -
Low Voltage, Medium Voltage, and High and Extra High Voltage;
Applications - Power Transmission and Distribution, Transport, Data
Transmission, Infrastructure): Global Industry Analysis, Trends,
Size, Share and Forecasts to 2024”, Infinium Global Research, 2020.
https://www.infiniumglobalresearch.com/ict-semiconductor/global-
wire-and-cable-market
2. M. Ardelean and P. Minnebo, “HVDC submarine power cables in the
world”, Institute for Energy and Transport, pp. 50–51, 2017. https://
op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/78682e63-9fd2-
11e5-8781-01aa75ed71a1/language-en
3. G. White, “Insurance and Risks in the Underground Cable World”,
SubOptic, 2013.
4. D. Willen, C. Thidemann, et al., “Fast Modelling of Armour Losses
in 3D Validated by Measurements”, 10th International Conference on
Insulated Power Cables, C7-4, 2019. http://www.jicable.org

FIGURE 8 Validated results, from top to bottom: IEC,

measured, and modeled losses in five cable designs;
measured and modeled screen currents; IEC, measured,
and modeled values of λ 1; and IEC, measured, and
modeled values of λ 2.

18
STATE GRID ELECTRIC POWER RESEARCH INSTITUTE, CHINA

EFFICIENT GRID OPERATION

AND MAINTENANCE WITH
SIMULATION APPS
Engineers at NARI Group developed a customized Cable Condition Analysis
Expert System App based on their multiphysics model to accurately predict cable
faults and improve troubleshooting efficiency.

by ZHANG QIQI

Electric cables and wires are hailed as the “blood vessels”

and “nerves” of China’s national economy, providing the
foundation for electric power infrastructure construction,
the smart grid, and new energy industries.
The demand for cable lines increases as China’s
economy continues to grow. Increased power load can
cause parameter fluctuations of electrical systems
or momentary interruptions. This may lead to grid
equipment malfunction, or, in extreme cases, fires and
explosions. Routine maintenance of cable systems helps
to keep the economy growing and customers happy, while
failure protocols allow for speedy electrical recovery.
Electrical equipment needs regular assessment to
prevent sudden power outages, where testing equipment
such as infrared, ultraviolet, and partial discharge are
used. However, these routine “health tests” are not able to
fully reflect a cable’s condition or determine failure types
in many situations. Additionally, cables are installed in
different environments, such as underground, within
tunnels, or up in the air, adding unique challenges to
detection work.
FIGURE 1 Schematic of a standard cable structure.

ACCURATE CABLE HEALTH ASSESSMENT Wuhan NARI Group Corporation (NARI) of the State
REQUIRES SIMULATION Grid Electric Power Research Institute is affiliated with
To keep power running, in addition to relying on traditional State Grid Corporation of China. NARI focuses on research
testing equipment, engineers must take other factors into and development, design, manufacturing, and engineering
consideration, for example, cable structure and material, services for power transmission and transformation
impurities in the cable, voltage fluctuation, and operating products. NARI also works with local power companies
conditions and environments. on equipment maintenance and failure analysis. Given

19
the many parameters and physical phenomena involved, a
team of engineers led by Jing at NARI used simulation to
investigate changes in electrical fields due to factors, such as
health of the cable system, and failure causes.

HOW WATER TREES AFFECT CABLE

HEALTH
Cables are made up of a complex multilayer structure.
The wire core consists of one or several sets of mutually
insulated stranded wires, wrapped in a highly insulating
layer (Figure 1). When inducing factors such as moisture,
impurities, protrusions, or space charge, occur in the
insulating layer, part of the insulation material will develop
FIGURE 2 Left: Water tree caused by the interaction
tree-like microchannels as a result of the combined action
between the electric field and moisture. Right: Close-up
of moisture and an electric field. In operating cables, the
of the mechanical damage to the insulation layer.
electric field forces moisture to displace in such a way that
it continuously accumulates at the fault spots. This results
in mechanical damage to the insulating layer and expanded
damage to the insulator. This phenomenon, known as
“water tree” is regarded as the main cause of damage in
high-voltage cables used for power transmission (Figure 2).
To understand the impact on cable health, NARI’s
engineers used multiphysics simulation to create a cable
model. “COMSOL Multiphysics® features a user-friendly
interface and predefined physics interfaces that make
modeling easy to adopt organizationally” said Jing Zhang,
engineer at NARI.
Simulating the cable fault required two steps. First, they
set the radius and electrical properties of the materials in
each layer of the cable and calculated the normal electric field
when a high voltage is applied. The next step was to introduce
parameters representing impurity and the presence of a
water tree layer. “Assessment of cable health entails analyzing
its behavior when deteriorating material properties and the
formation of water trees are considered, and the COMSOL®
software makes this easy to do,” Zhang explained.
In comparing the results of the electric fields under
normal and abnormal conditions, the engineers were able
to reach an accurate understanding of the impact of the
impurities and water trees on the cable’s performance.
The electric field of standard cables only involves lines of
electric force that point to the shielding layer along the
radius of wire; therefore, the electric field distribution is
uniform. Once impurities are added, as shown in Figure 3,
the uniform electric field is disturbed. Once a local electric FIGURE 3 Top: Simulation results of a cable with
potential difference exceeds the maximum allowable voltage impurities included, showing potential distribution
in the insulating layer, the layer is compromised and will and electric field norm contours. Bottom: Detailed view
break down in a relatively short time. of the electric field.

20
 electric field, which guides the technicians to determine
whether it is necessary to replace or repair the cable. “The
simulation app plays a key role in cable maintenance. It
makes the work of our field technicians more efficient by
empowering them to confidently assess and repair faults,”
Zhang said.
The Cable Condition Analysis Expert System App
developed by NARI is adopted by a subordinate unit of
Guangxi Power Grid Co., Ltd. Repair personnel, who use it
to predict cable faults and maintain the normal operation of
the power grid system in southwest China.

FIGURE 4 The Cable Condition Analysis Expert

System app.
Members of the simulation research team, part of the
Shipment Inspection Services Division at NARI Group
Corporation. Left to right: Zhao Chen, Ting Hu, Tiyou
BRINGING A DIGITAL TWIN TO THE FIELD
Fang, Jing Zhang, and Hao Wang.
Simulation offers a vast landscape of knowledge of cables
to engineers at NARI. However, when cable failure occurs
in the real world, troubleshooting personnel are not
trained to use the digital twin provided by a multiphysics
model to analyze failure causes based on real-time data.
In remote areas, it may take days or even weeks to invoke
an expert to conduct a site survey and remove the fault. If
on-site troubleshooting personnel are able to understand
what condition led to the failure through simulation,
the troubleshooting work is greatly simplified. To enable
maintenance personnel to respond in real time, Zhang
developed a simulation app featuring relevant parameters
that the troubleshooting personnel can modify. A simulation
app can be created from any multiphysics model using the
Application Builder in COMSOL Multiphysics.
The Cable Condition Analysis Expert System app
(Figure 4) allows the field technicians to directly enter data
from the cables and select the type of fault, thus modifying
the underlying multiphysics model on the fly, to calculate
and output the data necessary to understand what caused
the fault. The app quickly yields a reported potential and

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