Coupled electric–magnetic–thermal–mechanical modelling of busbars under short-circuit conditions

This study presents a coupled electric–magnetic–thermal–mechanical analysis of busbar systems under short-circuit currents. The analysis is carried out by making use of the finite-element method, which enables one to closely model two-way interactions among separate continuum physics. In contrast to previous works, which only consider the peak value of the short-circuit current, this method evaluates the magnetic force, the temperature rise, the mechanical displacement and their interactions over the simulation time of interest. The mechanical displacements are obtained by means of a three-dimensional analysis. It is found that the type of busbar support can markedly affect the conductor displacement during the short-circuit current. The temperature rise due to the short-circuit current flows is found to have a slight effect on the displacement of busbar conductors.