Fault diagnosis and location of electrified railway grounding grids based on intelligent algorithm

Faults in electrified railway grounding grids can lead to significant surface potential rise, which threatens railway transportation and operation security. In order to efficiently diagnose the grounding status of the grounding grid and locate the fault location, this paper firstly presents the development of a mathematical model to reveal the earth surface potential distribution of grounding grids. Furthermore, a simulation model is built specifically for this study using CDEGS software to calculate the earth surface potential distribution of grounding grids under fault conditions. The simulation model has been used to validate the developed mathematical model by a comparison study. Finally, an intelligent algorithm based on grey incidence degree and fuzzy theory is proposed. This algorithm facilitates the fault condition diagnosis and the fault conductor position location. Using the fault condition data calculated by the simulation model, a few common grounding grids' fault conditions are diagnosed and located effectively by the proposed method. The results identify that the proposed method can ensure the safe operation of the traction substation.