An Electrical Wire Fault Detection Method with Spread Spectrum Time Domain Reflectometry

Abstract

Electrical wires are the backbones of power systems and fault diagnostic and location methods are required to ensure the safety, reliability, and stability of the power transmission network. In this paper, in order to accurately and rapidly detect and locate open-circuit and short-circuit faults of electrical wires online, two approaches regarding detection and location namely the time domain reflectometry method (TDR) and spread spectrum time domain reflectometry (SSTDR) are introduced and compared. In comparison with TDR, SSTDR has some advantages such as weaker test signal attenuation, higher detection accuracy, online testing, etc. Therefore, we evaluate the detectability and localizability using the SSTDR method in detail, including the transmission characteristics, detection principle, key design, and simulation verification, and the simulation results prove that the fault detection and location of electrical wires using the SSTDR approach can ensure the accuracy and feasibility.