Date of Award
2026
Document Type
Open Access Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering (MS)
Administrative Home Department
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Advisor 1
Flavio Bezerra Costa
Committee Member 1
Bruce Mork
Committee Member 2
Anna Stuhlmacher
Committee Member 3
Shangyan Zou
Abstract
Distribution lines are prone to frequent faults, making prompt fault detection and clearance critical for maintaining reliable feeder operation and minimizing customer power interruptions. This thesis investigates fault analysis in short distribution lines using traveling-wave techniques by developing an experimental platform to generate traveling waves produced by faults in short AC distribution lines. Experiments are conducted alongside simulation studies on medium voltage benchmark power networks. The test laboratory system consists of a 3 km short feeder line where fault transients can be captured. On the other hand, the MATLAB/Simulink model is developed to emulate realistic network behavior. Several digital signal processing algorithms are utilized in identifying the arrival times of traveling waves such as the stationary wavelet transform (SWT), boundary stationary wavelet transform (BSWT), and differentiator-smoother (DS). Based on the outcomes, the BSWT algorithm presents higher sensitivity and precision in identifying traveling wave arrivals with no discernible time delays. In contrast, the DS algorithm identifies transients but introduces noticeable time delays in detecting peaks. The SWT algorithm shows ineffective performance because of several peaks with similar amplitudes, making it difficult to detect the arrival time of the first traveling wave. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed platform provides an effective means of evaluating traveling-wave-based fault detection methods and supports the development of more reliable protection schemes for short distribution lines.
Recommended Citation
Ismail, Arshad, "FAULT ANALYSIS IN DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS USING TRAVELING WAVES", Open Access Master's Thesis, Michigan Technological University, 2026.
https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/etdr/2140