Investigation on soil resistivity of two-layer soil structures using finite element analysis method

Abstract

Effective grounding is the most important aspect in every electrical installation because it can ensure efficient equipment operation in the event of electrical faults. Measurement data of soil resistivity is used to assess the suitability of the soil for grounding purpose and also to evaluate the structures of the soil. However, the limitation of soil resistivity measurement is various investigations on two-layer soil structures cannot be performed due to the variation of natural soil structures is limited. Therefore, in this work, modelling of soil resistivity of two-layer soil structures was proposed using finite element analysis method to estimate the depth of upper layer of non-homogeneous soil based on the measurement results from Wenner and Schlumberger methods. Also, using the proposed method, the effect of soil resistivity of each layer on the overall two-layer soil resistivity was investigated. To validate the results obtained from the proposed method, comparison between the FEA results and measured field data was made. It was found that the average error between both results is <3%. From the model that has been developed, the soil properties can be varied, which enhances the information that can be obtained from two-layer soil structures.