IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol. 5, No.

2, May 1990
AKA
I<,y

A STRAIGHTFORWARD METHOD FOR INCORPORATING MUTUALLY-COUPLED CIRCUITS INTO

THE BUS ADMITTANCE MATRIX USING THE CONCEPT OF ARTIFICIAL BRANCHES
Howard A. Smolleck, Senior Member, IEEE

Raymond R. Shoults, Senior Member, IEEE

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

New Mexico State University
Las Cruces, NM 88003

Energy Systems Research Center

The University of Texas at Arlington
Arlington, TX 76019

Abstract - Situations frequently exist in which two or

more three-phase lines occupy a common right-f-way
for a
substantial distance. Such lines may be significantly coupled in
the zero sequence. Also, the increasing use of phase coordinates
in distribution and transmission system analysis mandates the
solution of coupled systems. Unfortunately, mutual coupling
adds an extra dimension of significant complexity to the
development of a classroom understandin of such topics.
A method for demonstrating the effects of these couplings
readily by inspection is presented. The method, which is
computationally stable for all practical cases investigated by the
authors, produces no additional buses and retains the topological
structure of the prototype except for the addition of some
"artificial" lines. It is demonstrated that the procedure is
applicable to a variety of situations and, once the basic principle
is understood, can be immediately applied to yield a
coupling-free equivalent network whose parameters are directly
amenable to inclusion in the bus admittance matrix.

Keywords:
power engineering
distribution, mutual coupling.

education, transmission,

INTRODUCTION

Communicating an understanding of the role and effect of

coupling in contexts such as these poses a special challenge to
electric power educators.
Various methods have been employed, either to treat the
coupling directly (as in the case of adding and removing coupled
branches and altering the bus imDedance matrix accordingly) or
to develop coupling-free equivalent networks [4,5,6,7,9]. While
these techniques have been used successfully, they are, of course,
somewhat complicated and not easily understood and sometimes
not easily applied. More recently, Alvarado et al. [10,11] have
presented some innovative methods involving the use of the
primitive admittance matrix to handle a number of such cases
concisely and without numerical difficulties.
A straightforward method is presented here which allows
mutual couplings to be represented by added artificial branch
elements without requiring additional buses. The primary
advantages of the approach presented here are as follows:
1.
2.

3.

The problem of accounting for mutual inductive coupling

when forming the bus admittance or impedance matrix has for
many years been recognized in the context of zero-sequence
models for network studies, where the effect of the mutual
coupling between separate three-phase circuits on the same
right-f-way
can become prominent.
More recently, the
problem of explicitly handling mutual coupling within individual
three-phase circuits in an efficient manner has become a topic of
interest in the area of distribution power flow and fault studies
[1,2] and transmission-system studies as well [3].
The latter case is of particular interest to the authors,
with regard to the emerging area of phasexoordinate
power-flow analysis. As EHV/UHV systems expand without
the benefit of transposed lines, the likelihood of voltage
unbalance increases. This can be extremely detrimental when
significant negative-sequence voltage is developed in the
transmission system, particularly at generator terminal buses.
The presence of negative-sequence voltage at the terminals of a
generator may cause negativesequence torque on the rotor of
the generator. Also, negative-sequence components produce
double-frequency effects which have the potential to interact
with natural torsional frequency modes in the turbine/generator
shaft elements. If significant interaction occurs, mechanical
failure and/or shaft destruction can occur. Negative-sequence
voltages can only be correctly analyzed in a system using
phasecoordinate power flow methods [3].
Thus, recent
increased use of phase+oordinate analysis has accentuated the
need for the feasible handling of mutual couplings.

89 S?1 655-2 PWRS

A paper recommended and approved
by t h e I E E E Power E n g i n e e r i n g E d u c a t i o n Committee of
t h e I E E E Power E n g i n e e r i n g S o c i e t y f o r p r e s e n t a t i o n
a t t h e IEEE/PES 1989 Summer Meeting, Long Beach,
C a l i f o r n i a , J u l y 9 - 14, 1989. Manuscript s u b m i t t e d
J a n u a r y 29, 1988; made a v a i l a b l e f o r p r i n t i n g
May 19, 1989.

4.

The general approach can be readily derived and

understood in terms of elementary graph theory.
Once this has been done, the requisite branch elements
can be easily determined by inspection for the general
case or for a wide variety of special cases thereof.
The resulting coupling-free equivalents can be readily
imbedded in a larger network, and the bus admittance
matrix for the complete network obtained directly.
The method is numerically stable and accurate. The
required matrix inversion is small for relatively small
clusters of mutually coupled lines, and has been
demonstrated to be computationally robust for practical
power transmission and distribution problems.

The technique described in this paper has been used by

the authors both in a variety of software such as short-circuit
analysis, distribution and transmission power flow, etc., and in
the teaching of power-systems engineering concepts. Although
the approach is straightforward, and its simplicity has
undoubtedly made it evident to others, the experience of the
authors suggests that a concise statement of the method,
accompanied by several examples, will prove useful to other
educators. It should be recognized that what is presented here is
only one of a number of methods available for treating the
coupling problem in a programming context, a more general
approach to which is given in, e.g., [lo].
BASIC DEVELOPMENT
In the development to follow, the following notational
convention is adopted:
branch numbers appear in parentheses and branch
orientation is denoted by arrows.
bus numbers are circled in the figures.
branch (primitive) impedances and admittances
are indicated by capital Z or Y, respectively, with
subscripts denoting branch numbers.
Consider the case (sufficiently general to develop the
method) shown in Fig. 1. This case can be considered as
representing either (a) the three conductors of a single,
untransposed, three-phase line which is to be analyzed in phase
coordinates or (b) the zero-sequence model of three arbitrary
three-phase
transmission lines lying along the same
right-of-way. Self- and mutual-impedances, which are readily
determined by direct application of Carson's equations [8], are
indicated in the figure. Note that, for generality, the six
endpoint buses are distinct; and for convenience the lines are all
oriented identically. The latter assumption is logical to make in
practice, and leads to a very simple result.

0885-8950/90/0500-0486$01.00 0 1990 IEEE

487

@,

Zll

(1)

1: Ij13
1

8,z22
@,
Figure 1.

z33

P
P

(2)
(3)

@ 11'-----'1
'
1
2
'
1
2 3
1
'
'
1
3
'bus

@ -----'
1
2
'
1
2
'
2
2
'
2
'
2
3
-'23
@

(5)

'
1
2
'
1
2
'
2
'
2
2 3
2
'
'23
------

Three Parallel Coupled Circuits Lying Along

a Common Corridor.

With recourse to standard graph-theoretic techniques. the bus admittance matrix of a network may be
expressed [4] by the matrix multiplication
YbUs = NT YpR N
=

Expanding this product yields

Equation 5 leads to a most interesting result. From

this bus admittance matrix. a coupling-free network can
be synthesized as shown in Fig. 2. Since Ybus is full.
each bus of the equivalent network is connected
directly to each of the other 5 buses by a single line.

N~Z~L'N

where YpR is the primitive (branch) admittance

matrix.
'
1
.
ZpR = pR is the primitive (branch) impedance
matrix
N is the branch-bus incidence matrix.
For the representation of Fig. 1. the primitive
impedance matrix is assumed known and can be written,
noting symmetry, in terms of the branch self-impedances
and mutual couplings as

Similarly. its inverse (which is to be calculated) can

be expressed as

Figure 2. Coupling-free Equivalent.

(3)

'
2
3
y23

Corresponding to the 6-bus, 3-branch system of

Fig. 1, an expression for the bus admittance matrix can
be written in terms of Eq. 1 as

'bus

'
1
2
y22
--'
1
3

'
2
3

(4)

Using the bus ordering and the arbitrary orien'tation of

the branches shown in Fig. 1, the odd-numbered buses can be
designated as "from" buses and the even-numbered buses as
"to" buses. With this notation, it can be seen in Fig. 2 that
each "from-to" bus pair corresponding to an actual line is
connected by an incident admittance element from YpR. Each
such bus pair not associated with an actual line is bridged in
Fig. 2 by an admittance element from YpR which is associated
with the pair of lines terminating at those buses, respectively.
Similarly, each pair of "from" and each pair of "to" buses is
connected by an admittance value which is the negative of an
element of YpK A brief glance a t Fig. 2 in comparison with
Fig. 1 will illustrate the regular pattern of these connections
which accrues.
Note also that the sum of the admittances of all the lines
(actual and artificial) incident at each bus in Fig. 2 is equal to
the driving-point admittance term from Eq. 5 for that bus.
Thus no artificial shunt branches (i.e., branches to reference) are
created by this process, and the model of Fig. 2 is sufficient as
shown. This is an important point, and is in agreement with the
"overlapping" and "collapsing" techniques of Alvarado [lo].

488

SOME SPECIAL CASES

Case 3 :

A variety of special cases can be generated

directly from Fig. 2 by inspection. Three of the many
such possibilities are presented below. In each case,
the original circuit with its branch impedances
(including coupling impedances) is shown, followed by
its equivalent in admittance form and the simplest
reduced equivalent, respectively. Note that, because
of
the presence of the coupling, the admittance
associated with each actual branch is not equal to the
reciprocal of the primitive impedance of the branch.
Case 1:

Three lines in a corridor, with two attached

to common endpoint buses and the third
attached to distinct buses.
The equivalent for this more complex case can also
be written immediately by inspection, as shown below.

Two lines in a corridor, with common endpoint buses.

-Y 13

z22
I

23
Figure 3 .

Case 1.

In this trivial example, the artificial line

connecting "from" bus to "from" bus and that connecting
"to" bus to "to" bus vanish, leaving four "branches"
between the two buses. The single equivalent impedance
between the buses is thus given by

-Y 13-Y23
which is a well-known result.

(QJ
-Y -Y

13 23

y33

(3

Figure 5. Case 3.
Case 2: Two lines in a corridor, with one common
endpoint bus.

SOME ADDITIONAL APPLICATIONS

-y12

z22

y22

yll

y22

y12

y12

Figure 4 .

-Y 12

Case 2.

Here a new branch (between buses 2 and 3) is added

to the network graph, along with a new branch in
parallel with each of the two original lines.

With a little thought, the model of Fig. 1 and its

associated equivalent can be applied to situations which at first
glance would seem to require an explicit derivation. For
example, consider the very trivial situation, familiar to all
students, which is depicted in Fig. 6(a), in which two coupled
coils are connected in series. The equivalent impedance Z is
eq
desired. Note that this circuit can be redrawn in the manner of
Fig. 1 to yield Fig. 6(b), where
'PR

zll

z12

1121 =
z22

-;1

:,I

Then by inspection, the equivalent coupling-free circuit can be

obtained as in Fig. 6(c), where

489

shunt branches may lead to questions concerning

numerical stability. However, the one matrix inversion
required by the process (that of ZpR) is always compu-

tationally

well-conditioned,

ZpR typically

being

diagonally dominant with a determinant of sufficient

magnitude to avoid numerical problems in most cases.
(This can be easily shown by noting that the coefficient of coupling between any pair of conductors in a
transmission or distribution system, or between
sequence models of adjacent three-phase circuits, is
well below unity.) This can be seen in the following
numerical example.
NUMERICAL EXAMPLE

zeq

rI

yll

y12

-Y12

The small network whose zero-sequence model is

shown in Fig. S(a) contains six 115 kV lines, each
consisting of a typical H-frame structure supporting
one DRAKE conductor per phase with two 318'' steel
static wires. Except for lines (3) and (4). which lie
along the same right-of-way for a considerable
distance, the circuits have negligible mutual coupling
between each other.
Equivalent zero-sequence impedances determined
from the customary equations [8] are shown on the
diagram in per-unit on a 100 MVA base. Line capacitances and the impedances of synchronous machines at
the buses are accounted for by the shunt elements
shown.
For the lines involved in coupling, which
constitute the subnetwork of Fig. 8(b). the primitive
impedance matrix is obviously

from which its inverse is obtained as

- z12
2

where IZ
PR

= -11.7162+j6.8695

From YpR, the coupling-free equivalent in admittance

(2)

form for the subnetwork of Fig. 8(b) can be formed

The
immediately by inspection, as shown in Fig. 8(c).
dashed line indicates the artificial branch generated
by this process.
Thus the complete network in admittance form
appears as shown in Fig. 8 (d). from which Ybus can be
written directly by inspection as

Figure 7. Two Parallel Circuits; One Bisected by a

Bus.
With a little thought, the coupling-free model for
Fig. 7(b) may be easily completed by inspection using
the methods described above.
COMPUTATIONAL STABILITY

The observation that the coupling-free equivalent

network generated by this method contains no added

.oooO
.2897 -.0681 -.1680 -.0536
-j2.2608 +j.1889 +j.5149 +j.1225 +j.oooO
.2825
.oooO -.GO44 -.2100
+j.1889 -j1.4918 +j.oooO +j.1431 +j.6437

.oooO

.E20 -.OS40

.oooO

+j.5149 +j.oooO -j2.4897 +j.2575 +j.0000

- .0536 -.0044 -.OS40 .3520 -.2100
+j.1225 +j.1431 +j.2575 -jl.l66S +j.6437

.m -.2100 .e00
-.2100
+j.6437 +j.oooO +j.6437-j1.6758

490
which agrees with values obtained by
C4.51.

Inversion then yields

-.0198
+j.1191

CONCLUSIONS

-. 0166
+j.0721
%us

A straightforward method has been shown that enables

mutual couplings associated with either phase or sequence
models of transmission or distribution lines to be resolved
virtually by inspection. The method is applicable to a wide
variety of power network problems. Although the method has
been illustrated here by means of small examples, it should be
recognized that its real advantages become apparent in the
context of larger systems. The method has been found by the
authors to be particularly useful in power engineering education,

.0255

other methods

+j .4398

-. 0107
+j.1715
-. 0174
+j.0945

j 1.9376

0.4582+j1.4041

(2)
1.1454+j3.5102

j0.5823

j2.5748

1.1454+j3.5102

0.0681-j0.1889

r--0.9320+j1.7072
0,0536-j0.1225

0.0681-j0.1889

0.2100-jO.6437
-jO.1225

- jO.5161

-__!

0.0044

0.2100-jO.643i
(

0.0840-j0.2575

1-

j1.7173

-j0.3884
(d)
Figure 8. Numerical Example

0.0044
-j0.1431

;---f"

491

there being more general (and correspondingly complex)

methods to handle a wider context of production applications in
network analysis programs. Even so, the method described here
has been successfully used by the authors in several larger
software packages as well as in the classroom.
In contrast to some techniques proposed earlier for the
same purpose, a significant advantage of the method is that it
produces no artificial shunt elements nor any artificial buses.
Also, like the more general approach described in [lo], the
method is computationally robust and requires relatively little
modification to the bus admittance matrix for a large system.
The single matrix inversion required for each incidence of
coupling is typically well-conditioned for practical cases.
In large zero-sequence networks, the incidences of
coupling are typically small and are highly localized. In
phase-oordinate modeling, although couplings inherently exist
within every segment, they are also localized as well. Thus
there are no large matrix inversions to perform, the incidences of
coupling being treated separately. The method is, therefore,
well-suited t o the resolution, as well as the explanation, of this
kind of situation. Coupling-free equivalent networks similar to
that of Fig. 2, which resolve local incidences of mutual coupling,
can obviously be imbedded in a larger network. The evaluation
of Ybus follows directly by inspection.

REFERENCES
[l].

W. H. Kersting and W. H. Phillips, "A Radial

Three-phase Power Flow Program for the Personal
Computer."
Proc. of the 1987 Frontiers of Power
Conference, Okla. State Univ., Stillwater, OK, Oct.
26-27, 1987.

[2].

W. H. Kersting, "A Methods to Teach the Design and

Operation of a Distribution System." IEEE Trans PAS,
July 1984.

[3].

B. K. Chen, Transmission System Unbalance Analvsis,

Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Texas at
Arlington, December, 1986.

[4].

G. W. Stagg and A. H. El-Abiad, ComDuter Methods in

Power Svstem Analysis. New York: McGraw-Hill Book
Company, 1968.

[5].

H. E. Brown, Solution of Large Networks bv Matrix

Methods. New York: John Wilgy & Sons, Inc., 1975.

.161.
.

11. E. Brown and J. 0. Storrv, "Improved Method of

Incorporating Mutual Couplinis in Single Phase Short
Circuit Calculations," IEEE PICA Conference Proc. pp.
335-342, 1969.

[7].

D.K. Reitan and K. C. Kruempel, "Modification of the

Bus Impedance Matrix for System Changes Involving
Mutual Couplings," Proc. IEEE, p. 1432, August 1969.

[8].

P. M. Anderson and A. A. Fouad, Power System Control

and Stability. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press,
1977.

[9].

G. L. Kusic, Computer-Aided Power System Analysis,

Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986.

[lo]

F. L. Alvarado, "Formation of Y-Node Using the

Primitive Y-Node Concept," IEEE Trans. PAS, Vol.
PAS-101, No. 2, pp. 4563-71, December 1982.

[ll]

F. L. Alvarado, M. K. Enns, and W. F. Tinneq;

"Sparsity Enhancement in Mutually Coupled Networks,
IEEE Trans. PAS, Vol. PAS-103, No. 6, pp. 1502-08,
June 1984.

Howard A. Smolleck
(S'74-M'74-SM'84)
was born in
Bridgeport, CT, on July 30, 1947. He received the B.S., M.S.,
and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Texas, Arlington, in
1969, 1970, and 1975, respectively.
From 1974 to 1979 he was with the Department of
Electrical Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA,
and since August 1979 has been an Associate Professor of
Electrical and Computer Engineering at New Mexico State
University, Las Cruces. He has been a Postdoctoral Fellow at
the Energy Systems Research Center of the University of Texas,
Arlington, and participated in the teaching of a summer short
course at the Center for six seasons. He has also taught short
courses and seminars on machine control and fault analysis of
industrial power systems in various locations. His research
interests include electric power system analysis, electric
machinery, transportation systems, and the development of
algorithms for the solution of large networks. He currently
serves as advisor to the Tau Beta Pi and Alpha Chi honor
society Chapters at New Mexico State University.
Dr. Smolleck is a member of Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa
Nu, Alpha Chi, and is a Registered Professional Engineer in
Virginia and New Mexico.

Raymond R. Shoults (SM) was born in Wichita, Kansas on

March 5, 1940. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in
Electrical Engineering from New Mexico State University in
1963 and 1969, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical
Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1972.
His industrial experience includes five years with Public
Service Company of New Mexico, two years with Pacific Power
and Light, and approximately one and a half years as a staff
consultant with Utility Consulting Services in Dallas, Texas.
Dr. Shoults is currently Professor of Electrical Engineering and
Director of the Power Systems Laboratory at the University of
Texas at Arlington. His primary interests include computer
applications to power system analysis and control.