Efficient Analysis of Noise Induced in Low-Voltage Installations Placed Inside Buildings with Lightning Protection Systems

This paper describes an efficient approach to the broadband analysis of lightning protection systems (LPSs) using the method of moments (MoM) implemented in the frequency domain. The adaptive frequency sampling (AFS) algorithm, based on a rational interpolation of the relevant observable (e.g., voltage, current, electric or magnetic field) which describes the properties of the LPS, is employed to reduce the number of samples computed by the full-wave MoM. This improvement is achieved by the quick comparison of two interpolants with the use of the Stöer–Bulirsch algorithm, which provides the frequency location of the next MoM samples for computations. This algorithm allows for the efficient localization of resonant frequencies while reducing the number of samples computed over the entire frequency range. In the instances when the induced noise is determined in low-voltage installations protected by various types of LPSs, reductions in computational overhead equal to 47.9× and 72.1× in broadband LPS simulations are obtained. Hence, the proposed approach allows for a significant reduction in computational overhead in comparison to standard, uniformly sampled simulations.