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Calculating Short-Circuit Current

By Thomas A. Domitrovich - July 7, 2015

One of the most fundamental calculations made on a power distribution system is that
which yields available short-circuit current. The September – October 2012 issue of IAEI
magazine included an article titled “Going to Basics, Maximum Fault Current” which spoke
to this topic but did not get into the math. I have received many requests ever since to get
into the math. I trust this article will satisfy inquiring minds with details around calculating
available fault current and provide some equations for the student to explore.

Available Short-Circuit Current

Maximum available short-circuit current is an important parameter for every power

distribution system as it provides a data point necessary to ensure equipment is being
applied within its rating and the system is performing to meet expectations. Available
short-circuit current is used in many other applications as well.

The National Electrical Code demands this data point for enforcement of such Sections as
110.9, Interrupting Rating; 110.10 Circuit Impedance, Short-Circuit Current Ratings, and
other Characteristics; and 110.24 Available Fault Current. Whether you are a designer,
installer or inspector, you will at some point in your career be faced with calculating
available fault current. Understanding the math behind this and how calculated short-circuit
currents are used can only broaden knowledge and understanding. It may also help us
realize that a qualified individual should be the one making these calculations. So for the
sake understanding, I offer this article to get you on your way.

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Fundamentals of Calculating Short-Circuit Current

Everything you need to know about calculating fault currents, you learned in circuits 101,
trigonometry, and basic math classes. Figure 1 illustrates a simple single-line diagram that
very well could be your basic service entrance for a commercial or industrial installation.

Figure 1. Single Line Diagram

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Figure 2 is the basic circuit diagram of what is represented in Figure 1 and that would be
used to calculate available fault current at any point in the above simple single line
diagram. Engineers will call that which you see in Figure 2 an impedance diagram as it
basically converts each component in the Figure 1 above into impedance values. For those
of you who are up on circuits 101, what you see below, when all impedances are added
together, is a “Thevanin Equivalent” circuit which includes an impedance and a voltage
source. This basic circuit will be used throughout this article.

Figure 2. Impedance Diagram (Circuit)

Assumptions will have to be made for calculations and to simplify our work for this
document.

The assumptions for the transformer that will be used as part of the example for this article
will include that which follows. This information should be available when reading the
nameplate of the transformer.

Transformer kVA 1500

Primary Voltage 4,160 V
Secondary Voltage 480 V
% Impedance 5.75%

The assumption is for the utility available short-circuit current. For this exercise 50,000
amps will be used. Before a study is conducted, the utility is contacted to obtain this
information. They may provide the available fault current in one of a few different ways.
The most straightforward and probably most seen data from the utility will be an available
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fault current in kA. Some utilities may provide the data as short-circuit MVA instead. This
article will provide equations to accommodate both forms of input but cater to a utility
available short-circuit current of 50 kA.

With regard to conductor impedance, the following calculations will ignore the resistance of
the conductor and only use the reactance. This will do two things for the sake of this
article. First, it will result in a higher fault current than would be calculated had we taken
into consideration both the resistance and reactance. Second, it will keep the math simple.
A final section of this article will provide analysis results that include the resistance and
reactance of the conductors and the utility. The methods used mirror those used by such
software programs as SKM Systems Analysis A-Fault.

This article will also assume no motor contribution. Maximum available short-circuit current
should include all short-circuit contributors. We are not including this contribution for this
effort for simplicity sake.

Basic Transformer Calculations

The very first step of this process is the calculation of full-load amps (FLA) for the
transformer. Yet another basic calculation that an electrical professional will have to
perform at some point in their career and that some perform many times a day. The
equations for calculating FLA are included below:

FLA Secondary = kVA

(√3)×(kVsec)

FLA Secondary = 1500

[(√3)×(0.480)] =1,804 Amps

This 1500 kVA transformer has a secondary FLA of 1,804 amps. This parameter is
necessary to select the secondary conductors for this transformer. Based on this FLA and
the use of Table 310.15(B)(16) from NEC 2014, the conductors used on the secondary of
the transformer will be a quantity of 5-500 MCM conductors per phase.

Calculating Short-Circuit Current On Secondary of Main Transformer

There are two ways to approach calculating the available fault current at the secondary of a
transformer. We can calculate the maximum amount that the transformer will let through,
as if the power generation facility was hooked directly to the line side of the transformer, or
we can calculate the available fault current considering the provided available fault current
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from the utility. The former approach which results in the maximum amount of fault current
that a transformer will let through is referred to as an “infinite bus” calculation. The circuit
of figure 2 can be re-drawn to include zero impedance for the utility which will reduce the
overall impedance of the circuit and so increase the value of calculated short-circuit
current. Figure 3 will yield the maximum available fault current that a transformer can
supply.

Figure 3. Infinite Bus equivalent circuit diagram

Figure 3 only includes the impedance of the transformer. The equation to calculate the
maximum available fault current that a transformer can supply is as follows:

Isc = (Transformer kVA) × 100

(√3)×(Secondary kV)×(%Z transformer)

Using the information stated above for the example 1500 kVA transformer for this example,
the maximum available fault current that this specific transformer will let through is 31,378
amps and is calculated as follows:

Isc = 1500 × 100

(√3)×(0.480)×(5.75) = 31,378 amps

What this tells us is that the secondary of the transformer cannot see any more fault
current than what we have calculated. There are NO changes on the utility side that can

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impact this available fault current to a point where it would be greater than 31,378 amps.
The only way this service would see more than 31,378 amps would be if we changed the
transformer and the new transformer which would presumably be the same in all other
characteristics, has a different % impedance. Figure 4 is a table that includes the results of
varying the impedance of the subject transformer +/- 20% in increments of 5% as
compared with the 5.75% impedance value used in this example. This illustrates how a
change in transformer impedance will impact the maximum available fault current that it
can let through.

As illustrated in figure 4, changing a transformer and varying its impedance can have a
significant impact on the system. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that in most
cases, a utility changing the service-entrance transformer would be recognized by the
facility. The challenge would be for the facility owner or resident employees to understand
how that change may impact their power distribution system. When changes are made,
labels like that included in Section 110.24 of the NEC, should be updated.

Figure 4. Impact of varying the impedance (+ / – 20%) of a 1500 kVA transformer

This calculation does not consider the source impedance of the utility and nor does it
include any load-side conductors. Let’s next explore the impact of adding in the utility
available fault current.

Calculating Short-Circuit Current Including Utility Available Fault Current

As in most situations, we take conservative shortcuts, conservative on the side of safety,

until situations present themselves that warrant digging into the details. The above
shortcut for calculating fault current is conservative, in that it did NOT consider the utility
available fault current yielding a maximum value. When considering interrupting and other

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similar ratings, devices and equipment that can accommodate this conservative value of
fault current need no further investigation. When new or existing equipment cannot handle
this conservatively high available fault current, further detailed analysis could be conducted
or the equipment could be replaced or sized appropriately. The following will consider
adding utility provided available fault current. Specifically, 50 kA available from the utility.
This will illustrate that the calculated 31,378 amps could be reduced by doing so.

Below, are two equations that address when kA is available and when Short-Circuit MVA is
available. For this example, we will use the equation below that assumes the utility has
provided you with an available fault current in kA.

The circuit diagram now looks like that shown in figure 5.

Figure 5. Circuit diagram that includes both transformer and utility source impedance.

The first step required is to convert the utility provided available fault current information
(50 kA) into a source impedance.
When kA is provided by the utility:

%Z Utility = KVA Transformer × 100

(Isc Utility) × (√3) × (kV Primary)

When Short-Circuit MVA is provided by the Utility:

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%Z Utility = KVA Transformer

Short – Circuit kVA of Utility System

For a given utility available fault current of 50 kA, the %Z of the utility is calculated as
follows

%Z Utility = 1500 × 100

(50,000) × (√3) × (4.160) = 0.420

Figure 6 provides utility source impedance values for varying utility available fault currents
for this specific example. As noted above, the transformer kVA and primary voltage will
play a key role in these values.

Figure 6. Utility source impedance values for various levels of utility available fault current

The equation for calculating the available fault current at the secondary of the transformer
which includes the impedance of the utility is as follows:

Isc = (Transformer KVA) × 100)

(√3) × (Secondary KV) × [(%Ztransformer)+(%Z Utility)]

Inserting all of the known variables, the new available fault current is calculated as follows:

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Isc = 1500 × 100

(√3)×(0.480)× [(5.75)+(0.4164)] = 29,259 Amps

If we compare the infinite bus calculation and that which included the source impedance of
the utility (available fault current of 50,000 amps) we see that the available short-circuit
current dropped from 31,378 amps to 29,259 amps, a 6.8% reduction in available fault
current (2,119 amps).

The impact of a varying utility available fault current is illustrated in figure 7. This table
shows how the calculated available short-circuit current varies for changing utility source
fault current values. The 50 kA utility available fault current is used as the value to which
changes are compared. It is interesting to see that increasing the available fault current
from the utility, assuming a starting point of 50 kA, doesn’t have as great of an impact as
one would think. For example, doubling the utility available fault current from 50 kA to 100
kA only increases the transformer secondary available fault current by 3%, or 1,022 amps.
For most overcurrent protective device application, this change should not be significant. I
have heard some say we should not label the service-entrance equipment because the
utility could make switching changes on the line side which would impact the number on
the label. Figure 7 is a good example that shows that even if an infinite bus was not used,
changes on the utility side do not have as significant of an impact on the short-circuit
current as one would think.

Figure 7. Impact of varying utility available fault currents on the power distribution system

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Just to recap where we are in this discussion, the available fault currents are as in figure
7a.

The next thing we have to consider is the conductor on the secondary of the transformer.
This will reduce the available fault current even further.

Calculating – After Length of Conductor

Conductors can have a considerable impact on available fault current. Let’s continue the
analysis of this 1500 kVA transformer example adding parallel 500MCM conductors on its
load side.

The equivalent circuit has already been provided as part of figure 1. Now let’s review the
impact of conductor length on available fault current. We need the following equation:

The data needed for this example is retrieved from the National Electrical Code. From Table
9 of NEC 2014 for a 500 MCM conductor in steel conduit, the Xl (reactance) is found to be
0.048 Ohms/1000ft. For this example, as stated earlier, we are only using the reactance
value which will result in slightly higher short-circuit current values and make the math for
this publication more palatable. For a 1500 kVA transformer with 1,804 full load amps, we
will need 5- 500MCM conductors in parallel per phase. The calculation is made as follows:

the equation to calculate the available fault current is as follows:

Putting in all of the known variables, we calculated the ISC as follows:

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The same calculation assuming an infinite bus, removing the utility impedance, is as
follows:

To summarize again,

As can be seen here, including more details reduces the available fault current. In this case
the fault current was reduced from 31,378 amps to 26,566 amps, approximately 15.3%.

Figure 8. Summary of calculations and comparison with other tools to calculate available fault current.

Final Calibration

So we have walked through the calculation of available fault current for service-entrance
equipment. We showed how shortcuts result in conservative available short-circuit currents
which, for the purpose of evaluating interrupting ratings and / or SCCR ratings, provide a
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safety factor for the design. We also showed how reducing available fault currents through
a more detailed analysis can be achieved but takes more effort and expertise. Let’s look at
the above example with an eye on other tools that may be available.

There are various tools at our disposal when we consider calculating available fault current.
Some are quite expensive and take trained specialists to use. Those would include such
software applications as SKM Systems Analysis tools. These applications are indeed quite
thorough and produce very detailed reports. There are also tools that are free such as the
Eaton Bussmann FC2 short-circuit calculator. Figure 8 summarizes what we accomplished
above AND provides a comparison with SKM and with the Bussmann FC2 application. The
Bussmann FC2 calculator is free and available on the web or for any IPHONE or ANDROID
via either products App Store. Visit www.cooperbussmann.com/fc2 for more information.
You will note that the SKM software result leverages both the real and reactive component
of the conductor. The impedance values were taken straight from Table 9 in NEC 2014 for
copper conductors in steel conduit.

Again, none of the examples shown above and included in this article considers motor
contribution. This was an exercise meant to provide some background to the discussion of
short-circuit currents and so simplicity was our friend. Motor contribution can be very
important for these calculations. From a math and/or system circuit perspective, when you
include motor contribution the impedance is in parallel with the utility source impedance,
transformer impedance and the conductor impedance. This acts to reduce the overall
impedance in the circuit of figure 2 and hence increasing the calculated short-circuit
current. The reset is left to the student. (I’ve always wanted to say that.)

Closing Remarks
Available fault current is a very important parameter to consider in your design, installation
and inspection. Tools are available on the market that help calculate available short-circuit
current. Leverage these resources to meet NEC and product application requirements.

As always, keep safety at the top of your list and ensure you and those around you live to
see another day.

Thomas A. Domitrovich
Thomas Domitrovich, P.E. is a national application engineer with Eaton Corporation in Pittsburgh PA. He has
more than 20 years of experience as an electrical engineer and is a LEED Accredited Professional. Thomas
is active in various trade organizations on various levels with the Independent Electrical Contractors (IEC),
International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI), Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers

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(IEEE), National Electrical Manufacturer’s Association (NEMA) and the National Fire Protection Association
(NFPA). Thomas is involved with, and chairs various committees for NEMA and IEEE and is an alternate
member on NFPA 73. He is very active in the state-by-state adoption process of NFPA 70 working closely
with review committees and other key organizations

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