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T EC H N I C A L PA P E R

4 Steps to calculate short circuit ratings in

industrial control panels

Short-circuit current ratings (SCCR)

are a critical specification when
designing industrial control panels.
Determining the appropriate SCCR
actually requires no calculations.
Instead, there is a simple, four-step
process to follow.

— The UL Standard for Safety for Industrial Control What is SCCR?

Daniel Lightsey
ABB AbilityTM Panels, UL 508A, includes instructions for calculating Rather than “calculating” the SCCR of a panel, it
Smart Power a panel’s short circuit current rating (SCCR), but many actually only requires that you investigate the fault
— people have trouble working through that process. capacity of the relevant components and then identify
Marcelo E. Valdes Determining an accurate SCCR is essential to ensuring the component with the lowest capacity ... the
PE, IEEE Fellow
Applications Eng. the safety of people who work on or around power weakest link in the circuit. The SCCR of that
Manager equipment. A panel with an incorrectly calculated component is the SCCR of the entire panel assembly.
ABB Electrification SCCR could fail or cause an arc flash, with the
Products Industrial potential to cause series injury or death, as well as Before 2005, the NEC required industrial machinery
Solutions
significant damage to the facility. electrical panels to be marked only with the
interrupting rating of the main overcurrent-protective
People refer to “calculating” the SCCR of a panel, but device. This, however, did not ensure the electrical
there actually are no calculations required. Rather, panel was adequately protected against short
identifying an SCCR requires only that you investigate circuits. The new standard includes the entire
the fault capacity of the components in the panel combined power circuit in determining the SCCR
circuit. With the list of those values in hand, you need requirements.
to identify the component with the lowest capacity,
which is literally the weakest link in the circuit. The Determining a panel’s SCCR
SCCR of the entire panel assembly is the capacity of How is the SCCR calculated? There are three steps in
that component. the process:
-- Step 1 – Determine the short circuit current rating
Panels must be rated for the available fault current at (SCCR) of each component or combination in the
the time they are installed and for future potential power circuit. (SB4.2)
needs, if they may be higher at some future date. -- Step 2 – Determine whether feeder circuit
components limit fault current (SB4.3) circuit-
 protective devices, like the fuse.
-- Step 3 – Determine overall short circuit current Step 2 – Determine whether feeder circuit
rating for industrial control panel (SB4.4.). components limit fault current
-- Step 4 – List the SCCR marking on the control panel Once you’ve identified the SCCR for the components,
nameplate (SB5.1). the next step is to determine whether feeder-circuit
components, specifically circuit-protective devices
Following is more detailed information about each like fuses, limit the fault current.
step.
Circuit breakers must be marked “Current Limiting” to
Step 1 – Determine the short circuit current rating of use SB4.3.2. The breaker let-through current will not
each component in the power circuit exceed a defined value. One of two conditions apply:
The first step is to determine the SCCR of each 1. If the devices on the load side of this breaker have a
component or combination of components, which is higher SCCR than the interrupt capacity of the
usually on the component label or its instruction breaker, then you can use the interrupt capacity of
manual. You don’t need to include the SCCR for power the circuit breaker. These may also be a
transformers. combination that was tested by the manufacturer
or panel shop.
Another source of SCCR information is the Assumed 2. If the devices have a lower SCCR than the interrupt
Maximum Short Circuit Current Rating For Unmarked capacity of the circuit breaker, the SCCR for this
Components, Table SB4.1 in the UL 508A Standard. circuit is the lower value.
This is also referred to as the standard fault. All
components must have a standard fault current The maximum let-through for a circuit breaker is
rating, and it is typically very low. determined by the manufacturer. For fuses it is
determined by a standard, allowing you to use a Table
There are resources available that provide device SB4, “Peak let through currents, IP and clearing I2T for
ratings for recognized components, which include the fuses”.
component’s UL file and manufacturer’s installation
instructions. Also, the UL website includes a table of In determining the panel SCCR, the SCCR on the line
Short Circuit Current Ratings for Combination Motor side of any current-limiting circuit breaker can’t
Controller Components. These components typically exceed the SCCR of any branch-circuit protection or
must be used with another component to get the the interrupt capacity of the circuit breaker. The peak
desired rating. current let-through cannot exceed the SCCR for any
branch circuit on the load side. This basically states
Feeder-circuit components that modify fault current that the device on the load side of this breaker can
include: withstand the let-through breaker energy and current.
-- Power transformers
-- Current-limiting circuit breakers For fuses, use the values in Table SB4.2 “Peak let-
-- Current-limiting fuses through currents, IP and clearing, I2T for fuses” to get
the I2T and IP for the fuse used in the combination
You need to locate these parts and include them in circuit. Any fuse with a lower value for both the I2T and
your consideration of the SCCR. IP can be used. If your fuse size is not shown, use the
next larger value in the table.
On the branch circuit, you need to consider
transformer ratings. For transformers rated 10kVA or Step 3 – Determine overall short circuit
less, the transformer secondary is assigned an current rating
available current of 5kA, and all secondary side With the component research complete, you have the
components in the power circuit must have a SCCR of information needed to determine the panel’s SCCR.
5kA or greater. On the primary side, only the primary You do this by determining three different SCCRs. The
overcurrent protection is relative to the overall panel lowest of the three is the panel SCCR.
SCCR. An example is Class CC fuses used on the
primary side of the transformer, which have a SCCR of The three values to determine are:
100kA. -- For each protected branch circuit in the panel,
determine the smallest SCCR for the power circuit
The branch circuits must have a SCCR equal to or components on the load side of a branch circuit
higher than the let-through current of the feeder protective device. (SB4.4.1)
circuit. If they don’t, the overall rating for the panel is -- Determine the lowest SCCR of all feeder
the lower rating of the panel or the branch circuit. components.
 -- If current-limiting components are supplied in the Know Your Panel
feeder circuit, determine the modified SCCR for The people who design and build industrial power-
the feeder component and all branch circuit(s) control panels need to understand the required level
[from A) above] connected to load side. (SB4.3), of short-circuit-current protection for the people who
see step 2 above. own, operate and maintain those panels. The short
Compare these values from this panel. The SCCR is the circuit current rating provides a key piece of
lowest of the three. information in ensuring the appropriate level of
protection. Panel makers rely on the steps laid out in
Step 4 – List the SCCR marking on the control panel the UL 508A standard to calculate/determine the
nameplate (SB5.1) SCCR of their products and provide this information.
The value from step 3 above must be listed on the
panel rating or name plate label. The name plate
marking must include the SCCR in kAmps rms
symmetrical, at the rated voltage.

References
[1] 2008, PanelBoard and Switchboard Short Circuit Current Ratings, Underwriters Labratories, https://legacy-uploads.ul.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/04/ul_PanelboardShortCircuitRatings.pdf
[2] UL 508A, Third Edition, Standard for Industrial Control Panels

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