Cable Ladder Bonding with Earth Wire,

Is it Necessary?
Michael Hamilton
Senior Electrical/Controls Engineer
Solutions Engineering Alliance
GEIG Presentation December 2010

Previously presented1
IEAust Earthing Conference April 2010

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Page 1
 Contents

Introduction

Background

Theoretical Analysis

Cable Ladder Testing

Test Setup

Test Results

Discussion

Testing Results

End-to-End Resistance

Risks

Probing Further

Conclusion

Proposed Installation Practice
3

Question?

Comment from the website

Bonding: The bottom line is that the
metal pole must be bonded to an
effective ground-fault path that
provides a low impedance path back
to the power supply for the purpose
of clearing the fault [250.4(A)(5)].
Typically the effective ground-fault
path will be a copper conductor
sized in accordance with Table
250.122, because the earth cannot
be use as an effective ground-fault
path [250.4(A)(5)].

Quote:
Learning is when we get the
answers to our questions, but
discoveries are made when we
question the answers!
Mike Holt. 4

Page 2
Question?

Show of hands.

How many think we need bonding wires on

cable ladder splice joints?

How many think we dont need bonding wires

on cable ladder splice joints?

Current Practice?
- Typical Installation

Page 3
Current Practice?
- Company Standards

Current Practice?
- Company Standards

Page 4
Current Practice?
- Company Standards

Current Practice?
- Company Standards

This from an International Oil & Gas Company 

10

Page 5
Current Practice
- From where?

Australian Standard AS3000 calls for a wiring

enclosure to be earthed
earthed

Does not specifically say that joints of cable
ladder have to have bonding wires.

11

Theory
- Values

Resistance Values of Components

16mm2 Copper Cable 1.15 x 10-
10-3
2

25mm Copper Cable 7.27 x 10-10-4

Ladder Rail (1.6mm x 130mm) 0.357 x 10-
10-4

Ladder Rail (2.0mm x 130mm) 0.285 x 10-
10-4

1.6mm to 2.0mm ladder - reduction in resistance by 20%.

16mm2 to 25mm2 earth wire - reduction in resistance by 37%.
12

Page 6
Theory
- Values

Ladder resistance based on resistivity of iron at

9.71 x 10-8 m.
m.

Copper resistivity of 1.72 x 10-8 m.
m.

Copper 5.6x better than Iron.

Area Offered by ladder side rail:

1.6mm 272mm2;
17x 16mm2 Cu Cable,
10.8x 25mm2 Cu Cable.

2.0mm 340mm2;
21x 16mm2 Cu Cable,
13x 25mm2 Cu Cable.

For theory, only 1.6mm ladder considered.

13

Theory
- Thevenin Model

14

Page 7
Theory
- Calculated Results

Across points A and B, R.ladder calc

calcd as 88

With bonding wire across the points A and B the
effective resistance becomes:

With 16mm2 cable 78 ,

With 25mm2 cable 73 .

A B 100
% Improvemen t = [% ]
A 1

With 16mm2 cable 11.3%

With 25mm2 cable 16.8%
15

Theory
- Calculated Results
Table of Results

Resistance b/w
Points A and B
Resistance b/w With Earth Percent
Points A and B Bonding Wire Improvement
Ladder Width )
( )
( (%)
2
With 16mm bonding wire
600 88 78 11.33
300 85 76 11.01
150 81 72 10.51
2
With 25mm bonding wire
600 88 73 16.82
300 85 71 16.36
150 81 68 15.69

16

Page 8
Theory
-Questionable?

Based on:

Assumed values,

All joints are perfect,

Galvanised coating ignored,

Sheet resistance effect ignored.

Proper analysis can only be determined by

performing actual tests
tests

17

Testing of Cable Ladder

- Ladder Types

Available ladder types:

3/50 (NEMA 16A), 1.6mm thickness, 100mm
high rails.

4/70L (NEMA 20B), 1.6mm thickness, 130mm
high rails.

4/70 (NEMA 20B), 2.0mm thickness, 130mm
high rails.

5/112 (NEMA 20C), 2.0mm thickness,
146mmm high rails.

Most common ladder purchased is 600mm

4/70L type, NEMA 20B.

18

Page 9
Testing of Cable Ladder
- Test Setup

1m

2.02m 1m

19

Testing of Cable Ladder

- Testing method

20mm gap maintained throughout tests.

Test series with;

Finger tight bolts,

Torque tight bolts (28Nm).

Tests with Finger Tight bolts the bolts screwed to
point where nut and washer just makes contact.

Bolts removed from 1 side of splice plate, then
removed from both sides of splice plate.

Where a bolt is removed,
it refers to a bolt front and
rear (i.e
(i.e each splice plate).

Tests first performed without
bonding wire, then with
bonding wire
attached (16mm2).
20

Page 10
Testing of Cable Ladder
- Test Results

600mm Ladder - Finger Tight Bolts

Resistance
Without Earth Resistance With
Bolts Finger Bonding Wire Earth Bonding Percentage
Tight )
( Wire () Improvement
Bolts In Splice Plate - 1 Side Only
4 601.2 532.6 11.41%
3 598.1 534.5 10.63%
2 606.1 536.7 11.45%
1 515.7 540.7 -4.85%
Bolts In Splice Plate 2 Sides
4 573.3 537.7 6.21%
3 606.9 552.7 8.93%
2 630.5 560.7 11.07%
1 662.7 603.9 8.87%
21

Testing of Cable Ladder

- Test Results

300mm Ladder - Finger Tight Bolts

Resistance
Without Earth Resistance With
Bolts Finger Bonding Wire Earth Bonding Percentage
Tight )
( Wire () Improvement
Bolts In Splice Plate - 1 Side Only
4 534.1 510.4 4.44%
3 537.8 511.1 4.96%
2 544.6 515.3 5.38%
1 543.1 511.9 5.74%
Bolts In Splice Plate - 2 Sides
4 530 504.2 4.87%
3 549.6 512.1 6.82%
2 582.3 525 9.84%
1 610.1 542.8 11.03%
22

Page 11
Testing of Cable Ladder
- Test Results

600mm Ladder - Torque Bolts

Resistance
Without Earth Resistance With
Bonding Wire Earth Bonding Percentage
Bolts Tight )
( Wire () Improvement
Bolts In Splice Plate - 1 Side Only
4 481 472.8 1.70%
3 483.2 474.8 1.74%
2 489.9 480.8 1.86%
1 496.4 485.5 2.20%
Bolts In Splice Plate - 2 Sides
4 482 472.3 2.01%
3 485.5 475.5 2.06%
2 497.4 485.7 2.35%
1 515.8 500.9 2.89%
23

Testing of Cable Ladder

- Test Results

300mm Ladder - Torque Bolts

Resistance
Without Earth Resistance With
Bonding Wire Earth Bonding Percentage
Bolts Tight )
( Wire () Improvement
Bolts In Splice Plate - 1 Side Only
4 453.4 446 1.63%
3 456.1 447.6 1.86%
2 462.7 454 1.88%
1 469.4 458.5 2.32%
Bolts In Splice Plate - 2 Sides
4 453.4 446 1.63%
3 457.4 449.8 1.66%
2 470.5 461.8 1.85%
1 484.1 471.4 2.62%
24

Page 12
Testing of Cable Ladder
- Test Results

Misc. Tests, all bolts connected.

Measured Measured
Resistance with Resistance with
16mm2 Bond 25mm2 Bond Percentage
Test wire () wire () Improvement
600mm, Finger 524.9 537.7 -2.44%
Tight Bolts

600mm, Torque 472.8 469.6 0.67%

Bolts

300mm, Torque 448.3 445.2 0.69%

Bolts

Very small improvement offered by using 25mm2 bond wire over 16mm2
25

Testing of Cable Ladder

- Test Results

Comparison of theory and measured values

Theoretical Measured
Test )
Resistance ( )
Resistance ( Percentage Error
Splice Plate 230.6 216.8 5.98%

600W Ladder (1m) Not Determined 354.4 NA

600W Ladder (2m) Not Determined 629 NA

300W Ladder (1m) Not Determined 323.5 NA

300W Ladder (1m) Not Determined 580.7 NA

16mm2 Earth Wire 736 699.5 4.96%

25mm2 Earth Wire 461.6 476 3.12%

26

Page 13
Testing of Cable Ladder
- Summary of Results

For Torque Tightened bolts:

As bolts are removed - Resistance increases only by
a small amount, similarly percent improvement
increases with the addition of the bond wire.

Results for improvement with bonding wire between
300mm and 600mm are similar (<0.1%).

Change in resistance < 20 with no bond wire
compared to having bond wire installed.

Effectively with bonding wire, improvement in
resistance is ~10 , 1.7%.

Change in resistance from 4 bolts to 1 bolt;
1 side,15 , 2 sides, 34 - 600mm ladder
1 side,16 , 2 sides, 31 - 300mm ladder

Results in line with expectations

27

Testing of Cable Ladder

- Summary of Results

For Finger tight bolts:

As bolts are removed - 1 side only - Resistance
generally increases, percent improvement similar for
each case.

As bolts are removed - 2 sides - Resistance increases,
percent improvement - similar for each case of
600mm, increasing for 300mm ladder.

Change in resistance < ~70 with no bond wire
compared to having bond wire installed.

Effectively with bonding wire, improvement in
resistance is ~70 , 11.4%, 25 , 4.4%.

Change in resistance from 4 bolts to 1 bolt;
1 side, 85 , 2 sides, 90 - 600mm ladder
1 side, 9 , 2 sides, 80 - 300mm ladder

Results not consistent due to movement with the
ladder and splice plate with 600mm, 28
better results obtained with the 300mm ladder tests.

Page 14
Testing of Cable Ladder
- Summary of Results

Measured splice section (2.02m) has less resistance

481 , than 2m section of ladder, 629 .

Resistance of ladder comparable to 50mm2 cable.

Resistance of Splice joint section under test
comparable to 95mm2 cable.

Difference in using 25mm2 bonding wire to 16mm2
wire is:

600mm ladder 3.2 , 0.67%.

300mm ladder 3.1 , 0.69%.

The ladder is providing the majority of

conductance!

29

Discussion
- End-
End-to-
to-End Resistance

Resistance measurements taken over a short

distance.

Percentage Improvement - is affected by the
measuring point locations.

The effect then is the change in percentage of
resistance as measured as the points are moved
outwards from the centre
centre

R total = Rsplice + (L Rladder )

Rtotal
30

Page 15
Discussion
- End-
End-to-
to-End Resistance

The Percent Improvement formula changes

changes
A B 100
% Improvement = [%]
A 1

%I =
[R splice ] [ ]
+ (L Rladder ) Rsplice||wire + (L Rladder )
Rsplice + (L Rladder )

For 2 x 6m joined ladder sections

sections

No bond wire, R = 3705.8 .

With bond wire, R = 3697.6 .

The percentage Improvement is now only, 0.22%.

31

Discussion
- Risk - of Splice Joint Failure

To consider risk not to use a bonding wire.

Following assumptions are made:

Splice joint provides no benefit, hence to reason for
the bonding wire,

The risk is that the ladder system fails to provide a
continuous earth path.

A failure is considered by 3 failure modes:

Fracture and failure of a bolt or bolts,

Loose bolt or bolts,

Corrosion.

Either case causing a high resistance joint to occur
reducing the conductivity of the ladder system.

32

Page 16
Discussion
- Risk of Splice Joint Failure

Probability of failure of a bolt is ??

For analysis rather a comparison between modes.

Cases:

1 only bonding wire used
- if 1 bolt fails Complete system failure.

2 bonding wires used
- probability is thus halved, twice as unlikely to fail.

Considering the Splice plate is suitable (no bond wire)

Then with 8 bolts in each splice plate, and 2 splice plates
gives a total of 16 bolts.

Considering the worst case, that 8 bolts fail only on one
side, then 8 bolt failures needed to break conductivity
- probability is 8 times less likely than for the 1st case.

Events considered independent: P(A and B) = P(A).P(B)

33

Discussion
- Risk of Splice Joint Failure

The splice plate only method offers good odds

against the earthing system failing.

Important notes;

Very unlikely a bolt will fail,

More likely to fail if not installed correctly, i.e. over
torque bolt subjected to vibration (case 1),

Bolts not tightened in the first place, i.e. later falling
out (case 2),

Corrosion over time causing failure (case 3).

More importantly, to eliminate each of the
possibilities by;

By proper tightening and verification (1 & 2),

Routine inspection and maintenance (3).

34

Page 17
Probing Further
- NEMA Standard VE 2

Section 4.4.1 (Parts of) Sates;

If the cable tray is to be use as an EGC,

bonding jumpers must be installed on both side
rails at the locations illustrated in figures 4.57
through 4.60, unless the splice plates meet the
continuity requirements of NEMA VE 1.

For rigid splice plate connections of materials

other than aluminum or galvanised steel,
bonding jumpers may be required. For
example stainless steel splice plates may
require bonding jumpers depending UL
classification.

35

Probing Further
- NFPA 70

Article 392.7 Sates;

Steel or aluminium cable tray systems shall be

permitted to be used as equipment grounding
conductors, provided all the following
requirements are met: Specifically part (4)
states,

Cable tray sections, fittings, and connected
raceways are bonded in accordance with
250.96, using bolted mechanical connectors or
bonding jumpers sized and installed in
accordance with 250.102.

36

Page 18
Probing Further
- Cable Tray Institute

Technical Bulletin Number 8;

Titled Bonding Jumpers not Required for
Standard Cable Tray Splice Plates

It is not necessary to install bonding jumpers in

parallel with the standard rigid aluminium or
steel one-piece metallic bolted side rail splice
plates that are the connections between the
tray sections. Here, the use of bonding
jumpers does not make a safety contribution to
a properly installed cable tray system, and
wastes both materials and labour.

Refers to tests carried out with 3600Amps fault current, only

1 bolt connected and measuring temperature rise of bolt
37

Conclusions

For the tested galvanised steel cable ladder, it is

concluded that bonding wires are not required to
bond across the standard splice plates, as the
benefit of such a practice is negligible and provides
no additional safety merits.

As for not installing bonding wires, the risk is very
low due to the large number of bolts being used in
the splice plates.

The most important bonding connection is the
connection of the cable ladder system to the main
earth.

Splice plate bonding wires need only be installed
where gaps have been left in the cable ladder to
reinstate a continuous earthed ladder system.

38

Page 19
Proposed Installation Practice

Cable ladder shall be earthed back to the main earthing

system via two main earth conductors, or via one earth
conductor with a loop installed to each side rail.

Bonding between cable ladder sections is provided with the
slice plates and no additional earth wire conductors are
required.

Where cable ladder sections are separated and are not joined
via splice plates, two off earth conductors shall be provided to
maintain a continuous earth.

Where expansion gaps or sliding expansion joints are used
bonding earth wires shall be installed to maintain a
continuous earth.

Where adjustable splice plates are used, these shall include
an earth bonding cable unless the plates meet continuity
requirements, (as per NEMA Standard VE 1).

Develop/Use a testing or inspection procedure to ensure that
splice plate bolts have been tightened correctly after
installation has been completed.
39

Proposed Installation Practice

Figures showing earth bonding requirements for adjustable

splice plates.

40

Page 20
THE END
ANY QUESTIONS?

41

Page 21