IEEE Standard for Qualifying

Permanent Connections Used in

Substation Grounding

IEEE Power and Energy Society

Sponsored by the
Substations Committee

IEEE
3 Park Avenue IEEE Std 837™-2014
(Revision of
New York, NY 10016-5997
IEEE Std 837-2002)
USA
 IEEE Std 837™-2014
(Revision of
IEEE Std 837-2002)

IEEE Standard for Qualifying

Permanent Connections Used in
Substation Grounding

Sponsor

Substations Committee
of the
IEEE Power and Energy Society

Approved 21 August 2014

IEEE-SA Standards Board

Abstract: Direction and methods for qualifying permanent connections used for substation
grounding are provided in this standard. This standard particularly addresses the connection used
within the grid system, the connection used to join ground leads to the grid system, and the
connection used to join the ground leads to equipment and structures.

Keywords: conductor, conductor combination, connection, connection thermal capacity, control

conductor, current loop cycle, equalizer, grid system, grounding, grounding connection,
IEEE 837™, permanent connection

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.

3 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016-5997, USA

Copyright © 2014 by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.

All rights reserved. Published 14 October 2014. Printed in the United States of America.

IEEE is a registered trademark in the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, owned by The Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers, Incorporated.

PDF: ISBN 978-0-7381-9271-0 STD98762

Print: ISBN 978-0-7381-9272-7 STDPD98762

IEEE prohibits discrimination, harassment, and bullying.

For more information, visit http://www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/whatis/policies/p9-26.html.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, in an electronic retrieval system or otherwise, without the prior written permission
of the publisher.
Important Notices and Disclaimers Concerning IEEE Standards Documents
IEEE documents are made available for use subject to important notices and legal disclaimers. These
notices and disclaimers, or a reference to this page, appear in all standards and may be found under the
heading “Important Notice” or “Important Notices and Disclaimers Concerning IEEE Standards
Documents.”
Notice and Disclaimer of Liability Concerning the Use of IEEE Standards
Documents

IEEE Standards documents (standards, recommended practices, and guides), both full-use and trial-use, are
developed within IEEE Societies and the Standards Coordinating Committees of the IEEE Standards
Association (“IEEE-SA”) Standards Board. IEEE (“the Institute”) develops its standards through a
consensus development process, approved by the American National Standards Institute (“ANSI”), which
brings together volunteers representing varied viewpoints and interests to achieve the final product.
Volunteers are not necessarily members of the Institute and participate without compensation from IEEE.
While IEEE administers the process and establishes rules to promote fairness in the consensus development
process, IEEE does not independently evaluate, test, or verify the accuracy of any of the information or the
soundness of any judgments contained in its standards.
IEEE does not warrant or represent the accuracy or content of the material contained in its standards, and
expressly disclaims all warranties (express, implied and statutory) not included in this or any other
document relating to the standard, including, but not limited to, the warranties of: merchantability; fitness
for a particular purpose; non-infringement; and quality, accuracy, effectiveness, currency, or completeness
of material. In addition, IEEE disclaims any and all conditions relating to: results; and workmanlike effort.
IEEE standards documents are supplied “AS IS” and “WITH ALL FAULTS.”
Use of an IEEE standard is wholly voluntary. The existence of an IEEE standard does not imply that there
are no other ways to produce, test, measure, purchase, market, or provide other goods and services related
to the scope of the IEEE standard. Furthermore, the viewpoint expressed at the time a standard is approved
and issued is subject to change brought about through developments in the state of the art and comments
received from users of the standard.

In publishing and making its standards available, IEEE is not suggesting or rendering professional or other
services for, or on behalf of, any person or entity nor is IEEE undertaking to perform any duty owed by any
other person or entity to another. Any person utilizing any IEEE Standards document, should rely upon his
or her own independent judgment in the exercise of reasonable care in any given circumstances or, as
appropriate, seek the advice of a competent professional in determining the appropriateness of a given
IEEE standard.

IN NO EVENT SHALL IEEE BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL,
EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO:
PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS;
OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY,
WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR
OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE PUBLICATION, USE OF, OR RELIANCE
UPON ANY STANDARD, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE AND
REGARDLESS OF WHETHER SUCH DAMAGE WAS FORESEEABLE.

Translations
The IEEE consensus development process involves the review of documents in English only. In the event
that an IEEE standard is translated, only the English version published by IEEE should be considered the
approved IEEE standard.
Official statements

A statement, written or oral, that is not processed in accordance with the IEEE-SA Standards Board
Operations Manual shall not be considered or inferred to be the official position of IEEE or any of its
committees and shall not be considered to be, or be relied upon as, a formal position of IEEE. At lectures,
symposia, seminars, or educational courses, an individual presenting information on IEEE standards shall
make it clear that his or her views should be considered the personal views of that individual rather than the
formal position of IEEE.

Comments on standards
Comments for revision of IEEE Standards documents are welcome from any interested party, regardless of
membership affiliation with IEEE. However, IEEE does not provide consulting information or advice
pertaining to IEEE Standards documents. Suggestions for changes in documents should be in the form of a
proposed change of text, together with appropriate supporting comments. Since IEEE standards represent a
consensus of concerned interests, it is important that any responses to comments and questions also receive
the concurrence of a balance of interests. For this reason, IEEE and the members of its societies and
Standards Coordinating Committees are not able to provide an instant response to comments or questions
except in those cases where the matter has previously been addressed. For the same reason, IEEE does not
respond to interpretation requests. Any person who would like to participate in revisions to an IEEE
standard is welcome to join the relevant IEEE working group.

Comments on standards should be submitted to the following address:

Secretary, IEEE-SA Standards Board

445 Hoes Lane
Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA

Laws and regulations

Users of IEEE Standards documents should consult all applicable laws and regulations. Compliance with
the provisions of any IEEE Standards document does not imply compliance to any applicable regulatory
requirements. Implementers of the standard are responsible for observing or referring to the applicable
regulatory requirements. IEEE does not, by the publication of its standards, intend to urge action that is not
in compliance with applicable laws, and these documents may not be construed as doing so.

Copyrights
IEEE draft and approved standards are copyrighted by IEEE under U.S. and international copyright laws.
They are made available by IEEE and are adopted for a wide variety of both public and private uses. These
include both use, by reference, in laws and regulations, and use in private self-regulation, standardization,
and the promotion of engineering practices and methods. By making these documents available for use and
adoption by public authorities and private users, IEEE does not waive any rights in copyright to the
documents.

Photocopies
Subject to payment of the appropriate fee, IEEE will grant users a limited, non-exclusive license to
photocopy portions of any individual standard for company or organizational internal use or individual,
non-commercial use only. To arrange for payment of licensing fees, please contact Copyright Clearance
Center, Customer Service, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 USA; +1 978 750 8400. Permission
to photocopy portions of any individual standard for educational classroom use can also be obtained
through the Copyright Clearance Center.
Updating of IEEE Standards documents
Users of IEEE Standards documents should be aware that these documents may be superseded at any time
by the issuance of new editions or may be amended from time to time through the issuance of amendments,
corrigenda, or errata. An official IEEE document at any point in time consists of the current edition of the
document together with any amendments, corrigenda, or errata then in effect.

Every IEEE standard is subjected to review at least every ten years. When a document is more than ten
years old and has not undergone a revision process, it is reasonable to conclude that its contents, although
still of some value, do not wholly reflect the present state of the art. Users are cautioned to check to
determine that they have the latest edition of any IEEE standard.

In order to determine whether a given document is the current edition and whether it has been amended
through the issuance of amendments, corrigenda, or errata, visit the IEEE-SA Website at
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/standards.jsp or contact IEEE at the address listed previously. For more
information about the IEEE SA or IEEE’s standards development process, visit the IEEE-SA Website at
http://standards.ieee.org.

Errata
Errata, if any, for all IEEE standards can be accessed on the IEEE-SA Website at the following URL:
http://standards.ieee.org/findstds/errata/index.html. Users are encouraged to check this URL for errata
periodically.

Patents
Attention is called to the possibility that implementation of this standard may require use of subject matter
covered by patent rights. By publication of this standard, no position is taken by the IEEE with respect to
the existence or validity of any patent rights in connection therewith. If a patent holder or patent applicant
has filed a statement of assurance via an Accepted Letter of Assurance, then the statement is listed on the
IEEE-SA Website at http://standards.ieee.org/about/sasb/patcom/patents.html. Letters of Assurance may
indicate whether the Submitter is willing or unwilling to grant licenses under patent rights without
compensation or under reasonable rates, with reasonable terms and conditions that are demonstrably free of
any unfair discrimination to applicants desiring to obtain such licenses.

Essential Patent Claims may exist for which a Letter of Assurance has not been received. The IEEE is not
responsible for identifying Essential Patent Claims for which a license may be required, for conducting
inquiries into the legal validity or scope of Patents Claims, or determining whether any licensing terms or
conditions provided in connection with submission of a Letter of Assurance, if any, or in any licensing
agreements are reasonable or non-discriminatory. Users of this standard are expressly advised that
determination of the validity of any patent rights, and the risk of infringement of such rights, is entirely
their own responsibility. Further information may be obtained from the IEEE Standards Association.
Participants
At the time this IEEE standard was completed, the E9 Working Group had the following membership:

David Kelley, Chair

Brian Story, Vice Chair
Michael Rzasa, Secretary
Jesse Rorabaugh, Technical Writer

Hanna Abdallah Dennis DeCosta Roger Montambo

Stan Arnot William K. Dick William Morrissey
Radoslav Barac Marcia Eblen Mike Noori
Thomas Barnes David Garrett Shashi Patel
Hassein Bashirian Joseph Gravelle William Sheh
Romulus Berzescu Steve Greenfield Douglas Smith
Bryan Beske Martin Havelka Gregory J. Steinman
Dale Boling Robert Hobbs Curtis Stidham
Bill Carmen Richard Keil Yance Syarif
K. S. Chan Reginaldo Maniego Logan Trombley
Koushik Chanda Jon Martin Keith Wallace
Carson Day Saki Meliopoulos Alexander Wong
Carl Moller

The following members of the individual balloting committee voted on this standard. Balloters may have
voted for approval, disapproval, or abstention.

William Ackerman Randall Groves Joe Nims

Ali Al Awazi Ajit Gwal Robert Nowell
Stan Arnot Charles Haahr Lorraine Padden
Thomas Barnes Thomas Harger Shashi Patel
George Becker David Harris Percy Pool
W. J. (Bill) Bergman Martin Havelka Thomas Proios
Bryan Beske Lee Herron Michael Roberts
Steven Bezner Gary Heuston Jesse Rorabaugh
Dale Boling Robert Hobbs Thomas Rozek
Chris Brooks Gary Hoffman Michael Rzasa
Kevin Buhle John Kay Bartien Sayogo
William Byrd David Kelley Dennis Schlender
James Cain Gael Kennedy Devki Sharma
Thomas Callsen Yuri Khersonsky William Sheh
Michael Champagne Hermann Koch Douglas Smith
Koushik Chanda Jim Kulchisky James Smith
Robert Christman Saumen Kundu Jerry Smith
Franco D’Alessandro Chung-Yiu Lam John Spare
Dennis DeCosta Thomas La Rose Ryan Stargel
David E. De Luca Michael Lauxman Gregory J. Steinman
Gary Donner Henri Lemeilleur Curtis Stidham
Michael Dood Greg Luri Gary Stoedter
Randall Dotson Jon Martin Brian Story
Keith Flowers Andrew McElroy David Tepen
Paul Forquer Shawn McGann Malcolm Thaden
Marcel Fortin John Miller John Vergis
David Garrett Daleep Mohla Jane Verner
George Gela Carl Moller Donald Wengerter
Jalal Gohari Georges Montillet Kenneth White
Edwin Goodwin Jerry Murphy Alexander Wong
Joseph Gravelle Dennis Neitzel Roland Youngberg
Steve Greenfield Michael Newman Jian Yu

vi
Copyright © 2014 IEEE. All rights reserved.
When the IEEE-SA Standards Board approved this standard on 21 August 2014, it had the following
membership:

John Kulick, Chair

Jon Walter Rosdahl, Vice Chair
Richard H. Hulett, Past Chair
Konstantinos Karachalios, Secretary

Peter Balma Michael Janezic Ron Petersen

Farooq Bari Jeffrey Katz Adrian Stephens
Ted Burse Joseph L. Koepfinger* Peter Sutherland
Clint Chaplin David J. Law Yatin Trivedi
Stephen Dukes Hung Ling Phil Winston
Jean-Philippe Faure Oleg Logvinov Don Wright
Gary Hoffman T. W. Olsen Yu Yuan
Glenn Parsons

*Member Emeritus

Also included are the following nonvoting IEEE-SA Standards Board liaisons:

Richard DeBlasio, DOE Representative

Michael Janezic, NIST Representative

Catherine Berger
IEEE-SA Content Publishing

Erin Spiewak
IEEE-SA Technical Community Programs

vii
Copyright © 2014 IEEE. All rights reserved.
Introduction

This introduction is not part of IEEE Std 837-2014, IEEE Standard for Qualifying Permanent Connections Used in
Substation Grounding.

Working Group E9 of the IEEE PES Substations Committee began updating the standard in 2008. This
standard has been updated to fulfill a need for standardization of terminology and test requirements for
permanent grounding connections. The most significant changes were made to the EMF test criteria that
address the connections to above-grade rigid structures and equipment ground pads. Many types of
connections are available that may be used as permanent grounding connections even though they were
designed for use as power connections. This standard provides a meaningful reproducible test program that
will enable connection manufacturers to qualify their products as permanent grounding connections. The
users can then be reasonably assured that the qualified permanent grounding connection will be capable of
performing satisfactorily over the lifetime of the installation. This standard addresses the parameters for
testing grounding connections on copper, steel, copper-bonded steel, copper-clad steel, galvanized steel,
and stainless steel.

viii
Copyright © 2014 IEEE. All rights reserved.
Contents

1. Overview .................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Scope ................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Purpose ................................................................................................................................................ 1

2. Normative references.................................................................................................................................. 2

3. Definitions .................................................................................................................................................. 3

4. Qualification tests ....................................................................................................................................... 3

5. Performance criteria ................................................................................................................................... 4

5.1 General ................................................................................................................................................ 4
5.2 Mechanical tests .................................................................................................................................. 4
5.3 Sequential tests .................................................................................................................................... 5

6. Test procedures........................................................................................................................................... 9
6.1 General ................................................................................................................................................ 9
6.2 Mechanical test samples ...................................................................................................................... 9
6.3 Sequential test samples ........................................................................................................................ 9
6.4 Connections description....................................................................................................................... 9
6.5 Test conductors .................................................................................................................................... 9
6.6 Test assembly methods ........................................................................................................................ 9
6.7 Connection preparation ........................................................................................................................ 9
6.8 Installation ..........................................................................................................................................10

7. Mechanical test ..........................................................................................................................................10

7.1 General ...............................................................................................................................................10
7.2 Electromagnetic force (EMF) test.......................................................................................................10

8. Current-temperature cycling test ...............................................................................................................17

8.1 General ...............................................................................................................................................17
8.2 Current-temperature cycling test ........................................................................................................17
8.3 Ambient conditions.............................................................................................................................18
8.4 Control conductor ...............................................................................................................................18
8.5 Current cycling ...................................................................................................................................18
8.6 Current cycling loop configuration .....................................................................................................20
8.7 Current cycling measurements............................................................................................................21

9. Freeze-thaw test .........................................................................................................................................22

9.1 General ...............................................................................................................................................22
9.2 Freeze-thaw test ..................................................................................................................................22
9.3 Freeze-thaw test samples and their configuration ...............................................................................22
9.4 Freeze-thaw test equipment ................................................................................................................22
9.5 Freeze-thaw test cycle.........................................................................................................................22

10. Corrosion tests .........................................................................................................................................23

10.1 General .............................................................................................................................................23
10.2 Corrosion test-salt spray ...................................................................................................................23
10.3 Corrosion test-acid (HNO3) ..............................................................................................................24

11. Fault-current test ......................................................................................................................................26

ix
Copyright © 2014 IEEE. All rights reserved.
 11.1 General .............................................................................................................................................26
11.2 Fault-current test ...............................................................................................................................26
11.3 Fault-current test samples .................................................................................................................26
11.4 Fault-current test configuration ........................................................................................................26
11.5 Fault-current test duration.................................................................................................................26
11.6 Fault-current test current...................................................................................................................26
11.7 Fault-current number of surges .........................................................................................................27
11.8 Pass/Fail fault-current test evaluation ...............................................................................................27

Annex A (informative) Bibliography ............................................................................................................28

Annex B (informative) Nitric-acid dilution ...................................................................................................29

Annex C (normative) Conductive ampacity calculation................................................................................30

Annex D (informative) Test sequencing........................................................................................................40

Annex E (informative) Effects of asymmetrical currents and multiple conductor test requirements ............42

x
Copyright © 2014 IEEE. All rights reserved.
IEEE Standard for Qualifying
Permanent Connections Used in
Substation Grounding

IMPORTANT NOTICE: IEEE Standards documents are not intended to ensure safety, security, health,
or environmental protection, or ensure against interference with or from other devices or networks.
Implementers of IEEE Standards documents are responsible for determining and complying with all
appropriate safety, security, environmental, health, and interference protection practices and all
applicable laws and regulations.

This IEEE document is made available for use subject to important notices and legal disclaimers.
These notices and disclaimers appear in all publications containing this document and may
be found under the heading “Important Notice” or “Important Notices and Disclaimers
Concerning IEEE Documents.” They can also be obtained on request from IEEE or viewed at
http://standards.ieee.org/IPR/disclaimers.html.

1. Overview

1.1 Scope

This standard provides direction and methods for qualifying permanent connections used for substation
grounding. It particularly addresses the connection used within the grid system, the connection used to join
ground leads to the grid system, and the connection used to join the ground leads to equipment and
structures.

1.2 Purpose

The purpose of this standard is to give assurance to the user that a connection meeting the requirements of
this standard will perform in a satisfactory manner over the lifetime of the installation, provided that the
proper connection is selected for the application and that the connection is installed correctly. Grounding
connections that meet the test criteria stated in this standard for a particular conductor size range and
material should satisfy all of the criteria for connections as outlined in IEEE Std 80™ [B3]. 1

1
The numbers in brackets correspond to those of the bibliography in Annex A.

1
Copyright © 2014 IEEE. All rights reserved.