Working Group 3-51 met on Monday April 21, 1997 at 8 AM with 14 members and guests in attendance.

This is a newly formed working group set-up to address issues which were raised in conjunction with the reaffirmation balloting of IEEE Standard 575 "Guide for the application of sheath bonding methods for single conductor cables and the calculation of induced voltage and currents in cable sheaths."

The session was primarily devoted to the review of questions which need to be resolved in order to effectively revise this document. Several members of the WG agreed to investigate the many relevant issues and report their findings at the next meeting.

There was a general consensus that the name of the document should be shortened to "Guide for Bonding of High Voltage Power Cables." It was also suggested that the new revised document should include a section on method for calculating shield/sheath circulating currents for bonded or multiple point grounded systems.

A PAR with corresponding schedule will be generated after the next meeting once the full scope of work can be effectively assessed.

WG 3-51 met on Monday, November 3, 1997 at 11 am, with 38 members and guests present.

This WG is addressing corrections and rewrite of IEEE Guide 575. Approximately 15 major and 25 minor issues are being considered for the revision.

WG agreed that equations covering sheath circulating currents should be added to the guide. It was also the consensus of the group that sheath potentials for bonded cables should not be limited to pre-specified values but rather that voltage insulation level coordination be employed in the design of such cable systems.

Mohamed Chaaban of Ireq gave a presentation on "Current Distribution in Conductors and Sheaths of Multiple Cable Circuits Having Several Parallel Cables per Phase" (included in the appendix). This paper effectively substantiates the complexity involved in determining current distribution in conductors and sheaths of cables when more than six (6) cables are considered.

Tony Ernst of Underground Systems Inc. discussed the Guide's shielding effect equations f~6r parallel communication cables. It appears that these equations may lack a proximity/spacing factor. This topic may be eliminated ffo~m the guide as it is generally considered to be over and beyond the intended scope of the document. 

The WG is actively reviewing the scope of work for this project in order to arrive at a realistic time frame for completion of the guide's revision.