Sensitivity Analysis of the Parameters for Lightning Risk Assessment

Abstract

Lightning risk assessment is a crucial stage when designing a lightning protection system. The MS IEC 62305–2 which is the national adoption of IEC 62305–2 (2007) is a mandatory standard in Malaysia since 2011. While it is a comprehensive standard, many practicing electrical engineers find the entire risk evaluation exercise as tedious and cumbersome. This is especially true when assessing the risk of simple structures. Several commercial tools have been developed to ease the lightning risk assessment process. However, such tools may not be accessible to everyone of interest. In this paper, sensitivity analysis will be performed to identify the most significant parameters in the risk assessment based on MS IEC 62305–2. Based on the sensitivity index (SI) method, it was found that lightning flash density (Ng), environmental factor (CE) and special hazard (hz) are the most significant parameters contributing towards the overall risk value of a simple structure. Practicing engineers may prioritise the evaluation of these aforementioned parameters to simplify and expedite the lightning risk assessment exercise especially for simple structures.