groundfield

Numerical field computation for grounding systems.

groundfield is an open-source Python package for the physical reference modelling of networked grounding systems. Within the groundmeas / groundinsight / groundfield software family, groundfield covers the field-theoretical side: soil models, electrode geometries, conductors and their couplings are formulated as a 3-D problem in the soil and solved numerically.

What groundfield does

Real grounding systems in medium- and low-voltage distribution networks are coupled, three-dimensional and frequency-dependent. Planning, evaluation, and monitoring require a model that captures the actual current distribution under fault conditions in a physically plausible way. groundfield produces this reference model — deliberately as a reference, not as the end product: from the field solution a reduced equivalent model (rho-f) is derived and passed to groundinsight as a BusType or BranchType impedance formula.

Workflow

---
title: Computation flow in groundfield
---
flowchart TD
    start((Start))
    soil[Define soil model]
    geom[Define geometry + conductors]
    world[Assemble World]
    solve[Engine.solve]
    post[Post-process: potential, UT, currents]
    reduce[Reduce to rho-f]
    export[Export to groundinsight]
    finish((End))

    start --> soil
    soil --> geom
    geom --> world
    world --> solve
    solve --> post
    solve --> reduce
    reduce --> export
    post --> finish
    export --> finish

Next steps

• Installation — Poetry setup, docs group, VS Code.
• Quickstart — first field computation.
• Concepts — what makes groundfield different from a generic FEM tool.
• API reference — generated by mkdocstrings from the source docstrings.