LECTURE VIII. TRAVELING WAVES. 33. In a stationary oscillation of a circuit having uniformly distributed capacity and inductance, that is, the transient of a circuit storing energy in the dielectric and magnetic field, current and voltage are given by the expression i = ioe-"^ cos ((/> T CO — 7), ^ . . e = eoe~"' sin ((^ =F co — 7), where -7), (2) and the average power flow is Po = avg p, (3) = 0. Hence, in a stationary oscillation, or standing wave of a uni- form circuit, the average flow of power, po, is zero, and no power flows along the circuit, but there is a surge of power, of double frequency. That is, power flows first one way, during one-quarter cycle, and then in the opposite direction, during the next quarter- cycle, etc. Such a transient wave thus is analogous to the permanent wave of reactive power. As in a stationary wave, current and voltage are in quadrature with each other, the question then arises, whether, and what 88 TRAVELING WAVES. 89 physical meaning a wave has, in which current and voltage are in phase with each other: i = I'oe""^ cos (0 =F w — t), e = eo€~"' cos ( =F w — 7). In this case the flow of power is (4) = eo^■oe-2"' cos^ (0 T co - 7), 6o^o [1 + cos 2 ( =F CO -7)], (5) and the average flow of power is po = avg p, (6) Such a wave thus consists of a combination of a steady flow of power along the circuit, jpo, and a pulsation or surge, pi, of the same nature as that of the standing wave (2) : pi =^%-2"*cos2((/)Tco-7). (7) Such a flow of power along the circuit is called a traveling wave. It occurs very frequently. For instance, it may be caused if by a lightning stroke, etc., a quantity of dielectric energy is impressed Fig. 39. — Starting of Impulse, or Traveling Wave. upon a part of the circuit, as shown by curve A in Fig. 39, or if by a local short circuit a quantity of magnetic energy is impressed upon a part of the circuit. This energy then gradually distributes over the circuit, as indicated by the curves B, C, etc., of Fig. 39, that is, moves along the circuit, and the dissipation of the stored energy thus occurs by a flow of power along the circuit. 90 ELECTRIC DISCHARGES, WAVES AND IMPULSES. Such a flow of power must occur in a circuit containing sec- tions of different dissipation constants u. For instance, if in a circuit consisting of an unloaded transformer and a transmission line, as indicated in Fig. 40, at no load on the step-down trans- ^^ Line Transformer Line Fig. 40. former, the high-tension switches are opened at the generator end of the transmission line. The energy stored magnetically and dielectrically in line and transformer then dissipates by a transient, as shown in the oscillogram Fig. 41. This gives the oscillation of a circuit consisting of 28 miles of line and 2500-kw. 100-kv. step-up and step-down transformers, and is produced by discon- necting this circuit by low-tension switches. In the transformer, the duration of the transient would be very great, possibly several seconds, as the stored magnetic energy (L) is very large, the dis- sipation of power (r and g) relatively small; in the line, the tran- sient is of fairly short duration, as r (and g) are considerable. Left to themselves, the line oscillations thus would die out much more rapidly, by the dissipation of their stored energy, than the transformer oscillations. Since line and transformer are connected together, both must die down simultaneously by the same tran- sient. It then follows that power must flow during the transient from the transformer into the line, so as to have both die down together, in spite of the more rapid energy dissipation in the line. Thus a transient in a compound circuit, that is, a circuit comprising sections of different constants, must be a traveling wave, that is, must be accompanied by power transfer between the sections of the circuit.* A traveling wave, equation (4), would correspond to the case of effective power in a permanent alternating-current circuit, while the stationary wave of the uniform circuit corresponds to the case of reactive power. Since one of the most important applications of the traveling wave is the investigation of the compound circuit, it is desirable * In oscillogram Fig. 41, the current wave is shown reversed with regard to the voltage wave for greater clearness. TRAVELING WAVES. 91 92 ELECTRIC DISCHARGES, WAVES AND IMPULSES. to introduce, when dealing with traveUng waves, the velocity unit as unit of length, that is, measure the length with the distance of propagation during unit time (3 X 10^° cm. with a straight con- ductor in air) as unit of length. This allows the use of the same distance unit through all sections of the circuit, and expresses the wave length Xo and the period To by the same numerical values, Xo = Tq = -j., and makes the time angle and the distance angle co directly comparable : (^ = 2 Tt/^ = 2 TT CO = 27r— = 2 7r/X. Xo (8) 34. If power flows along the circuit, three cases may occur: (a) The flow of power is uniform, that is, the power remains constant in the direction of propagation, as indicated by A in Fig. 42. Fig. 42. — Energy Transfer by Traveling Wave. (h) The flow of power is decreasing in the direction of propaga- tion, as illustrated by B in Fig. 42. (c) The flow of power is increasing in the direction of propaga- tion, as illustrated by C in Fig. 42. Obviously, in all three cases the flow of power decreases, due to the energy dissipation by r and g, that is, by the decrement e~"^ Thus, in case (a) the flow of power along the circuit decreases at TRAVELING WAVES. 93 the rate e"^', corresponding to the dissipation of the stored energy by €-"*, as indicated by A' in Fig. 42; while in the case (6) the power flow decreases faster, in case (c) slower, than corresponds to the energy dissipation, and is illustrated by B' and C in Fig. 42. (a) If the flow of power is constant in the direction of propa- gation, the equation would be i = 2oe~"^ COS ((/) — w — 7), e = eoe~"' cos (0 — co — 7), (9) In this case there must be a continuous power supply at the one end, and power abstraction at the other end, of the circuit or circuit section in which the flow of power is constant. This could occur approximately only in special cases, as in a circuit section of medium rate of power dissipation, u, connected between a section of low- and a section of high-power dissipation. For instance, if as illustrated in Fig. 43 we have a transmission line Line § Transformer Load ( Line ^"^^ Fig. 43. — Compound Circuit. connecting the step-up transformer with a load on the step-down end, and the step-up transformer is disconnected from the gener- ating system, leaving the system of step-up transformer, line, and load to die down together in a stationary oscillation of a compound circuit, the rate of power dissipation in the transformer then is much lower, and that in the load may be greater, than the average rate of power dissipation of the system, and the trans- former will supply power to the rest of the oscillating system, the load receive power. If then the rate of power dissipation of the line u should happen to be exactly the average, Uq, of the entire system, power would flow from the transformer over the line into the load, but in the line the flow of power would be uniform, as the line neither receives energy from nor gives off energy to the rest of the system, but its stored energy corresponds to its rate of power dissipation. 94 ELECTRIC DISCHARGES, WAVES AND IMPULSES. {h) If the flow of power decreases along the line, every line element receives more power at one end than it gives off at the other end. That is, energy is supplied to the line elements by the flow of power, and the stored energy of the line element thus decreases at a slower rate than corresponds to its power dissipation by r and g. Or, in other words, a part of the power dissipated in the line element is supplied by the flow of power along the line, and only a part supplied by the stored energy. Since the current and voltage would decrease by the term e""^, if the line element had only its own stored energy available, when receiving energy from the power flow the decrease of current and voltage would be slower, that is, by a term ^-{u-s)t. (10) hence the exponential decrement u is decreased to (u — s), and s then is the exponential coefficient corresponding to the energy supply by the flow of power. Thus, while u is called the dissipation constant of the circuit, s may be called the power-transfer constant of the circuit. Inversely, however, in its propagation along the circuit, X, such a traveling wave must decrease in intensity more rapidly than corresponds to its power dissipation, by the same factor by which it increased the energy supply of the line elements over which it passed. That is, as function of the distance, the factor e~ ^^ must enter.* In other words, such a traveling wave, in passing along the line, leaves energy behind in the line elements, at the rate e + ^^, and therefore decreases faster in the direction of progress by e~ ^^. That is, it scatters a part of its energy along its path of travel, and thus dies down more rapidly with the distance of travel. Thus, in a traveling wave of decreasing power flow, the time decrement is changed to e~*^"~^)^, and the distance decrement e+^^ added, and the equation of a traveling wave of decreasing power flow thus is 2 = 2oe-("-s) 0 corresponds to a traveling wave of increasing power flow, that is, a wave which drains the circuit over which it travels of some of its stored energy, and thereby increases the time rate of dying out (case (c)). s < 0 corresponds to a traveling wave of decreasing power flow, that is, a wave which supplies energy to the circuit over which it travels, and thereby decreases the time rate of dying out of the transient. If s is negative, for a transient wave, it always must be — s '^ u, since, if — s > u, u -{- s would be negative, and €~("+®^^ would increase with the time; that is, the intensity of the transient would TRAVELING WAVES. 97 increase with the time, which in general is not possible, as the transient must decrease with the time, by the power dissipation in r and g. Standing waves and traveling waves, in which the coefficient in the exponent of the time exponential is positive, that is, the wave increases with the time, may, however, occur in electric cir- cuits in which the wave is supplied with energy from some outside source, as by a generating system flexibly connected (electrically) through an arc. Such waves then are "cumulative oscillations." They may either increase in intensity indefinitely, that is, up to destruction of the circuit insulation, or limit themselves by the power dissipation increasing with the increasing intensity of the oscillation, until it becomes equal to the power supply. Such oscillations, which frequently are most destructive ones, are met in electric systems as "arcing grounds," "grounded phase," etc. They are frequently called "undamped oscillations," and as such find a use in wireless telegraphy and telephony. Thus far, the only source of cumulative oscillation seems to be an energy supply over an arc, especially an unstable arc. In the self-limiting cumu- lative oscillation, the so-called damped oscillation, the transient becomes a permanent phenomenon. Our theoretical knowledge of the cumulative oscillations thus far is rather limited, however. An oscillogram of a "grounded phase " on a lo4-mile three- phase line, at 82 kilovolts, is given in Figs. 44 and 45. Fig. 44 shows current and voltage at the moment of formation of the ground; Fig. 45 the same one minute later, when the ground was fully developed. An oscillogram of a cumulative oscillation in a 2500-kw. 100,000- volt power transformer (60-cycle system) is given in Fig. 46. It is caused by switching off 28 miles of line by high-tension switches, at 88 kilovolts. As seen, the oscillation rapidly increases in in- tensity, until it stops by the arc extinguishing, or by the destruc- tion of the transformer. Of special interest is the limiting case, — s = U) in this case, w + s = 0, and the exponential function of time vanishes, and current and voltage become ^ = ^•oe±«^cos(^ o "^ o