Earthing (grounding)
Türkçe: Topraklama
An arrangement that connects the conductive parts of an installation to the ground through a low-resistance path so fault current has a safe way out.
// EXPLANATION
An earthing system consists of electrodes (rods, strips, foundation earth electrodes), earth conductors and equipotential bonding. Its purpose is to keep touchable metal parts from rising to a dangerous voltage during a fault and to let enough fault current flow for the protective device (fuse, RCD) to operate. Soil resistivity, electrode geometry and measured earth resistance drive the design.
// ALSO KNOWN AS
groundingearthingearth electrodeground
// RELATED TERMS
Earth resistanceThe resistance an electrode presents to the surrounding soil; the lower it is, the more easily fault current flows into the ground.
Earth-fault loop impedanceThe total impedance of the path a fault current follows (source, line conductor, protective conductor); it decides whether the protective device will trip in time.
Touch voltageThe voltage that appears between two points a person can touch at the same time (for example hand and foot) during a fault.
TN-S systemThe source neutral is solidly earthed and the neutral (N) and protective conductor (PE) run separately throughout the installation.
Cathodic protectionA method that protects buried metal pipes and tanks from corrosion by turning the metal into the cathode of an electrochemical cell.
