Bonding is simply the act of joining two electrical conductors together. These may be two wires, a wire and a pipe, or these may be two Equipments. Bonding has to be done by connecting of all the metal parts that are not supposed to be carrying current during normal operations to bringing them to the same electrical potential.
Bonding ensures that these two things which are bonded will be at the same electrical potential. That means we would not get electricity building up in one equipment or between two different equipment. No current flow can take place between two bonded bodies because they have the same potential.
It protects equipment and person by reducing current flow between pieces of equipment at different potentials.
The primary reason for bonding is personnel safety, so someone touching two pieces of equipment at the same time does not receive a shock by becoming the path of equalization if they happen to be at different potentials. The Second reasonhas to do with what happens if Phase conductor may be touched an external metal part.
The bonding helps to create a low impedance path back to the source. This will force a large current to flow, which in turn will cause the breaker to trip.
Author –
Mohamed Freihat
(C130/L100 , A&C approved consultant)