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More On The - Skin Effect - Reactance and Impedance - Inductive - Electronics Textbook
More On The - Skin Effect - Reactance and Impedance - Inductive - Electronics Textbook
Chapter3ReactanceandImpedanceInductive
Aspreviouslymentioned,theskineffectiswherealternatingcurrenttends
toavoidtravelthroughthecenterofasolidconductor,limitingitselfto
conductionnearthesurface.Thiseffectivelylimitsthecrosssectional
conductorareaavailabletocarryalternatingelectronflow,increasingthe
resistanceofthatconductorabovewhatitwouldnormallybefordirect
current:(Figurebelow)
Skineffect:skindepthdecreaseswithincreasingfrequency.
Theelectricalresistanceoftheconductorwithallitscrosssectionalarea
inuseisknownastheDCresistance,theACresistanceofthesame
conductorreferringtoahigherfigureresultingfromtheskineffect.Asyou
cansee,athighfrequenciestheACcurrentavoidstravelthroughmostof
theconductorscrosssectionalarea.Forthepurposeofconducting
current,thewiremightaswellbehollow!
Insomeradioapplications(antennas,mostnotably)thiseffectis
exploited.Sinceradiofrequency(RF)ACcurrentswouldnttravel
throughthemiddleofaconductoranyway,whynotjustusehollowmetal
rodsinsteadofsolidmetalwiresandsavebothweightandcost?(Figure
below)MostantennastructuresandRFpowerconductorsaremadeof
hollowmetaltubesforthisreason.
Inthefollowingphotographyoucanseesomelargeinductorsusedina
50kWradiotransmittingcircuit.Theinductorsarehollowcoppertubes
coatedwithsilver,forexcellentconductivityattheskinofthetube:
Highpowerinductorsformedfromhollowtubes.
Thedegreetowhichfrequencyaffectstheeffectiveresistanceofasolid
wireconductorisimpactedbythegaugeofthatwire.Asarule,large
gaugewiresexhibitamorepronouncedskineffect(changeinresistance
fromDC)thansmallgaugewiresatanygivenfrequency.Theequationfor
approximatingskineffectathighfrequencies(greaterthan1MHz)isas
follows:
Tablebelowgivesapproximatevaluesofkfactorforvariousroundwire
sizes.
kfactorforvariousAWGwiresizes.
Forexample,alengthofnumber10gaugewirewithaDCendtoend
resistanceof25wouldhaveanAC(effective)resistanceof2.182kat
afrequencyof10MHz:
Pleaserememberthatthisfigureisnotimpedance,anditdoesnot
consideranyreactiveeffects,inductiveorcapacitive.Thisissimplyan
estimatedfigureofpureresistancefortheconductor(thatoppositionto
theACflowofelectronswhichdoesdissipatepowerintheformofheat),
correctedfortheskineffect.Reactance,andthecombinedeffectsof
reactanceandresistance(impedance),areentirelydifferentmatters.
reactanceandresistance(impedance),areentirelydifferentmatters.
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