IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, VOL. MAG-8, NO.

4,DECEMBER 1972 785

1)mixing
This
amplifier
excellent
an
.has
linear
transfer
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
characteristic, a push-pull characteristic with inherently single
The authors wish to thank Mr. K. Matsuno, Mr. M. Maeda,
core, and a quick response. Furthermore, this device operates
Mr. F. Mukai, and Mr. H. Murakami for their contributions to
with a dc source.
the experimental work.
2) The transfer characteristics and the limit of the stability
for the linear operation are derived from the basic circuit of
REFERENCES
-
of the single core.
3) The circuit of the three-core configuration is effective [ 11 G . H. Royer, A switchingtransistordctoacconverter having an
because theinputandoutput aredecoupled by removing the outputfrequencyproportionaltothedcinputvoltage,AIEE
Trans.(CommunicationandElectronics), vol. 74, pp. 322-326,
input resistance. July 1955.
4) The output of this mixing amplifier can be isolated from [ 2 ] K. Harada,Polyphasemultivibrators,IEEETrans. Magnetics,
the.
dc
source by the use
of other windings. vol. MAG-3, No. 2, pp. 117-124,June
1967.

Power Loss and Flux Density Distributions in the

T-Joint.of a Three Phase Transformer Core
ANTHONY J. MOSES, BLEDDYN THOMAS, AND JOHNE. THOMPSON

Abstract - A three phase transformer test facility has been Underidealconditionsthetotalfluxinthelimbs ofa
used for measuring the localized power loss and flux distribu- transformer core has a sinusoidal waveform, but in the corners
tionwithinthecore.Thefluxand loss distributionsinthe of the core the flux is far from sinusoidal. The additional loss
T-joint of a core with simple double overlap joints have been caused bythefluxdistortion can lead t o localizedheating
investigated. The flux density distribution was measured by an within the joints.
array of search coils wound on individual laminations, and the One cause of flux harmonics generated at the joints is that
localized power loss was found by measuring the initial rate the flux may tend to bend into adjacent laminations. T o d o
of temperature rise using miniature thermocouples. For meas- this, the flux deviates from the rolling direction of the steel
urements made in the range of flux densities from 1.1to 1.6 T , (Goss-oriented 3.2%. silicon iron) resulting in increased loss.
theinner edges of the yoke and limb laminations were the Another possiblecause of increased power lossin
the
highest loss areas, up t o 30% higher than the mean core loss. T-jointisrotationalhysteresiswhichmightoccur.This is
These regions of high power loss were found to be due to a caused when the magnitude of the flux remains constant and
high thirdharmonicfluxdensitycomponentbeingpresent. its diiection varies in a cyclic manner. Some flux might rotate
The fundamental component of flux density tended t o follow and oscillate producing local hot spots.
the rolling direction of both yoke and limb laminations; how- Somerelevantworkhasbeendonepreviouslybutnone
ever, some deviation from the rolling direction was present in directly related to the flux and loss distribution in the T-joint.
the case of other harmonics. Adam [i]has made experimental investigations of the flux in
simple 90 rectangular corners made from randomiy oriented
silicon iron. Good agreement was found between the experi-
I. INTRODUCTION mentalresultsandcalculatedfluxstreamlinesaroundthe
Theefficientoperation of powertransformercores de- corner.Acomprehensiveexperimentalinvestigation of the
pends to a large extent on the design of the joints between flux distribution in the corners of L-shaped laminations was
their limbs and yokes. In the three-phase, three limb core the made by Brailsford and Mazza [ 21. They used both hot-rolled
most complex joints are the T-joints at the intersection of the and Goss-oriented silicon steel and found circulating third and
centre limb and yokes. The joint should be constructedto give fifth harmonic fluxes inboth corners.
mechanical stability tothecoreandtobemagnetically All these investigations were made using simple joint con-
efficient. figurations. In actual transformer cores, the corner joints can
beconstructedinmany ways.Brechna [3] systematically
studied the effects of different corner configurations on the
Manuscript received May 5, 1972. overall power loss of single phasecores.He found no joint
The authors are with theWolfson Centre for the Technology of Soft
Magnetic Materials, University of Wales Institute of Science and Tech- which might be economically justified on the basis of its lower
nology, Cardiff, Wales, U.K. power loss which did not have a greater building cost.
786 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, DECEMBER 1972

R E D PHASE
111. EXPERIMENTALAPPARATUS
The basic apparatusconsisted of athreephasecoreand
YELLOW PHASE local
associated
measuring
equiprnent
thefor loss
fluxand
variationinits d o ~ b l eoverlapT-joints. Thecore wascon-
structed from laminations of 3.2% Goss-oriented silicon iron
YOKE
INATIONS withanominallossof 1.1 W/kg at 1.5 Tesla (T).Laminations
X)
complete with search coils and thermocouples were placed at
PAPER INSERT
appropriate positions within the core for flux density and loss
measurements respectively. The three basic parts of the experi-
mental apparatus will be dealt with separately.
Fig. 1. Arrangement of double overlap T and corner joints.

A.Basic CoreConstruction
The experimental rig, shownschematicallyin Fig. 2, was
Manufacturingproblemsandmaterialeconomyusually
built on a tufnol bed which was machined flat to a tolerance
determinethearrangementadoptedin largepowertrans-
better than +0.01 cm. The core measured 1.8 X 0.9 m with
formers. Because of this, the most common corner at present
laminations 0.15 m wide. The yokes were lightly clamped with
is the 45' mitred overlap. A comprehensive study of the flux
7.6 X 3.8cmchanneliron a t auniformflatteningstress of
distributionandpower loss inthemitred overlap joint has
3 5 X lo3 N/m2 (about 5 Ibf/in2) and each limb was clamped
recently been made by Jones et al. [ 4 ] . There are many ways
t o the samestresswithaboltand brassstress-distributing
of constructing the T-joint in a three phase core, but before a
washer.
similar study and assessment of the merits of different types
Tenlaminations,each0.033cmthick,werebuiltinto
of T-joint can be made it is necessary to investigate and under-
each limb and interleaving paper 0.033 cm thick was placed
stand some basic aspects of flux distribution and power loss in
between the laminations where required, to avoid unnecessary
a simple double overlap T-joint.
bending. A 3 phase, 50 Hz primary supply enabled the core t o
The investigation described in this paper is related to the
bemagnetized t o fluxdensities upto1;6 Tesla. The 20
flux and loss distribution in adjacent individual laminations in
turn primary and secondary windings were connected in star
such a simple T-joint. The joint used formed part of a three
configuration. The primaryvoltage could be adjusted by means
phase,threelimbcorewhichwasbuilt up such that all the
of threeindependentinput Variacs toproduceequalflux-
corners had a double overlap form, as shown in Fig. 1.
densities in the three limbs. By using this magnetizing system,
each limb could be energized t o 1.6 20.025 T with a third
11. THE DOUBLE OVERLAP T-JOINT harmonic distortion of less than 23%.

The joint shown in Fig. 1. is the simplestpossible inter- B. FluxDensityMeasurement

section between the center limb and yokes of a three phase The overall flux density in each limb was calculated from
transformercore.Underbalancedconditions the fluxesin the secondary voltages. The peak flux density B , in a limb is
each of the three limbs are sinusoidal and120' out of phase in given by
time. Two essential functions are performed by the T-joint. It TI

Vau
enables the flux t o change direction by 0' or 90' and also to B, = ~ Tesla
200 NA
transferfromlamination tolamination. When thetwopro-
cesses occurtogetherinacomplexmanneranincreasein where V,, is the average output voltage (volts), N is the num-
power loss occurs when the flux changes direction in the plane ber of secondary turns, and A is the cross-sectional area of the
of a lamination, because of the high anisotropy of the steel. core (m2).

RED
BOLT L WASHER

r THERMoCoUFiES

CONTACTOR [
SEAPCHCOllS

TIMER
BLUE
CLAMPING PLATE

L . .
0.9 m
-I
Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of thethree phase coreandmeasuring
equipment.
MOSES e t QZ. : T-JOINT OF THREE PHASE TRANSFORMER CORE 7 87

The output voltage V,, wasmeasuredusingafrequency

analyzer with an accuracy better than f 1%at a voltage level
equivalent t o a core flux densityof 1.5 T.
In order to measure the flux density distribution, an array
+++I+++++
ofsearch coils had to bewoundonindividuallaminations +++I+++++
+++I+++++
using a technique similar to that described previously [4]. The +++I+++++
+++I+++++,
longitudinal and tranmerse flux was found by measuring the +++!+A+++
loc. LSNGc o u
voltages induced in 1 cm long search coils threaded through THREADED TMROUGH
Q25 C. HOLES
0.025 cm diameter holes, which were accurately located and
drilled slowly so as not to create any large local stress around
thehole.Solderableenamelledcopperwire,0.015cm di-
ameter, was found to be thin enough for winding the single LIMB
LAMINATION
'Y '
turn search coils,without affecting the power loss or flux dis-
tribution to any degree. Each pair of searchcoilleadswas
OVERLAP LIMIT
twisted together tightly to avoidstrayvoltages. The normal
flux was measured with a similararrayofrectangularsingle
turn coils which were stuck to the lamination. The coil systems
usedareshownschematicallyinFig. 3 (thecoilleadsand
terminals are omitted). Fig. 3. Position of searchcoilsinthe T-joint.(Lamination X shows
Because of thesymmetry of theT-joint,proved by pre- onlytransverseandlongitudinalcoils,lamination Y shows only
liminarytests, it was'onlynecessary to measuretheflux normal coils.)
distribution in the regions ABCD in the yoke lamination X,
andEFGHinthelimblamination Y.Thefluxdensity was
measured in laminations X and Y only, since initial measure- couplewasfed viaananovolt-amplifier t o an X-t plotter.
mentsona single phasecornerjointhadverifiedthatthe The slope of the graph of thermocouple output against time
positions of the laminations within the stack were not impor- was constant over theenergizingperiod, so that the power
tant provided they were reasonably close to the center of the loss is given by
core [4].Forthisreasonboth X and Y wereplaced fifth
from the bottom of the stacks. W = 1.62 X 1 07- v
W/kg
t
The voltage output from each coil was measured in mag-
nitude and phase (relative t o the 50 Hz component of flux where V (volts) is the thermocouple output and t (sec) is the
densityinthe bluephase of lamination X ) , usinga fre- measuringtime. I t wasnecessary to let the core cool down
quencyanalyzer so thedirection,magnitudeand phase of for ten minutes after each loss measurement, or cooling errors
each harmonic could be obtained at each coil position. due to the difference between the core and ambient tempera-
tures were introduced.
C. Local LossMeasurement Initial tests showed that the temperature rise measured by
the thermocouples was produced in the lamination to which
Theonlyconvenientandaccurate way of findingthe they were attached and was not affected by the temperature
localloss is t o measuredirectlytheheatgenerated, so a change in adjacent laminations.
method was developed which enabled the loss in small areas Theabsoluteaccuracy of this methodofpower loss
(about 0.5 cm diameter) of the laminations to be measured. measurement is difficult t o estimate.However,comparison
Theprinciple of themethodused,thattheinitialrate of betweenthemeasuredandthenominal loss atthe same
temperature 'rise is proportional to the power loss, has been fluxdensityinthesteelshowedthatthemeanmeasured
discussed previously [ 51 and the experimental technique used loss found from ten thermocouples placed at different points
here was described by Ball and Lorch [ 6 ] , so only the novel (remotefromthecornerregions)onalaminationwitha
feature of measurement need be discussed. nominal loss of 1.1 W/kgwas,in fact, 0.94 0.03 Wlkg.
: Thetemperature rise at individualpoints was measured The relative errors between the loss measurements are more
withcopper-constantan thermocouples formedfrom 0.01
important.. Sincethethermocouplesare all operatedunder
cm diameter wire [ 5 ] . Because thethermocouplejunctions
the same ambientconditions,theonly relativesources of
were thin they could be placed between the laminations with-
error are inthemeasurement of V/tinequation (1).The
out producing any appreciablegaps between them [ 61 .
maximum possible errorinthisratiowhenmeasuringa
The thermocouples were positioned on the yoke and limb
loss of 1.0 wlkg is f 5%.
laminations in a fashion similar to the search coils shown in
Fig. 3 . Eachindividualthermocouplewasconnected to a
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
coldjunctionsituatedinaconstanttemperatureenclosure.
Thechange of temperatureofeachthermocouple was A. Power Loss Measurement
measuredas thecore wasbeingenergized. No appreciable
heat diffusion occurs t o or from other parts of the lamina- Figures 4 and 5 showthepower loss distributioninthe
tion over a ten second period. The output from each thermo- T-jointinlamination X and Y ; i.e. intheyokeandlimb
788 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, DECEMBER 1972

Fig. 4. Power loss distribution in the yoke lamination ( X ) of the T- Fig. 6. Power loss distribution in the T-joint measured at a core flux
joint. (Core flux density = 1.6T at 50 Hz). density of 1.6T at 50 Hz.

spots in the corner to facilitate the design of adequate cooling

arrangements.

B. Flux Density Measurement

Figs. 7 and 8 show the magnitudes of the peak flux density
in the yoke and limb laminations at a mean core flux density
of 1.6T. There is amarked similarity in shape betweenthe
totalfluxdistributionandthecorrespondingpower loss
curves.Peaks occur in lamination X above the overlap, and
their magnitudes drop towards the outside edge of the lamina-
tion. In lamination Y the flux drops almost linearly toward the
end of the lamination.
The distribution o f the 50 Hz component of flux density
followed a pattern very similar to the total flux. This is ex-
Fig. 5. Powerlossdistributioninthelimblamination ( Y ) of the
T-joint. (Core flux density = 1.6T at 50 Hz). pected as it is the predominant component of the flux over
the whole corner area. The 50 Hz component o f flux in both
laminationstendstoremaininthe rolling directionatthe
laminations, respectively. Thecorefluxdensity was 1.6T overlap joint.
in each limb. The loss at the inner edge of the yoke lamina- The third harmonic flux density is also important, and its
tion X is almost 30% higher than at the outside edge because distribution in laminations X and Y is shown in Figs. 9 and
o f thenon-uniformfluxdistribution, as will be seen in the 10, respectively. Peaks occur in lamination X above and
next section. The loss rises by 33% at the edge of the joint outside the overlap on the inner corners of the joint. These
and, in the central area of the joint, the loss is only 30% of peaks cause the high power loss found in these regions. The
itsmaximum value. Inthelimblamination Y , the lossis third harmonic flux is slightly greater in magnitude toward the
constantatabout 1.3 W/kg outsidethejoint,andthen it center of lamination X . It also deviates widely from the rolling
drops to about 0.3 W/kg on the outside edge of the lamina- direction as illustratedin Fig. 11. Thefluxmagnitudesare
tion. The loss at the inside corners of the joint is 20% higher shownwhenthefluxdensity in theyellow(center)limb is
than in the limb. maximum.Thefluxtendsto move towardthecenterlimb
Loss distributionmeasurements were also madeat1.5 on the inner region of the yoke lamination but at the outside
and1.1T.The1.5T loss distribution was similar tothat it remains along the rolling direction.
foundat1.6T,butthe peaks
were not so pronounced. The magnitude of the fifth harmonic is very small (maxi-
At 1.1T the pattern is repeated but with less steep gradients. mum value of 0.05T) intheyoke,practicallydroppingto
The power loss distribution found in the individual lami- zeroontheouter edge of thelamination.It also drops to
nations enables the loss pattern in the joint as a whole t o be nearzeroatthecenter of thelimblaminations.Thefifth
found. Fig. 6 shows the mean loss of the joint at 1.6T. It can harmonicfluxdensity changes directionsuddenly in the
be seen that there is a high loss region around the three edges limblaminationneartheouter edge of the joint. The flux
of thejoint,withamuchreduced loss atthecenter.This flows parallel t o the rolling directioninmost of thelimb
type of distribution can be used topredicttheactualhot but at 1.5 cm from the end of thelamination,itsuddenly
ORE
NSFORMER MOSES eOF
PHASETHREE t al.: T-JOINT 789

Fig, 7. Variation of the magnitude of the total flux density in the yoke (150 Hz) in the yoke lamination (X) of the T-joint at a core flux
lamination (X) measured at acorefluxdensity of 1.6Tat 50 Hz. density of 1.6T.

Fig. 8. Variation of the magnitude of the total flux density in the limb Fig. 10. Variation of the magnitude of the 3rd harmonic flux density
lamination ( Y ) measured at a core flux density of 1.6T at 50 Hz. (150 Hz) in the limb lamination (Y)of the T-joint at a core flux
density of 1.6T.

flowsperpendicular to the rollingdirectionandawayfrom

thecenter of thelamination.Intheyokelaminationthe
fluxremaineddirectedalongtherollingdirection over the .
rea whole -. - - - -
-7
- \+-\/-;f/
-LAMINATION
Higher harmonics werepresent
in
the
corner
region, X'-
but theseweresmallcompared with thefirst,third,and --+d ' / /k-
fifth.Theseventhandninthharmonics,whendetectable,
were directed along the rolling direction.
i
V. DISCUSSION OF EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
The loss distribution in the T-joint is directly related to the
local flux distribution. The flux density in the limb lamination
showninFig. 8 is similar tothatfound inasinglephase
corner joint [ 7 ] : the flux slowly drops to zeroattheend
of the lamination, but it remainsdirectedalongthe rolling
direction. The power loss in lamination Y drops toward the
end of the lamination as is expected, due to the total flux
distribution.
L__I_J I

peaks in power loss occur above andoutsidethe inside Fig. 11. Directions of thirdharmonic (150 Hz) component of flux
densityintheyokeandlimblaminations of theT-joint.(Core
Of the Tjoint* These are due partly to a flux
density = 1.6T). Magnitudes of the
, I
vectors are shownwhen
tude of flux harmonics in the corners and also t o a change of flux is maxikum in theyellow phase limb.
790 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, DECEMBER 1972

fluxdirectionatthecorners.Thedirection of the 150 Hz set up to evaluate their efficiencies. Many of these parameters
component of flux density deviates by about 45 from the are varied on large cores, but rarely can a direct comparison
rolling direction in the corners (Fig. 11).This causes a sharp be made between two cores, since it is unusual for them t o
increase in loss because of the high anisotropy of the material. have only one feature different in their construction.
The distortion in the center of the limb is caused by the
bolthole.Theeffect of theboltholeonthesurrounding VII. CONCLUSIONS
flux and loss distribution will be fully investigated at a later Initial results showed that the methods used for measuring
date.The loss doesnotdrop as rapidly as thetotalflux flux density and power loss were consistent and repeatable.
towardtheoutside of thelamination, again because the The particular conclusions obtained as a result of the experi-
fluxharmonicstend t o deviate considerablyfromthe roll- mentsonthedouble overlapT-joint can be summarized as
ing direction in this region. follows.
The yoke lamination has a high power loss and total flux (1) The overall loss variationintheT-joint investigated
density above and outside the overlap (Figs. 4 and 7). How- is large. At the inner corners of the joint, the loss in
ever, the peaks in loss and total flux are due to the high third the limb laminations was 20% greater than the mean
harmoniccomponentoccurring above andoutsidethe over- core loss forflux densities measuredfrom 1.1 to
lap, shown in Fig. 9. I t might be expected from Fig. 11 that 1.6T.Theyokelamination alsohasareasof high
there would be a high loss due to the third harmonic com- loss. These areas are above andoutsidethe overlap
ponent deviating a considerable amount from therolling direc- and again in theseregions the lossincreases by 30%.
tion in the inside central region of the joint. Here its magni- The hottest parts of the joint would be expected to
tude is very small so its deviation from the rolling direction be the inside corners.
does not have a significant effect. The cause of the high third (2) The flux in general remains directed along the rolling
harmonic is due to the normal flux which tends t o increase direction.There is amarked similarity betweenthe
in this area. 50 Hz fluxdensitydistributionandthetotal loss,
Thepower loss is generallyhigherwhere harmonics oc- apartfrom in theinnercorners of thejoint in the
curor where theflux deviates fromthe rolling direction. limb laminations.The dissimilarityis duetoa high
This suggests thatrotational hysteresis is notoccurringto thirdharmoniccomponent of fluxdensity in these
any extentinthisjointorthealternatingfluxdistribution regions. Theflux is greateron the inside of the
could not be correlated with the loss distribution. laminations because of theshortermagneticpath.
Combining the losses from the two laminations in Fig. 6
shows the overall heating effect in the joint. Just outside the ACKNOWLEDGMENT
overlap andtheinnercorners of thejointthe loss is 30%
The authors are grateful to Professor C. T. Baldwin, Head
higher than the nominal core loss. To obtain a true picture
of the Electrical Engineering Department, U.W.I.S.T. for his
of thetemperaturedistributionwithinthecorner,external
support and encouragement. A. J. Moses is indebted to the
conditions should be considered as well as the heat diffusion
CentralElectricityGeneratingBoardfor financial support.
in the steel. At this stage it is not necessary to do this, but it
would be essential when investigating actual transformer
corners. REFERENCES
J. Adam,Experimentalinvestigationofmagneticfluxina
VI. FUTURE WORK transformercorner,
Electrotech Casopis 19, (lo), 1968,
pp. 778-786.
These preliminary results obtained from the simple double F. Brailsford and V. R. Mazza, The alternating magnetic flux
distribution
in
right-angled
corners
of
transformer
lamina-
overlap joint obtained using this apparatus show the potential tions, Proc. IEE, 109, (A),No. 44, 1962, pp. 173-180.
for measuring thefluxand loss distributionsindifferent M. Brechna, Some aspects of modern transformer core design,
types of transformercorejointsinthisway.Theloss dis- Bulletin Oerlikon, 1957, No. 324, pp. 70-78.
M. A. Jones, A. J . Moses and J. E. Thompson, Flux distribu-
tributionin T-jointswhichareused atthepresenttimein tion and power loss in the mitred overlap joint in power trans-
powertransformercores can be found;thisshould help t o former cores. T o be published.
evaluatethemagnetic efficienciesof thejoints.Amore A . J. Gilbert,Amethodofmeasuring loss distributionin
electricalmachines,1961,Proc.IEE, (A), 108, pp. 239-244.
thorough knowledge of the flux
distributionwithinthe D.A. Ball and H. 0. Lorch,Thermalmeasurementoflocal
corners will showwhetherrotational hysteresis occursand power dissipation, J. Sci. Instrum, 1965, 42, pp.90-93.
whether it contributes to theoverall core loss. P. C. Joslin, A. J. Moses and J. E. Thompson, Some aspects of
the effects of longitudinal and normal stress on the power loss
Thelocal loss andfluxdistributionsin stressedregions andfluxdistributionwithin a transformercore,Proc.IEE,
should be investigated. Different clamping systems could be Vol. 119, No. 6, June 1972, pp. 709-716.