Assignment 1 1-7

1 Analysis of heat transfer in a single-phase

transformer
The goal of the first assignment is to study the implementation of equivalent circuit method (ECM)
and finite element method (FEM) for an electromagnetic device with a simple geometry. A steady-
state heat transfer problem is analysed for a single-phase shell-type of transformer with different
geometric proportions. This analysis supposes to give answers about
― What geometric proportions between the electric circuit and magnetic gives the highest
transferred power and which the highest efficiency?
― What is the difference between ECM and FEM estimations and what might be the
reasons?
― How to interpret the results: transferred power, heat power, cooling and temperature rise:
are they reasonable?

1.1 Getting started

Quick progressing guide
― Tools for calculation: FEMM 4.2 for finite element Analysis (FEA) and MATLAB for
equivalent circuit analysis (ECA).
― Create project map, open LUA and M-script, and redefine geometric data for analysis
object according to 1.2.
― Execute files, when is done find a recently created txt file from project map. Load txt-files
to MATLAB by using load command.
― Find out which column belongs to current density and use this value to obtain transferred
power (eq. 1.8) and heat power (eq. 1.9). Plot the graphs according to 1.8 and carry on
discussion on the main questions by support of the appendix.
Notice that
― It is assumed that both primary and secondary winding have the same current density.
Even though the heat transfer models exclude the heat losses in the end-turns and the axial
cooling surfaces (along z-axis), the total heat or power losses need to consider the
conductor losses in the end turns. From thermal analysis point of view, by assuming that
the axial cooling “takes care” of axial power losses and does not contribute neither the
heating nor the cooling of the laminated part of the transformer, then the thermal situation
in laminated part of the transformer remains unchanged.
― The LUA-script considers 50% slot size by default. You activate script by selecting Open
Lua Script and terminate the FE process by pushing Break, if everything goes fine then you
can follow the process in lua console that may take up to few minutes.

1.2 Analysis object

Five different sizes for EI lamination are given (in table below) where each of them have two
different stack height, which are 1/2 and 2/3 of the width of lamination. The volume of Ltr x Wtr x
Hc defines the part of transformer where the power losses are calculated and the lateral surfaces Hc
x (2Ltr + 2Wtr) define the (only) cooling area.

EIEN20 Design of Electrical Machines, IEA, 2020

Assignment 1 2-7

Lamination Length Width Stack Height Hc

type Ltr [mm] Wtr [mm] Hc [mm] Ltr
EI-84 84 70 35
EI-84 84 70 50
EI-96 96 80 40
EI-96 96 80 65
EI-120 120 100 50
EI-120 120 100 70
EI-150 150 125 65
EI-150 150 125 85 Wtr
EI-180 180 150 75
EI-180 180 150 100

1.3 Program structure

The FE model of transformer and modelling process for heat transfer analysis is written in lua
script, which has to be open in Femm 4.2, and the matching EC model is written in m script for
Matlab. These scripts have the same structure and structured output. On the basis of the outcome
the goal of the further calculation is to find an optimal relation between an electric and a magnetic
circuit in the transformer i.e. primary and secondary winding in a laminated core.
Parameterization
― Length
― Geometric proportions
― Magnetic loading
― Material properties

Parametric change
Geometric modelling
― Sensitivity study
― Derive geometry in
― Proportion between
respect with parameters
magnetic and electric
circuits

2D Finite Element Method 2D Equivalent circuit method

― Heat transfer (Mirage) ― Thermal circuits (Matlab)

Objective
― Estimate electric loading

Transformer specification

Figure 1.1 Program structure that is implemented in the Matlab script and the LUA script for the heat
transfer analysis.
The example of the transformer has dimensions: Ltr=100e-3 x Wtr=80e-3 x h_c=50e-3 as well as the
thickness of insulation (bobbin) ins=1e-3 (all geometric dimensions in metres). Note that you can
select new dimensions that you like from table in section 1.2. The magnetic loading
(Bcm=1.4T) is unchanged and assumed to be homogeneous that gives the same loss density in the
whole core. The goal of the computation routine is to estimate current loading and the
corresponding conductor losses within the thermal limit. The temperature dependence of the
conductor resistivity is taken into account.

EIEN20 Design of Electrical Machines, IEA, 2020

Assignment 1 3-7

Initialization
― Cooling conditions
― Magnetic: B -> pfe
― Electric: Jk,ρ0 -> pcu Obtain new values
― ρ= ρ0(1+α(ave-0))
― pcu=0.5 ρ (Jk+1)2 Kf
Find temperature ― iter=iter+1
― Coil hot-spot max
― Coil average ave

Obtain current density

― if target - max < - 40
Target then Jk+1=Jk x 0.5
― |target - max|≤0.05 ― if target - max > 40
― iter ≥ max_iter then Jk+1=Jk x 2
― else
Jk+1=Jk W(target - max)
Result visualization
― Temperature plot (bmp)
― Electric loading (txt)

Figure 1.2 Iterative hot-spot computation loop. Flowchart of the iterative current density estimation where the
target hot spot temperature of the coil is focused. The hot-spot temperature is obtained from a line that
is defined through the cross-section of a winding. The weight factor W is chosen so that the converging
process is as well as fast as stabile. This flowchart does not give a solution if the core losses only give
the target temperature or more than that
The thermal models: EC model and FE model
― Are two dimensional (2D), which means that heat transport along z axis and the heat
generated in/dissipated from the end turns are neglected
― Assume the same loss density in the primary and the secondary windings
― Assume naturally cooled sides h=12 W/Km2 and ambient temperature of 400C

1.4 Geometry parameterization

The geometric model for shell type of transformer is formulated so that transformer length and
insulation thickness together with proportion factors will define the whole geometry. Additional
parameters, such as proportion factors specify the geometric proportions between the different
parts of the transformer.
― Ks (variable) – proportion between the slot length and core limb length
― Kw (=0.5) – width proportions between primary and secondary winding
The length of the leg in the magnetic core is expressed by using the relative slot length ks and the
length needed to form a one electromagnetic pole. For the single-phase transformer either for core
and shell types the number of poles is Np=2.

ltr
lc  1  k s  ( 1.1 )
Np
Similarly the length of the slot or the available area for the windings is formulated according to the
length of a single electromagnetic pole and the relative slot length.

EIEN20 Design of Electrical Machines, IEA, 2020

Assignment 1 4-7

ltr
ls  ks ( 1.2 )
Np
The width of the slot is given by the total width of the transformer wtr minus the width of the
magnetic core yokes. The width of the magnetic back-core (yoke) equals to the length of the
magnetic leg-core. The slot width for the shell type of transformer is

ws  wtr  lc ( 1.3 )

Figure 1.3 The geometry parameterization of the shell type of transformer. The upper figure shows the magnetic
flux flow plane (xy-plane) and the lower figure shows the electric current flow plane (xz-plane).

1.5 Size equations

The size of transformer is related to the power capability of the electromagnetic device by the
rational limits for the ‘flow’ densities such as electric current density J, magnetic flux density B and
the power loss density p. In an ideal transformer the magnetic coupling between the windings is
perfect. There is the same core flux (t) that links each turn of each winding. Apparent power of an
ideal lossless transformer is expressed as
1
S  UmIm ( 1.4 )
2
here is assumed sinusoidal variation of voltage and current and instead of rms values the peak
values has been used instead. Considering the lossless electromagnetic circuit the voltage of the

EIEN20 Design of Electrical Machines, IEA, 2020

Assignment 1 5-7

electric circuit can be directly linked to the induced back electromotive force (emf) and the
magnetic flux in the magnetic circuit.
d t  d t 
u t   U m cos t   et   N ( 1.5 )
dt dt
Ideally it is assumed that all the magnetic flux links with the winding and flux can be expressed
directly from the voltage that is applied to the winding.

 t    m sin  t  
Um
sin  t   Bm Am sin  t  ( 1.6 )
N
The maximum value of magnetic flux Φm is related to the cross-section area of the pure magnetic
conductor Am and the maximum flux density Bm that is defined by the material ability to conduct
magnetic flux and the magnetic saturation Bsat . Similar to the magnetic circuit, the flow in the
electric circuit is defined by current Im (maximum value) in the single turn which is related to the
total Ampere turns NIm i.e. magnetomotive force (mmf), the cross-section area of the pure electric
conductor Ae and the maximum current density Jm that is defined by device’s ability to conduct heat
flow and the thermal limit coil.

it   I m cos t    
NI m
cos t     m e cos t   
J A
( 1.7 )
N N
By substituting the maximum values for voltage and current in the equation of the apparent power
(eq. 1.1) the size of the transformer can be expressed through the magnetization frequency, the
allowed current and flux density over the geometrically interlinked circuit areas of Ae and Am..
1 1
S  U m I m   Bm J m Ae Am  P ( 1.8 )
2 2
The power of transformer depends on the electric loading Jm, the magnetic loading Bm and the
magnetization frequency ω as well as the geometry such as cross section areas of electric Ae and
magnetic circuit Am.
By assuming equal magnetomotive forces in the primary and the secondary winding, thus the
infinitely permeable core, the active power can be taken equal to the apparent power. The
transferred power is less due to power losses. The maximum transferred power is determined by
the amount of power loss or heat power that the transformer can handle for given temperature
limits. The power losses can be estimated according to the loss origin in different parts of the
device. The total heat power is expressed as a sum of losses, which are outcome of power loss
density and the geometry of the electric as well as the magnetic circuit.

Ploss  Ae le pe  Am l m pm  Pcu  Pfe ( 1.9 )

The conductor loss for the direct current Pcu is expressed through the power loss density, which
depends on resistivity ρ and the current density square J2, and the volume of the conductor Ve.
2
 JA  l N 1
Pcu  I R   e   e   J 2 Ae le   J m2Ve
2
( 1.10 )
 N  Ae 2
N
The remagnetization loss in the magnetic conductor for the symmetric sinusoidal excitation can be
found from the specific loss data kfe at certain magnetization frequency and magnetic induction
over the core volume Vm

EIEN20 Design of Electrical Machines, IEA, 2020

Assignment 1 6-7

Pfe  k fe Bm ,   Vm  p feVm ( 1.11 )

The specific core loss is calculated according to the polynomial curve fitting of the loss
characteristics at 50 Hz.


p fe  2.5517 Bm2  1.2936 Bm  0.8143  7700  ( 1.12 )

Finally, the efficiency can be found from the input power and the loss power.
P  Ploss
 ( 1.13 )
P
Lua-script as well as m-script EMK_task_1.lua and EMK_task_1.m, calculate hot spot
temperature of the winding max, average temperature of winding ave, core temperature cc, the
specific copper loss pcu, maximum current density Jcm and so on as a function of proportion Ks.
Some of the variables are not estimated with the thermal equivalent circuit.
for kh = 1,9,1 do
x max ave pcu Jcm Aw cc iter
[m] [°C] [°C] [W/m3] [A/m2] [m2] [°C] [-]
end
The result of the computations is written into file tmp_heat_fem.txt and tmp_heat_emc.txt.

1.6 EC model
Equivalent circuit model and modelling process is defined in EMK_task_1.m.
The thermal conductivity network consists of 11 elements that represent the heat dissipation in the
symmetric part of the transformer. The cooling condition through the natural convection is taken
into account in the elements 4 and 11. Nodal network represents the temperature over 9 node
points. The copper losses are applied into node 2 and 3, the core losses to node 1 and the ambient
(reference) temperature is described in nodes 5 and 9.
9

11
6
8 7
5 9 8
6 10

1 7

10 12 1
11 13 15 2 2
14 3 3
16 4 4
12

Figure 1.4 The thermal equivalent circuit of the single-phase shell-type transformer. Thermal elements in the
end-turns are excluded in order to make EC model and FE models comparable.

EIEN20 Design of Electrical Machines, IEA, 2020

Assignment 1 7-7

Code that shows the formulation of thermal equivalent circuit and the elements in the circuit
% thermal equivalent circuit - topology matrix
% [element(1) node(n) node(m) thermal conductivity]
Tec = [ 1 1 2 0.5*h_c * 0.5*w_s / (0.5*l_c/tc_fe+ins/tc_ins+0.5*l_w1/tc_win);
2 2 3 0.5*h_c * 0.5*w_s / (0.5*l_w1/tc_win+ins/tc_ins+0.5*l_w2/tc_win);
3 3 4 0.5*h_c * 0.5*w_s / (0.5*l_w2/tc_win+ins/tc_ins+0.25*l_c/tc_fe);
4 4 5 0.5*h_c * 0.5*w_s / (0.25*l_c/tc_fe+1/Aconv * w_s / Wtr);
5 1 6 0.5*h_c * 0.5*l_c / ((0.5*w_s+0.25*l_c)/tc_fe);
6 2 7 0.5*h_c * l_w1 / ((0.5*w_s-ins)/tc_win+ins/tc_ins+0.25*l_c/tc_fe);
7 3 8 0.5*h_c * l_w2 / ((0.5*w_s-ins)/tc_win+ins/tc_ins+0.25*l_c/tc_fe);
8 6 7 0.5*h_c * 0.25*l_c / ((0.5*l_c+ins+0.5*l_w1)/tc_fe);
9 7 8 0.5*h_c * 0.25*l_c / ((0.5*l_w1+ins+0.5*l_w2)/tc_fe);
10 8 4 0.5*h_c * 0.5*l_c / ((0.5*w_s+0.5*l_c)/tc_fe);
11 6 9 0.5*h_c * 0.5*Ltr / ((0.25*l_c)/tc_fe+1/Aconv);];

Please pay attention to the definition of cooling surfaces (highlighted part of code) apart to
conducting surfaces in the code!

1.7 FE model
Finite element model and modelling process is defined in EMK_task_1.lua.
The xy-plane cross-section of a shell type of transformer is the base geometry for the heat transfer
analysis. Notice that the loop calculations are commented out in the code and the relative slot
opening of 50% is selected initially.

1.8 Assignment
Based on the outcome from FE and EC model (that takes at ca 5 minutes) carry out the following
tasks and discuss the outcome in relation to the target questions which were stated in the beginning
of the assignment.
― Show Jcm=f(ks) for these different models
― Calculate a transferred power P=f(ks) for these different models
― Calculate copper and core losses Ploss=f(ks)
― Estimate the efficiency of the transformer based on the different models
― Validate and discuss the modelled results by analysing supplier data of single phase
transformer from TRAMO-ETV AB or some other companies

EIEN20 Design of Electrical Machines, IEA, 2020

 TRAMO-ETV AB , SE-241 92 ESLÖV Tel. 0413-54 12 10 Fax. 0413-54 11 95

rätt spänning - i rätt tid - till rätt pris

1-fas FULLTRANSFORMATOR

TYPSERIE
IP-20 för inbyggnad

OFL
lågprofilutförande

Tillverkningsnormer: EN 61558-2-1 alt. EN 61558-2-6 alt. IEC 726 , EN 50081-2 , EN 50082-2

2.30 0111

Temperaturklass B 130°C Kan erhållas med 1 alt 2 säkring/ar, max 10 amp, 230 volt
ta: 40°C (max omgivningstemperatur) Ingående komponenter är UL-godkända
d.c: 100% (kontinuerlig belastning) Anslutning: Kopplingsplintar alt. kabelskor eller fria uttag
Sekundär märkspänning beräknas vid 80% belastning

C mm
Effekt A B D E Slits/ Vikt Förluster
Typ vid ström ca
VA mm mm mm mm hål kg
< 30A > 30A Po(W) Pcu(W)
OFL- 50 102 65 70 - 95 52 5 1,25 3 5,5
OFL- 75 110 70 70 - 105 56 6 1,5 3,5 9
OFL- 100 110 70 84 - 105 56 6 1,9 5 9,5
OFL- 125 123 80 75 - 115 64 6 2,2 5 12
OFL- 150
C OFL- 200
123
155
80
100
85
85
-
130
115
145
64
80
7
7
2,7
3,3
7
7
13
16
OFL- 250 155 100 96 140 145 80 7 4,2 9 17
OFL- 300 155 100 107 155 145 80 7 5,1 11 18

D OFL- 360 155 100 116 165 145 80 7 5,9 14 20

E A OFL- 500 190 125 115 155 176 100 7 7,8 15 24
B OFL- 700 190 125 130 175 176 100 7 9,9 20 29
OFL- 1000 225 150 135 175 210 120 7 14,3 24 33
OFL- 1200 225 150 150 185 210 120 7 17,2 29 35
Storlek 50 VA - 1500 VA OFL- 1400 225 150 165 200 210 120 7 20,4 34 36
OFL- 2000 285 200 140 160 210 170 9 21 30 83
OFL- 2500 285 200 155 175 210 170 9 25 36 86
OFL- 2800 285 200 165 195 210 170 9 28 40 86
C OFL- 3500 335 240 160 190 250 205 9 36 45 98
OFL- 4000 335 240 160 190 250 205 9 38 49 105
OFL- 4800 335 240 175 250 205 9 45 58 107
D E OFL- 6000 370 280 180 295 240 9 57 69 127
A OFL- 6700 370 280 190 295 240 9 63 78 125
B
OFL- 7500 370 280 205 295 240 9 70 90 128
OFL- 8500 370 280 220 295 240 9 80 100 130
Storlek 2000 VA - 10000 VA OFL- 10000 370 280 250 295 240 9 96 114 145