CIGRE Study Committee A2 COLLOQUIUM

October 1st- 6th, 2017, Cracow, Poland

Acoustic and Vibrational Behaviour of a Distribution Transformer Core

Under Varying Magnetic Excitation

Adrian VOLK, Bruno BOSNJAK

SIEMENS AG, Large Power Transformers Nuremberg
adrian.volk@siemens.com
Germany

SUMMARY

A test distribution transformer core with 50 kVA rating and step-lap configuration of the steel
sheets was built in order to investigate the vibrational and acoustic behaviour of the core
under different levels of magnetic excitation. The core was excited by 50 Hz voltage that
corresponds to different magnetic excitation states within an operating range of the core up to
1.7 T. For each magnetic excitation state, a series of acoustic measurements were performed
according to the IEC60076-10 standard. In addition, the corresponding mechanical vibration
of the front-facing surface of the core was measured by a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV).
The use of laser Doppler vibrometry allowed for the identification of vibrational modes of the
core that are generating the noise which was measured using a microphone array surrounding
the core. This enabled the analysis of the noise generation mechanism in the transformer core
and the investigation of the relation of mechanical and sound field. A correlation between the
mean surface vibration velocity of the core and the radiated noise is established. A correlation
is also determined for each of the frequencies and for three different core excitations that were
investigated.

KEYWORDS

Transformer noise, acoustic measurement, laser Doppler vibrometry.

adrian.volk@siemens.com
INTRODUCTION

The varying magnetic field in transformer cores generates magnetostrictive forces in the
laminations of the transformer cores usually made of grain-oriented electrical steel sheets.
This results in mechanical vibrations of the transformer core which are leading to sound
radiation into the environment [1], [2]. Since the magnetostrictive forces are unidirectional,
the generated vibrations are at twice the line frequency (in this case 50 Hz) and higher
harmonics thereof. For oil-filled transformers these vibrations are transferred through the oil
and through structural transmission paths to the transformer tank. The tank in turn vibrates
generating bending vibrations, which cause a tonal noise in the surrounding environment,
usually in the range of 100-700 Hz.

The vibrational field of transformer cores and tanks is highly complex and variable with
frequency. It is dependent on a number of mechanical parameters pertaining to transformer
design, production and materials [3]. This paper investigates the vibrational behaviour of a 50
kVA distribution transformer core using laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) measurements of
the surface of the core. In addition, the sound pressure level radiated by the core is determined
by a six-microphone array which was placed along a measurement contour according to
IEC 60076 [4], [5]. The core was excited with different magnetic flux densities in order to
determine the dependencies between the mean surface velocity of the core and the radiated
sound pressure level for different frequencies of the vibrations and the respective noise.

INVESTIGATED TRANSFORMER CORE

The investigated object was a 3/0 core of a 50 kVA three-phase distribution transformer with
dimensions 0.6 x 0.55 x 1 m, as shown in Figure 1. The core was excited using three identical
simple windings isolated from the core. The transformer core was operated with
no-load, where the different phases were excited by three power supplies which provided a
sinusoidal voltage with a frequency of 50 Hz and a phase shift of 120 degree. Thereby
magnetic inductions up to 1.7 T were induced in the transformer core. Three different
excitation states were investigated which correspond to core inductions of 1.3 T, 1.5 T and
1.7 T, respectively.

Figure 1: The investigated transformer core with windings and LDV markers.
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MEASUREMENT SETUP

Due to the magnetostrictive effect and the alternating magnetic field the core laminations are
excited to mechanical vibrations that are leading to sound radiation into the environment.
Within this study the mechanical field as well as the sound field were measured in order to
investigate their correlation during the operation of a transformer.

The mechanical vibrations were acquired using a laser Doppler vibrometer which measured
the surface velocity in normal direction. This was done using a scanning device which
successively measured the velocity at 250 discrete points on the core and assembled the
results in proper phase. This leads to a two-dimensional visualization of the vibrations which
can be subsequently integrated to obtain the mean vibration of the entire surface of the core.

Furthermore, the sound field generated by the core was investigated by measuring the radiated
sound pressure with six microphones, which were placed along a measurement contour
around the tested transformer core. According to IEC 60076-10, the measurement contour is
defined at a distance of 0.3 m to the radiating surface at one half of the core height (Figure 2).
Subsequently, the measured sound pressure levels were spatially averaged to determine the
sound power level of the excited transformer core [4], [5].

Figure 2: Acoustic measurement setup with six microphones.

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MEASUREMENT RESULTS AND EVALUATION

In the following, the measurement results that were obtained using the described setup are
presented and evaluated. Figure 3 shows the mechanical vibration of the transformer core that
was measured with the LDV for different core inductions. The acquired values of the surface
velocity were integrated over the entire surface of the transformer to obtain the mean
vibration of the core. The induced sound field is depicted in Figure 4, which is the result of
the microphone measurements that were averaged over all microphones to determine the
sound power level for the different excitations.

Figure 3: Mechanical vibration of transformer core for different inductions

(averaged over surface area).

Figure 4: Sound pressure level of transformer core for different inductions

(averaged over six microphones).

The mechanical as well as the acoustic measurement show increasing amplitudes of

harmonics at higher inductions while the particular spectral components differ. For inductions
above 1.5 T the sound field shows a dominant frequency of 200 Hz, while the core
consistently vibrates with a dominant frequency of 100 Hz.

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Moreover, the correlation of the mechanical and the sound field was further investigated.
Figure 5 shows the dependency of the sound field and the mechanical vibration for varying
inductions divided by the different principal frequencies. Here the averaged surface velocity
of differing inductions for each frequency is plotted together with its corresponding sound
power to illustrate the dependency. Apparently, an almost linear relationship between
mechanical vibration and the radiated sound field exists for each individual frequency. The
relation is not constant for the different frequencies but individual correlation factors can each
be obtained, consequently.

Figure 5: Dependency of sound field and mechanical vibrations for varying inductions.

Figure 6: Dependency of sound field and mechanical vibrations for varying frequencies.

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Figure 6 presents the dependency of both fields for varying principal frequencies divided by
the different investigated inductions. Hence, the averaged surface velocity at a certain
induction is plotted for differing frequencies together with its corresponding sound power.
The correlation of frequency behaviour for constant induction is not linear so that some
frequencies get more dominant within the sound field than they are present within the
mechanical vibration. This is important when deriving the sound radiation on the basis of
mechanical quantities. Besides, it is shown that the dominant frequency of the sound field gets
shifted from 100 Hz to 200 Hz for increasing inductions.

CONCLUSION

The vibrational and acoustic behaviour of a distribution transformer core was investigated in
order to evaluate the correlation of mechanical vibrations and the consequently radiated sound
field.

The result analysis showed a distinctly linear behaviour between the mean vibration velocity
of the core surface and the radiated sound pressure level for first several tonal frequencies.
This is a strong indication that the radiation factor for transformer cores in air is a highly
frequency-dependent parameter. The radiation factor is also highly dependent on the
particular design of the active part and the surrounding clamping and support structures.

On the other hand, the frequency relation between mechanical vibrations and the radiated
sound field is not constant, so that the composition of frequencies is different within both
fields. This may lead to changes of the dominant frequencies, which makes is difficult to
predict sound radiation on the basis of mechanical vibration.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] B. Weiser, H. Pfützner and J. Anger, “Relevance of Magnetostriction and Forces for the
Generation of Audible Noise of Transformer Cores”, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics,
vol: 36 (5), pp: 3759-3777, 2000.
[2] A. Moses et al., “Contribution of magnetostriction to transformer noise”,
45th International Universities Power Engineering Conference (UPEC), 2010.
[3] M. Ertl and G. Hipszki, “Fluid-structure-interactions and sound emission characteristics
of distribution transformers”, The Sixteenth International Congress on Sound and
Vibration, Krakow, July 2009.
[4] International Standard IEC 60076-10:2016 Power Transformers – Part 10:
Determination of sound levels
[5] International Standard IEC 60076-10-1:2016 Power transformers – Part 10-1:
Determination of sound levels – Application guide