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ICCEE-2022 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2320 (2022) 012017 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2320/1/012017

Research of the Loss of Power Transformer Structure

Liu Lei, Li Longfei, Chu Houguang, Zhang Fei, Jin Ming, Zhang Weining, Ge
Zhijie and Du Zhaoguang
State Grid Xinjiang Electric Power Co., Ltd. Electric Power Science Research Institute,
Wulumuqi ,830011

liulei_buaa@163.com

Abstract. This paper first introduces the research status of magnetic flux leakage and eddy
current loss of power transformer at home and abroad, and discusses the significance and
purpose of magnetic flux leakage and eddy current loss of power transformer metal
components. At the same time, for the problems encountered in the calculation process of this
paper, the corresponding solutions and the corresponding practical assumptions to simplify the
calculation are given. In this paper, COMSOL software is used to establish the mathematical
model of large power transformer and the actual three-dimensional finite element model of
transformer, and the three-dimensional leakage magnetic field of large capa city transformer is
accurately calculated. A surface impedance method based on double scalar magnetic potential
is proposed. Using this method, the leakage magnetic field of structural parts of power
transformer, such as pull plate, clamp, oil tank and so on, is analyzed and calculated The size
and distribution of magnetic and eddy current losses. The simulation results are compared with
the theoretical values to verify the validity and accuracy of the surface impedance method
based on double scalar magnetic potential in analyzing the eddy current loss of large power
transformer. Then this method is further applied to the analysis and calculation of magnetic
leakage field and eddy current loss of a 6300kVA large power transformer to analyze the
magnetic leakage field and eddy current loss of its metal components.

1. Introduction
In recent years, with the rapid development of China's electrical technology industry, power
transformer as an energy conversion device in the power transmission and transformation system, its
single capacity is very high, the voltage level also increases, the loss and heating caused by large
capacity transformer will waste a lot of electric energy. Local overheating caused by large losses in its
structural parts[1], Will make transformer part of the device deformation and even damage, resulting
in many transformers producing unusually serious high temperature, may eventually cause a large area
of power system collapse and then cause huge economic losses to the country, and then affect the safe
operation of the system[2]. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the size and distribution of
transformer leakage field, eddy current loss, and local overheating caused by it.
In the 1980s, many methods to solve the eddy current field was put forward by scholars at home
and abroad. Such as the first proposed A − V − A method. This method has the advantage of not
needing special treatment for the multi-continuous region but needs to use vector magnetic potential
A to solve the whole region. Because the models of transformers and structural components are
complex, there are too many unknowns when using this method to solve eddy current problems, and
the computer needs large memory[3]. In order to solve the above problem of method A , experts and

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ICCEE-2022 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2320 (2022) 012017 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2320/1/012017

scholars put forward A method named T −  to calculate eddy current field. The magnetic scalar
position  is used in the abnormal eddy current region, and the electric vector position T is used in
the eddy current region and the excitation source region. The advantages of T method include less
unknown quantity, easy implementation, and good stability of the solution. However, in the case that
the multi-connected region cannot be solved directly, numerical discretization errors and deletion
errors exist in this method to fill the holes surrounded by conductors through low permeability and
zero conductivity air materials[4].
In 2003, Schmidt and other foreign experts and scholars used three-dimensional finite element
analysis to calculate the eddy current loss of transformer tanks with different capacities and optimized
and analyzed the structural parts such as box body to study the eddy current loss of new nonlinear
materials[5]. In 2004, some experts put forward a method to calculate the three-dimensional eddy
current field generated by magnetic flux leakage of transformers, mainly analyzing the eddy current
distribution of clamps and fuel tanks to find out the possible location of local overheating[6]. In recent
years, the use of the finite element method continues to mature and computer technology develops
rapidly. People have gradually changed from the calculation method of numerical analysis of
electromagnetic field to the application of finite element software for commercial purposes, including
the calculation of leakage magnetic field and stray loss of multidimensional transformers by Comsol,
Ansys, and MagNet. Great progress has been made in two - dimensional and three-dimensional
magnetic leakage field analysis[7].

2. Mathematical model and calculation method of eddy current loss

FIG. 1 is a typical nonlinear three-dimensional multi-connected domain eddy current problem. V1 is
the steel plate,  c is its boundary, the steel plate may have holes in it. Artificially selected air zone V3
surrounds the source current zone V2 , V4 is the residual air region, These may include ferromagnetic
materials without regard to eddy current losses. Make  K =V4 , and J = V2 + V3 .  K . J is the interface
of K , and J . 1 is called the boundary of the first type and  2 is the boundary of the second type.
Γ2

V3
V4
V1 V2

ΓK.J
Γc

Γ1
Figure 1 Three-dimensional nonlinear eddy current problem
When the surface impedance method is calculated based on the simplified scalar magnetic potential [8],
all regions except the steel plate can be treated as state variables with simplified scalar magnetic
potential  , and the outer surface of the steel plate is treated as impedance boundary. The external
magnetic field of the steel plate can be expressed as:
H = H s −  (1)
Where, H s is the magnetic field generated by the source current.
Impedance boundary conditions are as follows:
  
Z 0t2 − Z 0t H s = j0  − H snc  (2)
 nc 
Where, Z 0 is the surface impedance, t is the tangential unit vector of the steel plate surface, nc is the

2
ICCEE-2022 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2320 (2022) 012017 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2320/1/012017

normal unit vector of the steel plate surface, and  t is the Laplacian operator used for calculation on
the surface.
To solve the nonlinearity of the magnetic properties of steel plates, a surface impedance method
based on double scalar magnetic potential can be used. When calculating the air region around the
steel plate, the full scalar magnetic potential  is taken as the state variable, and when calculating the
air region where the source current coil is located, the simplified scalar magnetic potential  is taken
as the state variable. The magnetic field of the full scalar magnetic potential region can be expressed
as:
H = − (3)
When the simplified scalar magnetic potential region is used, the magnetic field can still be
represented by Formula (1), and the impedance boundary conditions obtained are:
  2  2  
Z 0  2 + 2  = j (4)
 t1 t2  nc
The equations of the two scalar magnetic potentials as weighted allowances are as follows:
Z0
k Ni  d  + J 0Ni  d  + j c t Ni  d  = −K .J Ni 0 H sn d  (5)

With the aid of the above equation and surface impedance Z 0 , and using the Poynting theorem, the
eddy current losses of each structural part of the transformer can be calculated.

3. Study on the loss of transformer structural parts

In this paper, Comsol simulation software is used to model a three-phase large transformer with a
capacity of 6300MVA. The external dimension of the transformer is 5600mm×2000mm×2700mm,
and its structure is complex, including a pull plate, clamp, oil tank, lung lobe shield, and other
structural parts. In addition, the calculation time will be very long and occupy in the overall simulation
calculation of the THREE-DIMENSIONAL transformer. Therefore, to facilitate the simulation
calculation, In this paper, some components which have little influence on the distribution of
transformer leakage field are omitted in the construction of the transformer model. Finally, part of the
3D power transformer model built in this paper is shown in Figure 2.

Fuel tank

Clamp

Pulling plate
Core

Lung block Winding

Figure 2. A part of transformer model

3.1. Analysis of magnetic leakage and eddy current loss of clamp

The magnetic density distribution of clamps with or without shielding obtained through simulation
calculation is shown in Figures 3 and 4. The eddy current density distribution of the clip is shown in
FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. The figure shows that clip of flux density and eddy current loss distribution is very
uneven, clip pieces of flux density and eddy current is mainly concentrated in the clip a corresponding
winding at the top of the edge and bottom edge position, and the edges of the flux density and eddy
current loss than on the edge of the larger, and the up and down in the clip part away from the side of

3
ICCEE-2022 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2320 (2022) 012017 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2320/1/012017

the winding, the flux density and eddy current loss are much smaller, so, Most eddy current losses are
concentrated in a very small area. If no measures are taken, the temperature in this area may rise too
high and local overheating may occur. The eddy current loss of the clip without shielding is 22.34kW
obtained by the frequency domain solver.

Figure 3. Magnetic density of clip Figure 4. The magnetic density of clamp

without shielding after shielding

Figure 5. Eddy current density of clamp Figure 6. Eddy current density of clamp
after shielding

3.2. Analysis of magnetic leakage and eddy current loss of drawplate

The drawing plate is between the core and the winding, which can stabilize the core and bear the
tension. Because the pull-plate is located in the region of high magnetic leakage, high eddy current
loss will occur, resulting in high-temperature rise. Therefore, designers need to calculate transformer
stray loss accurately when the size of the core-drawn plate changes. Accurate evaluation of local
overheating is of great significance to the research of coil insulation and mechanical characteristics of
transformers. The magnetic flux leakage density of the drawn plate obtained through simulation
calculation is shown in Figure 7 and Figure 8, and the eddy current density of the drawn plate is shown
in Figure 9 and Figure 10.

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ICCEE-2022 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2320 (2022) 012017 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2320/1/012017

Figure 7 Magnetic density of pull plateFig Figure 8. The magnetic density of pulling
plate after shielding

Figure 9. Eddy current density of pull plate Figure 10. Eddy current density of pull
plate after shielding

3.3. Analysis of leakage magnetic field and eddy current loss of oil tank
The size and distribution of tank wall magnetic flux leakage obtained by finite element simulation
calculation are shown in Figure 11 and Figure 12, and the size and distribution of tank wall eddy
current density are shown in Figure 13 and Figure 14.

Figure 11. Magnetic density of inner Figure 12. The magnetic density of the left
rear wall of the oil tank wall inside the oil tank

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ICCEE-2022 IOP Publishing
Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2320 (2022) 012017 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2320/1/012017

Figure 13. Eddy current density of inner Figure 14. Eddy current density of the
rear wall of the oil tank inner left wall of the oil tank
As can be seen from the graph, the size of the transformer oil tank wall leakage and eddy current
distribution is very uneven, and the tank wall of magnetic flux leakage and eddy current have focused
on and corresponds to the location of the on both ends of the winding, and when the construction of
the model, the transformer core and winding inside the fuel tank when close to the tank of the left wall,
lead to the left wall tank be winding magnetic flux leakage in the path of the main circulation on the
fuel tank, The magnetic leakage and eddy current loss of the inner left wall are very high. In this way,
most of the eddy current losses are concentrated in the left and rear walls of the very small area, it is
easy to appear that the temperature in this area is too high, a local overheating phenomenon.

4. Conclusion
This paper takes a three-phase three-column transformer SFSZ11-6300kVA/110 as the main research
object. Based on its actual size, a 3D model is established, and Comsol finite element simulation
analysis software is used to simulate and analyze the magnetic leakage field and eddy current loss
generated by the power transformer. By comparing and analyzing the size and distribution of magnetic
leakage field and eddy current loss on each metal structure, the following conclusions are drawn:
(1) Internal leakage magnetic field distribution of large power transformer is very uneven, and the
leakage magnetic field is mainly distributed in the operation of the transformer winding, and in the
middle of the winding of leakage magnetic field in the area of distribution, mainly axial magnetic field
lines bend degree is small, but at the end of winding near the various structures of suffered serious
bend, make the parts of the axial magnetic flux leakage increase greatly. That is, the strong magnetic
flux leakage and eddy current density of the clamp and the drawplate appear at the upper and lower
end corresponding to the transformer winding, and the strong magnetic flux leakage of the transformer
oil tank also appears at the end of the winding and close to the left wall of the winding.
(2) The metal structure on the transformer leakage magnetic field distribution and the eddy current
loss calculation results after the study, to reduce the eddy current loss of all structures take reasonable
measures of local overheating and curb, sheets and adopts a lung to shape magnetic shielding, by
comparing before and after the block the size of the magnetic flux leakage and the calculation of eddy
current loss, It is concluded that eddy current loss can be effectively reduced by shielding, while the
oil tank is cut off by opening the flow path of magnetic leakage field to reduce the eddy current loss.

5. References
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Field Calculation and Local Overheating Prevention Technology of Ultra-High Voltage And
Extra-Large Capacity Transformer [J]. Transformer, 2009,46 (9) : 1-5.
[2] Zhanhai Song, Yifang Wang, Shuai Mou, et al. Tank losses and magnetic shunts in a three
phase power transformer[C]. International Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems
(ICEMS), 2011, 1-4.
[3] Biro O, Preis K, Reinhart W et al. Performance of different vector potential formulations in

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Journal of Physics: Conference Series 2320 (2022) 012017 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/2320/1/012017

solving multiply connected 3-D eddy current problem[J]. IEEE Transactions on Magnetics,
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[4] Kameari A. Three-dimensional eddy current calculation using finite element method with A-V
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[5] Schmidt E, Hamberger P, Seitlinger W. Finite element calculation of eddy current losses in the
tank wall of power transformers[C]. Electric Machines and Drives Conference, 2003: 1167-
1173.
[6] Schmidt E, Hamberger P. Design optimization of power transformers, part 2-eddy current
analyses for tank wall and core clamping parts[C]. International Conference on Power
System Technology, 2004: 1375-1380.
[7] Kang Yahua. Calculation and analysis of eddy current Loss and temperature rise of power
transformer [D]. Shenyang University of Technology,2007.
[8] Holland S.,O'Connell G.P.,Haydock L. Calculating stray losses in power transformers using
surface impedance with finite elements[J]. IEEE Trans.Magn,1992,28(2) ：1355-1358.
[9] Zhang Liangxian, Chen Musheng, Yu Jian, et al. Eddy Current Loss Calculation and Shielding
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Acknowledge
This research was supported by the science and technology project of State Grid Corporation
(SGXJDK00PJJS2100096).