Resistive losses of a winding

The DC-resistance of a winding can be calculated from the

dimensions of the conductor
N lturn
Rcoil =
γ c Ac

where γc is the electrical conductivity,

N is the number of turns,
lturn is the average length of a turn and
Ac is the cross-sectional area of the conductor.

The conductivity of copper is γ20 = 58.5·106 1/Ωm at 20 ºC. It

depends significantly on the temperature.
 Thermal dependence of resistance

The electrical conductivity of copper at other temperatures

can be calculated from equation

235 o C + 20 o C
γ cu (T ) = o
γ 20
235 C + T

where the temperature T has to be expressed in ºC.

 Thermal dependence of resistivity
4.5E-08

4.0E-08

3.5E-08
Resistivity [Ohm m]

3.0E-08

2.5E-08

2.0E-08

1.5E-08

1.0E-08

5.0E-09

0.0E+00
0 25 50 75 100 125 150
Temperature [C]

Cu Al
 Skin effect and AC resistance

[Link]
 AC resistance and DC resistance
Skin effect modifies the current distribution in a conductor
and affects its effective resistance Rac,

2 1
J 2 dV
γ V∫
=P R=
ac I
c
y

lσ

hc
hjohdin J = f( y)

y
x
z

bc
bjohdin J
Skin effect in a rotor bar
 Skin Effect

• Eddy currents are induced inside the

main conductor due to main AC current.
This causes current redistribution.

7
Current Density Distribution For
3.3mm diameter wire 1m
thickness

8
Fields in Winding in a Core

9
Effective AC Resistance

Wire

Core x
H
J

10
10kHz EI core FE results for the Current
Density Distribution for 3.3mm round
conductors

11
 Skin effect – Conductor in a slot
lσ

Line integral around a surface Φ

element dA = lσ dy
hc
hjohdin dy
 ∂H 
∫ H ⋅ ds= H lσ −  H + ∂y dy  lσ
y
x
z

= I=tot Jbcdy bc
bjohdin

∂H bc J
=
> − =
∂y lσ

From Maxwell’s equation

∂B ∂H ∂E ∂H
∇× E = − = − µ0 => = − µ0
∂t ∂t ∂y ∂t
 Skin effect – Conductor in a slot
The inverse of α (1 / m) is called penetration depth and
α (1 / m) can be computed as
bc
α = ω µ0 γ
2 lσ

It defines a dimensionless number ξ

ξ = α hc

The resistive loss

bc lc hc 2
ˆj
PAC =
2γ ∫
0
dy

Where lc is the axial length of the slot.

 Skin effect – Conductor in a slot
Equation for the dc loss

lc iˆ 2
PDC =
γ bc hc 2

Resistance ratio (ratio of the ac and dc resistive loss when

the total current is kept constant)
RAC PAC bc2 hc hc 2
ˆj
kR
= = =
RDC PDC iˆ 2
∫0
dy

Eddy factor

RAC − RDC
keddy
= = kR − 1
RDC
 Proximity Effect

Conductor 1 Conductor 2

i -i i
o x o

Core h Current
Density

H H H H
i ii ii ii
o xo xo xo
δ δ δ
Layer 1 2 3 4
no. μc>>μo

15
Total Losses in This Case

Core h
H H H H
i ii ii ii
o xo xo xo

Layer 1 2 3 4
no. μc>>μo

16
 Numerical modelling of eddy currents
Air gap

Magnetic flux at the air-gap region Temperature rise associated

at one instant of time with the resistive losses
 Skin effect in many conductor windings
b1 δ b2
Definitions
lσ hcoil + 2δ ins
= n1 n2
bcu2

n1 hcu1
α = ω µ0 γ hcoil
hkää mi Φσ
2 lσ hcu1 bcu1 ...
hcu2

2
The normalised conductor
heights for the two windings are m1 m2 ... 2 1

ξ1 = α bcu
 Contd.

This gives a resistance ratio

m2 − 0.2 4
kR ≈ 1 + ξ , when 0 ≤ ξ ≤ 1
9
The resistance ratio for circular conductors (wires) is
m2 − 0, 2 4
kR ≈ 1 + 0.59 ξ
9
 Critical conductor height
2,5
When the height of the
1 ,0
conductor is increased,
the dc resistance 2,0
decreases but the 0 ,8 kR = f (
bcu
)
resistance ratio kR hcu

increases. There is an 1,5

R kR,kriit
optimal height at about 0 ,6 kR
Rbase
kR = 1.33, which gives
the minimum ac loss. 0 ,4
1,0

bcu
R AC= f ( )
hcu
0 ,2 0,5
bcu
RDC= f ( )
hcu

0,2 0,4 0,6 0,8 1,0 1 ,2 1,4

bcu
hcu
 Eddy current and circulating current
The eddy-current loss can be
reduced by dividing the
conductor into several thin
strands, which are connected
in parallel. However, the
strands see somewhat
different flux linkages
because of the leakage flux.
This induces slightly different
electromotive forces in the
strands, and produces
circulating currents flowing
between the strands.

The strands should be perfectly transposed from slot to slot to avoid

the circulating currents but this is difficult, especially, if there are tens
of parallel strands. In some special cases, like high-speed machines,
this effect may double the resistive loss.
 Circulating currents

Strand currents measured from a high-speed motor and presented

as phasors on complex plane. Without the circulating currents, all
the strands would have an equal current and this would give a much
smaller resistive loss than the distribution on the figure.
Lähteenmäki J., 2002, Design and voltage supply of high-speed induction machines. Dissertations of
Helsinki University of Technology. Available at [Link]
 Eddy current and circulating current

In form-wound windings, the

conductors can be transposed
systematically. The
transposition of a transformer
winding is shown to the right.

The transposition of an
electrical machine winding is
done at the end winding or in a
slot as for the Röbel-bar of a
large synchronous machine
shown below.
 Assignment 1

Design 3 phase winding Ns = 48, Np = 4. One layer concentric

winding.
a) Draw the base winding of the one-layer concentric winding.
b) Draw the total magnetomotive force produced by all the
sinusoidal phase currents at a time instant when one of the
phase currents has its peak value.

•c) Define the winding factors of the harmonic waves v= 1, 3

and 5 by drawings
 Assignment 2

Design a three-phase wye-connected (Y) winding for a four-pole (p

= 2) squirrel-cage motor when the number of slots per phase per
pole is q = 4, short pitching by 2 slot, and the winding is a two layer
diamond winding.
a) Draw the base winding of the two-layer diamond winding.
b) Draw the total magnetomotive force produced by all the
sinusoidal phase currents at a time instant when one of the
phase currents has its peak value.

•c) Define the winding factors of the harmonic waves v= 1, 3

and 5 by drawings