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Finite Element Analysis of Internal Winding Faults in Distribution Transformers

H. Wang, Student Member, IEEE and K. L. Butler, Member, IEEE
AbstractWith the appearance of deregulation, distribution transformer predictive maintenance is becoming more important for utilities to prevent forced outages with the consequential costs. To detect and diagnose a transformer internal fault requires a transformer model to simulate these faults. This paper presents finite element analysis of internal winding faults in a distribution transformer. The transformer with a turn-to-earth fault or a turn-to-turn fault is modeled using coupled electromagnetic and structural finite elements. The terminal behaviors of the transformer are studied by an indirect coupling of the finite element method and circuit simulation. The procedure was realized using a commercially available software. The normal case and various faulty cases were simulated and the terminal behaviors of the transformer were studied and compared with field experimental results. The comparison results validate the finite element model to simulate internal faults in a distribution transformer. Index TermsDistribution transformer, finite element analysis, internal winding fault, modeling.

I. INTRODUCTION RANSFORMERS are essential and important elements of power systems. On-line condition monitoring of transformers can provide early warning of electrical failure and could prevent catastrophic losses. However, the implementations of the existing monitoring methods [1][4] tend to cost too much to be applied to distribution transformers. A study of the records of modern transformer breakdowns which occur over a period of years shows that between 7080% of the number of failures are finally caused by short-circuits between turns [5]. Therefore, an on-going project at Texas A&M University Power Systems Automation Lab is to develop a low-cost, on-line internal winding fault detection method for distribution transformers that utilizes the terminal behaviors of the transformer. To make an accurate diagnostic decision, transformer internal winding faults must be characterized by analyzing quantities of data, which could be generated through computer simulation or field experiments. Considering the safety of personnel, the damage that will occur in the transformer, the consuming time, and related cost, simulation involving the modeling of transformers with internal short circuit faults is the most economical and convenient way to provide data for analysis. Various transformer models have been developed for the study of transformers in the past [6], [7]. However, most models are of normal transformers or transformers with an external
Manuscript received October 12, 1999. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation through Grant ECS-9522208. The authors are with Texas A&M University, Power Systems Automation Lab, College Station, TX 77843-3128. Publisher Item Identifier S 0885-8977(01)04682-9.

fault. For a transformer with an internal fault, the distribution of the magnetic flux is fundamentally altered [8]. Thus it is difficult to find a suitable way to model the transformer in that condition. Reference [9] presented a linear model for power transformer with an internal short circuit fault. The algorithm was adapted to distribution transformers, but comparison results showed the models were not very accurate [10], [11]. Therefore, we investigated modeling distribution transformer with internal short circuit faults using finite element analysis. Finite element analysis (FEA) techniques are useful to obtain an accurate characterization of the electromagnetic behavior of the magnetic components, such as transformers. Once a model of the magnetic component is defined, the values of its parameters can be calculated using the FEA techniques. Finite element analysis has typically been coupled to circuit simulation using time-stepped field solutions. This approach can be very accurate, but it involves long simulation times. Modeling the coupling between the nonlinear magnetic components and electric circuits is important in order to predict the performance characteristics of a transformer with an internal fault. FEA can provide the high accuracy to model the nonlinear parts. Therefore, the use of the finite element method in modeling a short circuit fault in a transformer provides a significant advance in the degree of accuracy. In this paper, finite element analysis is applied to calculate the parameters for an equivalent circuit of the transformer with an internal short circuit fault using ANSOFTs Maxwell Software [12]. The embedded Maxwell Spice is used to simulate a test system to study the terminal behaviors of the faulty transformer model generated from the Maxwell Software. In Section II, the fundamental principles of the faulty transformer modeling using finite element analysis is briefly discussed. Then the detail modeling procedure is introduced in Section III. In Section IV, some simulation results are discussed and compared with the experimental results. The conclusions are given in Section V. II. PRINCIPLES A. Electromagnetic Field in Transformers The electromagnetic fields inside the transformer are governed by the following nonlinear differential equation [13]: (1) where magnetic vector potential (mvp); electrical conductivity;

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power frequency; permeability. On the right side of the equation, the first term, , represents , represents the source current density; the second term, , is the disthe induced current density and the third term, placement current density. When an internal fault occurs, the distribution of the magnetic flux is fundamentally altered. The winding across which the internal fault occurs is divided into two parts: the short-circuited part and the remaining coils in the circuit. The entire core flux corresponding to the voltage maintained across the terminals of the winding again passes as leakage flux between the two parts of winding, but mainly in a radial direction. The leakage field produced by an internal fault causes a large current flowing in the shorted turns. Although the electromagnetic field is changing greatly, it still satisfies (1). Thus solving the electromagnetic field in a faulty transformer is reduced to solving the partial differential equation in (1). B. Finite Element Method The finite element method is a numerical technique for obtaining approximation solutions to boundary value problems of mathematical physics. Especially it has become a very important tool to solve electromagnetic problems because of its ability to model geometrically and compositionally complex problems. The potential distribution which satisfies the differential equation in (1), subject to proper boundary conditions, will also minimize the stored energy in the field and vice versa [13]. Therefore one practical approach for solving the field problem is to approximate and minimize the stored energy in the field. To construct an approximate solution by finite element analysis, the complicated field region is discretized into a number of uniform or nonuniform finite elements that are connected via nodes. The potential within each element is approximated by an interpolation function. Thereafter the potential distribution in the various elements is interrelated to constrain the potential to be continuous across interelement boundaries. The total energy is the sum of the individual element energies. Then, the total stored energy is minimized. The results of this minimization can be reformulated into a . In this equation, matrix equation of the form is the complex global matrix whose coefficients are functions of the geometry of the region considered, material properties, boundary conditions and angular frequencies. is the current vector. The nonlinear matrix equation can be iteratively solved to get the potential distribution in the field. Using finite element to solve problems involves three stages [14]. The first consists of meshing the problem space into contiguous elements of suitable geometry and assigning appropriate values of the material parametersconductivity, permeability and permittivityto each element. Secondly, the model has to be excited, so that the initial conditions are set up. Finally, the boundary conditions for the problem have to be specified. The values of the potentials are suitably constrained at the limits of the problem space. The finite element method has the advantage of geometrical flexibility. It is possible to include a greater density of elements in regions where fields and geometry vary rapidly.

Fig. 1. Normal transformer diagram.

There are two different approaches to couple finite element models with circuit equations [15]. One is direct coupling and the other is indirect coupling. In direct coupling, the circuit equations are directly incorporated into the field calculation and solved simultaneously. In indirect coupling, the field calculation is performed by a free standing program, while circuit simulation and coupling between field and circuit models are handled in a separate program. ANSOFTs Maxwell Software adopted the indirect coupling method. In this approach, the behaviors of a magnetic component can be characterized by a model and the parameters of the model can be calculated using FEA tool. Then the model can be utilized in circuit simulation. This approach can create a lookup table to model the device in all its possible states (using interpolation between states). Then the circuit simulation can model any nonlinear effects using the information in the table. III. TRANSFORMER MODELS USING FEA A. Transformer Parameters Simulations were carried out based on a custom-built 25 kVA, 60 Hz, single-phase, shell-form transformer. The design data were as follows: The rated voltage ratio is 7200 V/240 V/120 V. Normal impedance: 1.75%; normal reactance: 1.62%. Turns ratio is 780/26; two coils on the secondary winding are connected in series; each subwinding has 13 turns. The primary winding is made of copper; the secondary subwindings are made of aluminum. The geometry information is shown in Fig. 1; the depth of the transformer is 6.85. B. Normal Transformer Model The 2D Magnetostatic solver in the Maxwell package was used to compute the mutual and leakage inductance of the transformer and export an equivalent circuit in the format of SPICE or SABER subcircuits. The resulting circuit models can be used in ANSOFTs Maxwell SPICE or Analogys Saber simulator [16]. The normal transformer illustrated in Fig. 1 was modeled in the solver. The primary winding and the secondary windings are represented by rectangles of corresponding materials. Since any object with a permeability 1 in a magnetic model does not need to be modeled, the insulation between the turns and layers can be ignored completely. The core is represented by a

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(a)

(b)

Fig. 3. Transformer model to simulate an internal fault. (a) Turn-to-earth fault. (b) Turn-to-turn fault.

Fig. 2. The flux plot for a normal transformer.

rectangle with two windows. The nonlinear characteristics of the core was input manually into the solver and assigned to the core. Each boundary condition has a different effect on the fields and conduction currents in the model. Balloon boundary was adopted in the simulation. Balloon boundaries model the region outside the drawing space as being nearly infinitely large; thus it can effectively isolate the model from other voltage sources. Currents in the windings were assigned using the data from the open-circuit test. To simulate the serial connection of the two secondary subwindings, half of the ampere turns for the secondary winding was assigned on each half of the secondary winding in all of the simulations. To evaluate performance and extract parameters under various faulty conditions, the Maxwell 2D Magnetostatic Solver must perform various field simulations with different input sources. Therefore the parametric analysis module in the solver was utilized. This module can simulate design variations using a single model, the nominal model, instead of having to explicitly set up and solve a series of models. The parametric model consists of a series of variations on the nominal model. In it, the design variable, the input source, is assigned the specified values by setting up the parametric sweep. To obtain a parametric solution, the nominal solution was computed first based on the given geometrical, material, excitation information and the executive parameters. Then the field and parameters were computed for each variant on the nominal model. The flux plot for a normal transformer under fully loaded conditions is shown in Fig. 2. In the figure, the lines circulating around the windings represent the leakage flux in Webers. It can be seen that the flux lines pass vertically between the windings without being distorted. C. Faulty Transformer Model When an internal fault occurs, the situation is more complex. Essentially, the short-circuit impedance (mainly the leakage inductance) totally changes for a mid-winding fault. In order to model this using FEA, the exact ampere-turns distribution for the primary and secondary windings should be represented in the model and the exact physical location where the fault occurs should be known. When an internal fault is on the primary or secondary winding, the fault winding is divided into two subcoils a and b (turn-to-earth fault) or three subcoils a, b and c (turn-to-turn fault). Since the subcoil with the maximum

Fig. 4. Flux plot for the model to simulate three subcoils for a turn-to-turn fault between 364th and the 392nd turns on the primary winding.

number of turns contributes more in the magnetic field, the current source is input into that subcoil and all the other coils are open-circuit. The solver can calculate the mutual and leakage inductance between the coils and export the SPICE subcircuit of the transformer as a multi-port network. For instance, to simulate a turn-to-earth fault on the primary winding, the transformer is modeled as shown in the Fig. 3(a). The primary winding is divided into two subcoils, a and b. Since subcoil b in this figure represents more turns, the current source was injected into subcoil b. The transformer model to simulate a turn-to-turn fault between two turns on the primary winding can be represented as shown in Fig. 3(b). The primary winding is divided into three coils, a, b and c. Since subcoil c in this figure represents more turns, subcoil c will be energized by a current source. To simulate a turn-to-turn fault between 364th and 392nd turns on the primary winding, the primary winding was divided into three subcoils, a, b, and c. Fig. 4 shows the flux distribution in this case. It can be seen that the flux lines are much different that the flux pattern in Fig. 2. There is a large radial component of leakage flux in the vicinity of the shorted turns. D. Export Equivalent Circuits In post-processing, the calculated parameters can be exported into a Spice or Saber subcircuit. Based on the data tables and inductance files from Magnetostatic solutions created in the Maxwell 2D field simulator, four model types, i.e., matrix, linear motion, rotational motion, and transformer, can be generated [16]. For this work, the transformer model type was selected. The circuit equivalent models nonlinear mutual inductance with a leakage inductance branch for each coil evaluated

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(a)

(b)

Fig. 6. Simulation systems in Maxwell Spice. (a) Turn-to-earth fault. (b) Turn-to-turn fault.

Fig. 5. Equivalent circuit to simulate the fault between the 364th and the 392nd turns on the primary winding.

at each time step. The level of input current determines the mutual inductance at a given time step and the resulting back Emf depends on both of these variables. The resistance of each winding can be input into the model manually. In all of the solutions, the solver assumes a dimension of 1 meter for depth. Thus, the actual depth of the transformer was included in the equivalent circuit by multiplying the depth by the calculated parameters. Fig. 5 is the equivalent circuit derived from the finite element analysis to simulate a turn-to-turn fault on the primary winding. The terminal 1 and 2 represent the two ends of the subcoil a. Other terminals have similar representations as shown in the figure. VSRC, a PWL (piece-wise linear) dependent source, is used to model nonlinear behavior of the core using simple table lookup and linear interpolation. Ecx, a voltage-controlled voltage source, represents the effect of the leakage and mutual inductance of the coils. Lx represents the linear inductance of coil x. Fx is a current-controlled current source. Em is a voltage-controlled voltage source. The nonlinear inductances of the coil were simulated with the linear counterpart, Lx, by changing of variables implemented with the nonlinear dependent source Em and Fx. Rm and Lm are the linear resistance and inductance of the magnetizing branch. They were synthesized with the nonlinear dependent sources Hm and Gm to implement the nonlinear magnetizing branch. The equivalent circuit derived from the finite element analysis is displayed as a black-box with a set of interface terminals. For each fault case, the same procedure is performed to get the corresponding equivalent circuit. The internal faults were simulated by shorting the two terminals or connecting one terminal to the ground. IV. SIMULATION AND RESULTS A. Simulation System Four fault types were studied: turn-to-earth fault on the primary side, turn-to-earth fault on the secondary side, turn-to-turn fault on the primary winding, and turn-to-turn fault on the secondary winding. The simulation system used to study a turn-to-earth fault and a turn-to-turn fault on the primary winding are shown in Fig. 6(a) and (b), respectively. In Fig. 6(a) and (b), Vs is an ideal

sinusoidal source with a RMS value of approximately 7200 V. T1 is the Maxwell Spice subcircuit similar to the circuit shown in Fig. 5. For a turn-to-earth fault on the primary winding, T1 has four two-ports, which represent the two subcoils of the primary winding and two secondary subwindings, respectively. The numbers 1 to 8 represent the terminal nodes as shown in Fig. 5. For a turn-to-turn fault on the primary winding, T1 has five two-ports as shown in Fig. 6(b), which represent the three subcoils of the primary winding and two secondary subwindings. R is a pure resistive rated load with a value of 2.304 . S is a time-controlled switch, with an open-resistance of 1 G and a close-resistance of 0.08 . The closing of the switch initiates an internal fault. In all the simulations, the time step was 10 s. B. Simulation Results Based on the simulation system in Fig. 6, the normal case and some typical fault cases were simulated. For a normal transformer model, the rms values of the terminal voltages and currents from the simulation and the calculated expected results were almost equal. Since the source is an ideal sinusoidal source, the value of the primary voltage is approximately the same. Because of the pure resistive load, the secondary current and secondary voltage have similar behavior. For those reasons, we only focus on the primary current, secondary current and circulating current flow in the shorted turns in our discussion in this paper. When an internal fault occurs on the primary winding, whether it is a turn-to-earth fault or a turn-to-turn fault, the primary current will increase and the secondary current does not change much. A very big circulating current will flow in the shorted turns. Fig. 7 presents a primary-fault example. Fig. 7(a)(c) show the primary current, secondary current, and circulating current in the shorted turns respectively, when 364th and 392nd turns on the primary winding were short-circuited. The turn-to-turn fault was injected at 1.00 second. Because our work focuses on the low-frequency study of the internal faults, the parasitic capacitances in the transformer were not considered, therefore no apparent transients appear in the simulation. Fig. 8(a)(c) show the primary current, secondary current, and circulating current when 3 turns on the secondary winding were short circuited. The turn-to-turn fault was introduced at 1.00 seconds. The simulation results show that a secondary winding fault will cause the primary current to rise, the secondary current to decrease and a very large circulating current.

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(a) (a)

(b)

(b)

(c) (c) Fig. 7. Turn-to-turn fault between 364th and 392nd turns on the primary. (a) Primary current. (b) Secondary current. (c) Circulating current. Fig. 8. Turn-to-turn fault between 10th and 13th on the secondary. (a) Primary current. (b) Secondary current. (c) Circulating current.

Since only three turns was shorted in this case, the secondary current decreased less than 8%. When the internal fault is on the primary winding or on the secondary winding, the primary current has similar characteristics. It increases in both situations. However, the secondary behaviors are different. If the fault occurs on the primary winding, the secondary current does not change very much. If the fault is on the secondary winding, the secondary current decreases. The circulating currents flowing in the shorted turns are very large in all fault situations. C. Comparison with Experimental Results Based on the same simulation test system, field experiments were performed at Texas A&M University Downed Conductor Test Facility to verify the simulation results [17]. The custombuilt transformer was equipped with various taps placed on both windings so that internal faults could be performed by connecting two taps or connecting a tap to ground. A 7200 V supply tapped off a 12 470 V line-to-line, Wye-connected, three-phase distribution line was connected to the primary winding through a fuse and an oil switch. Considering the excessive and dangerous

levels of the circulating current, the turns were shorted through a fuse. The currents and voltages on both the primary and the secondary sides were monitored in addition to circulating current. The comparisons between the simulation results and field test results are listed in Table I. Since the experiments were performed on different days and time, the supply voltage was slightly different for each experiment. In the corresponding simulation, the source voltage was changed to match the supply voltage in the experiment. In the table, P or S represents the fault is on the primary winding or on the secondary winding. The number 0 represents the ground. Thus P0_15 represents a turn-to-earth case where the 15th turn on the primary winding was connected to earth and P337_364 represents a turn-to-turn case where the 337th and the 364th turns on the primary winding are connected together. are primary and No. is the number of the shorted turns. , secondary voltages respectively and , are primary and secondary currents respectively; represents the circulating current. All the values are peak values. For the terminal voltages and currents, the difference between the simulation and the field test is pretty small. For the circulating current, the results from the simulation and field tests are in the same magnitude level. The comparison results show that in most cases the transformer

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TABLE I RESULTS COMPARISONS

model compared to the complex configuration of a real transformer. When the faults are at the ends of the winding, such as the case P0_15 and P752_772, the accuracy of the model may be decreased. V. CONCLUSION In this paper, a method to study the internal short circuit winding faults of a distribution transformer using finite element analysis is presented. Based on the physical information of the transformer, the finite element model for a normal transformer or a transformer with an internal fault was implemented by commercially available software. The resulting circuit model was exported and used in a circuit analysis package to study the terminal behaviors of the transformer. Experimental results from previous work were used for comparison. From the observations of the simulation and experimental results we see that the FEA transformer model can provide an accurate estimation of the terminal values of an internal winding fault for a distribution transformer. When an internal fault occurs, the leakage flux of the transformer enlarges. If the fault is on the primary winding, the secondary voltage and current dont change. Primary current increases and the current flowing in the shorted turns is very large. If the fault is on the secondary winding, the secondary voltage and current decreases and the primary current increases. The terminal values in the simulations and the experimental results were compared. The comparison results validated the finite element model for simulation of internal faults in distribution transformers. In future work, a similar procedure will be applied to model and study incipient internal winding faults. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The authors would like to thank P. Palmer-Buckle for providing the experimental results and ANSOFT technical support personnel, M. Christini, for his assistance. REFERENCES
[1] C. E. Lin, J. M. Ling, and C. L. Huang, Expert system for transformer fault diagnosis using dissolved gas analysis, IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 231238, Jan. 1993. [2] W. Yue, H. Zhuxiao, and Z. JiaXiang, Expediting cellulose insulation aging evaluation and life prediction thorough degree of polymerization measurements, Properties and Applications of Dielectric Materials, pp. 328331, 1988. [3] A. Noro, K. Nakamura, T. Watanabe, and T. Morita, Acoustic-based real-time partial discharge location in model transformer, in Proceedings ICSPAT94, pp. 10771082. [4] J. Bak-Jensen, B. Bak-Jensen, and S. D. Mikkelsen, Detection of faults and aging phenomena in transformers by transfer functions, IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 308314, Jan. 1995. [5] S. A. Stigant and A. C. Franlin, The J&P Transformer Bool: A Practical Technology of the Power Transformer, 10th ed, New York: Wiley, 1973. [6] D. J. Greene, Nonlinear modeling of transformers, IEEE Trans. on Industry Applications, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 434438, May/June 1988. [7] A. Morched, L. Marti, and J. Ottenvangers, A high frequency transformers model for the EMTP, IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 16151626, July 1993. [8] E. Billig, Electrical and mechanical effects of internal faults in transformers,, E.R.A. report. Ref. Q/T103, 1944. [9] P. Bastard, P. Bertrand, and M. Meunier, A transformer model for winding fault studies, IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 690699, 1994.

model for an internal fault using finite element analysis provides a pretty accurate representation of the actual behavior. However, it is noted that the errors for primary current and circulating current in the cases of P0_15 and P752_772 were larger than 10%. The big errors may be caused by the following two reasons. First, in the experiments, the turn-to-turn or turn to earth faults were initiated by closing the switch. The instant contact resistance of the switch was dependent on many factors, such as the speed and the force of closing the switch. In the simulation, the resistance is assumed to be a small constant but it is actually larger in the experiments. Hence, this might cause errors in the peak value between the experiments and simulation. Second, the 2D transformer FEA model is still a simplified