Winding Modelling Including Eddy Currents and Capacitances

Dr.-Ing. Meinolf Klocke, University of Dortmund, Chair of Electrical Drives and Mechatronics
(held by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr.-Ing. S. Kulig), Germany

Abstract
The present paper discusses two crucial points of winding modelling in electromagnetic devices, one given by
correct eddy-current computation depending on turn arrangement and network topology of the winding, the other
by the role of displacement currents in the quasi-static approach. As an example, a cylindrical magnetizer coil is
investigated for low frequency sinusoidal excitation and in a transient operation mode including a sudden interrupt of the supply circuit.

Introduction

Electromagnetic devices can be distinguished by the

frequency range and time scale they are operated at.
Depending thereon, different physical effects have to
be accounted for when analysing such devices by
means of numerical field computation.
One important point is the distribution of the current
density. The shape of current density inhomogenities
caused by skin effect strongly depends on the winding
structure. Appropriate modelling techniques and formulations for different types of windings such as
stranded conductors, foil windings and massive conductors are nowadays even available for 3D-FEM
computations [1], where a representation of each single turn would lead to a prohibitive number of unknowns. However, modelling of single turns is feasible in the axisymmetric case and can be used to compare different approaches of winding representation.
A further point to be discussed is the role of the displacement current, which is commonly considered
negligible in the low frequency regime. This assumption forces conductive current to be continuous and
disallows any accumulation of free charge, neither
volumetric nor surface-bound. In [2] and [3] it is
pointed out that for the sake of physical consistency,
i.e. here charge conservation, only the rotational part
of the displacement current could be neglected in a
quasi-static approach leaving its source part still under
consideration. In [4] the influence of geometric details
like thin sheets or pointed tips is mentioned, which
according to [5] might lead to a local invalidity of the
eddy-current approximation.
In the more general transient analysis, voltage surges
might additionally corrupt the convenient quais-static
eddy-current approach. However, in those fields of
electrical engineering, where network models are
dominant, the commonly accepted approach for dealing with such effects is to introduce equivalent lumped

capacitances, see e.g. [6], [7] and [8]. Therefore, cumulating displacement currents in external capacitances appears to be a way to incorporate their effects in
axisymmetric field computations, unless higher modes
of oscillation play a significant role, which would require a 3D full wave model.
In the following, a magnetizer solenoid is investigated
concerning the two mentioned problems. The data are
as follows: Number of turns N = 100, thickness of
copper plates d = 1 mm, length of coil lz = 140 mm,
turn pitch z = 1.4 mm, i.e. 0.4 mm insulation, inner
radius ri = 50 mm, outer radius ra = 70 mm.

Coil Impedance under Different Modelling Assumptions

Table 1 shows the equivalent input resistance and inductance of the investigated coil at two frequencies
for the correct series connection modelling and a parallel connection with turn number transformed results
similar to a modelling with one united cross-section
only. The calculated inductances and resistances are
significantly different. This is in accordance to Fig 1,
where the current density distribution for the two
types of connection are shown, which also strongly
differ from each other. Accordingly, only the topologically correct winding model can be recommended for
general purposes. Whenever one is interested in the
distribution of local quantities, taking the true connection of turns into account is inevitable.
Table 1 Equivalent parameters of magnetizer coil
Series connection

Parallel (transformed)

f (Hz)

100 Hz

1 kHz

100 Hz

1 kHz

R ()

0.0568

0.1956

0.0638

0.2113

L (mH)

0.5919

0.5452

0.5611

0.5064

R/R = Rparallel / Rseries 1

+12.3 %

+8.0 %

L/L = Lparallel / Lseries 1

5.2 %

7.1 %

Fig. 1 Current density in upper coil turns at instant

of time with amplitude value of total current 1 kA,
f =100 Hz. Left hand side turns in series, right hand
side turns in parallel. Coil interior on the left.

Transient Behaviour in Case

of Switching

The axisymmetric model represents magnetic quantities averaged in the circumferential dimension. It can
be considered a longitudinal section of the helical arrangement at 180 from current inlet and outlet.
Therefore, the cumulated inter-turn capacitance between two neighbouring turns is considered to be split
into two halves. This is comparable to a equivalent
circuit of a transmission line. In the accompanying
network model these capacitances occur in parallel to
the solid conductors of the coil turns, where inlet and
outlet turn only get half the inter-turn value and all intermediate turns the full one. In contrast to multifilar
windings in [6] further mutual capacitances are negligible here owing to the Bitter coil arrangement.
The process to be simulated consists of exciting the
coil by a quasi-ideal voltage source of 2 kV with a resistance changing from infinity to zero within 50 ns at
the very beginning. After 8 s the voltage-source is
turned off by increasing the switching resistance the
same way backwards. Fig 2 shows the resulting current in winding turns at the top and in the center and at
some intermediate positions in the coil.

Fig. 2 Turn currents in magnetizer coil during excitation by ideal voltage source of 2 kV and after
switching-off voltage source. Finite difference computation with time step h = 1 ns. Inter-turn capacitance
C = 1.168 nF, ( r = 7).
The excitation interval is governed by a uniformly increasing current in all winding turns, where the subtransient oscillations at the very beginning appear to

be negligible. It is then not very different from a calculation without capacitances. In contrast the least eigenmode of the arrangement with all turn-currents in
phase but with different amplitudes is excited by
quickly interrupting the circuit, a result only achievable by taking displacement currents into account.
However, since the external lumped capacitance approach only models integral values of displacement
currents, high order eigenmodes with a strongly nonuniform electric field distribution cannot be calculated
correctly by an axisymmetric computation.

Conclusion

Two problems of winding modelling in numerical

field computation have been dealt with: The correct
calculation of current density distributions by an appropriate representation of the winding turn connectivity in the model and the approximative inclusion of
displacement current effects by external lumped capacitances.

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