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A DIGITAL ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUE

OF TRANSFORMER WINDING OSCILLATIONS
Ryszard MALEWSKI* Kazimierz DRAZBA Stefan SIERADZKI Miroslaw BORECKI
Instytut Elektrotechniki Energoserwis S.A.
Poland

Keywords: HV transformer, equivalent circuit, winding response, transfer function, digital recording, signal processing

Introduction [15], Fergestad [16], Margolis [17], Degeneff [18], van

Many transformer repair facilities in Europe and in Nuys [19], Okuyama [20] mark milestones in the route of
America expand their activity to design and manufacture of development of modern transformer windings.
new transformers rated at medium voltage, and sometimes A concept of ‘non-oscillating winding’, first revealed
even at the transmission voltage level. These modest by Chadwick and Stearn [21], is considered the most
facilities often do not have an experienced design team remarkable achievement of this generation. Such winding is
comparable to the specialists who accumulated their composed of interleaved double-disc coils. The interleaved
knowledge working long years for large transformer turns increase the coil series capacitance by more than an
manufacturers, nor well proven programs for the order of magnitude, as compared to the ordinary double
transformer winding calculations. Nevertheless, disc coil. Although very effective in rendering the uniform
transformers made by the small repair facilities are offered transient voltage distribution, the Chadwick style
at a competitive price, and can satisfy all requirements of interleaved winding is difficult to make, since the coil
the standards and technical specifications. connections have to be cut and welded in the manufacturing
The transformer price depends on its weight, which process.
can be reduced by decreasing the core window size. This, in Partly interleaved windings can be considered a trade
turn, is determined by the winding insulation which has to off between the manufacturing cost and the winding
withstand the dielectric stress applied during the impulse behavior under transient conditions. Other styles of
test, and induced by the system generated overvoltages in interleaved winding, as well as the shield wire inserted
service. To reduce the core window height, the transient between the turns of near by coils but not connected to the
voltage distribution between the winding coils has to be as winding, are the options available to optimize the
uniform as possible. transformer design.
The transformer winding behavior under transient To evaluate a selected winding style, at first the
conditions was first calculated by Wagner eighty five years designer has to calculate the transient voltage distribution in
ago [1], and a survey of several earlier contributions was the winding. Having this information, he can derive the
presented by Abetti [2, 3]. A practical impact of these dielectric stress on the insulating system elements.
studies on the competitive design of power transformers has The paper presents a winding simulation by an
provided a strong motivation to the scientists, who were equivalent circuit, developed using a general purpose circuit
fascinated by a complexity of this problem. Among the analysis program. Results of the simulation are then
prominent contributors, such well known names as Blume checked against the transient voltage digitally recorded on
and Boyajan [4], Bewley [5], Pirenne [6], Rüdenberg [7], the untanked winding, which was excited by a low voltage
Chadwick [8], Abetti [9], McWhirter [10], Schleich [11], impulse. A verified digital model allows for an optimization
Pedersen [12], Stein [13], Heller & Veverka [14], Jayaram of the winding design.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Prof. dr hab. inz. Ryszard Malewski*. Lowicka 53 m 14, 02 535 Warszawa, Poland. E-mail: [email protected]
Transformer winding design at a modest repair facility A series resistor inserted in such circuit represents a
damping caused by the copper loss in the conductors,
The transient voltage distribution along the winding is
increased by skin and proximity effects. All these
usually calculated by specialized programs. Such programs
parameters have to be determined from the proposed
are based on a practical experience accumulated for
winding drawing.
decades of transformer design by the leading transformer
manufacturers of an established reputation. Needless to say In addition, an insulation dielectric loss has also a
that these programs are considered proprietary, as they certain contribution to the damping, and it can be simulated
provide the competitive edge in the nowadays worldwide by a high ohmic resistor parallel to the ground capacitance.
open competition. As a further refinement, the series resistance frequency
dependence, and the core permeability influence on self, as
To design a transformer a modest repair facility has to
well as mutual inductances should also be taken into
ask an established manufacturer for a design and
account.
manufacturing technology license. Alternatively, an in-
house expertise can be developed, based on the experience Validation of the winding equivalent circuit
acquired during repairs of different transformer types and To validate the simulation, a low voltage impulse is
makes. The second way is often preferred, considering a applied to the winding, and the resulting transient voltage is
high cost of the license fee, and other imposed limitations. digitally recorded on each double-disc of the untanked
Besides, the design of transformers rated at a medium winding. The winding transfer function is then derived from
power and voltage level has already been mastered, and these measurements using the signal processing. The
does not require the state of the art design tools. In the case transfer function of the simulated circuit is then compared
of ENERGOSERWIS, an assistance has been provided by to the transfer function obtained from measurements. The
the experts from a Polish transformer design school equivalent circuit is then corrected by subsequent iterations
established around the large, State owned transformer until a satisfactory agreement is achieved. At this moment, a
works ELTA, some thirty years ago. With the changing dielectric stress is determined on the insulating system
economic situation this school has been partly elements, which can be adjusted to ensure an adequate
dispersed, but the skilled engineers are still available as safety margin.
consultants. Nevertheless, the proposed winding An example of a typical winding simulation
calculation have to be checked by measurements. A HV winding of 25 MVA, 115kV±15%/16.5 kV, 3 phase
Equivalent circuit of transformer windings transformer has been taken as an example. The HV winding
The transient voltage distribution along the winding is is composed of 32 double discs, with a few interleaved
calculated using an equivalent circuit composed of lumped discs installed at the upper and lower sections. Each double-
elements: the series capacitance of each coil, its ground disc was simulated by one segment of the digital model.
capacitance and capacitance to adjacent windings, an The equivalent circuit was quickly assembled using a circuit
inductance and mutual inductance to near by coils. analysis program “Micro-Cap” [22], since the elements
were chosen and positioned by simple ‘mouse clicking’.

Fig. 1. An equivalent circuit of the examined HV winding. Each double-disc is characterized by: K- series capacitance, C-
ground and nearby winding capacitance, L-selfinductance, and M-mutual inductance to five neighbor coils. A variable
frequency and an impulse voltage source was used for different analyses. The series resistance R was selected to fit the
measured waveforms.
Calculation of equivalent circuit elements Chowdhuri [25], and an excellent, though somewhat sarcastic
A calculation of the circuit components represents the most discussion of his paper by Jayaram emphasized an
difficult part of the project. It has to be done at two stages. At importance of this effect. A formula for the capacitance of a
first the model simulates the untanked winding, such as double-disc coil stabilized by the shield wire is given, and
examined with a low voltage impulse. At the second stage, checked experimentaly by Poulin [26].
the oil impregnated winding is simulated, taking into account A self inductance of the winding was obtained from its short-
the paper-oil insulation dielectric constant, and also an effect circuit impedance, at the first approximation. A fundamental
of the regulation winding installed on the HV coil. work of Rabins [27] was consulted, however complexity of
The following assumptions have been made: his formulae precluded their direct use. An additional study
• The magnetic core can be represented by a grounded, metal by Lech [28] provided algorithms for numerical calculations.
sheet cylinder. An analytic formula for inductance of air-core disc coils,
• The winding resistance is constant within the analysis derived by Lyle from Maxwell equations, was published by
frequency range. Wirgau [29]. Fergestad & Henriksen [16] presented a self and
• The magnetic coupling of five adjacent double-disc coils is mutual inductance calculation of the disc coils, supported by
the same over the whole winding height. experimental results.
• The low voltage and regulation windings can be At first, the calculated self inductance did not follow the
represented by a metal sheet cylinder. measured value. Then, a correction was introduced by fitting
A validity of the last assumption was checked by the calculated resonant frequencies to the measured ones. The
measurements taken with the short circuited secondary mutual inductance was calculated with a satisfactory
winding nested inside the HV coil. accuracy.
At first, the winding resistance was calculated using skin
The series capacitance of a double-disc coil has been derived
effect formulae, but the proximity of adjacent wires must be
from the energy stored between the adjacent turns. A voltage
the controlling factor. The ‘Micro-Cap” program allows for
distribution proportional to the turn number was assumed,
simulation of a frequency dependent resistance, but then the
and the resulting turn to turn voltage was calculated.
long calculation time of becomes objectionable. Finally, the
Formulae for calculation of a simple and interleaved double-
resistance was adjusted to get a realistic damping of the
disc coil were derived by Degeneff [23]. These expressions
winding higher order resonances, but then the first resonance
are also given in a book authored by Hastermann, Mosiñski
Q-factor is too low. This, however, has little effect on the
and Maliszewski [24]. A mutual capacitance between
simulated waveforms.
neighbor coils was calculated by

Fig. 2. Transfer functions of the simulated winding. The double-disc number is marked on each graph.

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The simulated winding transfer function was calculated by frequency spectrum of the standard lightning impulse, and
“Micro-Cap” for each double-disc, and is shown in Fig. 2. of transients generated by the transmission system.
These curves were combined to a three-dimensional graph, High frequency models have also been developed for
which reveals the frequency and space distribution of studies of internal oscillations within a double-disc [30, 31,
winding natural resonances, as shown in Fig. 3. 32]. However, the nanosecond front time transients, and a
few megahetz resonances are not addressed here.
Measurement of the winding response to a low voltage
impulse
The transient voltage was recorded on each double-disc
using a high resolution (12 bit) digital oscilloscope,
operating at 10 MHz sampling, and equipped with an
optically isolated probe [33]. Such probe is needed for the
disc to disc voltage measurement, since the grounded
terminal of an ordinary probe affects the examined disc
potential. A set of the transient voltage measured on each
double-disc are presented in Fig. 5.
Although the transient voltage distribution measured in the
examined winding looks similar to the simulated
distribution shown in Fig. 4, but such comparison of the
waveshapes is merely qualitative. The frequency domain
transfer functions can be compared quantitatively, since the
Fig. 3. The examined winding transfer function plotted resonant frequencies can be measured. A difference
against frequency and space. An exaggerated Q-factor between the measured and simulated resonant frequency
of the first resonance is caused by the assumed reflects the simulation accuracy.
constant resistance value.
Once the winding resonant frequencies have been derived, a
transient voltage can be calculated at each coil, for any
impulse form applied at the input. A steep front impulse has
been used as an example, and the winding response is
shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 5. Transient voltage measured at each double-disc. The

applied impulse has the same front time as the
simulated one, but a shorter tail.
Digital signal processing
Fig. 4. Simulated transient voltage distribution along the The waveforms were recorded up to 500 µs, to ensure a
double-discs of the examined winding. The applied long enough zero line after the transient end. A fast Fourier
transform (FFT) algorithm was then applied to calculate the
impulse of ~0.3 µs front and 50 µs tail time, can be
recorded waveform frequency spectrum. The spectrum
seen on the back plane. The winding first resonant
stretched to the Nyquist frequency, i.e. 5 MHz, but had to
oscillation dominates the transient voltage distribution
be truncated to approximately 1.5 MHz, since the higher
pattern. However, local deflections reveal a high series
harmonics were corrupted by the quantization noise. A
capacitance of the interleaved double-discs at the HV
useful range of the spectrum was determined using the
input, and at the neutral terminal.
coherence function. [34].
Most of the transformer winding models can simulate the
actual winding behavior with a reasonable accuracy up to
~100 kHz. This is considered sufficient to represent the

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Fig. 6. Transfer function derived from transient voltage measured at each double-disc of the winding.
A transfer function of each double-disc was then calculated manufacturing and repair facilities. A low voltage impulse
as a quotient of the recorded waveform spectrum and the source, a high resolution digital oscilloscope, and a
spectrum of the applied impulse. The whole winding commercial circuit analysis program are needed to develop,
transfer function is shown in Fig. 6. A three-dimensional and to verify the transformer winding model. The winding
graph is shown in Fig. 7 design can be then optimized, without compromising the
insulation dielectric strength.
The transfer function derived from the transient voltage
measured at each double-disc is a tool of many uses. For
instance, a stress on the winding insulation subject to the
front chopped impulse test can be calculated, if such
impulse is convoluted with the winding transfer function.
A calculated transient voltage across an oil duct, or a
creep stress along a spacer-oil interface is needed to make
the field plot, and to calculate the insulation safety margin.
As an extension of this study, a dielectric stress induced on
the winding insulation by the test lightning impulse can be
compared to the stress caused by system generated
overvoltages [35].
Conclusions
• The transient voltage distribution in the transformer
windings can be calculated using a commercially
available circuit analysis program, and verified by low
Fig. 7. The examined winding transfer function calculated voltage measurements on an untanked winding.
from the transients measured on each double-disc. • A low voltage impulse generator, a high resolution
An accuracy of the “Micro-Cap” simulation can be assessed digital oscilloscope and a signal processing software.
by a comparison of the equivalent circuit transfer function are required to derive the winding transfer function
(shown in Fig. 2 and 3) to the actual winding transfer from the measured transients.
function derived from measurements. • A comparison of the measured and simulated transfer
Discussion function allows for iterative corrections of the model,
The main objective of this paper to present an easily until a satisfactory accuracy is achieved.
accessible technique of the transient stress calculation in a • The winding transfer function is a tool of many uses. In
transformer winding insulation. A more refined model, addition to the model verification, a transient voltage
which takes into account a capacitive coupling between distribution can be calculated for any waveform
neighbor coils, a frequency dependent winding resistance, applied to the input terminal, such as a front chopped
an effect of the magnetic permeability of the transformer impulse, or a system generated switching overvoltage.
core, etc., can be worked out, and a more accurate References
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