Star Delta Transformation

Anis Asyiqin Binti Zulkarnain, Fitri Hanun Binti Yaakob

Principles of Electrical Engineering
Universiti Kuala Lumpur British Malaysian Institute
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
aniszuka@gmail.com
Abstract: Sometimes there are certain
situations in a circuit where the connection of
the resistors can neither be identified as series
nor parallel hence leading to a difficulty in
simplifying the circuit and in performing other
calculations to analyze the circuit. Therefore,
to simplify the circuit the method of
transforming three terminal equivalent
networks can be used as an alternative [1]. The
networks consists of two types which are a Star
connected network which has a symbol of the
letter wye (Y) or tee (T) and a Delta connected
network which has a symbol of a triangle ()
or pi () [2]. In this experiment, it will be
shown that the external currents of the star or
delta networks are equivalent before and after
transformation, proving this method is valid as
an alternative in simplifying circuits.

RBC = Y+Z = (Rx(P+Q))/(P+Q+R) Eq. 2

RAC = X+Y = (Qx(P+R))/(P+Q+R) Eq. 3
Now subtracting Eq. 2 from 1 and adding the
result to Eq. 3 we get X=PxQ/(P+Q+R).
Similarly subtracting Eq. 1 from 3 and adding
the result to Eq. 2 we obtain Y=QxR/(P+Q+R)
and lastly subtracting Eq. 3 from 1 and adding
it with Eq. 2 results in Z=PxR/(P+Q+R).
Therefore, all the values of X, Y and Z are
obtained[5].
Whereas Star to Delta network transformation
based on the circuit below;

Keywords: Star, Delta, Transformation

I.

INTRODUCTION

Star connection or network consists of

electrical components or resistors where one
point of the components are all connected at a
common point. On the other hand, Delta
network or connection is where each branch or
circuit component in the circuit is connected
head to tail of other branches or circuit
components such as resistors [3]. As for the
transformations that allows the analysis of
circuits to be simplified there are calculations
involved to transform delta to star and vice
versa. In transforming a delta network to star,
the circuit below is used as a reference.

The equations 1, 2 and 3 are used again in this

transformation.
Now, multiplying Eq. 1 and 2, 2 and 3, and 3
and 1, simplifying and further solving we are
able to obtain P=(XY+YZ+ZX)/Y, Q=
(XY+YZ+ZX)/Z and R=(XY+YZ+ZX)/X.
Hence the values of P, Q and R are
obtained[5].
II.

EXPERIMENT SET-UP

Six appropriate resistors of different values in

the range of K are chosen and hence the
values are identified as R1=1.3K, R2=1.3K,
R3=1K, R4=2K, R5=30K and R6=39K. The dc
circuit is then constructed as shown below and
a dc power supply of V= +10V is inserted. The
IT and IL of the circuit before and after
transformation is measured, all data including
measurements and calculations are recorded.

To obtain the new values of resistance for

resistors X, Y and Z it is known that the
resistance between the terminals A-B, B-C and
A-C should be the same therefore [4];
RAB = X+Z = (Px(Q+R))/(P+Q+R) Eq. 1

III.

RESULTS

Total resistance = [(0.47K+39K)//

(0.62K+30K)]
+(0.3K+1.3K) = 18.843K

Analytically:
Current (mA)
Delta
Star

IT
0.45
0.45

IL
0.20
0.20

By calculation (Delta) :

Using mesh analysis (I1 = IT and I2 = IL) ;

Loop 1: 10 = 32.6KI1 1.3KI2 30KI3
Loop 2: 0 = 4.3KI2 1.3KI1 2.0KI3
Loop 3: 0 = 71KI3 30KI1 2.0KI2
In matrix form;

[
=

][ ]

32.6 K 1.3 K 30.0 K I 1

1.3 K
4.3 K
2.0 K I 2
30.0 K 2.0 K 71.0 K I 3

[]
10
0
0

By using Cramers Rule, the determinants:

= 5.67x1012
1 = 3.01x109, 2 = 1.52x109 and 3 = 1.32x109
Therefore I1 = 1/ = 0.53mA
I2 = 2/ = 0.27mA
I3 = 3/ = 0.23mA
By calculation after transformation (Star) :

Ra = R2xR3/(R2+R3+R4) 300
Rb = R3xR4/(R2+R3+R4) 470
Rc = R2xR4/(R2+R3+R4) 620

By using V=IR, IT= 10/18.843K = 0.53mA

By using current divider :
IL=[(0.62K+30K)/(0.47K+39K+0.62K+30K)
x IT = 0.23mA
Therefore by examining the results it can
be seen that the values of IT and IL before and
after transformations (from delta to star
network) are both equal which are, I T =
0.45mA and IL = 0.20mA. Whereas based on
the calculations, the value of IT of the circuit
before and after transformation are also both
the same, which are 0.53mA, and IL = 0.23mA.
Therefore the value of IT and IL are equivalent
before and after transformations by experiment
and also by calculation. However the values
obtained by calculation and experimentally
may contain a slight difference due to several
errors and factors that could not be avoided
during the experiment. For example, the error
in the components itself i.e. the multimeter that
was used did not give a precise reading leading
to error in the measurements and also the
tolerance of the resistors themselves plus the
heat loss in the circuit during the experiment.
IV.

CONCLUSION

From the experiment it can be concluded

that the star delta network transformation
method is indeed proved to be valid and can be
used to simplify an electric circuit for easier
analysis and calculations. This can be seen
from the results where IT and IL are both of the
same values even before and after the
transformations, hence showing that the
external current flow of the star or delta
networks are not affected and still remain the
same even when different values of resistors
are used in the networks.
REFERENCES
[1] Nilsson, J., & Riedel, S. (2011). Electric
Circuits(9th ed.).Upper Saddle River,New
Jersey.
[2] Alexander, C., & Sadiku, M. (2013).
Methods of Analysis. In Fundamentals of
electric circuits (5th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
[3] Floyd, T. (2003). Principles of electric
circuits: Conventional current version (7th
ed.). London: Prentice Hall.
[4] StarDeltaTransformationandDeltaStar
Transformation.(2013,August11).
http://www.electronics

tutorials.ws/dccircuits/dcp_10.htm
[5] Star,Deltaconnectionandtransformation.
(2014,February24).

https://electronicspani.com/stardelta
connectionandtransformation/