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TXtoAe Ch6Contents <<6.2Part2 6.3Part1>>

6.2CurrentTransformers:Part3.

6.2xx.Multiplesecondarywindings:

>>>workinprogress.

Forsomeofthebridgedesignstobediscussedlater,wewillalsohaveneedforcurrent
transformerswithtwosecondarywindings.Inthiscasewesimplyobservethatthe
primaryMMFisequaltothetotalsecondaryMMF,andderiveourequations
accordingly.Acurrenttransformerwithtwoidenticaloutputsisshownbelow:
Tomaketheanalysisconsistentwiththat
forthesingleoutputtransformer,theturns,
loadresistances,andoutputvoltagesfor
eachsecondaryhavebeendefinedashalf
thetotal,butthedefinitionofthesecondary
currentremainsthesame.Usingthe
ampereturnsrule,wemaythenwrite:
Ip=(IsN/2)+(IsN/2)=NIs
andwemayobtainthetotalsecondary
voltagethus:
Vs=2(IsRi/2)=IsRi
hence:
Vs=IpRi/N
Which,byvirtueofthedefinitionsused,isthesameasforthesingleoutputcurrent
transformer.Noticealsothatifthestartofonesecondarywindingisconnectedtotheend
oftheother,acentretappedtransformerresults.Wemaythenevoketherather
unsurprisingrulethatifthetransformersecondaryhasacentretap,andtheload
resistancehasacentretap,joiningthetwocentretapstogetherhasnoeffectuponthe
totaloutputvoltage.Noteincidentally,thatthecurrenttransformervoltageoutputcanbe
splitsimplybytappingintotheloadresistorbutbytappingintothetransformerwinding
aswell,animbalancecurrentcanbedrawnfromthetransformertap,makingthevoltage
ratiolesssusceptibletotheeffectsofunequalloadingandcomponenttolerances.One
smalldisadvantageoftapping(i.e.,takingawireoutandthenbackintothetransformer)
isthatitincreasestheleakageinductanceslightly,butthisisnotusuallyproblematic
providedthatthewiresarekeptshort.

Bifilarwinding(Don'tdoit):
BecausethetransformerofaTRABisbifilarwoundtogivethebestpossiblesymmetry,
itisoftenassumedthattappedordoublesecondarycurrenttransformersshouldbe
bifilarwound.Thisisaseriousmisunderstanding.Inatappedcurrenttransformer,bifilar
windingisequivalenttowindingthecoilintwolayers.Itservesnousefulpurpose,
increasesthesecondarycapacitance,anddegradesthehighfrequencyphase
performance(andtwistedbifilarwindingisevenworse).Inadoublesecondary
transformer,onewindingbeingused(say)foraforwardpowerbridge,andtheotherfor
areversepowerbridge,bifilarwindinggivesrisetoaspuriouscapacitivecoupling
betweenthetwobridges.


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6.2xx.TheTappedCurrentTransformerParadox.
Intheprevioussection,onthesubjectofcurrenttransformerswithmultiplesecondary
windings,wederivedthesecondaryvoltagesusingtheampereturnsrule.Inthecaseofa
transformerwithtwoidenticalsecondaries,withidenticalloadresistors,itwasshown
thatbychoosingtodefinethenumberofturnsoneachwindingasN/2,theloadacross
eachwindingasRi/2,andtheoutputfromeachwindingasVi/2,weendupwithexactly
thesameexpressionforoutputvoltageaswasthecaseforacurrenttransformerwitha
singlesecondary,i.e.,
Vi=IRi/N
Thisexpression,ofcourse,relatesonlytothemidbandanalysis,andatsomepointwe
mustintroducethetransformersecondaryinductanceinordertocarryoutthelow
frequencyanalysis.Somevigilanceisrequiredatthispointbecausethereisacertain
subtletyinthebehaviourofcurrenttransformers.
Theissuetoberaisedheremightappeartobeaparadox,butlikeallparadoxesitis
actuallyafallacy.Recallthattheinductanceofacoilisgivenbytheexpression:
L=ALN
Hence,ifNistakentobethetotalnumberofturnsonthetransformersecondary,then
thetotalsecondaryinductance,Li,obtainedwhenbothwindingsareconnectedinseries
(starttoend),isalsoALN.Ifthetwohalfwindingsaretreatedseparatelyhowever,then
theinductanceofahalfwinding(ofN/2turns)isgivenbyAL(N/2)=ALN/4.Thehalf
windinghasonlyonequarteroftheinductanceofthewholewinding.

Sohowshouldweanalysethiscircuit?Ifthetwosecondarywindingsareconnectedin
seriesasshownabove,thenthecircuitisequivalenttoatransformerwithacentretapped
secondaryandacentretappedload,withthetwocentretapsjoinedtogether.Sincethe
twotapsareatthesamepotential,itmakesnodifferencewhethertheyareconnectedor
not.Hencewecanderivetheoutputvoltageintheusualway:
Vi=V(Ri//jXLi)/(NZA)
andtheoutputfromoneofthesecondarywindingsis:
Vi/2=V(Ri//jXLi)/(2NZA).....(x.1)...

Ifontheotherhand,weanalysethetwowindingsseparately,weget:
Vi/2=Ii[(Ri/2)//(jXLi/4)]
whereIi,isgivenbytheampereturnsrule:
Ii=I/N=V/(NZA)
Hence,apparently:
Vi/2=V[(Ri/2)//(jXLi/4)]/(NZA)
whichrearrangesto:
Vi/2=V[Ri//(jXLi/2)]/(2NZA)......(x.2)...
whichisnotthesameas620a.1.

Sowhichanalysisiscorrect?Onewaytofindoutistoperformatestofasomewhat
preposterouspredictionofequation620a.2,whichisthattheoutputvoltageswill
changeiftheconnectionbetweenthetransformertapandtheloadtapisbroken.
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AcurrenttransformerwasconstructedonanAmidonFT5061toroid
(AL=68.8nH/turnnominal),theFaradayshieldedprimarybeingastubofRG108(50
AgPTFE)coax,andthetwosecondarywindingsbeingeach6turnsof0.9mmdiameter
enamelledcopperwire.Withthesecondarywindingsconnectedinseries(starttoend),
thetotalinductancewasmeasuredtobe9.7H5%at1.5915MHz.Whenthetwo6turn
windingsweremeasuredindividually(withtheotheropencircuit),theinductancewas
foundtobe2.7H10%inbothcases.Hence,withinthemeasurementerror,the
inductanceofa12turnwindingwasfoundtobe4timestheinductanceofa6turn
winding.Herewewillnotgetboggeddowninerroranalysis,itnotbeingnecessaryfor
thepointtobedemonstratedwewillsimplytakethetotalsecondaryinductanceLitobe
9.7H(thisbeingthebettermeasurement),andtheinductanceoftheseparatewindings
tobe9.7/4=2.425Hineachcase.
Thecurrenttransformerwasmountedinatestjigandconnectedintothetestcircuit
shownbelow.Phasedifferencemeasurementswerethenmadeusingthemethod
describedinsection11.

HeretheOscilloscopeY1amplifierispresentedwithavoltagethatisinphasewiththe
primarycurrent,andthisisalsousedtotriggerthetimebase.Notethatthecableleading
totheY2amplifierisproperlyterminated,andsotheinputtothecableisagood
approximationtoapure50resistance.Hence,withtheswitchopen,a12turn
secondarywindingof9.7Hinductanceisloadedwith100.TheY2voltage
measurementiseffectivelymadeatataphalfwaydowntheloadresistance,butsince
thisnetworkisaresistivepotentialdivider,therelativephaserecordedisthesameasthe

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phaseofthevoltageacrossthetransformersecondary.Withthegenerator(aradio
transmitter)operatingat1.6MHz,theoscilloscopetimebase,gain,shiftandtriggerlevel
controlsweremanipulatedsothatonecycleofthewaveformwas10cmlong.Thephase
differencebetweentheprimarycurrentandthesecondaryvoltagewasthenfoundtobe
130.5mmonthisscale,withthesecondaryvoltageleading(inductive).Hencethephase
differenceindegreeswas:
(130.5/100)360=+46.81.8
Thecalculatedreactanceofthefull12turnsecondarywindingat1.6MHzis:
21.61069.7106=97.5
andwithaloadof100,thecalculatedphaseangleis:
Arctan(100/97.5)=45.7
Thisisperfectlyinagreementwiththemeasuredvalue(whichiswhywedon'tneedto
bothertakingtheerrorintheinductancemeasurementintoaccount).
Finally,operatingtheswitchtojointhecentretapsmadenoobservabledifferenceto
thephasemeasurementortheoutputvoltage.Henceequation(x.1)iscorrect.

Wehaveatthisstage,resolvedtheparadox,butwehaveyettoexplainit.Withthatin
mind,afurtherexperimentwasconductedwiththetestjigrewiredasperthecircuit
below:

Now,onehalfofthesecondarywindingis'completelyisolated'fromtheother(ornot,as
thecasemaybe).Withtheswitchopen,thephasedifferencebetweentheprimary
currentandthesecondaryvoltageat1.6MHzwasfoundtobe:
(180.5/100)360=+64.81.8
Thecalculatedreactanceofthe6turn(2.425H)windingat1.6MHzis:
21.61062.425106=24.4
andwithaloadof50,thecalculatedphaseangleis:
Arctan(50/24.4)=64
Nowtheinterestingpart:whentheswitchwasclosed,thephaseanglechangedbackto
46.81.8exactlyasinthepreviousexperiment.Thephaseanglefor9.7Hinparallel
with100isexactlythesameasthephaseanglefor4.85Hinparallelwith50.
Hence,Closingtheswitchhastheeffectofdoublingtheinductanceofthesecondary
windingconnectedtotheoscilloscope.
Anexplanationiscalledfor,anditisthis:reactanceisindicativeofenergystorage.
Apartfromparasitics,whichonlyhaveaneffectathigherfrequencies,whenasecondary
windingisdisconnected,itsinductanceceasestoexist.Whennocurrentflowsina
winding,noenergycanbestoredintheinductanceofthatwinding.Whentheswitchis
closedhowever,acurrentflowsinthefloatingwindingandanenergystorage
mechanismisactivated.Thetwosecondarywindingsmoreover,regardlessofanyDC
pathbetweenthem,areintimatelyconnectedbytheclosedmagneticcircuitofthe
toroidalcore.Becauseacurrenttransformercontrolsitsowninputvoltageaccordingto
howitisloaded,closingtheswitchaltersthefluxdensityinthecore.Ineffect,by
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transferofenergybetweenthetwosecondarywindingswhentheswitchisclosed,an
extraenergystoragemechanismbecomesavailabletothewindingconnectedtothe
oscilloscope.
IfwecalltheseparateinductancesofthetwosecondarywindingsLaandLb,thetotal
inductanceofthewindingsis:
Li=La+Lb+Mab+Mba
wheretheMabandMbaarethemutualinductances.Ifthereisnoleakageinductance(asis
truetoa98%goodapproximationforhighpermeabilitytoroidalcores)then:
La=Lb=Mab=Mba
whichiswhytheinductanceofthetwowindingsinseriesis4timeslargerthanthatofa
singlewinding(whenthewindingsareconnectedstarttoend),andisalsowhythe
inductanceofacoilisproportionaltoN.Hence,whenbothwindingsareloaded,the
effectiveinductanceofasinglewindingisnotLi/4,butLa+Mba=Li/2,whereMba
representstheauxiliaryinductanceprovidedbytheotherwinding.Hence,thecorrect
modelforthesplitsecondarycurrenttransformer,regardlessofwhetherthereisaDC
connectionbetweenthesecondaries,isasshownbelow:

Vi/2=V[(Ri/2)//(jXLi/2)]/(NZA)



DWKnight2008.
DavidKnightassertstherighttoberecognisedastheauthorofthiswork.

TXtoAe Ch6Contents <<6.2Part2 6.3Part1>>

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