IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT, VOL. 67, NO.

5, MAY 2018 1207

Magnetic Shielding of Rogowski Coils

Karel Draxler and Renata Styblíková

Abstract— This paper describes the impact of Rogowski coil

(RC) construction imperfections on measurement errors. A pro-
cedure is shown for detecting RC non-homogeneity using a rotary
dipole magnetic field inducing a current inside an RC. The
influence of RC magnetic shielding on reducing spurious fields
is described.
Index Terms— AC current, lock-in amplifier, magnetic mater-
ial, magnetic shielding, Rogowski coil (RC).

I. I NTRODUCTION

T HIS paper describes the use of magnetic shielding of

Rogowski coils (RC) in order to reduce the influence of
disturbing magnetic fields [1]. The magnetic shield that sur-
rounds the RC works if it is not saturated. In this case, it limits
the influence of the external interfering magnetic fields, and at
the same time causes a change of the RC constant. The error
when measuring small currents must be taken into account,
or it may be compensated in the measurement system. When
Fig. 1. RC implementation.
saturation of the magnetic shield by the measured current
occurs, the shielding stops functioning and does not affect the
of the currents that are encircled by RC, and u(t) is the RC
accuracy of the current measurement.
output voltage.
An RC according to Fig. 1 is formed by a nonferromagnetic
An alternating current i (t) induces a voltage in the RC
toroidal frame with mean radius r with a constant cross-
winding which may be expressed as
sectional area SRC , which is wound with a sensing coil having
N2 turns, uniformly distributed around the circumference of u(t) = M · di (t)/dt (3)
the toroid. The coil is used for measuring the alternating
where M is the mutual inductance between a conductor passed
currents i (t) passing through a conductor placed in the center
by a measured current i (t), (N1 = 1) and the RC winding N2 .
of the toroid [2]–[4], [6]. If the RC structure is ideal it must
A current of harmonic waveform i (t) with frequency f
be valid according to Fig. 1
induces a harmonic voltage u(t)h in the sensing winding N2
SRC · d N2 /dl = SRC · H N = const (1) for which it is valid

where SRC is the cross-sectional area of the supporting frame H dl = i (t)h = K RC · u(t)h ; K RC = 1/2πfM (4)
and d N2 /dl = H N is the winding density in the cross-
sectional point. Fig. 1 shows an ideal RC structure. where K RC is the RC constant.
If (1) is fulfilled and parasitic capacitances are not taken For an ideal RC, it is valid that as follows.
into account, then for an ideal RC 1) The mutual inductance M or K RC does not depend on

the position of the primary conductor N1 inside the RC
H dl = i (t) = 0, then u(t) = 0 (2) (see Fig. 1).
will be valid, where H is the strength of the 2) If the wire carrying the current lies outside the RC, (2)
 magnetic field is valid and the output voltage u(t) = 0.
along the mean magnetic path (see Fig. 1), i (t) is the sum
The real RC structure does not satisfy (1), so (2) will also not
Manuscript received June 30, 2017; revised February 11, 2018; accepted be fulfilled. This may be expressed as
February 12, 2018. Date of publication March 19, 2018; date of current version
April 5, 2018. The Associate Editor coordinating the review process was SRC · d N2 /dl = SRC · H N = const (5)
Dr. Branislav Djokic. (Corresponding author: Renata Styblíková.) 
K. Draxler is with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical H dl = i (t) = 0, then u(t) S = 0. (6)
University, CZ-166 27 Prague, Czech Republic (e-mail: draxler@fel.cvut.cz).
R. Styblikova is with the Department of Electromagnetic Quantities, Czech
Metrology Institute Prague, CZ-150 72 Prague, Czech Republic (e-mail: For a real RC, it is valid that as follows.
rstyblikova@cmi.cz). 1) The mutual inductance M or K RC expressed by (4)
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available
online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. depends on the position of the primary conductor N1
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIM.2018.2810618 inside the RC (see Fig. 1).
0018-9456 © 2018 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
1208 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT, VOL. 67, NO. 5, MAY 2018

Fig. 2. Dipole field.

2) The alternating magnetic field induced by currents pass-

ing conductors outside the RC induces an unwanted
spurious voltage u(t) S in the RC winding.

II. E XAMINATION OF RC S TRUCTURAL I MPERFECTIONS

An investigation of RC homogeneity according to (1) was
performed using the dipole magnetic field according to Fig. 2.
This magnetic field is generated by a current passing through a
rotary coil 1 m in length that is placed inside the RC, as shown
in Fig. 3.
The winding of the coil is placed in insulated grooves. The
arrangement according to Figs. 2 and 3 satisfies the condition
Fig. 3. Jig for determining RC non-homogeneity.
given by (2), so that a wide range of currents I D (70 Hz)
in the rotary coil and for any angle of rotation of coil α
should be the output voltage of the RC URC = 0. The voltage
URC was measured by a lock-in amplifier, phase-locked to the
current I D passing through the coil. The homogeneity was
measured for two different RCs at a current of 5-A and 70-Hz
frequency, and the results are shown in Figs. 4 and 5. (The
scale in Fig. 5 is ten times bigger than in Fig. 4). It is obvious
that RC CMI shows better homogeneity of the windings than
RC KECA at approximately the same RC constants.
It is evident that use of the rotary coil from Fig. 3 sat-
isfies condition (2), and voltage URC corresponds to non-
homogeneity of RC. This procedure allows the RC coil with
the lowest non-homogeneity to be selected from among a
number of RCs of the same type.

III. I NFLUENCE OF N ON -H OMOGENEITY ON RC E RRORS
An imperfect RC structure that does not satisfy condition (1)
results in measurement errors, which cause as follows.
1) The dependence of the mutual inductance M or of the
RC constant K RC on the position of conductors passed
by a measured current [7]–[9] according to (2) and (3)
(see Fig. 1). Experimental verification of this depen-
dence was performed using RCs according to Fig. 6.
(RC CMI).
Fig. 4. Results of non-homogeneity measurements using a lock-in amplifier,
RC CMI, d1 = 210 mm, d2 = 195 mm, h = 20 mm, N = 6000, I D = 5 A,
and K RC = 0.543 A/mV.
The dependence of the RC constant on the distance of the con-
ductor with measured current i (t) from the RC was measured
at a frequency of 70 Hz. The measurement was performed
at two orthogonal axes for α = (0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°)
at a current i (t) = 10 A using an Agilent 3458A voltmeter.
DRAXLER AND STYBLÍKOVÁ: MAGNETIC SHIELDING OF ROGOWSKI COILS
Fig. 5. Results of non-homogeneity measurements using a lock-in amplifier,
RC ABB KECA 80B, I D = 5 A, and K RC = 0.533 A/mV.
Fig. 6. RC structure for detecting the influence of non-homogeneity on
measurement errors.
TABLE I
D EPENDENCE OF THE RC C ONSTANT ON THE
P OSITION OF THE P RIMARY C ONDUCTOR
The results are shown in Table I. The RC constant K RC and
its uncertainty μ (K RC ) is given as
URC  A wire carrying a spurious current I s is placed outside the RC
K RC = u(K RC ) = δ(URC )2 + δ(I )2 (7)
I
where URC is the RC output voltage corresponding to cur-
rent I , and δ (URC ) and δ (I ) are the relative uncertainty of
voltage URC and current I .
The position of the wires in the center of the RC may be
set and controlled during the measurements. This effect of RC
non-homogeneity will not be further examined here.
1) The effect of RC non-homogeneity on the influence of
the spurious magnetic field caused by currents in the
conductors that are not clasped by the RC. This influence
can be examined using the arrangement according to
Figs. 7 and 8.
1209
Fig. 7. Examination of the effect of a spurious magnetic field on a
nonhomogeneous RC.
Fig. 8. Layout for an examination of the effect of a spurious magnetic field
on a nonhomogeneous RC.
perpendicular to the RC surface (see Fig. 7). A current I S of
70-Hz frequency is generated by a power amplifier excited by
a low-frequency generator (see Fig. 8). The field lines of this
magnetic field induced by a conductor with current I S cross
the RC winding and induce voltages at points A and B on
the winding elements. These voltages will not be subtracted
when the RC is nonhomogeneous. The spurious magnetic field
induced by current I S due to RC non-homogeneity induces
an error voltage URCS in the RC winding, even when (2) is
fulfilled. The output voltage error URCS was measured using an
SR 830 lock-in amplifier, phase-locked to the spurious current
I S (see Fig. 8). The workplace for this measurement is shown
in Fig. 9. The result of measurements of the influence of the
1210 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT, VOL. 67, NO. 5, MAY 2018

Fig. 11. Dependence of error voltage U S on the value of the interference

current I S and the distance x from the RC ABB KECA 80B edge, RC constant
K RC = 0.533 A/mV.

Fig. 9. Workplace for measurements of the spurious current I S effect.

Fig. 12. Realization of RC magnetic shielding.

TABLE II
R ESULTS OF M EASUREMENTS OF THE M AGNETIC S HIELDING
E FFECT A CCORDING TO F IG . 7, S HIELDING M ATERIAL
Fig. 10. Dependence of error voltage U S on the value of the interference M UMETAL , AND f = 70 Hz
current I S and the distance x from the RC CMI edge, RC constant K RC =
0.543 A/mV.

spurious current I S ( f = 70 Hz) on the value of the error

voltage URCS for CMI RC and ABB KECA 80 B RC are
shown in Figs. 10 and 11. (The scales are different in the two
graphs.)
From the measurement results, it is clear that the external
spurious magnetic field induces an error voltage URCS due
to RC non-homogeneity, even if the measured current is
zero. Thus, e.g., for RC CMI with the constant K RC =
0.5430 A/mV the current I S = 100 A/70 Hz passing by a
conductor located 12 cm from the RC edge induces a voltage
URCS corresponding to the measured current i (t) = 0.13 A.
There is a similar result for RC ABB KECA 80B.
the value of the measured current i (t) is zero, or is very
IV. R EDUCING THE I NFLUENCE OF A S PURIOUS small. RC CMI magnetic shielding is shown in Fig. 12. The
M AGNETIC F IELD U SING A M AGNETIC S HIELD outer RC circuit is wound by four turns of Mumetal tape
The influence of the spurious magnetic field induced by 0.2 mm in thickness (made at KOVOHUTE Rokycany, a.s.,
conductors which lie outside the RC (see Figs. 7 and 8) can be Czech Republic). Mumetal tape (initial apparent permeability
reduced using a magnetic shield [10], [11]. This is manifested approximately 20 000) is made of a soft magnetic material.
by a reduction in the error voltage URCS , especially when In order to reduce degradation of permeability, the tape was
DRAXLER AND STYBLÍKOVÁ: MAGNETIC SHIELDING OF ROGOWSKI COILS
TABLE III
R ESULTS OF M EASUREMENTS OF THE M AGNETIC S HIELDING E FFECT
A CCORDING TO F IG . 7, S HIELDING N ANOCRYSTALLINE M ATERIAL ,
S EVEN T URNS , T HICKNESS 20 μm, W IDTH 5 cm, AND f = 70 Hz
unwound from a toroid similar in diameter to the outer
diameter of the RC. The influence of the magnetic shielding
was verified in the same arrangement as in Fig. 7.
The results are shown in Table II, which shows the differen-
tial error voltage for RC without shielding and with shielding.
The influence of the magnetic shielding may be expressed
using the shielding coefficient
URCS
KS =  (8)
URCS
where URCS and URCS  are voltages on the RC output without
shielding and with shielding at the same value of the spurious
current I S .
A significant reduction in the error voltage (see Table II) is
achieved when high-permeability magnetic shielding is used
(e.g., Mumetal). The mechanical stress when the tape was
rewound apparently had no significant effect on the decrease
in permeability. The shielding coefficient K S depends on the
magnitude of the permeability of the shielding. The increase in
the shielding effect associated with an increase in the spurious
current I S corresponds to an increase in the permeability of
the shielding. The permeability increases with the increase in
the spurious field until saturation is reached. Saturation of the
magnetic shielding is also reached when the measured current
i (t) (see Fig. 1) achieves a corresponding value.
The effect of a magnetic shielding made using a nanocrys-
talline material (made by ENPAY, Turkey) also has been
verified. Seven turns of a nanocrystalline (initial apparent per-
meability approximately 30 000) sheet 25 μm in thickness and
50 mm in width were wound on the outer RC circumference,
as shown in Fig. 12. The shielding effect against the spurious
interference field according to Fig. 7 is shown in Table III.
The Trafoperm material (initial apparent permeability approx-
imately 30 000, made by VUHZ a.s., Czech Republic) was
used in the same way. The shielding was formed by two metal
sheets 0.3 mm in thickness and 40 mm in width, unrolled from
a toroid, as shown in Fig. 12. The values of the shielding factor
are shown in Table IV. Within the experiment, measurements
were also made of the shielding effect of the shieldings
1211
TABLE IV
R ESULTS OF M EASUREMENTS OF THE M AGNETIC S HIELDING E FFECT
A CCORDING TO F IG . 7, S HIELDING M ATERIAL S ILICON
S TEEL T RAFOPERM , 2 T URNS , T HICKNESS 0.3 mm,
W IDTH 4 cm, AND f = 70 Hz
Fig. 13. Examination of the effect of a spurious magnetic field generated
by a conductor placed parallel to the RC plane.
described here, when a conductor with an interfering current
is placed parallel to the RC plane (see Fig. 13). Results using
a nanocrystalline material and using Trafoperm material are
shown in Tables V and VI. In this case, the shielding effect
is substantially better.
The use of magnetic shielding causes a change in the
RC constant K RC depending on the value of the measured
current i (t). This dependence of RC CMI with Mumetal,
Trafoperm, and nanocrystalline shielding was measured at
a frequency of 70 Hz, and the wire with the measured
current was placed in the center of the RC. The results are
shown in Table VII. The measurement was performed using a
standard resistor with an accuracy of 0.01% and two Agilent
3458A voltmeters. The expanded uncertainty of RC constant
K RC = 0.15%. Capacitive couplings were minimized using
electrostatic shielding (see Fig. 6). A 0.24% variation in the
K RC constant can be observed, particularly in measurements
of currents i (t) less than 10 A [12]. At this level of current,
no oversaturation of the magnetic shielding occurs. When
measuring current i (t) is higher than 20 A, there is over-
saturation. The magnetic shield stops working and does not
1212 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT, VOL. 67, NO. 5, MAY 2018
TABLE V
R ESULTS OF M EASUREMENTS OF THE M AGNETIC S HIELDING E FFECT
A CCORDING TO F IG . 13, M ATERIAL -N ANOCRYSTALLINE S HIELDING ,
S EVEN T URNS ; T HICKNESS 20 μm, W IDTH 5 cm, AND f = 70 Hz
TABLE VI
R ESULTS OF M EASUREMENTS OF THE M AGNETIC S HIELDING E FFECT
A CCORDING TO F IG . 13, M ATERIAL —T RAFOPERM (S ILICON S TEEL ),
2 T URNS , AND f = 70 Hz
affect RC constant K RC . The oversaturation of the toroidal
shielding induced by the measured current i (t) depends on
its dimensions and on the type of shielding material. These
parameters determine the magnitude of the current
IS = HSl = 2πr HS (9)
where I S is the magnitude of the measured current that causes
the shielding saturation, H S is the magnetic field strength
corresponding to the saturation of the shielding material,
l is the mean magnetic path of the shielding toroid, and r
is the radius of the toroid. Equation (9) is valid assuming
that the measured current passes through the RC by a single
conductor. The shielding coefficient K S in the area of currents
i (t) ≤ I S is proportional to the apparent permeability of
the shielding μ ap [13]. The magnetic shielding can also be
oversaturated by a current passing through a wire lying outside
the RC. In this case, not only the magnitude of the current but
also the coefficient K S depends on the distance between the
conductor and the shielding. A part of the shielding may be
oversaturated at currents greater than 500 A if the conductor
is, for example, 1 cm away from the shielding. The shielding
effect is determined experimentally.
TABLE VII
D EPENDENCE OF RC CMI C ONSTANT K RC V ERSUS THE M EASURED
C URRENT i(t), U SING M AGNETIC S HIELDING
V. C ONCLUSION
This paper has described the impact of RC non-homogeneity
on measurement errors when an RC is used for ac current
measurements. Measurements of RC non-homogeneity using
a rotary dipole magnetic field are described in the introduction.
This procedure ensures that the RC with the lowest inhomo-
geneity is selected.
A description has been given of the action of the spurious
magnetic field induced by conductors that are not enclosed by
an RC. This interference is manifested mainly at zero or very
low currents i (t) measured by RC. The use of magnetic shield-
ing placed on the outer circumference of the RC significantly
reduces the influence of disturbing magnetic fields. This effect
is applied in the area of small measured currents i (t) before the
shielding is saturated. In this area, spurious effects are mainly
manifested and the shielding substantially reduces their effect.
It is assumed that the external spurious field magnetizes the
shield in the area of the initial permeability. This conclusion
is documented by the results of measurements of three soft
magnetic materials used for RC shielding. The best shielding
coefficient was for Mumetal (K S = 16 to 122), the initial
permeability μ 4 of which lies in the range (1–6)·104. There
was a lower value (K S = 1.7 up to 14) for the nanocrystalline
material. This may have been caused by the substantially
thinner layer of shielding (0.14 mm) than in the case of
Mumetal (0.8 mm). The effect of the shielding was verified
for spurious fields caused by the current of conductor oriented
perpendicular to the RC surface. It is obvious that there will
be a much better shielding effect if the RC is surrounded by a
shield that does not have to form a short-circuited turn, as the
shield would then also work for any position of the conductor
with spurious current.
A disadvantage of magnetic shielding is the dependence
of the RC constant K RC on the magnitude of the measured
current (see Table VII). The change of the RC constant in
the area of small measured currents may be corrected by a
calculation, by processing the output voltage.
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1213
Karel Draxler received the master’s degree in radio
engineering and the Ph.D. degree from Czech Tech-
nical University in Prague (CTU in Prague), Prague,
Czech Republic, in 1963 and 1974, respectively.
He defended his inaugural dissertation in 1998.
He is currently with the Department of Measure-
ment, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, CTU in
Prague. He collaborates with the Czech Metrology
Institute in the area of high current and voltage mea-
surement. His current research interests include the
implementation of magnetic elements in measuring
techniques and metrology and aviation instrumentation.
Renata Styblíková received the master’s degree in
measurement techniques and the Ph.D. degree from
the Czech Technical University in Prague, Prague,
Czech Republic, in 1981 and 2007, respectively.
She has been with the Czech Metrology Institute,
Prague, since 1981, where he is currently the Head
of the Department of Electromagnetic Quantities,
Laboratory of Fundamental Metrology, Prague. Her
current research interests include metrology in the
area of high currents and voltages.