3217

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS. VOL 24. NO 6, N0VFMBE.R 19XX

Investigation of Magnetizing Inrush Current in a

Single-phase Transformer
PAUL C . Y. LING

AND

Abstract-The magnetizing inrush current which occurs at the time

of energization of a transformer is due to temporary overfluxing in the
transformer core. Its magnitude mainly depends on switching parameters such as the resistance of the primary winding, the point-on-voltage wave (switching angle), and the remanent flux density of the transformer at the instant of energization. This paper describes the
development of a system for measuring the inrush current. The system
is also capable of presetting various combinations of switching parameters for the energization of a transformer.
The data sampling of the magnetizing inrush current has been
achieved by using a microcomputer and a software package has been
developed to perform harmonic analysis of each of the first few transient current cycles. The effects of the remanent flux density, the
switching angle, and the primary winding resistance on the magnetizing inrush current of a 2.5-kVA single-phase transformer have also
heen presented.

LIST OF SYMBOLS
Nominal source voltage ( V ).
Instantaneous magnetizing current ( A ) .
Steady-state peak flux density ( T ) .
Remanent flux density ( T ) .
Magnetic field intensity ( A / M ) .
Source resistance ( Q ) .
Transformer primary winding resistance ( Q )
Source inductance ( Hy ).
Transformer leakage inductance ( Hy )
Total primary circuit resistance ( R = R,$ R , )
(Q).

+
+ L,)

Total primary circuit inductance ( L = L,

(HY 1.
Point-on-voltage wave (switching angle) (degree)
Primary circuit decay time constant ( s ).

I. INTRODUCTION
HE PHENOMENON of magnetizing inrush current
in transformers at energization has long been a problem in the design and performance of differential protective relays used in power transmission and distribution
systems.
The steady-state magnetizing current of a transformer
may be only 1-2 percent of the rated current, but it may
reach 10-20 times rated current when the transformer is
switched on to a source. This transient effect may persist

Manuscript received December 12, 1986; revised April 2, 1988.

The authors are with the Wolfson Centre for Magnetics Technology,
Cardiff, CF2 3AD, U. K .
IEEE Log Number 8822652.

AMITAVA BASAK

for several seconds before the steady-state condition is

reached and cause unnecessary tripping of a differential
protective relay.
Investigations in this field have been made by various
research workers using analytical methods. The most
comprehensive investigation was carried out by Blume et
al. [ 11, who studied the problem using analytical models
and derived methods to minimize the first peak of the
magnetizing inrush current. Formulas for determining the
shape of inrush current were derived by Specht [2] and
Yacamini and Abu-Nasser [ 3 ] , [4]. These are useful in
predetermining the specification of any protective devices
and may be used to determine the desired levels of magnetizing inrush current for desensitizing a differential relay until the excessive inrush current ceases to flow. Unfortunately, this practice in some measures defeats the
original purpose of differential relays since insulation failures in transformers have been known to occur at the instant of energization. Also, the assumption of linear B / H
characteristic of the transformer core material produces
significant errors.
The electronically controlled point-on-voltage wave
switching technique for transformer energization [5] has
been developed with a view to minimize the magnitude of
the magnetizing inrush current. It was found that switching at 90" of the voltage wave reduces the magnitude of
the magnetizing inrush current. However, the amount of
reduction may not be large enough due to the remanent
flux density retained by the transformer core. Moreover,
this approach is impractical in existing transformers since
presetting the switching parameters of transformers has
proved to be difficult.
Due to the asymmetrical nature of the magnetizing inrush current, even harmonics appear to be the dominant
ones in the harmonic spectrum, in particular the second
harmonic. Because of this distinct characteristic, any internal fault and the magnetizing inrush current can be distinguished on the basis of the fundamental and the secondharmonic components, respectively. Digital filter techniques [6], [7] have been used in conjunction with microprocessors to suppress the unwanted tripping of the differential relay during the magnetizing inrush current
period. However, the design of a differential relay still
depends on the actual characteristic of the magnetizing
inrush current, and the most important of all, on its second-harmonic content.
In order to design a differential relay, the operation of

0018-9464/88/1100-3217$01.00 O 1988 IEEE

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3218

which can be restrained during inrush current conditions,

a detailed analysis of the magnetizing inrush current of a
transformer under various switching conditions is needed.
One can select different values of primary circuit resistance, point-on-voltage wave, and remanent flux density
with the help of the measuring system described here. This
system also incorporates with a microcomputer which
performs the data sampling of the magnetizing inrush current for a period of 50 cycles. The magnitude and the harmonic content are then determined cycle by cycle using a
computer program.
The object of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the combinational effect of various switching
parameters on the magnitude, duration, and harmonic
content of the magnetizing inrush current of a transformer
at the instant of energization.

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, VOL. 24, NO. 6. NOVEMBER 1988

IV

Gff

Transient

11. FACTORS
AFFECTING
THE MAGNETIZING
INRUSH

CURRENT
When a transformer is energized from a voltage source
the peak magnetizing current may reach a very high value
and cause a momentary dip in the voltage resulting in an
unwanted tripping of the differential protective relay. The
phenomenon of the inrush of the magnetizing current is
due to the temporary overfluxing of the transformer core
at the instant of energization. This temporary overfluxing
effect is governed by the following factors:
a) the point-on-voltage wave at the instant of energization;
b) the magnitude and polarity of the remanent flux in
the transformer core at the instant of energization;
c) the total resistance of the primary winding circuit;
d) the power source inductance;
e) the inductance of the air core in between the energizing winding and the transformer core;
f ) the geometry of the transformer core;
g) the maximum flux-carrying capability of the core
materials.
Under steady-state conditions, the core flux density B
lags behind the source voltage V by 90". In order to induce one half cycle of the required back EMF, a total
change of flux density of 2B,, is needed. When the excitation of the transformer ceases, the magnetizing current
follows the hysteresis loop to zero and the flux density
remains at some residual value known as remanent flux
density B,. If the transformer were to be switched in at
the instant corresponding to a point on the flux density
wave which had the same value and polarity as that of the
remanent flux density, then no inrush current would occur. Fig. 1 shows the waveforms of a source voltage V ,
flux density B , and magnetizing current I at three different
periods, a) steady state, b) interruption, and c) re-energization, respectively. It can be noticed that at the beginning of period c) the transformer is re-energized at 0" of
the source voltage with the remanent flux density, B, and
both the transient flux density and the inrush current are
large. However, it is possible to prevent the transformer

Fig. 1 . Waveforms of source voltage, flux density and magnetizing current

at periods of (a) steady state, (b) interruption, and (c) re-energization.

core overfluxing at energization thus eliminating the inrush current in the primary circuit of the transformer. In
order to achieve this, the switching-off angle on the
source-voltage wave must be precisely obtained. For example, in Fig. 1 , if the transformer is switched off at angle QoR, then the re-energization at Q = QoR will prevent
the appearance of magnetizing inrush current because the
switching-on point will coincide with the previous interruption point thus allowing the continuation of the steadystate condition.
The decay of the magnetizing inrush current is in part
a function of the impedance of the energizing circuit and
can be regarded as a simple network of resistors and inductors connected in series to an infinite busbar. The time
constant of the inrush curent decay can be expressed as
shown in (1) and ( 2 ) .
Id,

T,.

V exp (UT,)

R
( L s + L,)
(RS + 4 ) .

(1)

(2)

Under normal operating conditions, the leakage inductance of a transformer is small because of the B / H characteristic of the transformer core material. It has been
found that the higher the circuit resistance, the less the
number of transient cycles, the time constant and also the
magnitude of the first cycle of the inrush current. In practice, the circuit resistance is very small compared with the
power rating of a transformer, hence a power transformer
has a large primary circuit time constant resulting in a
long transient decay.
At present, the use of improved electrical steels in

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3219

LING A N D BASAK: MAGNETIZING INRUSH CURRENl

transformer cores permits higher flux operation without

any increase in the core loss, exciting current, and operating temperature. These advantages, however, have been
compromised by the tendency for higher magnitudes of
the first cycle of the inrush current.

2. C . D.

111. DEVELOPMENT
OF A MEASURING
SYSTEMFOR
INRUSH
CURRENT
MEASUREMENT

A measuring system has been developed using an electronic switch and a microcomputer with a view to minimizing the large number of calculations and measurement
procedures. The system is illustrated schematically in Fig.
2 . The triggering circuit consists of a zero crossing detector (ZCD) and an adjustable phase shifting network. The
output voltage of the latter, along with the primary voltage of the transformer, is fed into the summing point of
the ZCD; as a result a train of pulses is produced. These
pulses are phase-shifted from the zero-crossing point of
the primary voltage wave. The phase shifting network is
also connected to one of the triacs in such a way that as
soon as the triacs are fired by the first pulse, the inputs to
the phase shifter are short-circuited. This method allows
the transformer to be energized at any predetermined point
on the primary voltage wave and once it is energized, the
full power is delivered to it as the trigger pulses shift back
to the zero-crossing points of the voltage wave. A dc excitation coil is used to set up various levels of remanent
flux density up to 1.7 T of either polarity.
One of the components of the current sampling unit is
a variable shunt resistor which provides various primary
circuit resistances for investigating the effect of primary
circuit resistance on magnetizing inrush currents. A variable-gain amplifier has been employed to ensure that an
adequate voltage is fed into the analog-to-digital converter (ADC).
The inrush current harmonics are evaluated using a
software based on the Fourier series technique. Twenty
two thousand data values of magnetizing inrush current
are sampled over a period of fifty cycles and for each cycle
of the inrush current, various harmonics are determined.
A . Point-on-Supply Voltage Wave Switching Circuit
The main component of this circuit, shown in Fig. 3,
is a multistage ZCD type CA3059 [8] which was designed
to handle ac voltage inputs (typically 240 V) directly. The
CA3059 features a self-powered dc supply, a protection
circuit, and a Darlington output stage to provide sufficient
gate current to trigger triac T , and hence triac T2. The
values of R2 and R3 have been chosen to satisfy the condition given by 0.33 < R 3 / R z < 3.0, so as to enable an
internal gate to generate trigger pulses at pin 4. The internal protection circuit is activated by connecting pins 13
and 14 together. This protection circuit, when alarmed by
any unsatisfied conditions, removes power from the load
by interrupting the gate current output to pin 4.
In order to allow the energization of a transformer at
different points on the voltage wave, an adjustable phase
shifter has been employed. Its output voltage V , is fed

SHIFTER

SUMMING
POINT

CURRENT,

SAMPLING

PRIMARY

MICRO

A D C

Fig. 2. Block diagram of the measuring system.

into pin 12 of the ZCD. A summing point is provided with

the help of a 5-kQ resistor (not shown) connected internally between pins 5 and 12. Thus the actual zero crossing
detection is based on the summed voltage at pin 12, and
hence the voltage VI?has a phase shift with respect to the
reference voltage Vs. An example of 90" phase shift is
shown in Fig. 4. As soon as the triacs are turned on, the
inputs to the phase shifter are short-circuited thus allowing trigger pulses produced at pin 4 shift back automatically to the zero-crossing points of the supply voltage
wave. The full supply voltage wave is then recovered resulting in full power being delivered to the transformer.

B. Computational Work
Software has been developed to obtain information on
the magnetizing inrush current, in terms of magnitude,
duration, and harmonic content of each cycle. This program performs two major functions. First, it carries out
data sampling at a time interval of 47 ps over a period of
first 50 cycles of the inrush current. Secondly, it evaluates
cycle by cycle the magnitude, duration, and harmonic
content of the inrush current.
Determination of harmonic contents has been based on
Fourier series. Close approximations of real-time integra-

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3220

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS. VOL. 24. NO. 6. NOVEMBER 1988

n
Start

r s E L ECT Io N s.D A T A S A M P L I N G OF I N R U S H CURRENT

H A W M O N I C A N A L Y S I S OF SPECIFIC CYCLE

PROGRAM TERMINATION

'
'

H &

E n t e r no.of c y c l e

TI

R &
S e t counter f o r

to be a n a l y s e d

Fig. 4. Oscillogram showing trigger pulses at 90" phase shift

Input i n i t i a l i s a t i o n

tion has been used to calculate numerically the Fourier

coefficient of each harmonic component.
If the inrush current can be represented by an analytical
expression F ( t ) , i.e., the equation of F ( t ) is unknown
except that its numerical data points are available, then a
Fourier series can be applied to obtain a descriptive equation for F ( t ) , that is, harmonic contents of the magnetizing inrush current can then be determined. In order to
interpret this, the following mathematical model is considered:

iT

corresponding
locations

C a l c u l a t e sine
and c o s i n e terms

D a t a input routine

consecutive
locations
Calculate

F ( r ) cos ( k a t ) dt

Ak =

routine

(3)
component

where T = 20 ms, k is the order of harmonics, and w (the

angular frequency) = 314.16 rad/s.
If M is the number of data sampled in equal time space
I , through one complete cycle, where I = T / M , then by
using close approximated integrations, (3) can be written
as
A, =

2
M

M-l

F ( r ) COS ( k l m ) .

m=O

(4)

The sine terms of the Fourier series can also be expressed

in the same manner as follows:

B~ =

2
M

M-'

F ( r ) sin ( k ~ m ) .

in=O

(51

Using the following equation (6) in conjunction with (4)

and ( 5 ) , the Fourier coefficient Hk of each harmonic is
then evaluated.
HA = J ( A i

+ B;).

(6)

The flow chart shown in Fig. 5 illustrates the algorithm

of (4)-(6). This analysis has been carried out for each
individual cycle of the magnetizing inrush current and repeated for different switching conditions.
IV. RESULTSA N D DISCUSSIONS
The measuring system was used to obtain results, under
various switching conditions, from a 2.5-kVA singlephase transformer, on no-load, operating at a peak flux
density B of 1.7 T . The primary winding resistance was
measured to be 0.91 Q .
The peak of the first cycle of the magnetizing inrush
current was measured for various switching angles with B,
=
1.5 T and total primary circuit resistance R = 1.36

Print a n s w e r s

YES

Fig. 5 . Flow chart of the harmonic analysis and assembly language subroutine.

Q . The results are shown in Fig. 6. It can be noticed that

the switching at 0" produced a first cycle of relatively
large magnitude, whereas, a low peak current appeared
when the switching took place at 180". The reason for
this can be explained in terms of the lagging nature of the
flux density waveform and the value of remanent flux density B,. As mentioned in Section 11, a total change of 2B,
of the flux density is necessary to produce one half cycle
of back EMF. If B, = 0, then the flux density will vary
from zero to twice of Bin; thus the peak flux density of the
first cycle will be 3.4 T. With B, = +1.5 T , the flux
density will start at 1.5 T and its first peak will be at
4.9 T. However, from a practical point of view, such flux
density levels cannot exist due to the limited flux-carrying
capability of the transformer core and a considerable voltage drop due to the primary circuit resistance; nevertheless, extreme saturation of the transformer core results in
an excessive inrush current. As discussed earlier, if the
switching-on point on the flux density wave coincides with
the point at which the transformer was interrupted, then
the inrush current can be avoided (Fig. 1). Thus as the
switching-on point advances from 0" towards 180", the
value of the flux density at the instant of energization approaches the point at which the transformer operation was
interrupted. Similarly, the first peak of the magnetizing
inrush current reduces as the switching angle advances

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322 1

LING AND BASAK: MAGNETIZING INRUSH C U R R E N T

first Cycle of Inrush Current (A)
250

200

150

100

50

0'

45'

SO'

135~

Point on voltage switching

(a)

401

lad

Fig. 6. First peak of inrush current with various angles of switching at B,,,
= 1 . 7 T , B r = + l . S T , a n d R = 1.36Q.
CYCLE NUMBER

(a)

Circuit Resistance

203

(ohm)

BrKlr/O
I .7T/+1 .5T10deq

145

871\

116

I .7Ti+l .5T,90deq
1 .7TI-I .STlBdeq

' "1

%, 2nd

58

CYCLE

NUMBER

Fig. 7 . Decay of magnetizing inrush with various primary resistance at B,,,

= 1.7 T, B, = + 1 . S T. and Q = 0".

C Y C L E NUMBER

(b)
100,

from 180" to 360" with a negative value of remanent flux

density. It can also be noticed that the switching at 90"
does not necessarily reduce the magnitude of inrush current as described by Digneffe [5] since the magnitude
mainly depends upon the magnitude and polarity of the
remanent flux density with respect to those of the steadystate flux density at the instant of energization.
The decay of the magnetizing inrush current has also
been investigated. Fig. 7 shows the decay for different
primary circuit resistance R at the switching condition of
B, = 1.7 T , B, = 1.5 T , and Q = 0 " . It can be observed
that the higher the value of R the faster the decay of the
magnetizing inrush current and also the lower the magnitude of the first cycle. This is due to the fact that the
rate of decay is governed by the time constant L / R as in
a simple R-L circuit. Since the source inductance is comparatively small, the total inductance of the primary circuit depends mainly on the leakage inductance of the
transformer L,. The value of L, tends to be small in the
region of saturation, whereas the resistance of the primary
circuit is independent of the size of the transformer core
and its induction levels. Hence, the resistance of the primary circuit becomes the main variable in determining the
primary circuit time constant and the rate of decay of the
magnetizing inrush current.

0
LL

C Y C L E NUMBER
(C)

Fig. 8. (a) Content of harmonics as the percentage of fundamental against

cycle number at B,, = 1.7 T . E , = + I . S T. and Q = 0". (b) Content of
harmonics as the percentage of fundamental against cycle number at B,,,
= 1.7 T. B, =
I .S T. and Q = 90". (c) Content of harmonics as the
percentage of fundamental against cycle number at B,,, = 1.7 T , B, =
-1.5 T . and Q = 0".

Harmonic analysis of an individual cycle of the magnetizing inrush current was carried out at various switching conditions. Fig. 8(a), (b), and (c) illustrates these for
three different switching conditions. The oscillograms of

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3222

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS. VOL. 24. NO. 6. NOVEMBER 1988

-10

mseclcm

(a)

tant, not only for the design of the harmonic restraint differential relay, but also for the effect of interference on
other electrical networks. It may be concluded that a large
reduction in magnetizing inrush current is possible with a
given combination of switching parameters. Point-onvoltage wave switching is feasible provided the polarity
and magnitude of remanent flux density are known. Preinsertion of resistors in the primary circuit has also been
proved to be effective; however, the resistor must have a
large value thus resulting in a large voltage dip in the
transformer. The correlation of the switching parameters
may be used to reduce magnetizing inrush currents, but
the main argument still remains in the area of economical
aspects and its applications in the existing power systems.

REFERENCES

_ j 10 m s e c l c m

(C)

Fig. 9 . Oscillograms of magnetizing inrush current switching at (a) B,, =

1.7T.B,= +1.5T,andQ=Oo.(b)B,,,=1.7T,B,=+I.5T,and
Q=9O0.(c)B,,,=1.7T,B,= -1.5T.andQ=O0.

the corresponding magnetizing inrush currents are shown

in Fig. 9. The even-harmonics decay in the manner as the
corresponding inrush current does, whereas, the odd harmonics stay relatively constant. These special properties
result from the fact that the second harmonic is the dominant one. It can be noticed that the higher the magnitude
of the magnetizing inrush current at any one cycle the
higher the second harmonic content of that cycle. Thus
the second harmonic content of the magnetizing inrush
current can be used to differentiate between the magnetizing inrush current at the energization of a transformer
and the transformer internal fault currents.
V . CONCLUSION
A microprocessor-based measurement system was used
to determine the characteristics of magnetizing inrush currents in a single-phase transformer at predetermined
switching conditions. This system has the advantage of
efficient measurements of magnitude, duration, and harmonic content of each cycle of the magnetizing inrush
current. Detailed analysis of harmonic contents of the
magnetizing inrush current has been found to be impor-

L. F. Blume, G. Camilli, S . B. Farnham, and H. A. Peterson, Transformer magnetizing inrush currents and influence on system operation, AIEE Trans. PowerApp. S y s f . , vol. 63, pp. 366-375, Jan. 1944.
T. R. Specht, Transformer magnetizing inrush current, AIEE Trans.
Power App. Sysf., vol. 70, pp. 323-327, Jan. 1951.
R. Yacamini and A . Abu-Nasser, Numerical calculation of inrush
current in single phase transformers. Proc. Inst. Elec. E n g . , vol. 128,
pt. B, no. 6, pp. 327-334, Nov. 1981.
-, The calculation of inrush current in three phase transformers,
Proc. Inst. E k e . Eng., vol. 133, pt. B, no. I , pp, 31-40, Jan. 1986.
H. Digneffe, Electronic control of power transformers, Electron.
Eng.. vol. 55, pp. 53-60, Apr. 1983.
J . A . Sykes and I. F . Morrison, A proposal method of harmonic restraint differential protection of transformer by digital computer, IEEE
Trans. P o w e r A p p . S y s t . , vol. PAS-91, no. 3 , pp. 1266-1272. May/
June 1972.
E. 0. Schweitzer, R . R. Larson, and A. J . Flechsig, J r . , An efficient
inrush current dectection algorithm for digital computer, in Proc.
IEEEPower Eng. Sue. Summer Meet. (Mexico), pt. A77, p. 510, July
1977.
A . C. N. Sheng, and G . J. Granieri, J. Yellin, and T . McNulty, Features and applications RCA integrated circuit zero-voltage switches
CA3059, RCA Solid State, Tech. Rep. ICAN-6182, Oct. 1973.

*
Paul C. Y. Ling was born in Hong Kong in 1961. He received the B.Sc.
degree in electrical and electronic engineering from University College,
Cardiff, UK. in 1984.
In the same year he joined the university working in the Wolfson Centre
for Magnetics Technology as a Research Assistant in the field of transient
phenomena in power transformers. He is also working in the field of soft
magnetic materials in particular the geometry effect of tape wound core on
magnetic performances.
Mr. Ling is an Associate member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers of the UK.

*
Amitava Basak was born in Calcutta. India. He received the B.E. degree
in electrical engineering from the University of Calcutta, in 1966 and the
M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wales, UK, in 1971 and
1975, respectively.
From 1973 to 1979 he was a research fellow at the Wolfson Centre for
Magnetic Technology, University College, Cardiff, UK. He is currently a
Lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of the
same college. His main research interests are the flux distribution and power
loss in electrical machines and the use of permanent magnets in dc linear
motors.
Dr. Basak is a member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and the
Institute of Physics.

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