Cause
Formula
The AC current density J in a conductor
decreases exponentially from its value at
the surface JS according to the depth d
from the surface, as follows:[3]:362
where
= resistivity of the conductor
= angular frequency of current = 2π ×
frequency
=
= relative magnetic permeability of
the conductor
= the permeability of free space
=
= relative permittivity of the material
= the permittivity of free space
Current density in round wire for various skin depths.
Numbers shown on each curve are the ratio of skin
depth to wire radius. The curve shown with the infinity
sign is the zero frequency (DC) case. All curves are
normalized so that the current density at the surface is
the same. The horizontal axis is the position within the
wire with the left and right extremes being the surface
of the wire. The vertical axis is relative current density.
where
Inductance
Resistance
Mitigation
A type of cable called litz wire (from the
German Litzendraht, braided wire) is used
to mitigate the skin effect for frequencies
of a few kilohertz to about one megahertz.
It consists of a number of insulated wire
strands woven together in a carefully
designed pattern, so that the overall
magnetic field acts equally on all the wires
and causes the total current to be
distributed equally among them. With the
skin effect having little effect on each of
the thin strands, the bundle does not
suffer the same increase in AC resistance
that a solid conductor of the same cross-
sectional area would due to the skin
effect.[11]
Examples
where
Aluminum 0.820
Copper 0.652
Gold 0.753
Silver 0.634
50 Hz 9220
60 Hz 8420
10 kHz 652
100 kHz 206
1 MHz 65.2
10 MHz 20.6
100 MHz 6.52
1 GHz 2.06
Characteristics of telephone
cable as a function of
frequency
See also
Proximity effect (electromagnetism)
Penetration depth
Eddy currents
Litz wire
Transformer
Induction Cooking
Induction heating
Magnetic Reynolds number
Notes
1. Note that the above equation for the
current density inside the conductor as a
function of depth applies to cases where
the usual approximation for the skin depth
holds. In the extreme cases where it
doesn't, the exponential decrease with
respect to the skin depth still applies to the
magnitude of the induced currents, however
the imaginary part of the exponent in that
equation, and thus the phase velocity inside
the material, are altered with respect to that
equation.
References
1. "These emf's are greater at the center
than at the circumference, so the potential
difference tends to establish currents that
oppose the current at the center and assist
it at the circumference" Fink, Donald G.;
Beaty, H. Wayne (2000). Standard
Handbook for Electrical Engineers (14th
ed.). McGraw-Hill. p. 2–50. ISBN 978-0-07-
022005-8.
2. "To understand skin effect, you must first
understand how eddy currents operate..."
Johnson, Howard; Graham, Martain (2003).
High-Speed Signal propagation Advanced
Black Magic (3rd ed.). Prentice Hall. p. 58-
78. ISBN 978-0-13-084408-8.
3. Hayt, William H. (1989), Engineering
Electromagnetics (5th ed.), McGraw-Hill,
ISBN 978-0070274068
4. Vander Vorst, Rosen & Kotsuka (2006)
5. The formula as shown is algebraically
equivalent to the formula found on page
130 Jordan (1968, p. 130)
6. Weeks, Walter L. (1981), Transmission
and Distribution of Electrical Energy, Harper
& Row, ISBN 978-0060469825
7. Hayt (1981, pp. 303)
8. Terman 1943, p. ??
9. Fink, Donald G.; Beatty, H. Wayne, eds.
(1978), Standard Handbook for Electrical
Engineers (11th ed.), McGraw Hill, p. Table
18–21
10. Popovic & Popovic 1999, p. 385
11. Xi Nan & Sullivan 2005
12. Central Electricity Generating Board
(1982). Modern Power Station Practice.
Pergamon Press.
13. "Spinning Carbon Nanotubes Spawns
New Wireless Applications" .
Sciencedaily.com. 2009-03-09. Retrieved
2011-11-08.
14. [A. Rahimi and Y.-K. Yoon "Study on
Cu/Ni Nano Superlattice Conductors for
Reduced RF Loss," IEEE Microwave and
Wireless Components Letters, vol. 26, no. 4,
Mar. 16, 2016, pp. 258-260
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp
?arnumber=7434554 ]
15. Skilling (1951, pp. 157–159)
16. Hayt (1981, pp. 434–439)
17. Hayt (1981, p. 434)
18. Reeve (1995, p. 558)
19. Chen (2004, p. 26)
Chen, Walter Y. (2004), Home
Networking Basics, Prentice Hall,
ISBN 978-0-13-016511-4
Hayt, William (1981), Engineering
Electromagnetics (4th ed.), McGraw-Hill,
ISBN 978-0-07-027395-5
Hayt, William Hart (2006), Engineering
Electromagnetics (7th ed.), New York:
McGraw Hill, ISBN 978-0-07-310463-8
Nahin, Paul J. Oliver Heaviside: Sage in
Solitude. New York: IEEE Press, 1988.
ISBN 0-87942-238-6.
Ramo, S., J. R. Whinnery, and T. Van
Duzer. Fields and Waves in
Communication Electronics. New York:
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1965.
Ramo, Whinnery, Van Duzer (1994).
Fields and Waves in Communications
Electronics. John Wiley and Sons.
Reeve, Whitman D. (1995), Subscriber
Loop Signaling and Transmission
Handbook, IEEE Press, ISBN 978-0-7803-
0440-6
Skilling, Hugh H. (1951), Electric
Transmission Lines, McGraw-Hill
Terman, F. E. (1943), Radio Engineers'
Handbook, New York: McGraw-Hill
Xi Nan; Sullivan, C. R. (2005), "An
equivalent complex permeability model
for litz-wire windings" , Industry
Applications Conference, 3: 2229–2235,
doi:10.1109/IAS.2005.1518758 ,
ISBN 978-0-7803-9208-3, ISSN 0197-
2618
Jordan, Edward Conrad (1968),
Electromagnetic Waves and Radiating
Systems, Prentice Hall, ISBN 978-0-13-
249995-8
Vander Vorst, Andre; Rosen, Arye;
Kotsuka, Youji (2006), RF/Microwave
Interaction with Biological Tissues, John
Wiley and Sons, Inc., ISBN 978-0-471-
73277-8
Popovic, Zoya; Popovic, Branko (1999),
Chapter 20,The Skin Effect, Introductory
Electromagnetics, Prentice-Hall,
ISBN 978-0-201-32678-9
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Skin effect.