Chapter No.

01 Magnetic Circuits
Dr. Intesar Ahmed, Engr. Kashif Imran, Engr. Muhammad Shuja Khan

Department of Electrical Engineering COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Lahore

Introduction
Electrical machines are used to convert energy from one form to

another form.
Magnetic materials are used for the construction of electrical

machines. Therefore it is important to understand the magnetic materials and their application (i.e. magnetic circuits and air gap) in electrical machines.
The main advantages of using magnetic materials in the electrical

machines are, to obtain high flux density which gives large output and efficiency, reduced size of the machine.

Current and Magnetism

Current The rate of change of charge is known as current,

and denoted by Ior i and the expression is I=dq/dt. The current flows in a closed circuit in the presence of electromotive force. Magnet and Magnetism Magnet is a material that can attract or repel any other iron material. The magnet contains the north and south poles. Magnetism is the amount of force that is created by electric current or the amount of motion of electrons in the atom.

Magnetic Field
Consider a current is

flowing in a current carrying conductor from A to B as shown in figure. Due to this current, a magnetic field is produced around the conductor, whose direction is given by Right Hand Thumb Rule.

Magnetic Flux
The amount of magnetic

lines passing through an area near the magnet is called the magnetic flux. The magnetic flux can also be defined as the product of magnetic flux density and the perpendicular area that flux penetrates, it is denoted by, = BA Wb

Magnetic Flux Density

Magnetic Flux Density is magnetic flux per unit area

and expressed as, B= /A Wb/m2 The magneto-motive force is the product of current and the number of turns of the coil. Mathematically, = Ni AmpereTurns

Magnetic Field Intensity

The magneto-motive force per unit length is known as

magnetic field intensity and is expressed as, H= Ni/l AmpereTurns/m Magnetic Field Intensity represents the effort exerted by the current to establish a Magnetic Field

Practice Problems:
1. The dimensions of a bar magnet are 15cm x 3cm x 2cm.

Its magnetic flux density is 0.02 Wb/m2. Determine the total flux of the magnet.
2. The area of a bar magnet is 14cm2. If the total flux of

the magnet is 0.05Wb, determine the magnetic flux density.

Magnetic Permeability
Magnetic Permeability, , represents the relative ease of establishing a magnetic field in a given material. Relative Permeability is the ratio of absolute permeability of any material () to the permeability of the free space (o).
Where o = 4 x 10-7

Expression for Relative Permeability: r = /o Relative permeability of silicon steel used in modern machines ranges from 2000 to 6000.

Relationship of B & H
Magnetic flux density (B) developed in a magnetic field is directly proportional to the amount of applied magnetic field intensity (H). BH B = *H ( is absolute permeability of the material). B = r*o*H

Practice Problems:
1. The mean circumference of an iron ring is 0.6m, uniform cross

sectional area is 0.005 square meter and relative permeability is 3000. The iron ring is wound by 200 turns and carries a current of 5A. Determine the (a) magnetic field intensity, (b) magnetic flux density and (c) total flux.
2. The mean circumference of a silicon steel ring is 800mm, uniform

cross sectional area is 600mm2 and relative permeability is 5000. The steel ring is wound by 400 turns and carries a current of 8A. Determine the (a) magnetic field intensity, (b) magnetic flux density and (c) total flux.

Reluctance
Reluctance It is property of a magnetic material to oppose the

development of magnetic flux. It can also be defined as the ratio of magneto-motive force to the flux through any cross section of a magnetic circuit. R= / = Ni = BA B = H H= Ni/l R= l/ A

Permeance
Permeance It is defined as the ratio of magnetic flux to the magneto-

motive force through any cross section of the magnetic circuit. Alternatively, Permeance is the reciprocal of reluctance.

Practice Problems:
1. A current of 4A is flowing through a wire which

consists of 9 turns. The flux around the wire is 0.06wb. Determine the (a) magnetomotive force and (b) reluctance of the circuit.
2. The magnetomotive force of a coil is 54At when it

carries a current of 6A. Determine the number of turns of the coil and the reluctance of the circuit if the flux is 0.07 Wb.

Magnetic Flux Density for a Long Straight Wire

H = Ni/2r

B = Ni/2r

Practice Problems:
1. A 15A current is flowing through a wire conductor.

The conductor is surrounded by air and is wound by 10 turns. Find the magnetic flux density at a distance of 1.5cm from the conductor. 2. A long wire of 15 turns carries a current of 20A. The conductor is surrounded by air. Find the magnetic field intensity and flux density at a distance of 0.2m from the wire.

Magnetic Flux Density in a Toroidal Coil

H = Ni/2(R-r)
B = Ni/2(R-r) = Nir2/2(R-r)

Practice Problems:
1. An iron (relative permeability is 4000) torodial coil is

wound by 200 turns and having the inner diameter of 7cm and the outer diameter of 10cm. The cross-sectional area is 0.005m2. If the current 5A flows through the coil, find the (a) magnetic field strength, (b) flux density, and (c) flux.
2. An iron (relative permeability is 5000) torodial coil is

wound by 200 turns and having the mean length of 500mm. The cross-sectional area is 0.0008m2. If the current of 2A flows through the coil, find the (a) magnetic field strength, (b) flux density, and (c) flux.

Magnetic isCircuits by the A magnetic circuit a closed path followed

magnetic flux. The magnetic circuit is divided into two types. Series Magnetic Circuit: The Magnetic circuit in which, same flux flows through it. Parallel Magnetic Circuit: The Magnetic circuit in which flux divides into two or more parts.

Series Magnetic Circuits

Series Magnetic Circuits

Magnetic circuit and their equivalent circuit are shown

in figure. Where, l1 and l2 are mean length of two materials, A1 and A2 are the cross-sectional area of two materials and 1 and 2 are the absolute permeability of two materials. Current flowing through the left section of the core having N turns is I.

Series Magnetic Circuits

Ni= H1l1 + H2l2 = R

Where R= R1+R2
= B1A1 = B2A2

Practice Problems: is shown in 1. The dimension of the magnetic circuit

the following figure. The relative permeability of the magnetic material is 750. Calculate the field intensity. 2. Determine the magnetic flux of the magnetic circuit as shown in the figure. The dimensions of the length, width and height are 0.3m, 0.02m and 0.3m respectively. The relative permeability of a magnetic material is 1100.

Parallel Magnetic Circuit:

Total flux is divided into two or more sections (see

figure). The magnetomotive force is connected to the left side and induces the flux and this flux is divided into 1 and 2 for the mid and right section of the core. The magnetic field intensity for left, right and middle are H, H1, and H2 and length are l,l1 and l2.

Parallel Magneticaround the equivalent Circuit: The magnetic potential drop

circuit is, - Hl = H1l1= H2l2 Total flux is, = 1 + 2 As we know, Hl = R Using above equations, magnomotive force can be written in form of, - R= R11= R22 = R+ R11= R+R22

Parallel Magnetic Circuit:

Practice Problems:
Following problems are for a magnetic circuit with two windows. Its

mean window width is 22cm and window height is 10cm.

1. The cross sectional area of the above mentioned magnetic structure

is 5cm2. The left limb is wound by 350 turns and the flux in the right limb is 4Wb. Determine the current. Assume the relative permeability is 300.
2. The cross sectional area of the magnetic structure is 6cm2. The left

limb is wound by N turns and the flux in the right limb is 4mWb. Determine N if the 3A current flows in the coil. Assume the relative permeability is 550.

Comparison b/w Magnetic and Electric Circuits

1. The flux moves in magnetic circuits and current

moves in electric circuit. 2. The flux is defined as magnetomotive force per reluctance and current is defined as voltage per resistance. 3. The magnetic flux density is defined as the flux per area. The electric current density is defined as the current per area.

Comparison b/w Magnetic and Electric Circuits force is equal to the product of 4. The magnetomotive
flux and reluctance. The voltage is equal to the product of current and circuit resistance. 5. The magnetic circuit reluctance is defined as R= l/A. The electrical circuit resistance is defined as R= (l/A). 6. The magnetic field intensity is defined as H=/l and the electric field intensity is defined as E= V/d

Air Gap in Magnetic Circuits

The gap between two parts of magnetic bar is called Air

Gap. This gap is filled by non magnetic material. In machines, rotor moves freely inside the stator through a small air gap. Generally, fluxes cross directly from one bar to other bar at the middle of the air gap, whereas at the edges of an air gap flux bends outward and thereby increases the effective area of the gap which reduces the magnetic flux density. This reduction process is known as fringing as shown in figure. The fringing will be greater for longer air gap.

Calculation of Magnetic Circuits with Air Gap

Consider the mean length, permeability and cross sectional area of the core are lc, c and Ac and for air gap lag, ag and Aag respectively. In the composite circuit, the core and the air gap are connected in series. As a result same flux will flow through the core and air gap and equivalent circuit can be considered as series circuit as shown in following figure.

Air Gap in Magnetic Circuits

Air Gap in Magnetic Circuits

The magnetic flux densities for the core and air gap

are, Bc = c /Ac and Bag = ag /Aag, Total magneto-motive force, t = c+ ag = Hclc+ Haglag t = Rt where, Rt = Rc+ Rag

Air Gap in Magnetic Circuits

If the permeability is

very high then the reluctance of the core is very small and it can be neglected. Therefore, total magneto-motive force is, ag = Rag

Practice Problems:
1. The mean length cross sectional area and the air gap

length of a iron ring are 35cm, 15cm2 and 0.6 mm respectively. The ring wound by 400 turns and carries a current of 2A, which produces 2.5mWb flux. Determine the reluctance and the relative permeability of the iron ring.
2. The cross sectional area of a magnetic structure is 2cm2

and is wound by 200 turns. The core is made up of iron and the relative permeability of the core is 4000. Determine the current flowing through the coil if the total flux of the circuit is 2.5mWb.

Practice Problems:
3. The mean length cross sectional area and the air gap

length of a iron ring are 55cm, 25cm2 and 0.8 mm respectively. The ring is wound by 1200 turns and carries a current of 2A, which produces 6.5mWb flux. Determine the reluctance and the relative permeability of the iron ring.
4. The cross sectional area of a magnetic structure is 2.5cm2

and is wound by 1000 turns. The core is made up of iron and the relative permeability of the core is 4000. Determine the current flowing through the coil if the total flux of the circuit is 3.5mWb.

Electromagnetic Force on a Conductor

When a current carrying conductor is placed in a magnetic field it experiences a force, known as

electromagnetic force or Lorentz force. F = BiI Where, B is the magnetic flux density, l is the length of the conductor in meter and i is the current flowing through the conductor. The force is greater if the length of the conductor increases.

Practice Problems:
1. The conductor carries a current of 150A. The length

of the conductor is 2m and is placed in a magnetic field whose magnetic flux density is 0.35T. Determine the force. 2. The magnetic force of a 3m conductor is 200N.The magnetic flux density of the conductor is 0.5T. Determine the magnitude of the current

Forces B/W Two Parallel Conductors

If two conductors are carrying currents in same

direction, the fluxes are in opposite direction in common region (see figure 1). The total reduction in flux shows the force of attraction. However, if the conductors are carrying current in opposite direction the net flux is increased, which indicates the force of repulsion (see figure 2).

 Where d distance b/w two conductors, Conductors carrying currents I1 and I2 respectively,

the flux density at the conductor 1 due to conductor 2 is B = oI1/2d If the length of the conductor is l then force either attraction or repulsion is, F = BlI2 Finally, F = oI1I2/2d

Magnetic Material and B-H Curve

Ferromagnetic materials: Materials whose permeability thousands times greater than free

space i.e. iron, nickel, steel and cobalt. Diamagnetic materials: Materials whose permeability less than free space i.e. copper, gold and silver. Paramagnetic materials: Materials have permeability slightly greater than free space i.e. magnesium, molybdenum, and lithium.

Hysteresis Loop
It is a loop that is obtained by variation of magnetic flux density with magnetic field

intensity. Consider an un-magnetized core to obtain this loop. The relationship of magnetic field intensity, H = Ni/l For zero value of current, h= 0 and the curve will start from the origin of axes. By increasing the value of current the value of field intensity is also increased accordingly. H = Ni/l

BH Graph

 The new value of magnetic field intensity at point a is Ha (see figure). Again, increase the value of

current until the magnetic field intensity reaches at the saturation point and at this point the value of magnetic field intensity is Hb. Further increase in current will increase magnetic field intensity but the magnitude of magnetic flux density will be same. It means magnetic material has reached its saturation region.

 In the reverse way, if the magnetic field intensity

decreases slowly, the magnetic flux density will also decrease. This decreasing value of magnetic field intensity and magnetic flux density are greater than the previous values and the curve will move by another path. There will be some magnetic flux density remaining if the magnetic flux intensity is reduced to zero.

 It means that the core sustained some flux density

(OC). This remaining part of the magnetic flux density is known as retentivity of the material. Further increase in magnetic field intensity in the reverse direction leads to the magnetic flux density becoming zero at point D. This value OD is necessary to demagnetize the magnetic material.

 This amount of magnetic field intensity is known as coercive force. The path will continue up to the

point E if we increase the magnetic field intensity. The complete hysteresis curve will be obtained if we continue the other steps.

Core Losses
There are two types of losses in the magnetic field

known as hysteresis and eddy current losses, and combination of these two losses is known as core losses.

Hysteresis Loss
In general, the hysteresis loss can be expressed as, Ph= KhVcvol Bn f

Where kh, depends on the properties of the magnetic

material and volume of the core. The value of the constant n varies b/w 1.5 to 2.5.

Eddy Current Loss

The core of the machine normally offers conductive

path for the time varying flux. This time varying flux induces a voltage in the body of the core. As a result of this voltage, a small magnitude of current will flow through the core. This current is known as eddy current. The power loss due to this current is known as eddy current loss.

 The eddy current loss can be expressed as, Pe= KeVcvol t2B2 f2

Heret is the thickness of the lamination.

Vcvol is core volume