Analysis of very fast transients in transformers

Y.Shibuya, S.Fujita and E.Tamaki

Abstract: Very fast transient overvoltages generated in gas-insulated switchgear could cause a voltage
oscillation inside the connected transformer. A practical method to calculate the high- frequency
transients in the transformer winding is developed based on multiconductor transmission-line theory.
Resonance characteristics of a transformer are assessed using the inductance matrix obtainable from
its winding geometry. Applicability to transients of frequencies up to several megahertz is checked in
a model transformer and an actual 500 kV transformer. The calculated interturn voltage waveforms
are in particularly good agreement with experiment.

1 Introduction transverse electromagnetic (TEM) field around N + 2

Transient voltages in power systems originating from a
lightning or switching operation can excite oscillations in
transformer windings [l, 21. The phenomenon was under-
stood as an effect of travelling waves [3, 41, or of resonance
oscillations [46]. Complicated equivalent lumped circuits
have been used to analyse those transients [7-151.
The very fast transient overvoltages (VFTOs) generated
by disconnector operation in gas-insulated switchgear
(GIS) can excite a high-frequency oscillation in the con-
nected power transformer, to which the interturn insulation
is particularly vulnerable. Multiconductor transmission-line
(MTL) theory is applied to assess the interturn voltage level
[16-19]. In an attempt to reduce computation demand we
have proposed a hybrid method combining the single trans-
mission-line analysis of a whole winding and the MTL
analysis of the highest-voltage section [20]. Nevertheless, it
is desired to develop an MTL method applicable to the
whole transformer or at least to the high-voltage (HV)
winding section.
conductors (total turns N plus two SPs), the following rela-
tion is obtained for the distributed capacitance [qand
inductance [L]of N + 2 dimension matrices [16, 17, 211:
[L]= [C]-l/vp (1)
where, v, is the velocity of electromagnetic wave in the insu-
lation space
vs = 1/&GE (2)
Here a uniform dielectric constant is assumed, and iu,
being the permittivity and permeability of free space. Since
the eddy current in the core does not completely shut out
the flux [22], a common flux should be formed although
much smaller than at the power frequency. Therefore a
common inductance L, is introduced in the present andy-
sis. This should be taken as approximate because strictly it
contradicts the TEM assumption.
VFTO1 "

2 Multiconductortransmission-line model

2. I Basic assumptions
As shown in Fig. 1 the shell-form transformer has a HV
winding composed of a number of coils and two static
plates (SPs; i.e. SP, and SP,). The effect of the low-voltage
winding is neglected in the present analysis. Since the lami-
nated core stops most magnetic flux at h g h frequencies
[ 16-20], electromagnetic waves propagate along conductors
inside the core window just as in a waveguide. Assuming a

0LEE, 2001 Fig. 1 Shell-jorni trmjormer winding

IEE Proceedings online no. 20010504
DOL 10.1049/ipgtd:20010504
Paper fmt received 27th July 2000 and in revised form 26th February 2001
Y. Shibuya is with the Electrical Engireering Department, Shibawd Institute of
Technology, 3-9- 14 Shibaura, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8548, Japan.
S. Fujita is with the Electrical Systems Department, Advanced Technology
R&D Center, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, 1-1 Tsukaguchi-Honmachi,
8-Chome, h a & 661-8661,Japan
E. Tam& is with Transmission and Distribution, Transportation Systems
Center, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, 651, Tenwa, Ako City, Hyogo,
678-0256,Jdpal
IEE Proc.-Geiier. Trururri. Dhtrib.. Vol 148. No. 5, September 2001
2.2 Application of MTL theory
Let the sinusoidal voltage E, of angular frequency w repre-
sent the incoming VFTO. Then the model shown in Fig. 2
is obtained. The parallel lines symbolise N interlinked
transmission lines of average turn length U , and the dashed
lines the fictitious zero-length leads. The current and volt-
age lines, expressed by the vectors (@*)(x)) and (@?)(x)),
are functions of the position x, where m specifies regjon
1 or 2. At each mid-turn where SPs have a break the
311
 2.3 Reduced MTL equation
In Section 8 (Appendix) the following equation is obtained
eliminating eight unknowns A,(m),B,("), Adm),BLm),(m =
1, 2) in eqns. 6 and 7
( I ( " ) ( z ) )= ( A ( " ) )exp(-rz) + (El(")) exp(rz)
) ) v,[L]{(A("))
( V ( m ) ( z= exp(-I'z)
- ( B ( " ) ) exp(rz)} E~(IG,) +
-us[MI{ y"'(A("))y-'+'l (B("))}
x =a/2 x=a
, I (9)
1 turn 2I where
Fig.2 MTL muck4 for slielljonn trumformer widmg
y = exp(-ra) (10)
common flux indmes AE. The following MTL equation In eqn. 9 the dimension of matrices and vectors are reduced
[21, 231 holds in either region m = 1 or 2: from N + 2 to N . The last two terms in the second relation
of eqn. 9 express the electrostatic and electromagnetic

i
&(I(")(Z)) = -jW[C](V(")(Z))
inductions from SPs. (kJ and [MI are defined in eqns. 24
(3) and 25, respectively. The vector (ko) indicates the so-called
&(V")(X)) = -jw[L](I(74(4) initial voltage distribution.
Using eqn. 1 in eqn. 3 leads to the wave equation The connecting conditions at x = a/2 in eqn. 7 can be
expressed in the form
d2
- ( I ( " ) ( ~ ) ) = r2(W(2))
dx2
with a pure imaginary surge-propagation constant r =
jw/v,y.The dissipation can be incorporated assuming the
complex constant [20]
(4)

i (I(1)( 4 2 ) ) =

= (V("(U/2)) AE(1)
(Vc")(a/2))
(42))

+
where (1) denotes the vector of all the elements being unity.
(11)

The first equation can be satisfied by introducing an

unknown vector (AA)

where tan&, (T and d are the dielectric-loss factor of insula-

tion, the conductor conductivity and the nominal turn insu-
lation thckness, respectively. Strictly, this also violates the
TEM assumption on which eqn. 1 is based. Nevertheless, This means that the forward and backward surges are
eqn. 1 should hold approximately if dissipations are small. reduced by (AA) and HAA), respectively, at the mid-turn.
The general solution of eqn. 4 or eqn. 3 is [21, 231 The second relation of eqn. 11 imposes on (AA) the follow-
(I(")(z))= (.A(")) exp(-rz) + (I?(")) exp(r2) ing condition using the approximation cosh(l-u/2) E 1:
ru
u,{[L]- [ M ] } ( A A=
) U , sinh -2[ M ] { ( A ( ' ) )
) ) v,[L]{(A(~))
(V(m)(z= exp(-rz)
- ( B ( ~ exp(rz)}
)) LIE
(6)
+ Y - y B ( 1 ) ) ) + -27112
(1) (13)

where (A(")) and (E$")) are unknown surge currents in all
the turns and SPs. The total number of turns being N , the
values of 4(N + 2) unknowns have to be determined. The
set of 4(N + 2) equations is obtained from the connecting
conditions in Fig. 2
Taking Ai'), Bi') and AAias a new set of unknowns, the
number of unknowns is now reduced to 3N. A set of 3N
linear equations can be constructed from

I
I, );( =o, I;2));( =o, I y );( =o, $1 );( = o
Vd"(0)=Eo, T/.d"(a)=Eo, V p ( o ) = o , v,( 2 )(u)=O
eqn.13 . . . . . . :. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( N relations)
(14)

2.4 Numerical example

A two-coil transformer model as shown in Fig. 3 (42 turns
in each coil) is analysed. Inductance [L]is evaluated from
the winding geometry as follows: First, [Cl is obtained by
(7) the two-dimensional charge simulation in the space shown
where subscripts '0' and 'e' refer to SPs. The voltage AE in Fig. 3b, and then, [L] is calculated using eqn. 1. The
can be evaluated as winding-ground distance of 1 m is set since this is found to
A?
be roughly the leakage flux space. Fig. 4 shows some of the
calculated elements L,. The common inductance L, is set
zero considering the case without core. Other necessary
378 IEE Proc -Gmer Trunym Dirtrib Vu1 148 Nu 5 September 2001
constants are given in Table 1. Fig. 5 shows the surge The first two describe the surge propagation, and the last
components calculated for E, = 1kV, d2n = 1.5MHz. two are from eqn. 12. The following iterative equation is
derived from eqn. 15:
=
A!') = yA!:), - AAk, y-1 Bt-l
(1)
+ AAk
(16)
Letting i, be the first turn of section k, and renaming A&'),
B&')as Ak, Bk, eqn. 16 yields
- yz-20+l
A!') = ,,,-WAIC- AA,, ,
1-7

Dividing the HV winding into Nd divisions, the number of

a b unknowns becomes 3Nd. The same number of equations
Fig. 3 Configuration of iwo-coil ircuzsformer model can be constructed similarly as in eqn. 14.
Dimensions in mm
U Side view
b Cross-sectional view

O L 1
0.02

I
O t O ' ' " 20 " I " 40
. " '
60 " 80
" j
turn j I
Fig. 4 ~nductmiceL,, cuIaIutecIfor two-coiI model O'0 20 40 60 80
ul=l turn i
h i = IS
c1=30

Table 1: Transformer constants used in analysis

2-coil 500 kV
Constants scattering points (AAk)
model autotransformer
winding number of coils 2 10
d i n ~ - ~ i o n stotal turns, N 84 363
av. turn length, a [ m l 4.77 7.6
insulation interturn thickness, d 1.5 1.6-3.0
[mml b V J
: turn io turn i-i turn i
dielectric constant, E, 1.6 2.9 A'
v
loss factor, tan6 0.05 0.05 k-th division
conductor conductivitv, cr W m l 5x IO7 5x107 Fig.6 Tr-rvelling ~viivesin mult@le-turndivkion

3 Further reduction of number of unknowns 3.2 Numerical example

3.1 Multiple-turn division
In Fig. 5, while A:'), and B/'), change with i, AAl scarcely
changes except at the coil-ends. This suggests that multiple
turns can be assembled to divide the inner coil region.
Fig. 6 depicts the multiturn division as a single transmis-
sion line with an AA,-related scattering point placed at each
mid-turn. The following relations hold around turn i
(15)
IEE Proc.-Ceirer. Trorism. Distrib., Vol. 148, No. 5, September 2001
Once the numerical solutions Ak, Bk and AA, are obtained,
wave components at any turn can be determined by
eqn. 17. Then it is possible to calculate the current, voltage
and interturn voltage at any tum
1, = p ( o ) , v, = I p ( O ) ,
sv,
=I p ( 0 )-p y a ) (18)
Fig. 7 shows the current and voltage distributions calcu-
lated for the same condition as in Fig. 5. While curves a
and c of Fig. 7 are obtained on a turn-by-turn basis, curves
b and d are obtained using multiple-turn divisions. Their
good correspondence verifies the applicability of the
present method employing multiple-turn divisions.
319
 -1 I In the case of the two-coil model (Fig. S), curves bl and
b2 are calculated by the present MTL method with 84 and
40 divisions, respectively. That the calculated resonance fre-
quencies are somewhat shifted from the experimental may
be because the geometrical constants used in analysis are
not adequate. Curve c is calculated by the turn-to-turn
lumped circuit model. It may not be significant that the
lumped circuit model appears to give resonance peaks
closer to experiment than the MTL because the resonance
peak depends on the dissipation mechanism, which is the
same for the two models in this case.
In the case of the 500kV autotransformer (Fig. 9), curve
b is by the MTL method with 90 divisions. The corre-
spondence of calculated and experimental here is less
remarkable. It may be probable that the dissipation mecha-
nism is not well described in the present MTL model.
Nevertheless, it is possible to recognise a similarity between
turn i
the calculated and experimental.
Fi 7 Current ami wltuge rlistribuiiom in two-coil niodel culcubtedj6r E, =
lkFmui dh= 1.5MHz 0.03 I * , I , , , n * s , , 8 .
u CurrentB4 divisions
' 1 . . 5 I

b Current/40 divisions
c VoltageiX4 divisions
d Voltagel40 divisions

4 Comparisonwith experiments

4.1 Transformers tested and their constants

The two transfomtx windings in Table 1 are investigated
experimentally. The two-coil model is constructed with the
plastics-insulated coils extracted from a gas-insulated trans-
former. The other is a complete set of HV winding of a
500 kV autotransformer with oiVpaper insulation. They are
piled in air and tested without cores. -0 1 2 3 4 5
frequency, MHz
The inductance matrices used in the analyses are evalu- Fig.9 Frequency ch"clerklics ofjirst interturn voltage o f j m k v cuitotrcm-
ated from the winding geometry as explained in Section firmer
2.4. Other constants in Table 1 are speculated from availa- (1 Experimental
b 90 divisions (9divicoil) MTL model
ble data with some adjustments. For example, the dielectric
constant is negotiated to give a proper time-domain pulse
propagation velocity, and the dielectric loss factor adjusted 4.3 Terminal admittance
to give adequate resonant peaks in the frequency character- Fig. 10 shows the terminal admittance of two-coil model,
istic. where the measured and calculated results are compared in
the same manner as in Fig. 8. In the calculation the termi-
4.2 Frequency characteristics of interturn nal admittance of transformer is obtained calculating the
voltage current
Figs. 8 and 9 are the frequency characteristics of the first
interturn voltage SI/, for the two transformers. Here the
ratio of ISV,/ and Eo is plotted against frequency. The In Fig. 10, the calculated (curves bl, b2 or c) and the
experimental curve a is obtained observing the interturn experimental (curve a) have similar tendencies. It is noticed
voltage through an optoelectronic isolation technique that small disturbances are present at the same frequencies
applying a continuous sinusoidal voltage [24, 251. as the resonances which are observed in Fig. 8.

0.4

w
__ .
o 0.3

2- 0.2
-

0.1

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 -0 1 2 3 4 5
frequency, MHz frequency, MHz
Fig. 8 Frequency chara<cterkticsof Jirst interturn voltage for hw-coil model Fig. IO frequency cliaracteristics of irput admittance of hlo-coil niodel
trmjoinw trmjornier
U Experimental U Experimental
bl 84 divisions (1 divitum) MTL model bl 84 divisions (1 divitum) by MTL model
b2 40 divisions (20divicoil) b4TL model b2 40 divisions (20divicoil) by MTL model
c Lumped circuit model c Lumped circuit model

380 I E E Pr.oc.-Gener.Trunsm. Distrib., Vol. 148. Nu. 5. September. 2001

coil model. 0.25~s
I I
;
I
;
t
;
,
/
( ,
/ ,
; *
;

I
(I 1-2 iurn
h 21-22 turn
c 41-42 tum
The calculated interturn voltages are shown in Fig. 13.
Calculation is executed in two steps: the MTL frequency
domain calculation to obtain &',{U), followed by the fast
Fourier transform which yields time-domain result 6vl{t)
[20]. The waveforms of Figs. 12 and 13 correspond well,
including the delay time observed in curve b.
Fig. 14 shows the first interturn voltage of 500kV
autotransformer subjected to the same sine pulse of 2 MHz
The correspondence of experimental and calculated results
is satisfactory.
The above time-domain calculation results appear to be
better than the frequency-domain results of Figs. 8-1 0. This
is thought to be coincidental. It may be that the one-cycle
IEE Proc.-Gmer. Traiisiii. Distrib., Vol. 148, Nu. 5, Septeiiiber 2001
0.251~s
Fig. 14 Interturn voltagr 6v,( t ) of56UkV uutotrunsjbn~wsidyected to s i k -
soidol pulse
N Experimental
h Calculated
5 Discussion
The present MTL method, based on a number of assump-
tions, is developed to calculate high-frequency characteris-
tics of the transformer. The conventional lumped-circuit
model [13-151 is straightforward, but requires turn-to-turn
simulation, which is very difficult to apply to a large-scale
transformer, at least in a modest computing environment.
In applying MTL theory to this problem, Cornick et ul.
used MTL in the highest voltage section only and replaced
38 I
 the rest of winding by an impedance [19]. The substitution 16 WRIGHT, M.T., YANG, S.J., and McLEAY, K.: 'General theory of
fast-fronted intertum voltage distribution in electrical machine wind-
by a simple impedance is problematic and the practice ings', Proc. IEE, 1983, 130, (4), pp. 245-256 (Pt. B)
may not always be justified. We have proposed a hybrid 17 McLAREN, P.G., and ORAEE, H.: 'Multiconductor transmission-
method combining the single transmission-line analysis of line model for the line-end coil of large AC machines', Proc. IEE,
1985, 132, (3), pp. 149-156 (Pt. B)
the whole winding and the MTL analysis of the highest- 18 GUARDADO, J.L., and CORNICK, K.J.: 'A computer model for
voltage section [20]. However, using the single transmis- calculating steep-fronted surge distribution in machine windings',
sion line often brings about excessive resonances. Such IEEE Truns. Energy Converx, 1989,4, (l), pp. 95-101
19 CORNICK, K., FILLIAT, B., KIENY, C., and MULLER, W.: 'Dis-
sharp resonances are subdued to an extent in the present tribution of very fast transient overvoltages in transformer windings'.
method probably by scattering, assumed at the mid-turn CIGRE Report 12-204, 1992
points. 20 S H I B W A , Y., FUJITA, S., and HOSOKAWA, N.: 'Analysis of
very fast transient overvoltage in transformer winding', IEE Proc.
Although the present MTL method still has some prob- Gener. Trunsnz. Distrib., 1997, 144,(5), pp. 461468
lems particularly in modelling dissipations, a fairly good 21 CLAYTON, R.P.: 'Analysis of multiconductor transmission lines'
correspondence is observed between calculated and experi- (Wiley, New York, 1994)
mental results both in the frequency and time domains. 22 TAVNER, P.J., and JACKSON, R.J.: 'Coupling of discharge cur-
rents between conductors of electrical machines owing to laminated
Another feature of the method is that the assessment can steel core', Proc. ZEE, 1988, 135, (6), pp. 295-307 (Pt.B)
be done at the desi,gn stage since the constants are calcula- 23 AMETANI, A.: 'Distributed-parameter circuit theory' (Corona Pub-
ble from the winding geometry. lishing, Tokyo, 1990)
24 FUJITA, S., HOSOKAWA, N., and SHIBUYA, Y.: 'Experimental
study of very fast transient phenomena in transformer winding', IEEE
6 Conclusion Truns. Power Deliv., 1998, 13, (4), pp. 1201-1207
25 FUJITA, S., NAKATSUKA, S., and SHIBUYA, Y.: 'Voltage oscil-
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A practical method to analyse high-frequency transients in Truns. Inst. Electr. Eng. Jpn. B, 2000, 120-B, (5), pp. 766-772
a power transformer is developed by reducing the number 26 S H I B W A , Y., FUJITA, S., and SHIMOMURA, T.: 'Effects of very
fast transient overvoltages on transformer', IEE Proc. Gener. Trmsm.
of unknowns in applying MTL theory. Voltage or current Distrib., 1999, 146, (5), pp. 459464
at any point in the winding is calculable from the trans-
former geometry or design parameter in the frequency 8 Appendix
domain. The time-domain waveform can be calculated
from the frequency characteristics using an FFT. Experi- The original inductance matrix [L] of N + 2 dimension can
ments including an actual 500kV transformer have con- be rewritten as follows:
firmed the applicability of the method to the analysis of
high frequency transients of several megahertz.
We hope this technique contributes to the better design
of transformers anal to improved power-system reliability.
where [LINxNis the new inductance matrix, and (LJ, (L'J
7 References are N-dimension column vectors. Similarly, the current and
other vectors can be redefined
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1I
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[
V;")(z)= v s Lo{ALmjexp(-I'z) -BL") exp(rx)}
+L,,{A~") exp(-rz)
12
93, (2), pp. 500-509
McNUTT, W.J., BLALOCK, T J., and HINTON, R.A.: 'Response
' - 13:") e x p ( r z ) )
of transformer windings to system transient voltages', IEEE Trun. +(L,) . { ( A ( " ) )exp(-rz) - (I?(")) exp(I'z)}]
Power Appur. Syts., 1974, 93, (2), pp. 475467
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pp. 930-939
[
V J m ) ( z=)v s L,{A?)exp(-rz)

+L,{A!~") exp(-rz) - BL")

-&"I exp(rs)}

exp(rz)}
14 DEGENEFF, R.C., GUTIERREZ, M.R., and McKENNY, P.J.: 'A

15
method for constructing reduced order transformer models for system
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WILCOX, D.J., HURLEY, W.G., McHALE, T.P., and CONLON,
\
+(L:) . {(A("))exp(-rz) - (Edm))exp(rz)}
1
M.: 'Application of modified modal theory in the modelling of practl-
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382 I E E Proc.-Gener.. Trunsin. Distrib., Vol. 148. No. 5,Seprember 2001

IEE ProcGener. Trawsnr. Dislrib., Vol. 148, No. 5, September 2001 383