Inductance

Lusia Rakhmawati

The property of
inductance

A huge loop of wire

illustrates the principle
of
inductance.

Relative magnetic
flux in the huge
wire loop, as a
function of time in
seconds.

Practical inductors
The current that an inductor can handle depends
on the size of the wire. The inductance does not; it
is a function of the number of turns in the coil, the
diameter of the coil, and the overall shape of the
coil.
In general, inductance of a coil is directly
proportional to the number of turns of wire.
Inductance is also directly proportional to the
diameter of the coil. The length of a coil, given a
certain number of turns and a certain diameter,
has an effect also: the longer the coil, the less the
inductance.

The unit of inductance

The henry is an extremely large unit of
inductance. Rarely will you see an inductor
anywhere near this large, although some powersupply filter chokes have inductances up to
several henrys.
Usually, inductances are expressed in millihenrys
(mH), microhenrys (H), or even in nanohenrys
(nH). You should know your prefix multipliers
1 mH = 0.001 H= 10-3 H,
1 H = 0.001 mH = 0.000001 H = 10-6 H,
1 nH = 0.001 H= 10 -9 H.

Inductors in series

L = L1 +L2
+L3

Inductors in series
Three 40-H inductors are connected
in series, and there is no interaction,
or mutual inductances, among them).
What is the total inductance?
You can just add up the values. Call
the inductances of the individual
components L1 , L2, dan L3, and the total
inductance L. Then L=
L1 +L2 +L3 = 40 + 40 + 40 = 120 H.

Inductors in parallel

Interaction among
inductors
Coefficient of coupling
The coefficient of coupling, specified by the letter k, is a number
ranging from 0 (no coupling) to 1 (maximum possible coupling). Two
coils that are separated by a sheet of solid iron would have essentially k
0; two coils wound on the same form, one right over the other, would
have practically k 1.
Mutual inductance
The mutual inductance is specified by the letter M and is expressed in
the same units as inductance: henrys, millihenrys, microhenrys, or
nanohenrys. The value of M is a function of the values of the inductors,
and also of the coefficient of coupling.
For two inductors, having values of L1 and L2 (both expressed in the
same size units), and with a coefficient of coupling k, the mutual
inductance M is found by multiplying the inductance values, taking the
square root of the result, and then multiplying by k. Mathematically,

Effects of mutual
inductance
Mutual inductance can operate either to increase the
inductance of a pair of series connected inductors, or to
decrease it. This is because the magnetic fields might
reinforce each other, or they might act against each other.
When two inductors are connected in series, and there is
reinforcing mutual inductance between them, the total
inductance L is given in the formula:
where L1 and L2 are the values of the individual
inductors, and M is the mutual inductance.
All inductances must be expressed in the same size units.

Problem

Suppose two coils, having values of 30 H

and 50 H, are connected in series so that
their fields reinforce, as shown in Fig, and
that the coefficient of coupling is 0.5.
What is the total inductance of the
combination?

Problem
There are two coils with values L1
835 H and L2 2.44 mH. They are
connected in series so that their
coefficient of coupling is 0.922,
acting so that the coils oppose each
other, as shown in Fig. What is the
net inductance of the pair?

Air-core coils
The simplest inductors (besides plain, straight lengths of wire) are
coils. A coil can be wound on a plastic, wooden or other
nonferromagnetic material, and it will work very well, although no aircore inductor can have very much inductance. In practice, the
maximum attainable inductance for such coils is about 1 mH.
Air-core coils are used mostly at radio frequencies, in transmitters,
receivers, and antenna networks. In general, the higher the frequency
of an alternating current, the less inductance is needed to produce
significant effects.
Air-core coils can be made to have almost unlimited current-carrying
capacity, just by using heavy-gauge wire and making the radius of the
coil large. Air does not dissipate much energy in the form of heat; it is
almost lossless. For these reasons, air-core coils can be made highly
efficient.

Powdered-iron and
ferrite cores

Ferromagnetic substances can be crushed into dust and then bound into
various shapes, providing core materials that greatly increase the
inductance of a coil having a given number of turns. Depending on the
mixture used, the increase in flux density can range from a factor of a few
times, up through hundreds, thousands, and even millions of times. A small
coil can thus be made to have a large inductance.

Powdered-iron cores are common at radio frequencies. Ferrite has a higher

permeability than powdered iron, causing a greater concentration of
magnetic flux lines within the coil. Ferrite is used at lower radio frequencies
and at audio frequencies, as well as at medium and high radio frequencies.

The main trouble with ferromagnetic cores is that, if the coil carries more
than a certain amount of current, the core will saturate. This means that
the ferromagnetic material is holding as much flux as it possibly can. Any
further increase in coil current will not produce a corresponding increase in
the magnetic flux in the core. The result is that the inductance changes,
decreasing with coil currents that are more than the critical value.

In extreme cases, ferromagnetic cores can waste considerable power as

heat. If a core gets hot enough, it might fracture. This will permanently

Permeability tuning
Solenoidal, or cylindrical, coils can be made to have variable
inductance by sliding ferromagnetic cores in and out of them.
This is a common practice in radio communications.
Because moving the core in and out changes the effective
permeability within a coil of wire, this method of tuning is
called permeability tuning.
The in/out motion can be precisely controlled by attaching the
core to a screw shaft, and anchoring a nut at one end of the
coil. As the screw shaft is rotated clockwise, the core enters
the coil, so that the inductance increases. As the screw shaft is
rotated counterclockwise, the core moves out of the coil and
the inductance decreases.

Toroids
Inductor coils do not have to be
wound on cylindrical forms, or on
cylindrical ferromagnetic cores. In
recent years, a new form of coil has
become increasingly common. This is
the toroid. It gets its name from the
donut shape of the ferromagnetic
core. The coil is wound over a core
having this shape

Permeability tuning of a solenoidal

coil.

A toroidal coil winding.

Pot cores

Inductors at audio
frequency
Inductors at audio frequencies range in value
from a few millihenrys up to about 1 H.
They are almost always toroidally wound, or are
wound in a pot core, or comprise part of an
audio transformer.
Inductors can be used in conjunction with
moderately large values of capacitance in order
to obtain audio tuned circuits. However, in
recent years, audio tuning has been taken over
by active components, particularly integrated
circuits.

Inductors at radio
frequency
The radio frequencies range from 9 kHz to well above 100
GHz. At the low end of this range, inductors are similar to
those at audio frequencies. As the frequency increases,
cores having lower permeability are used. Toroids are quite
common up through about
30 MHz. Above that frequency, air-core coils are more often
used.
In radio-frequency (rf) circuits, coils are routinely connected
in series or in parallel with capacitors to obtain tuned
circuits. Other arrangements yield various characteristics of
attenuation versus frequency, serving to let signals at some
frequencies pass, while rejecting signals at other
frequencies. Youll learn more about this in the chapter on
resonance.

Transmission-line
inductors
At radio frequencies of more than about
100 MHz, another type of inductor
becomes practical. This is the type formed
by a length of transmission line.
A transmission line is generally used to
get energy from one place to another. In
radio communications, transmission lines
get energy from a transmitter to an
antenna, and from an antenna to a
receiver.

Types of transmission
line
Transmission lines usually take either of two forms,
the parallel-wire type or the coaxial type.
A parallel-wire transmission line consists of two
wires running alongside each other with a constant
spacing . The spacing is maintained by
polyethylene rods molded at regular intervals to
the wires, or by a solid web of polyethylene. You
have seen this type of line used with television
receiving antennas. The substance separating the
wires is called the dielectric of the transmission
line.

Parallel-wire transmission
line.

Coaxial transmission line.

A coaxial transmission line has a wire conductor surrounded by

a tubular braid or Pipe . The wire is kept at the center of this
tubular shield by means of polythylene beads, or more often,
by solid or foamed polyethylene dielectric, all along the length
of the line.

Coaxial Cable
Advantages
Lebih panjang (up to
500m)
Lebih cocok sebagai
backbone
Lebih murah daripada
backbone fiber
Lebih tahan terhadap
gangguan
elektromagnetik