1.287.

P6
BEHAVIOUR OF TRANSFORMER WINDINGS UNDER SURGE VOLTAGES

H. Rodrigo and H.Q.S. Dang

Department of Electrical Engineering, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
G.P.O. Box 2476V, Melbourne, Vic 3001, Australia
Abstract
A model based on ladder networks for representing
transformer windings is given. The development of
the model to represent transformer windings is based
on a set of ordinary differential equations (ODEs),
the solution of these ODEs are carried out by the
Runge-Kutta method. The advantage of the model
proposed here is that the solution of the ODEs
completely describes the behaviour of the
transformer windings under transient voltages.
Hence the efficiency of calculation is greatly
improved. The models available in the literature
presently, arrive at similar results by analysing the
behaviour of transformer windings to a unit step
voltage and then applying Duhame integral. In the
present work the variation of both longitudinal and
radial stresses have been investigated, when the
windings are subjected to a variety of surge voltages.
It is shown that while the longitudinal stress is not
much sensitive to the variation of chopping time, the
radial stress reaches very high levels. It is shown
that these high radial stress values are reached at
chopping times of the order of between 7ps and 9ps.
1. Introduction
Surge voltages, whether they be system generated or
those that occur due to atmospheric phenomena, have
detrimental effects on transformer windings, unless
protective measures are put in place. Detailed
knowledge of surge voltage distribution along the
transformer windings helps in the design of
appropriate winding structures and insulation
coordination for transformers. An early attempt to
analyse the voltage distribution along the transformer
windings was made by Wagner, as sighted by Heller
and Veverka [ 11. In this model he used standing wave
theory on uniform windings when subjected to a unit
step voltage. A more complicated model of a helical
winding was analysed using travelling waves [2].
This method was more accurate as reflection at the far
end was taken into account, thus the voltage at any
given point on the winding is given as a combination
of the forward and backward travelling waves. A
further development was advanced by considering the
winding as being nonuniform [3]. However, in none
of these cases was the mutual inductances between
the windings taken into account thus making the
models inaccurate. A model based on a scaling law
was proposed by Abetti [4]. However, the drawback
in this method was that it was not general enough,
needing a separate electromagnetic model for each
particular situation. Lewis [5] introduced a ladder
network to represent the transformer winding, with
~

High Voltage Engineering Symposium, 22-27 August 1999

Conference Publication No. 467,O IEE, 1999

each section consisting of series inductance plus an

intersection capacitance together with a shunt
capacitance to ground. In addition mutual inductances
between sets of windings were introduced. The
advantage of the method proposed by Lewis [5] is
that the transients generated in the windings by surge
voltages can be represented by a system of ordinary
differential equations (ODEs). By the application of
circuit theory several authors [6-101 have developed
powerful algorithms to solve a variety of problems
associated with transient behaviour of transformer
windings.
Chopped lightning waveforms are designed to subject
the windings to insulation withstand tests. These
chopped waveforms are akin to those that will be
encounted by the transformer windings in service
where flashover at the insulator occurs. We have
optimised the chopping time, in order to determine
the maximum level of stress that can be imposed on
the transformer windings by using an analytical
computer simulation. In addition the transformer
windings are modelled using a system of ODEs. The
model proposed in the present work has the advantage
that a numerical technique can be applied to obtain
the voltage distribution along the transformer
winding, for a given input surge voltage. This is an
advance on the models available in the literature
where to obtain a similar result one has to first obtain
the response of the windings to a unit step impulse
voltage and then apply Duhamel integral [lo]. Hence
the efficiency of calculation is greatly improved. All
the calculations performed in the present work was
carried out using MATLAB@.
2. Method of calculation
2.1 Formulation of system of ODEs. The ladder
network representing an N-section winding is shown
inFig. 1
Assuming that U is a nodal voltage vector and I a
current vector through the winding sections.
The equations for the equivalent network can be
obtained in matrix form as follows:

where L is nodal inductance matrix, C1 is nodal

capacitance matrix, GI is nodal conductance matrix,
R, is matrix representing the resistance of winding
sections, A,, B1,El, M1,
N1 are matrices of constant
coefficients, Csl is the series capacitance of the first
section, v(t) is the standard lightning waveform,
1.2/50psapplied at the line terminal.

1.288.P6

Fig. 1. Equivalent ladder network representing a

transformer winding.

3. Calculation of winding parameters

3.1 Hypotheses and assumptions about parameters
Frequency dependence.
- At high frequencies the iron core winding is treated
as an air core winding [6].
- An increase in the values of resistance due to skin
effect affects the damping of transient voltages only.
It does not have a major effect on values of the
natural frequencies of voltage oscillations.
Voltage dependence.
- In the range of fiequencies normally encountered
(20-2OOkHz) the core behaves as being a linear
element, thus a recurrent surge generator (RSG, type
DFE 374) which provides low voltage surges up to
500V is used to investigate the behaviour of
windings under surge conditions.
Influence of the other phase windings on
impulsed winding.
- In the case of three-phase windings the
influence of the other two phases on the
impulsed one is negligible.
3.2 Calculation of capacitances
Shunt capacitance
In the present work the shunt capacitance is defined
as the capacitance between the impulsed winding
and the structures which are grounded, e.g the iron
core, the tank etc. In most cases of impulse tests, the

low voltage winding is earthed, therefore the

capacitance between the impulsed winding and the
iron core can be considered as the one between the
impulsed winding and the low voltage winding.
Assuming that these two windings are cylindrical
and wound on the same limb, so the capacitance
between them is:

c, = 2n&,&*L
D
In

(2)

where E, = 8.8542 x IO-'* F/m is the permittivity of

vacuum, E~ is the relative permittivity of insulation
between HV and LV windings, L the axial length of
the winding, d the outer diameter of the inner LV
winding and D the inner diameter of the outer HV
winding.
Series capacitance
The equivalent series capacitances of a winding, C,
consists of intra- and inter-coil turn to turn
capacitances of winding sections. As the series
capacitance of a winding plays a significant role in
the internal voltage oscillations in a winding, it must

be computed accurately. For the calculation of series

capacitance, the formula introduced by Stein [lo] is
used because of its accuracy over the other methods
VI.
3.3 Calculationof inductances
In the present work a Field Simulation program
named Maxwell@ (Ansoft Corporation, U S A ) is
used to compute the self inductances of winding
sections and the mutual inductances between
neighbouring ones. The self inductance Li of section
i carrying a current I can be evaluated fiom the
calculated energy Wii stored in the section

Lii = 2w,,

(3)

I=

The total energy W of a system consisting of two

winding sections is
(4)
where Lii , L j are self inductances of section i and j,
Ii and Ij are currents passing through section i and j,
respectively. Thus fi-om the calculated value of W
the mutual inductance Mu between section i and j
can be derived as

-(

M..U = I i I j

W-

1LiiI:
2

(5)

LjI;
2

4. Experimental Method
Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of the
experimental set-up. The Haefely recurrent surge
generator (RSG, type DFE 374) is connected
directly to the high voltage terminal of the
transformer, the low voltage winding is shorted and
connected to ground. This is done in order to
conform with the chopped wave test with fill
voltage as specified by testing standard (ANSI
C57.98-1986: IEEE Guide for Transformer Impulse
Tests). The RSG is capable of voltages that are
continuously variable from 0 to 500V. It can also
generate waveforms with wavefi-ont times, variable
from 0.2 to 5 0 0 p and wavetails to fall to half value
variable from 0.3 to 9000p. It also has the facility
for chopping the waveform at any time on either the
wavefront or wavetail. The transformer used in the
present work is an oil insulated IO-kVA distribution
type. For the experimental procedure the oil was
drained out and the transformer was removed from
the tank. A number of tapping points were taken out
along the length of the high voltage winding. These
points were taken as voltage probe points for the
experiments. All the probe points were kept as short
as possible to minimise the inductance of connecting
wires and all the connections were securely bonded
in order to prevent spurious signals being generated
at the joints. The results were recorded on a digital
oscilloscope (HP 54600A). The oscilloscope was
interfaced with a computer using a data acquisition
card ( type AT-GPIB/ TNT) whose sampling rate is
1 GHZ. All data is saved in ASCII format for further
processing and analysis.

1.289.P6

Fig. 2. Schematic of experimental set up.

Results
Table 1 shows the inductance and capacitance used
for calculations in the present work [7].
Figure 3(a) shows the voltage response at nodes 1
and 6 of a 12-section transformer winding.
Figure 3(b) shows the voltage response at nodes 1
and 5 of a 10-section transformer winding.
In each case the input voltage waveform is that of a
standard lightning waveform chopped at 3ps.
5. Analysis of winding behaviour under chopped
impulse voltages
Fig. 4 shows the variation of maximum voltage to
ground as a fknction of chopping time, T,. In the
present work the impulses, which are applied to the
terminals of the transformer windings, are chopped
at different instants of time corresponding to T, =
1.2,2, 3, 5,7, 9, 11 and 13ps. It is clear from Fig. 4
that the electrical stress as a function of chopping
Transformer 1 (12-sectionwinding)
hductance(mH)
capacitance@F)

c,

412.6

L14

I 0.344

Tnacformer 2 (10-sectionwindiag)
hduaancc(mH)
CapacitaMc(p~)

3.100
L I Z I 1.457
L I ~ i 0.496
L11

c,
66

c,
61

j 0.217
LIS i 0.124
Llr

0.283
0.232

L,,--!o.o62-

LIT ! 0.186
L,. E 3 9

LIT I 0.031
Li0.031

1,,
L ~ ,I ~0.031.-~

(W

Fig. 3. Transient voltages when subjected to impulse

chopped at T, = 3ps
(a) 12-section winding, (b) 10-section winding
seen that chopping at the peak of the applied impulse
~)
in a stress of only around 0.7
(T, = 1 . 2 ~ results
p.u. of the peak. It is noted here that this model
relates to a loss free system. However, when a lossy
system is considered there will be damping effects
due to dielectric loss, eddy current loss etc. Hence
one would expect the maximum value of stress to be
much less than that given here.
Similarly, for the 10-section winding the
maximum voltage to ground also has a maximum
value when chopping time varies from 1 . 2 to
~ ~
13ps. The maximum stress is around 1.2 p.u. and
occurs at the chopping time of 7ps. This stress
occurs at node 5 (midwinding node).

I-._
I

Table 1: Winding parameters of the investigated

transformer.

............ .............
.............

.....

time (T,), increases with increase in Tc and reaches

a peak at around 9ps. The decline in the electrical
stress level beyond this time of 9ps can be attributed
to the fact that the derivative dU/dt decreases with
decrease in voltage in the tail of the voltage
waveform.
For the 12-section winding, it can be seen from Fig.
4 that the voltage to ground will reach a maximum
value when there is an increase in the value of
chopping time T,. In case of the 12 section winding
the stress in the winding increases gradually until it
reaches a peak of around 1.75 p.u. of the peak of the
applied impulse at T, = 9ps. Beyond this chopping
time there is a reduction in the value of the stress as
T, is increased. When the chopping time is 13ps the
maximum stress is reduced to 1.35 p.u. It is also

........

0.4

choppin. time (

io

l.2

Fig. 4. Maximum voltage to ground with respect to

different values of chopping time.
(- ): transformer with 12-section winding.
( - * - ): transformer with 10-section winding.
5,l Longitudinal stress with respect to diflerent
chopping times.
From Fig. 5 it can be seen that the trend of variation
of the longitudinal stresses are higher at the winding
sections close to the ends than those of the mid
sections. For the 12-section winding the stresses in
the mid sections are of the order of between 0.3 and
0.6 p.u. when the chopping time varies from 1.2ps

1.290.P6
up to 13ps. The maximum longitudinal stress occurs
at the ends and its value is of the order of 0.8 p.u.
Similar values were obtained for the 10-section
winding.
6. Discussion
The analytical results obtained by using the
parameters in reference [7] follow the trends given
in the present work. It should be pointed out that in
the present work the following entities were carried
out
Establishment of a new set of ODEs
representing the equivalent ladder network.
These ODEs are solved using a numerical
technique namely; the Runge-Kutta method.
This method improves the efficiency of calculations.
It can be seen that evaluation of Duhamel integral is
rendered unnecessary. Other authors [6,7,8,9] also
have developed techniques that avoid the usage of
Duhamel integral for obtaining the final results. In
this work the representation of the network is similar
to the state-space approach [9].
From the analysis of transformer winding behaviour
under surge conditions, some important features
have been found as follows: a) There is a critical
value of chopping time at which the chopped
impulse wave form results in the maximum voltage
to ground, therefore it leads to the highest stress in
the insulation. The standard chopped wave test does
not always reveal the highest stress in the
transformer windings. Hence the critical chopping
time should be determined for each transformer

. . . .
s c c l h n mnkI

b)

-:T,-3ps

-.-:

T.- 1lu

Fig. 5. The maximum longitudinal stress versus the

chopping time T, in case of 12-section winding.
depending on its capacity and construction. b) In the
present work the maximum radial stress occurs at
sections close to the mid section of the windings

when calculated as a function of chopping time, Tc.

So during its service the transformer winding could
suffer very high stress in the turns close to the
middle of the winding. c) The longitudinal stresses
at the end sections are much higher than those at the
mid sections of the winding during chopped wave
test. The longitudinal stresses are not as sensitive to
the variation of chopping time, as the radial stresses.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express their thanks to the
technical staff in the Department of Electrical
Engineering. One of us (HQSD) gratefully
acknowledges the granting of a scholarship under
AusAID.
References
1. Heller, B., Veverka, A., "Surge phenomena in
electrical machines", lliffe Books Ltd., London,
1968, pp. 203-301.
2. Rudenberg, R., "Performance of Travelling
Waves in Coils and Windings", AIEE Transactions
on Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol. 59, 1940, pp.
1031-1040.
3. Norris, E.T, "The Lightning Strength of Power
Transfomer", IEE Journal, Vol. 95, Part 2, 1948, pp.
389-392.
4. Abetti, P.A.,"Transformer Models for The
Determination of Transient Voltage", AIEE
Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol.
72, 1953, pp 468-479.
5 . Lewis, T.J., T h e Transient Behaviour of Ladder
Networks of The Time Representing Transformer
and Machine Windings", Proc. IEE, Vol. 10 1, Part
2, 1954, pp.541-553.
6. Miki, A., Hosoya, T., Okuyama, K., "A
calculation method for impulse voltage distribution
and transferred voltage in transformer windings",
IEEE Transactions on Power Apparatus and
Systems, Vol. PAS-97, No. 3, May1 June 1978, pp.
930-939.
7. Kasturi M., Many G.R.K, "Computation of
impulse voltage stresses in transformer windings",
Proc. IEE, Part C, vol. 126, No. 5, May 1979, pp.
397-400.
8. Mombelo, E.E., Ratta, G., Rivers, J.F., "Study of
internal stresses in transformer windings due to
lightning transient phenomena. Electric Power
System Research, Vol. 21, 1991, pp. 161-172.
9. Fergestad, P.I., Henriksen, T.,"Transient
oscillations in multiwinding transformers ZEEE
Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol.
PAS-93, 1974, pp. 500-509.
10. Stein, G.M., "A study of the initial surge
distribution in concentric transformer windings",
Transactions on Power Apparatus and Systems, Vol.
83,1964, pp. 877-893.