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Manufacturing and Assembly

12. Manufacturing and Assembly

T.K. Ganguli

M.V. Prabhakar

Manufacturing and assembly of the transformer involves the following main

stages and the manufacturing techniques basically depend on the design
philosophy.

a. Core building

b. Preparation of windings

c. Core and winding assembly

d. Terminal gear assembly

e. Processing

f. Servicing and tanking

g. Mounting of accessories for testing

12.1. Core Building

The core forms the magnetic circuit of the transformer. Core is built up from cold
rolled grain oriented, silicon alloy sheet steel of the best magnetic properties. The
material is either received in rolled coil form or in finished sizes of core sheets,
ready for core building. When the material is received in coil form, it is slitted,
cropped and mitred to the required dimensions based on the design
requirements. CNC machines are now available which can perform the above
operations with perfect control on burrs. The size, type, and construction of the
core, like the number of steps, number of limbs, height, etc. depend on the
number of phases and the size of the transformer.

The sequence of operations for core building and assembly are as under:

a. Slitting of core steel rolls to required width on slitting machines.

b. Cropping and mitring to the required dimensions.

c. Hole punching in the laminations where required.

d. Stacking of laminations of different size to the required thickness.

e. Laying of clamp plates and end frame and its leveling.

f. Assembly of insulation between clamp plate/end frame to core laminations.

g. Preparation of oil duct in core.

h. Core building.

i. Clamping of core after assembly of the top end frame.

j. Tightening of core.

k. Lifting of core by use of a cradle, and carrying out isolation checks after
treatment of insulation items.

The core assembly is now ready for further processing and assembly.

12.2. Preparation of Windings

The windings form the electrical circuit of a transformer. Various types of

windings, i.e. spiral, helical, disc, layer, etc. are used, depending upon the rating
of the transformer and the design considerations. Generally, low voltage windings
are either spiral or helical and high voltage windings are either layer or disc type.
Various types of windings have been discussed in detail in Chapter 5.

The sequence of manufacture of windings is given below:

a. Loading of moulds (formers) on the winding machines.

b. Loading of the conductor reels on stands.

c. Dressing of the mould, i.e. assembly of insulation spacers and blocks on the
 mould.

d. Manufacture of the winding on horizontal/vertical winding machines depending

on design, type of winding, number of conductors, to be handled at a time and
the type of conductor.

e. Preparation of the leads etc.

f. Dismantling of winding from the machine.

g. Preparation of the joints between conductors, if any.

h. After removing the winding from the winding machine, each winding is
clamped between top and bottom plates through tie rods, and kept in an oven
for heating. The windings are individually shrunk to the required axial
dimensions by heating in the steam heated oven and by applying the required
pressure. Heating ensures removal of moisture from the insulation items. This
process is called stabilization of the windings, and the windings are stabilized
to such an extent that they do not shrink further during service.

12.2.1. Layer Winding Assembly

Layer winding is also clamped and shrunk as above. Winding is then placed with
bottom end in top position and the bottom end insulation consisting of angle
rings, angle washers, flanged paper insulation, block washers, etc., is built up.
The position of winding is then reversed, bringing top of winding on top and the
top insulation arrangement is completed in this position. During this process,
insertion of line shield rings on both ends and filler paper, preparation of leads,
placement of circular barriers, etc., are also completed. After completion of
insulation arrangement, the coil is shrunk to the required axial dimensions.

Typical insulation arrangement of layer winding is shown in Fig. 12.1.

Figure 12.1. Typical insulation arrangement of layer winding.

The winding is then kept in clamped condition for either composite winding
assembly or assembly on core legs.

12.3. Winding Assembly

A typical arrangement of winding assembly along with clamping structure is

shown in Fig. 12.2 (Plate 5).
Figure 12.2.

The winding assembly is carried out in clamping structure consisting of bottom

and top face plates and tie rods. Steel face plates are selected on the basis of
maximum diameter of the winding to be assembled. Number of windings to be
assembled depends upon the type of transformer, i.e. whether generator
transformer auto-transformer or system transformer, etc. Generally, in a
generator transformer low voltage, tapping and high voltage windings are
involved whereas in auto-transformer tertiary, common, tapping and series
windings are involved. A typical sequence of operation for winding assembly of a
transformer having three windings when they are pre-assembled as follows:

a. Winding 2 is lowered over winding 1, placing radial spacers and pressboard

cylinders in between and keeping bottom end of each coil at the top. Next
winding 3 is lowered over winding 2.

b. Insulation items, i.e. block washers, angle rings, etc., are assembled. During
insulation assembly, various leads i.e. tapping, line leads, etc., are properly
positioned and partly insulated at this stage.

c. Winding assembly is reversed to bring top of the coil at the top. Insulation
items of top portion are then assembled, and various leads are also prepared.

d. Barrier arrangement is then assembled and tied with tape bands.

e. Winding assembly is clamped in clamping structure and is shrunk to the

required axial dimensions. The assembly is kept under pressure for further
assembly on core legs.

The individual windings alternatively can also be assembled on the core leg
instead of being pre-assembled.
12.4. Core and Winding Assembly

Core is placed on suitable levelled platform. Top-end frame and yoke laminations
are removed. Bottom insulation items are placed on bottom yoke/end frame on
each core leg. Various windings are either lowered one by one or composite
winding assembly is lowered on each core leg. After lowering of the windings, top
insulation arrangement is completed. Top-end frame and yoke laminations are
placed back in position. Coils are kept under pressure by either coil clamping
bolts or spring loaded hydraulic devices provided on the top-end frame. A typical
arrangement of core and winding assembly is shown in Fig. 12.3 (Plate 5).

Figure 12.3.

12.5. Terminal Gear Assembly

After relacing of the top yoke, the preparation of the Terminal Gear Assembly is
done as described below:

a. Cutting of the leads as required.

b. Crimping/brazing of the leads with cables.

c. Brazing of bus bars.

d. Fixing of different cleats.

e. Crimping/brazing of cables with terminal lugs.

f. Mounting of the tap changer/tap switch.

g. Preparation of HV line lead.

In this stage, connections between phases to form the required vector group,
tapping lead connections, line and neutral leads formation, etc., are completed.
Low-voltage connections are done on one side of the winding and are designated
as LV terminal gear. On the opposite side, high-voltage connections are done and
are designated as HV terminal gear. Medium voltage leads (in system or auto-
transformer) are taken out on LV side and tapping connections on either LV or HV
side depending upon design layout. Generally in generator transformer, a three-
phase on-load or off-circuit tap-changer is mounted on one end and in case of
auto-transformer three single-phase tapchangers are mounted in front of the
windings. Tapchangers are supported from end frame during terminal gear
assembly. All leads, i.e. line and neutral leads of low-voltage, medium-voltage
and high-voltage windings, tapping leads, etc., are laid out and connected using
different types of joints (i.e. bolted, crimped, soldered or brazed) and insulated
for the required insulation level. Leads are properly supported by cleats mounted
on end frames. The clearances between various leads, coil to leads, leads to end
frame and other parts are maintained and checked. Figures 12.4(a) and (b) (Plate
5) show photographs of typical LV terminal gear arrangements.

Figure 12.4(a).
Figure 12.4(b).

Figures 12.5(a) and (b) (Plate 6) shows photographs of typical HV terminal gear
arrangements.

Figure 12.5(a).

Figure 12.5(b).

12.6. Placement of Core and Winding Assembly in Tank

After completion of terminal gear assembly, the core and winding assembly is
placed in the tank. The tank may either be of conventional or bell-shaped
construction depending upon requirement. In case of bell-shaped construction,
the top part of tank and for conventional construction the bottom tank is
prepared for this purpose. Preparations include mounting of shunts, barriers, etc.,
on tank walls as required and also laying of gaskets on the flange joints. In
conventional tank, the core and winding assembly is lowered in the bottom tank.
[Fig. 12.6(a) (Plate 6)]
Figure 12.6(a).

In bell-shaped tank construction, top tank is lowered on the core and winding
assembly. [Fig. 12.6(b) (Plate 6)]

Figure 12.6(b).

After placement of core and winding assembly in tank, various electrical and
mechanical clearances, viz. coils to tank, line, neutral and tapping leads to tank,
etc., are checked. After the above checks are over, all the openings in tank and
cover are blanked by blanking plates and gaskets. The transformer is then sent
for drying and impregnation.

12.7. Processing

The quality of a transformer and, consequently its performance and life depends
essentially on the factory processing. The assembled active part of the
transformer after tanking or before tanking as the case may be, is heated in an
oven for extraction of moisture under vacuum. Sometimes, vacuum drying is
done by drawing vacuum in its own tank and keeping the whole transformer in an
oven.

Besides the conventional method of drying, the most modern vapour phase
drying method is also used, as explained in detail in Chapter 13.
Much importance is attached to proper dry out, as otherwise windings would
become loose in service, and may get distorted under short circuit conditions.

Once the moisture is extracted to the desired level, oil is filled under vacuum and
the transformer is soaked in oil.

12.8. Servicing of Transformer

The transformer active part is then taken out and all the terminal gear cleating of
the leads are retightened and the coils are clamped and secured in position. The
transformer tank cover is then placed in its position and the transformer is now
ready for further assembly of bushings etc.

12.9. Tanking

After servicing the transformer is assembled with all the necessary fittings. The
oil is filled under vacuum and it is circulated in order to get the desired ppm and
BDV levels before being offered for final testing and subjected to high voltage
testing.

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BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited): Transformers, Second Edition.
Manufacturing and Assembly, Chapter (McGraw-Hill Professional, 2003),
AccessEngineering

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