ASSIGNMENT-1

Q. Write down the properties of Conducting material, insulating material & magnetic material.

Ans.

(A.) Conducting Material

Conducting materials are those materials which have minimum resistance for the flow of electric
current through it and current passes through these materials very easily. Silver, aluminum,
copper are some of the important conducting material used as conductor in electrical machines.

Silver has highest conductivity but due to high cost silver never used in electrical machine so the
next best conducting material copper is most widely used. And due to lesser cost aluminum is
also increasingly being used in electrical machine.

A good conductor should posses following properties:-

1. Low value of resistivity and high conductivity.

2. High tensile strength.

3. High melting point.

4. High resistance to corrosion.

5. Durable and cheap by cost.

Copper:-
Copper is most widely used conducting material. It is reddish in color and is available in hard
drawn and annealed form. Hard drawn copper becomes soft after annealing it. Annealing process
involves heating at a specific temperature and then cooling.

:- Relative density of copper is 8.94.

:- It melts at 1080℃ and boils at 2325℃.

:- Copper is hygienic, tough and non- magnetic.

:- Copper offers excellent electrical and mechanical properties. Further when exposed to
atmosphere copper oxide layer is formed over it which acts as a protective layer and prevents
corrosion. It can be cast, forged, rolled, drawn and welded.

:- Owing to its high mechanical strength, the hard drawn copper has important applications in
making bus bars, high voltage underground cables and over head conductors.

:- Annealed high conductivity copper is used for windings of electrical machines and
transformers and making coils for different purposes.

Aluminum:-
Aluminum is the next best conductor after copper. It is a soft metal and can be prepared in hard
drawn and annealed form.

:- Physically, chemically and mechanically, aluminum is a metal similar to steel, brass, copper,
zinc, lead or titannium. It can be melted, cast, formed and machined in a similar way to these
metals and conducts electric currents.

g
:- Aluminum has a specific weight of 2.7 about a third of steel.
c m3

:- Aluminum is about 3.3 times lighter than copper, and being cheaper using it results in large
reduction in the cost of conductors.

:- Aluminum is ductile and has a low melting point and density.

:- Aluminum foil is only 0.007 mm in thickness but it is still durable and completely
impermeable. Moreover metal is non toxic and odorless.

:- Aluminum is an excellent heat and electricity conductor and in relation to it’s weight is almost
twice as good a conductor as copper. This has made aluminum the first choice as power
transmission line.

:- Aluminum can be rolled into thinner and flexible sheets compared to copper, hence it is being
used to prepare foil type of windings for small rating transformers.
(B.) Magnetic Material
Materials which can be magnetized are called magnetic material. When magnetized, such
materials create a magnetic field around them.

Some of the properties that a good magnetic material should possess are:-

1. Low reluctance or should be highly permeable or should have a high value of relative
permeability.

2. High electrical resistivity so that the eddy EMF and hence eddy current loss is less.

3. Narrow hysteresis loop or low Coercivity so that hysteresis loss is less and efficiency of
operation is high.

4. A high curie point (Above curie point or temperature the material loses the magnetic property
or becomes paramagnetic.)

Based on relative permittivity magnetic material are classified into 3 types:-

1. Diamagnetic Material

2. Para magnetic Material

3. Ferro magnetic Material

1. Diamagnetic Material:-
These materials have their relative permeability slightly less than unity.

:- Bismuth, silver, lead, copper, water are some of the examples of diamagnetic materials.

2. Paramagnetic Material:-
These materials have their relative permeability slightly greater then unity.

:- Air, aluminum, and palladium are some of the examples of paramagnetic materials.
3. Ferromagnetic Material:-
These materials have their relative permeability much greater then unity.

:- Nickel, Cobalt, Iron, Steel, Silicon steel, Permalloy and super-permalloy are some of the
ferromagnetic materials.

Because of very less relative permeability both diamagnetic and paramagnetic materials have
negligible applications in the field of electrical engineering, so from electrical engineering point
of view both can be considered as non- magnetic. Now it is the ferromagnetic material which is
important in the field of electrical engineering.

Further all ferromagnetic materials can be classified into two broad groups on the basis of
hysteresis loop, namely

(a) Hard magnetic material

(b) Soft magnetic material

Hysteresis loop or B-H curve

(a.) Hard Magnetic Material:-
Those materials which have a gradually rising magnetization curve and large hysteresis loop area
(consequently large energy losses) are called hard magnetic materials or permanent magnetic
materials.

:- These materials are used in making all kinds of instrument and devices requiring permanent
magnets.

Ex: carbon steel, tungsten steel, cobalt steel, alnico, hard ferrite etc.

Hysteresis loop for soft and hard ferromagnetic material

(b.) Soft Magnetic Material:-

Magnetic materials which have a steeply rising magnetization curve, relatively small and narrow
hysteresis loop and consequently small energy loss per cycle of magnetization are called soft
magnetic materials.
:- Silicon steel, nickel-iron alloys and soft ferrites are some of the soft magnetic materials. These
materials are used for the construction of cores of electrical machines, transformers, and for
making electromagnets reactors, relays etc.

(C.) Insulating Material

Insulating materials are used in electrical machines to provide insulation of current carrying
parts. To avoid any electrical activity between parts at different potentials, insulation is used. It
must provide a “galvanic separation” from the machine components at varying potentials.

In addition, the insulation provide mechanical support to conductors and helps in the transfer of
heat. Out of all materials comprising the electrical machine the insulating material is forming the
weakest part. Further the rating of an electrical machine is mainly decided by the type and
property of insulating material used in it.

There are quite a large variety of insulating materials available having vastly different properties
and origin. Some common insulating materials are paper, cotton, silk, cardboard, empire cloth,
pressphan, mica, asbestos, Bakelite, resins, glass, ceramics, varnish etc.

A good insulator should possess the following properties:-

:- should with stand high temperature.

:- should have high thermal conductivity.

:- should not deteriorate due to high temperature and repeated heat cycle.

:- should have high resistivity.

:- should not absorb moisture.

Insulating materials can be classified as solid, liquid and gas and vacuum. The term insulating
material is sometimes used in broader sense to designate also insulating liquids, gas and vacuum.

Solid: Used with field, armature, and transformer windings etc. The examples are:
ⅰ) Fibrous or inorganic animal or plant origin, natural or synthetic paper, wood, card board,
cotton, jute, silk etc.
ⅱ) Plastic or resins. Natural resins- lac, amber, shellac etc.

Synthetic resins- melamine, polyesters, epoxy, PVC, Teflon etc.

ⅲ) Rubber: natural rubber, synthetic rubber- butadiene etc.

ⅳ) Non-resinous: asphalt, bitumen, enamel etc.

Liquid: Used in transformers, circuit breakers, reactors, cables, capacitors etc. The examples
are:

ⅰ) Mineral oil(petroleum by product)

ⅱ) Synthetic oil askarels, pyranols etc.

ⅲ) Varnish, French polish etc.

Gaseous: The examples are:

ⅰ) Air used in switches, air condensers, transmission and distribution lines etc.

ⅱ) Halogens like fluorine, used under high pressure in cables.

ⅲ) Inert gases neon, argon, mercury and sodium vapors generally used for neon sign lamps.

ⅳ) Nitrogen use in capacitors, HV gas pressure cables etc.

ⅴ) Hydrogen though not used as a dielectric, generally used as a coolant.