Hindawi Publishing Corporation

Advances in Mechanical Engineering

Volume 2013, Article ID 375301, 8 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/375301

Research Article
Positional Error Analysis of PCB Rogowski Coil for
High Accuracy Current Measurement

Gang Zhang1 and Yi Liu2

1
School of Mechanical Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China
2
School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430071, China

Correspondence should be addressed to Yi Liu; wgdliuyi2001@126.com

Received 15 March 2013; Revised 31 May 2013; Accepted 2 June 2013

Academic Editor: Shane Xie

Copyright © 2013 G. Zhang and Y. Liu. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Geometrical, physical, and electrical parameters have influences on the precision of printed circuit board Rogowski coils (PCBRCs).
This paper outlined operating principles and properties of PCBRCs. Two kinds of positional sensitivities between current conductor
and PCBRC are analyzed, and mathematical models and formulas for error computing are established and derived. The roles of
some critical geometrical parameters are characterized and verified by experiment. These methods can be used to define structure
parameters of PCBRC for precise current measurement applications.

1. Introduction From the point of view of the manufacture process,

Rogowski coil (RC) is a kind of helical coil used for electric
current measurement. Unlike other current transformers
using an iron core as the former, the wire of RC is wound on
a nonmagnetic core like bakelite, glass, plastic, or rubber and
so on. Therefore, RCs do not suffer from magnetic saturation
effects and operate linearly. Many of the useful features result
from this linearity. (1) They have excellent capability to mea-
sure currents in a very wide range from a few milliamperes
to several million amperes. (2) They have a very wide band-
width, extended from 0.1 Hz to 1 GHz, which enables them
to measure or reproduce the waveform of rapidly changing
currents or small-duration pulsed currents. (3) They have no
direct electrical connection to the main circuit. This provides
galvanic insulation and produces no heating, allowing them
to measure currents nonintrusively and safely. (4) They can
be designed flexibly and lightweight, making a very useful
contribution to the art of measuring currents under various
circumstances, particularly where high currents are involved.
These advantages are rapidly generating interest in various
applications, namely, power quality monitoring, relay protec-
tion, power electronic converter monitoring, large magnitude
AC current measuring, pulsed current measuring, and high
frequency current measuring [1–9].
practical RCs can be classified into wire-wound RC [6],
machinable RC [7], and printed circuit board Rogowski Coil
(PCBRC) [8–10]. Different kinds of the manufacture offer
RCs with different properties. PCBRCs show advantages in
uniformity over wire-wound coils and are suitable to be used
in precise metering of AC current. In this paper, the operating
principle of PCBRC is presented, and the error analyses under
two different position conditions are performed.
2. Principles of Operation
2.1. Ideal Rogowski Coil. The operating principle of an RC
can be illustrated by Faraday’s law of induction, together with
Ampere’s circuital law. Figure 1 shows a long and thin RC,
with the winding-distributed density of 𝑛 turns per meter
and the cross-sectional area 𝐴, which encircles a conductor
carrying a current 𝑖(𝑡) following a closed curve of arbitrary
shape [6].
In a small section of length 𝑑𝑙 along the loop, the number
of turns is 𝑛𝑑𝑙, and the flux linking the section is
𝑑𝜙 = 𝜇0 𝐴𝐻 cos 𝛼 𝑛𝑑𝑙, (1)
where 𝐻 is the magnetic field and 𝛼 is the angle between the
direction of the field and the direction of the section. The
2 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

dl
H

i(t)

Uout

Figure 1: Model of an ideal RC.

magnetic flux linking the entire coil is given by integrating uniform turns distribution and a highly uniform cross-
along the loop 𝑙: sectional area over other wire-wound Rogowski coils and are
more approximated to an ideal one; (2) they have a relative
𝜙 = ∮ 𝑑𝜙 = 𝜇0 𝑛𝐴∮ 𝐻 cos 𝛼 𝑑𝑙. (2) larger ratio of outer radius to inner radius against wire-
𝑙 𝑙 wound coils and are far from an ideal one; (3) the value of
From Ampere’s law, if a curve is drawn in a loop which totally winding-distributed density is smaller than those of wire-
encircles the current, then the line integral of the magnetic wound ones and under the expected condition to be an ideal
field around the loop is equal to the net current enclosed by one; and (4) a lower value of self-inductance in comparison
it no matter what path the loop takes. Mathematically, this is with wire-wound coils and the response of the coil and the
expressed as bandwidth are improved. In a word, PCBRC shows character
of discreteness and differs from an ideal RC and wound-wire
ones to some extent.
∮ 𝐻 cos 𝛼 𝑑𝑙 = 𝑖 (𝑡) . (3) We present a kind of practical PCBRC in [10], as shown
𝑙
in Figure 2. In an ideal situation, the primary conductor is set
From Faraday’s law, for an AC current, the induced exactly on the center of a PCBRC coil. The inner and outer
electromotive force 𝑒 output from the coil is radii of the coil are marked as 𝑟𝑎 and 𝑟𝑏 , respectively; the width
of the coil is marked as ℎ.
𝑑𝜙 𝑑𝑖
𝑒=− = −𝜇0 𝑛𝐴 , (4) From Biot-Savart law, the magnetic field 𝐵 induced by the
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 conductor current 𝑖 is given by
where 𝑑𝑖/𝑑𝑡 is the rate of change of the current enclosed by 𝜇0 𝑖
the closed curve. The term 𝜇0 𝑛𝐴 is often called coil sensitivity 𝐵= , (5)
2𝜋𝑟
or mutual inductance in terms of 𝑀, where 𝑀 = 𝜇0 𝑛𝐴.
Therefore, for an ideal RC, its output voltage is pro- where 𝜇0 is the magnetic constant and 𝑟 is the distance
portional to the rate of change of measured current and is between the center of the conductor and the location at which
independent of the external currents/fields, as well as the path the magnetic field is being calculated.
taken by the loop and the conductor location inside the coil The magnetic flux through the cross-section of a single
loop. This makes RC ideal for AC current measurement. turn is defined as the integral of the magnetic field over the
However, to follow Ampere’s law well, it requires the area of cross-section 𝑆 in the coordination system shown in
following. (1) Uniformity: the winding must be wound with Figure 5:
a constant number of turns per unit length on a former of
uniform cross-sectional area. With a flexible coil, the winding 𝜙 = ∬ 𝐵𝑑𝑆
𝑠
must remain uniform when the coil is bent; (2) small cross- (6)
sectional area: it means that the radius of cross-section of 𝜇 𝑖 (1/2)ℎ 𝑟𝑏 1 𝜇𝑖 𝑟
= 0 ∫ ∫ 𝑑𝑥 𝑑𝑦 = 0 ℎ ln 𝑏 .
the coil is much less than the distance from the coil to the 2𝜋 −(1/2)ℎ 𝑟𝑎 𝑦 2𝜋 𝑟𝑎
current conductor provided that it is circular; (3) the value
of winding-distributed density is large, so the helix may be Considering that PCBRC has a uniform cross-sectional area
approximated by a large number of evenly spaced turns that and a constant distribution of turns, the total flux linkage by
are each normal to the curved axis of the helix [11]. the coil can be written as a sum over individual turns rather
than an integral:
𝑁
2.2. Printed Circuit Board Rogowski Coil. Accurate CAD 𝜇0 𝑖 𝑟
design methods and advanced PCB manufacturing technol- Ψ = ∑ 𝜙 = 𝑁𝜙 = 𝑁 ℎ ln 𝑏 , (7)
𝑛=1 2𝜋 𝑟𝑎
ogy, as well as the limitations of material and technique,
provide PCBRC distinctive characters: (1) they have a very where 𝑁 is the number of turns of the coil.
Advances in Mechanical Engineering 3

Current conductor B cos 𝛼

Y
A 𝛼
rb
ra B
𝛼
X b
h r

𝛽
S
Top view Bottom view Cross-section view O
a

Figure 2: Setup of a PCBRC.

Figure 3: Geometrical diagram for eccentric error analysis.

Consequently, the electromotive force 𝑒 induced in the If we denote that

coil by the current is
𝑏2 + 𝑟2 − 𝑎2
cos 𝛼 = ,
𝑑𝜓 𝜇 𝑁ℎ 𝑟𝑏 𝑑𝑖 𝑑𝑖 2𝑏𝑟 (10)
𝑒=− =− 0 ln ⋅ =𝑀 , (8) 2 2 2
𝑑𝑡 2𝜋 𝑟𝑎 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑏 = 𝑟 + 𝑎 − 2𝑟𝑎 cos 𝛽,

where 𝑀 = (𝜇0 𝑁ℎ/2𝜋) ln(𝑟𝑏 /𝑟𝑎 ) is the mutual inductance. the electromotive force will be
Conclusions can be made that, for a PCBRC under ideal 𝜇0 𝑑𝑖 (1/2)ℎ 𝑟𝑏 𝑏2 + 𝑟2 − 𝑎2
condition, its output voltage is proportional to the rate of 𝑒󸀠 = − ∫ ∫ 𝑑𝑟 𝑑𝑦
change of measured current provided that 𝑀 keeps constant, 2𝜋𝑑𝑡 −(1/2)ℎ 𝑟𝑎 2𝑏2 𝑟
(11)
just like an ideal RC. 𝜇 ℎ𝑑𝑖 𝑟𝑏 𝑟 − 𝑎 cos 𝛽
=− 0 ∫ 𝑑𝑟.
2𝜋𝑑𝑡 𝑟𝑎 𝑟2 + 𝑎2 − 2𝑟𝑎 cos 𝛽
3. Error Analysis
Defining ratio factor 𝜅 = 𝑟𝑏 /𝑟𝑎 and eccentric factor 𝜎 = 𝑎/𝑟𝑎 ,
Under practical conditions, the measurement accuracy for the expression (11) can be rewritten as
most of actual RCs depends on geometrical, physical, and
𝜇0 ℎ 𝑟2 − 2𝑟𝑏 𝑎 cos 𝛽 + 𝑎2 𝑑𝑖
electrical influences [10–13]. The influence of the position of 𝑒󸀠 = − ln ( 𝑏2 )
current conductor relative to PCBRC is taken into account in 4𝜋 𝑟𝑎 − 2𝑟𝑎 𝑎 cos 𝛽 + 𝑎2 𝑑𝑡
this paper. The consideration is divided into two partial cases. (12)
𝜇ℎ 𝜅2 − 2𝜅𝜎 cos 𝛽 + 𝜎2 𝑑𝑖
The first is the case when the current conductor is not placed = − 0 ln ( ) .
at the center of the coil but at a distance from it, with the 4𝜋 1 − 2𝜎 cos 𝛽 + 𝜎2 𝑑𝑡
axe of current conductor and the axial axe of PCBRC keeping
parallel. The second is the situation when the conductor is As mentioned previously, a practical PCBRC has a distribu-
centered, but its axe exhibits an angle relative to the axial axe tion of discrete character instead of a continuous one. The
of the coil. Both situations will be considered in the following actual total electromotive force 𝑒 is calculated as a sum over
analysis. all individual turns rather than an integral:
2𝜋 𝑁−1
2𝜋
3.1. Eccentric Position Error Analysis. To calculate the elec- 𝑒 = ∫ 𝑒󸀠 (𝛽, 𝑡) 𝑑𝛽 = ∑ 𝑒󸀠 (𝑚 , 𝑡)
0 𝑁
tromotive force 𝑒󸀠 induced in one turn, the differential of 𝑚=0
(13)
magnetic flux can be used with one exception. The force
𝜇 ℎ 𝑁−1 𝜅2 + 𝜎2 − 2𝜅𝜎 cos (2𝜋𝑚/𝑁) 𝑑𝑖
is affected only by the normal component 𝐵 cos 𝛼 of the = − 0 ∑ ln ( ) .
field, rather than the whole field 𝐵, which is shown in 4𝜋 𝑚=0 1 + 𝜎2 − 2𝜎 cos (2𝜋𝑚/𝑁) 𝑑𝑡
Figure 3. Provided that 𝑎 is the eccentric distance between
the conductor and center point 𝑂, the induced electromotive Define eccentric error 𝛿(𝜎) as
force by the turn encircling point 𝐴 is 𝑒 (𝜎, 𝑡) − 𝑒 (0, 𝑡) 𝑒 (𝜎, 𝑡) − (𝜇0 𝑁ℎ/2𝜋) ln (𝑟𝑏 /𝑟𝑎 )
𝛿 (𝜎) = = .
𝑒 (0, 𝑡) (𝜇0 𝑁ℎ/2𝜋) ln (𝑟𝑏 /𝑟𝑎 )
𝑑𝜙 𝑑 (∬𝑠 𝐵 cos 𝛼𝑑𝑆) (14)
𝑒󸀠 = − =−
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
(9) The presented theoretical analysis and simulated calculation
(1/2)ℎ 𝑟𝑏
𝜇 𝑖 cos 𝛼 of eccentric error, as shown in Figure 4, indicate the fol-
= −∫ ∫ 0 𝑑𝑟 𝑑𝑦.
−(1/2)ℎ 𝑟𝑎 2𝜋𝑏 lowing. (1) Larger number of turns could cause a smaller
4 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

×10−3 ×10−5
1.5 5

Eccentric error
Eccentric error

1
3

2
0.5
1

0 0
3 3
2.5 1 2.5 1
0.8 0.8
rb / 2 0.6 rb / 2 0.6
ra 1.5 0.4 ra 1.5 0.4
0.2 0.2 a/ r a
1 0 a/ r a 1 0
(a) (b)

Figure 4: Calculated eccentric error: (a) PCBRC with 200 turns; (b) PCBRC with 500 turns.

𝜀
𝜆 sin B L cos 𝜆/ cos 𝜉
O
L sin 𝜌
𝜉
A L
𝜆
Primary Projection of the
Ls
conductor in 𝜀 s𝜆 primary conductor
Å 𝜀 𝜆 L co in the plane rotated
Y for angle 𝜀
Å
tor
conduc
Primary Figure 6: Geometrical relation of the projection.
O
Y
X
From the described situation, the relation can be written
as
Coil

cos 𝜌 = √1 − (sin 𝜆 sin 𝜀)2 ,

(15)
𝜉 = arc 𝑡𝑔 (𝑡𝑔𝜆 cos 𝜀) .
Figure 5: Geometrical diagram for tilting error analysis.
To examine the dependence of the enclosed flux due to the
angle 𝜆, we will observe the projection of the conductor on
the presented plane, which is shown in Figure 7.
Here, it is obvious that the calculation of the magnetic flux
measurement error. The error could reduce below 0.005% for the turn enclosed 𝐵 can be divided into three influencing
when the number of turns reaches 500. (2) The error depends areas: the first one (I), which is the closest to the conductor
on eccentric factor. It could be reduced by decreasing 𝜎 and and forms triangle, the second one (II) that has a form of
be lower than 0.01% when 𝜎 is below 0.6 (as 𝑁 = 200 and parallelogram, and the third one (III), which is the furthest
𝜅 = 1.01). (3) This error also depends on ratio factor. It could triangle from the conductor. These areas are marked in
obviously decline from approximately 0.15% for 𝜅 = 1.01 to Figure 8.
lower than 0.01% for 𝜅 = 3 (as 𝑁 = 200 and 𝜎 = 0.98). From further analysis of the geometrical relations follow
the radial limits for the areas (I) and (III):
ℎ
3.2. Tilting Position Error Analysis. Theoretical consideration 𝑟I min = 𝑟𝑎 cos 𝜉 − sin 𝜉,
2
has been done with the presumption that the current conduc-
tor is still in the center of the coil (point 𝑂) with an angle ℎ
𝑟I max = 𝑟𝑎 cos 𝜉 + sin 𝜉,
𝜆 to the axial axe 𝑂𝑌 in the plane of 𝑋𝑂𝑌 as it is shown 2
in Figure 5. To examine the flux at the point 𝐵 in the plane (16)
ℎ
that is rotated for angle 𝜀, we need to observe the projection 𝑟III min = 𝑟𝑏 cos 𝜉 − sin 𝜉,
of the current conductor on that rotated plane. The method 2
presented in [13] is adopted here. The geometrical relation of ℎ
this projection is illustrated in Figure 6. 𝑟III max = 𝑟𝑏 cos 𝜉 + sin 𝜉.
2
Advances in Mechanical Engineering 5

h where
𝜇0 𝑖 (𝑡) cos 𝜌
dS 𝑑𝜙I = − (𝑡𝑔𝜉 + 𝑐𝑡𝑔𝜉)
2𝜋
𝑟𝑎 cos 𝜉+(ℎ/2) sin 𝜉
𝑟 − 𝑟I min
𝜉 × 𝑑 (∫ 𝑑𝑟 ) ,
rb
𝑟𝑎 cos 𝜉−(ℎ/2) sin 𝜉 𝑟
ra 𝑟𝑏 cos 𝜉−(ℎ/2) sin 𝜉
𝜇0 𝑖 (𝑡) cos 𝜌 ℎ 1
𝑑𝜙II = − 𝑑 (∫ 𝑑𝑟 ) , (21)
𝜉 2𝜋 cos 𝜉 𝑟𝑎 cos 𝜉+(ℎ/2) sin 𝜉 𝑟

𝜇0 𝑖 (𝑡) cos 𝜌
𝑑𝜙III = − (𝑡𝑔𝜉 + 𝑐𝑡𝑔𝜉)
2𝜋
𝑟𝑏 cos 𝜉+(ℎ/2) sin 𝜉
𝑟III max − 𝑟
× 𝑑 (∫ 𝑑𝑟) .
𝑟𝑏 cos 𝜉−(ℎ/2) sin 𝜉 𝑟
Therefore, the electromotive force 𝑒󸀠 induced by one turn is
𝜇0 cos 𝜌 𝑑𝑖
Figure 7: Projection of primary conductor on the plane rotated for 𝑒󸀠 = − 𝑓 (𝜉, ℎ, 𝑟𝑎 , 𝑟𝑏 ) , (22)
2𝜋 𝑑𝑡
angle 𝜀.
where 𝑓 = 𝑓(𝜉, ℎ, 𝑟𝑎 , 𝑟𝑏 ) is denoted by
𝑓 = (𝑡𝑔𝜉 + 𝑐𝑡𝑔𝜉)
𝑟𝑏 cos 𝜉 + (ℎ/2) sin 𝜉
Then, the magnetic fluxes linking quoted areas are given, × (𝑟III max ln
𝑟𝑏 cos 𝜉 − (ℎ/2) sin 𝜉
respectively, as follows:
𝑟𝑎 cos 𝜉 + (ℎ/2) sin 𝜉 (23)
−𝑟I min ln )
𝑟𝑎 cos 𝜉 − (ℎ/2) sin 𝜉
𝜙I = ∬ 𝐵 cos 𝜌𝑑𝑠
𝑠I ℎ 𝑟 cos 𝜉 − (ℎ/2) sin 𝜉
(17) + ln 𝑏 .
𝑟𝑎 cos 𝜉+(ℎ/2) sin 𝜉
cos 𝜉 𝑟𝑎 cos 𝜉 + (ℎ/2) sin 𝜉
𝜇0 𝑖 (𝑡) cos 𝜌
= ∫ − 𝑙I 𝑑𝑟, Defining 𝜅 = 𝑟𝑏 /𝑟𝑎 , ] = ℎ/2𝑟𝑏 , (23) can be rewritten as
𝑟𝑎 cos 𝜉−(ℎ/2) sin 𝜉 2𝜋𝑟
𝑓 = (𝑡𝑔𝜉 + 𝑐𝑡𝑔𝜉)
where 𝑙I = (𝑟 − 𝑟I min )(𝑡𝑔𝜉 + 𝑐𝑡𝑔𝜉) is the length of 𝑑𝑆I , and cos 𝜉 sin 𝜉 1 + ]𝑡𝑔𝜉
× ℎ [( + ) ln
2] 2 1 − ]𝑡𝑔𝜉
𝜙II = ∬ 𝐵 cos 𝜌𝑑𝑠 cos 𝜉 sin 𝜉 1 + 𝜅]𝑡𝑔𝜉 (24)
𝑠II −( + ) ln ]
(18) 2𝜅] 2 1 − 𝜅]𝑡𝑔𝜉
𝑟𝑏 cos 𝜉−(ℎ/2) sin 𝜉 𝜇 𝑖 (𝑡) cos 𝜌
= ∫ − 0 𝑙II 𝑑𝑟, ℎ 𝜅 − 𝜅]𝑡𝑔𝜉
2𝜋𝑟 + ln .
𝑟𝑎 cos 𝜉+(ℎ/2) sin 𝜉 cos 𝜉 1 + 𝜅]𝑡𝑔𝜉
By substituting (15) and (24) into (22), the expression of 𝑒󸀠
where 𝑙II = ℎ/ cos 𝜉 is the length of 𝑑𝑆II . is the function of 𝜆, 𝜀, 𝜅, ], 𝑁, and ℎ. Therefore, the final
expression for total induced electromotive force 𝑒 of a real
PCBRC model is calculated by integrating 𝜀 from 0 to 2𝜋.
𝜙III = ∬ 𝐵 cos 𝜌𝑑𝑠 Considering the discrete distribution feature of PCBRCs, it
𝑠II
is equal to the sum over all individual turns:
(19)
𝑟𝑏 cos 𝜉+(ℎ/2) sin 𝜉 𝜇 𝑖 (𝑡) cos 𝜌 2𝜋 𝑁−1
=∫ − 0 𝑙III 𝑑𝑟, 2𝜋
2𝜋𝑟 𝑒 = ∫ 𝑒󸀠 (𝜀, 𝑡) 𝑑𝜀 = ∑ 𝑒󸀠 (𝑚 , 𝑡) . (25)
𝑟𝑏 cos 𝜉−(ℎ/2) sin 𝜉 0 𝑚=0 𝑁
Tilting error 𝛿(𝜆) is defined by
where 𝑙III = (𝑟III max − 𝑟)(𝑡𝑔𝜉 + 𝑐𝑡𝑔𝜉) is the length of 𝑑𝑆III .
Thus, the induced electromotive force 𝑒󸀠 in quoted areas 𝑒 (𝜆, 𝑡) − 𝑒 (0, 𝑡) 𝑒 (𝜆, 𝑡) − (𝜇0 𝑁ℎ/2𝜋) ln (𝑟𝑏 /𝑟𝑎 )
𝛿= = .
is calculated 𝑒 (0, 𝑡) (𝜇0 𝑁ℎ/2𝜋) ln (𝑟𝑏 /𝑟𝑎 )
(26)
𝑒󸀠 = 𝑑 (𝜙I + 𝜙II + 𝜙III ) , (20) Finally, the expression of 𝛿 is the function of 𝜅, ], 𝜆, and 𝑁.
6 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

III
III
II h
h sin 𝜉 II
sin 𝜉 2
I 2 I

{
𝜉 h/2
𝜉 ra cos 𝜉
rb cos 𝜉 rb

ra 𝜉
{

{
h/2 𝜉 h/2

Calculation for first area (I) Calculation for third area (III)
(a) (b)

Figure 8: Calculation of the magnetic flux areas.

×10−3
0.02 2
0.018
Tilting error
Tilting error

1.5
0.016
0.014 1
0.012
0.01 0.5
2.5 2.5
2 0.2 2 0.2
0.15 0.15
rb / 1.5 0.1 rb / 1.5 0.1
ra ra
0.05 rb 1 0.05 ra
1 0 h/ 2 0 h/ 2
(a) (b)

×10−4
2 0.02

0.018
Tilting error
Tilting error

0.016
1
0.014

0.012

0 0.01
2.5 2.5
2 0.2 2 0.2
0.15 rb / 0.15
rb / 1.5 0.1 ra 1.5 0.1
ra
1 0 0.05 ra 0.05 rb
h/ 2 1 0 h/ 2
(c) (d)

Figure 9: Theoretical results: (a) tilting angle 𝜆 = 𝜋/6, turns 𝑁 = 200; (b) tilting angle 𝜆 = 𝜋/16, turns 𝑁 = 200; (c) tilting angle 𝜆 = 𝜋/36,
turns 𝑁 = 200; (d) tilting angle 𝜆 = 𝜋/6, turns 𝑁 = 500.
Advances in Mechanical Engineering 7

Y Experimental results verified that critical structure para-

meters of PCBRCs (such as the value of radii, the number
6 of turns) have influences on the measurement accuracy, and
5 positional errors met the previous error analyses.
4
3 4. Conclusions
2
1 PCBRC is a promising choice for precise AC current mea-
O
surement due to its very uniform cross-sectional area and
1 2 3 4 5 6 X
distribution of turns. But mathematical analyses presented
in this paper show that positional sensitivities of eccentricity
and tilting still contribute to the deviations from expected val-
ues. The performed analyses have investigated relationships
between critical parameters and positional errors. Results
confirm that these errors can be reduced lower than 0.1% by
determining the optimal critical structure parameters of the
Figure 10: The configuration for eccentric position error measure- coil, such as the value of inner radius, the ratio of outer radius
ment.
to inner radius, and the number of turns.

Table 1: Eccentric error measurement results. References

Eccentric error 𝛿 (%)
No. [1] I. A. Metwally, “Self-integrating Rogowski coil for high-impulse
1 2 3 4 5 6 current measurement,” IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation
1 and Measurement, vol. 59, no. 2, pp. 353–360, 2010.
𝑋 −0.02 −0.04 −0.05 −0.06 −0.06 −0.08 [2] M. Chiampi, G. Crotti, and A. Morando, “Evaluation of flexible
𝑌 −0.01 −0.02 −0.02 −0.03 −0.03 −0.05 rogowski coil performances in power frequency applications,”
IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, vol.
2
60, no. 3, pp. 854–862, 2011.
𝑋 0.08 0.11 0.19 0.26 0.31 0.37
[3] D. Gerber, T. Guillod, and J. Biela, “IGBT gate-drive with pcb
𝑌 0.05 0.10 0.18 0.25 0.32 0.35 rogowski coil for improved short circuit detection and current
turn-off capability,” in Proceedings of the 18th IEEE International
Table 2: Tilting error measurement results. Conference on Pulsed Power, pp. 1359–1364, 2011.
[4] Z. S. Zhang, D. M. Xiao, and Y. Li, “Rogowski air coil sensor
Tilting error 𝛿 (%) technique for on-line partial discharge measurement of power
No.
𝜆 = 𝜋/6 𝜆 = 𝜋/4 cables,” IET Science, Measurement and Technology, vol. 3, no. 3,
pp. 187–196, 2009.
1 0.04 0.07
[5] D. A. Ward and J. L. T. Exon, “Using Rogowski coils for transient
2 0.17 0.34
current measurements,” Engineering Science and Education
Journal, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 105–113, 1993.
[6] F. J. Arcega and J. A. Artero, “Current sensor based on
Provided that 𝑁 = 200, 𝛿(𝜅, ], 𝜆, 200) are calculated for Rogowski coils,” in Proceedings of the International Confer-
values of angle 𝜆 = 𝜋/36, 𝜋/12, and 𝜋/6, respectively, and ence on Renewable Energies and Power Quality (ICREPQ ’04),
𝛿(𝜅, ], 𝜋/6, 500) is also calculated. The results of such analysis Barcelona, Spain, 2004, http://www.icrepq.com/PONENCIAS/
are presented in Figure 9. 4.201.ARCEGA.pdf.
Conclusions can be drawn from these results. (1) Tilting [7] J. D. Ramboz, “Machinable rogowski coil, design, and calibra-
position error is smaller when angle 𝜆 has lower value. (2) tion,” IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement,
This error might be reduced obviously by decreasing values vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 511–515, 1996.
of 𝜅 = 𝑟𝑏 /𝑟𝑎 and ] = ℎ/2𝑟𝑏 . (3) The value of turn number [8] L. Kojovic, “High-Precision Rogowski coils for improved relay
plays a relatively small weight to the tilting position error. protection, control and measurements,” Cooper Industries, 2002,
Bulletin no. 02049.
Experimental setup has been built, and positional error
[9] L. Kojovic, “PCB Rogowski coils benefit relay protection,” IEEE
measurements have been performed for two practical
Computer Applications in Power, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 50–53, 2002.
PCBRCs by fixing the primary current at 100 A and 50 Hz.
[10] C. Wang, Y. Chen, G. Zhang, and Z. Zhou, “Design of printed-
Number 1 PCBRC is with 𝑁 of 180, 𝑟𝑎 of 31 mm, and 𝑟𝑏
circuit board rogowski coil for highly accurate current mea-
of 45 mm, and number 2 is with 𝑁 of 135, 𝑟𝑎 of 22 mm, surement,” in Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference
and 𝑟𝑏 of 34 mm. The testing points for eccentric positional on Mechatronics and Automation (ICMA ’07), pp. 3801–3806,
error measurement are shown in Figure 10. In Position 1, the August 2007.
eccentric factor 𝜎 = 0.1, and in Position 6, the eccentric factor [11] M. J. Hagmann, “Analytical method for determining errors in
𝜎 = 0.6. The eccentric error measurement results are shown current measurements with a Rogowski coil,” in Proceedings
in Table 1. The tilting error measurement results are shown in of the Beam Instrumentation Workshop (BIW ’10), pp. 274–277,
Table 2. Santa Fe, NM, USA, 2010.
8 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

[12] L. Ferkovic, D. Ilic, and R. Malarić, “Mutual inductance of

a precise Rogowski coil in dependence of the position of
primary conductor,” IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and
Measurement, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 122–128, 2009.
[13] L. Ferković and D. Ilić, “Dependence of mutual inductance of
a precise Rogowski coil on the primary conductor position,”
in Proceedings of the Instrumentation and Measurement
Technology Conference (IMTC ’07), Warsaw, Poland, 2007,
http://home.mit.bme.hu/∼kollar/IMEKO-procfiles-for-web/
tc4/TC4-15th-Iasi-2007/Final Papers/F085.pdf.
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