Transmission Line Losses

Whenever the electrical characteristics of line

are explained, the lines are often thought of as
being loss-free.
Although this allows for simple and more
understood explanations, the losses in practical
lines cannot be ignored.
There are three major losses that occur in
transmission line:
Copper losses.
Radiation or induction losses.
Dielectric losses.
 Copper Losses
The resistance of any conductor is never zero.
When current flows through a transmission line,
energy is dissipated in the form of I2R losses.
A reduction in resistance will minimize the power loss
in the line.
The resistance is indirectly proportional to the cross-
sectional area.
Keeping the line as short as possible will decrease the
resistance and I2R losses.
The use of a wire with a large cross-sectional area is
also desirable; however, this has its limitation of cost
increase.
 At high frequencies, the I2R loss is mainly due to the skin
effect.
When an ac current flows through a conductor, the flux
density (amount of flux/unit area, which is perpendicular
to the magnetic field) at the center of the conductor is
greater than at the outer edge.
Therefore, the inductance is greater, causing lower
current in the center and more a long the outer edge.
This effect increases with frequency.
Forcing current to the edge effectively reduces the
concoctor's cross-sectional area in which current can
flow, and, since resistance is inversely proportional to the
cross-sectional area, the resistance increases.
 This increase in resistance is called Skin Effect.
Skin effect is the tendency for high-frequency
electric current to flow mostly near the surface
of the conductive material.
At very high frequencies, skin effect is so great
that wires can no longer be used to carry
current and we must resort to waveguides.
 Radiation & Induction
Losses
Radiation and Induction losses are similar in that
both are caused by the fields surrounding the
conductors.
Radiation losses occur because some magnetic
lines of force about a conductor do not return
to the conductor when the cycle alternates.
These lines of force are projected into space
as radiation,and this results in power
losses.
That is, power is supplied by the source,
but is not available to the load.
 Induction losses occur when the
electromagnetic field about a
conductor cuts through any nearby
metallic object
and a current is induced in that
object.
As a result, power is dissipated in the
object and is lost
 Dielectric Losses
Dielectric losses are proportional to
the voltage across the dielectric.
They increase with frequency and
coupled with skin effect losses limit
most practical operation to a
maximum frequency of about 18
GHz.
These losses are lowest when air
dielectric lines are used.
 If losses are to be
minimized, an
insulation with a
low dielectric
constant is used .
Polyethylene allows
lower dielectric
losses than other
low-cost dielectrics
except air.
 Propagation of DC Voltage
Down A Line
To better understand the
characteristic of a transmission line
with an ac voltage applied, the
infinitely long transmission line will
first be analyzed with a dc voltage
applied.
 In this circuit, the resistance of the line is not shown
and the line will be assumed to be loss-free.
Considering only the capacitor C1 and the inductor
L1 as a series circuit, when voltage is applied to the
network, capacitor C1 will have the ability to charge
through L1.
It is a characteristic of an inductor that at the first
instant of time when voltage is applied, a maximum
voltage is developed across it and minimum current
is permitted to pass through it.
At this time, the capacitor will have a minimum
voltage across it.
 The voltage across points c and d is zero.
Since the remaining portion of the line is connected
to points c and d, there will be 0 v developed
across it.
The voltage across the rest of the line is dependent
on the charging action of the capacitor C1
It will require some finite amount of time for
capacitor C1 to charge through inductor L1.
When C1 charges to a voltage that near the value
of the applied voltage, capacitor C2 will begin to
charge through inductors L1 and L2.
 The charging of capacitor C2 will again require
time.
In fact, the time required for the voltage to
reach points e and f from points c and d will be
the same time as was necessary for the original
voltage to reach points c and d.
This action will continue in the manner until all
of the capacitors in the line are charged.
Since the number of capacitors in an infinite line
is infinite, the time required to charge the entire
line would be an infinite amount of time.
 Velocity of Propagation

When a current is moving down the line, its associated electric

and magnetic fields are said to be propagated down the line.
Time is required to charge each unit section of the line, and if
the line were infinitely long, it would require an infinite long
time to charge.
The time for a field to be propagated from one point on a line
to an other may be computed.
If the time and length of the line are known, the velocity of
propagation may be determined.
Velocity of propagation is the speed at which an electrical
signal moves through a conductor.
The time required for a wave to traverse a transmission line
segment will depend on the L and C.
 Delay Line
The velocity of electromagnetic waves through a
vacuum is the speed of light.
It is slightly reduced for travel through air.
It has been shown that a transmission line decreases
this velocity because of its inductance and capacitance.
This property is put to practical use when we want to
delay a signal by some specific amount of time .
The transmission line used for this purpose is called a
delay line.
A delay line is a length of transmission line designed to
delay a signal from reaching a point by a specific
amount of time.
 Calculating Velocity of
Propagation
Velocity is a function of both time
and distance. i.e. V = d/t.

t LC (4)
Therefore
d
Vp (5)Where Vp =Velocity of propagati
LC d = distance of travel
LC = time (t)
 Velocity Factor
The speed at which energy is propagated
along a transmission line is always less than
the speed of light.
The ratio of actual velocity of a line to the
velocity of light is called Velocity factor
It can range from about 0.55 up to 0.97,
depending on the type of line, and the type
of dielectric.
Rather than specifying the actual velocity,
manufacturers specify the velocity factor.
 Vf = Vp/c (6)
Its commonly expressed as a
percentage.
The velocity factor for a transmission
line depends almost entirely on the
dielectric used in 1
the line.
vf (7)
r
 Wavelength
A wave that is radiated through
space travels at about the speed of
light (3x108 m/s).
The velocity of this wave is constant
regardless of frequency.
So, the distance travelled by the
wave during a period of one cycle
(called one wavelength) can
c be
V found
by the formula: p
(8)
f f
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