PIERS ONLINE, VOL. 5, NO.

8, 2009 721

Computerized Calculation of Leakage Inductance Values of

Transformers
R. Doebbelin, C. Teichert, M. Benecke, and A. Lindemann
Institute of Electric Power Systems, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Germany

Abstract— A low-effort prediction of leakage inductance values of transformers is required

in a lot of transformer applications in various fields of electrical engineering. The article de-
scribes given approximation methods enabling leakage inductance calculation which have been
implemented in Matlab° R
based computer programs. Application range and accuracy of com-
puterized leakage inductance calculation are illustrated. Further possibilities of computerized
transformer investigation are considered.

1. INTRODUCTION
Power transfer and its limitation caused by internal losses or voltage drops are important aspects in
all applications of power transformers. This is true in the case of mains-frequency operated trans-
formers and is even more relevant in medium or high-frequency transformers. As is well-known, the
design of a transformer with special focus on the windings has a big impact on internal losses and
voltage drops of the transformer. Copper losses are influenced by the cross-section and (because
of the skin and proximity effect with influences of frequency and field distribution) also by the ar-
rangement of windings. Imperfect magnetic coupling occurring in each real transformer is expressed
by the term “leakage” and represented by leakage inductances in equivalent circuits of transform-
ers. This way, the operation of electrical equipment including transformers can be investigated by
means of calculation and simulation. Whereas in most power transformer applications particularly
low leakage inductance values are desirable, there are certain power electronic arrangements (e.g.,
resonant topologies and power sources for laser beam generation [1]), which require first of all a
defined leakage inductance value of the applied transformer.
In the case of existing transformers, leakage inductance can be determined by measurements.
However, more often it is necessary to predict the leakage inductance of a transformer in the
design phase, especially if circuit simulation is intended [2]. This can be done applying certain
approximation methods in which geometry parameters of the transformer are used to calculate
its leakage inductance. Which approximation method has to be applied depends on the given
arrangement of windings. If the couple of coils, whose leakage inductance is to be calculated,
is arranged on the same leg of a transformer, the method of Rogowski [3] and the method of
Petrov [4] can be used considering further aspects, which are explained in the following paragraph.
If the coils are arranged on different legs, the method of Lebedev [5] can be applied for leakage
inductance calculation.
Concerning the used terms “winding” and “coil”, the term “winding” is considered to be of higher
grade, in general. Windings are realized as coils. However, in the case of fundamental transformer
versions with one primary and one secondary winding, both terms can be used synonymously. In
the case of transformers with interleaving of windings the primary winding and/or the secondary
winding consist of a certain number of single coils.
2. LEAKAGE INDUCTANCE CALCULATION FOR COILS ARRANGED ON THE SAME
LEG
If a couple of coils is arranged on the same leg (e.g., in the case of shell-type transformers with
all windings on the center leg, Fig. 1, left), prediction of leakage inductance can be obtained using
the approximation methods of Rogowski and Petrov which have been established in the first
half of the last century. The most common method is the method of Rogowski which is based on
the consideration of the energy of the leakage magnetic field. The formulas for leakage inductance
calculation which are given in contemporary technical literature are usually predicated on this
method but often slightly simplified resulting in a decrease of accuracy. As a precondition for the
application of the method of Rogowski [3] the coils of the considered transformer should have
the same height in the case of concentric windings and the same width in the case of pie windings.
 PIERS ONLINE, VOL. 5, NO. 8, 2009 722

Figure 1. Transformer design enabling leakage inductance calculation using the method of Rogowski
left: shell-type transformer, right: dimensions for calculation of the relative leakage conductance λ according
to formula (2).

According to deviations in these dimensions, inaccuracies of the calculation results occur. The
leakage inductance (related to the primary side of the transformer) is calculated using the formula
LL = µ0 · w12 · lm · λ · kσ (1)
with LL — leakage inductance, µ0 — absolute permeability, w1 — number of primary turns,
lm — mean length per turn for whole arrangement of coils, λ — relative leakage conductance,
kσ — Rogowski factor. The relative leakage conductance has to be calculated related to the
specific arrangement of coils (see Fig. 1, right) using formula (2). The Rogowski factor represents a
correction factor concerning the length of leakage flux lines which is also geometry dependent and
has to be calculated as described in [3]. In most cases its value is between 0.9 and 1.
µ ¶
1 a1 + a2
λ= δ+ (2)
b 3

The method of Petrov [4], which alternatively can be used, is even suitable if the dimensions
concerning height and width of the coils are different, what makes the method more universal.
According to the following formula, two leakage inductance constituents have to be calculated,
which have to be summed up to the final leakage inductance (what here is related to the primary
side of the transformer again).
µ 2
¶
µ0 2 g12
LLx = · w1 · lmx · ln KCx · (3)
2π g1 · g2
x = in — for portion inside core window
x = out — for portion outside core window
LLx — leakage inductance portion
KCx — correction factor for consideration of core influence on leakage inductance
g12 — mean geometric distance between the cross-sections of the coils 1 and 2
g1 , g2 — mean geometric distance of the cross-section of a coil to itself

To determine the KC -factors related to the portions of the coils inside and outside the core
window, the cross-sections of the coils have to be reflected at the adjacent or surrounding core
surface lines. The calculation of the KC -factors is based on the method of mean geometric distances
(established by J. C. Maxwell [6]) considering the cross-sections of the coils and their mirror images
(Fig. 2).
The methods of Rogowski and Petrov are explained in some more detail in [7].
Leakage inductance calculation is a complex procedure which can be very time consuming.
Therefore, the algorithms of both methods have been implemented into a Matlab° R
based cal-
culation program. Using this program it is possible to determine the leakage inductance between
transformer coils within the short computational time of a PC. In Fig. 3 a template of the realized
computer program is displayed as an example. It shows input parameter fields for core dimensions
and parameters describing the position of the coils as well as calculated values according to the
method of Petrov. At the bottom of the figure the position of the coils within the core window
is displayed together with the mirror images of the coils.
 PIERS ONLINE, VOL. 5, NO. 8, 2009 723

Figure 2. Formation of mirror images of the windings required for determination of the correction factor KC
for the leakage inductance portion inside core window (left) and for the leakage inductance portion outside
core window (right).

Figure 3. Template of the realized computer program for leakage induction calculation (example for calcu-
lation using method of Petrov).

3. LEAKAGE INDUCTANCE CALCULATION FOR COILS ARRANGED ON

DIFFERENT LEGS
Though shell-type transformers are very widespread, in certain cases the core-type transformer
design (Fig. 4) has an advantage over the shell-type design of transformers. If coils are arranged
on different legs, like in the case of core-type transformers, leakage inductance can be calculated
by means of an approximation method which has been established by Lebedev [5]. As a basic
assumption of this method, the leakage field can be considered to consist of three leakage flux
components (Fig. 4). Resulting from this, the leakage inductance is assumed to be the sum of three
parts which are related to the single flux components

LL = LLin + LLy + LLeq (4)

with inner leakage inductance LLin related to the leakage flux ΦLin belonging to the section of
the perimeter of the coils which is located within the core window (calculated using method of
Rogowski or method of Petrov), leakage inductance component LLy which is related to the
 PIERS ONLINE, VOL. 5, NO. 8, 2009 724

Figure 4. Components of leakage flux of a core-type transformer.

yoke leakage flux ΦLy and the so-called leakage inductance of the equivalent transformer LLeq
related to the flux component ΦLeq .
The calculation of the single leakage inductance components and further aspects of the appli-
cation of the method of Lebedev are explained in [8]. As well as the methods of Rogowski and
Petrov, also the method of Lebedev has been implemented into a Matlab° R
based computer
program.
4. APPLICATION EXAMPLES
The mentioned approximation methods enable the direct calculation of the leakage inductance
related to one couple of coils of a transformer. In the case of transformers with a complex design
of interleaved windings, which is often used to minimize the total leakage inductance, generally the
leakage inductance values of the respective couples of single coils have to be merged together into
the total transformer leakage inductance using certain combination formulas, e.g.,
µ ¶
w12 w11 w12 w11 · w12
LLtotal = 2 · · L11/2 + · L12/2 − L11/12 (5)
wref w1 w1 w12

for one of the simplest transformer versions with interleaving of windings (primary winding divided
into two series-connected coils with — usually equal — number of turns w11 and w12 and the
secondary winding arranged between these primary coils). Further quantities: w1 — total number
of primary turns, Lx/y — leakage inductance values of the respective couples of coils, wref —
number of turns to which the leakage inductance values of the couples of coils refer. The setup
of such combination formulas for transformers with interleaving of windings is described in [9]. In
the case of transformer versions with a higher degree of interleaving of windings and therefore a
higher number of single coils, the combination formulas are more complex and much more leakage
inductance values of couples of coils have to be determined increasing the demand for computerized
calculation.
In the performed investigation the application of combination formulas was necessary to enable
the comparison of the results of leakage inductance calculation with measurements concerning
transformer versions with different degree of interleaving of windings.
Concerning leakage inductance determination in the case of arrangements with all coils on the
same leg, shell-type transformer versions based on an identical core design but differing in the
realization of windings have been considered. If the windings are interleaved, the primary coils are
connected in series and the secondary coils in parallel. As an example, a transformer variant with
4 primary and 3 secondary coils (degree of interleaving shortly described as 4-3) is displayed in
Fig. 5.
Beside computerized calculation due to the considered approximation methods, computer-based
numerical finite elements method (FEM) calculations can be used for leakage inductance determi-
nation. Especially in the case of shell-type transformers a rotation-symmetric FEM model with
 PIERS ONLINE, VOL. 5, NO. 8, 2009 725

identical parameters of core area and mean length per turn compared to the real transformer can
be used. Despite the simplifications of this model characterized by a reduction of the effort for
the input of the geometry as well as the calculation expenditure [10], the performed FEM sim-
ulations yielded a relatively good coincidence of their results with the leakage inductance values
obtained from measurement. Concerning the approximation calculation methods, it can be stated
that the method of Petrov shows a higher accuracy only in the case of the initial (magnetically
asymmetric) 1-1 variant whereas the method of Rogowski gives results which are closer to the
measurements in the considered variants with interleaving of windings which are magnetically sym-
metric because the width of the outer (primary) coils is half of the width of the inner (primary)
coils (Fig. 6).
In addition to the comparison between the predicted and measured values, Fig. 6 illustrates the
leakage inductance decreasing effect of interleaving of windings. So, in the case of the 5-4 variant,
the leakage inductance is reduced to about 4% of the initial 1-1 variant.
Concerning leakage inductance determination in the case of arrangements with coils on different
legs, several core-type transformer versions have been considered. The example in Fig. 7 with two
coils on each leg represents a 2-2 variant regarding interleaving of windings, if two coils are connected
in series which are arranged on different legs to form the primary and the secondary winding,
respectively. Arrangements with a connection of the coils on the same leg are not considered in
Fig. 8, because in these cases no real interleaving of windings exists.

total leakage inductance, LL,total [nH]

300 Petrov method calculation
Rogowski method calculation
FEM simulation
250
measurement

200

150

100

50

1-1 2-1 3-2 4-3 5-4

Figure 5. Shell-type transformer example with pie Figure 6. Predicted and measured total leakage in-
windings, degree of interleaving of windings 4-3, ductance values of shell-type transformers with dif-
(w2 = 1). ferent degree of interleaving of windings (wref = 1).

12
total leakage inductance, LL,total [nH]

core-type transformer: N11+N12, N21+N22

9 core-type transformer: N11+N22, N12+N21
(primary, secondary)

0
ent i v
wsk etro
s u re m ogo n dP
mea dR ev a
e v an bed
bed Le
, Le ion,
ulat
ion ulat
calc calc

Figure 7. Core-type transformer example Figure 8. Predicted and measured total leakage in-
with concentric windings. ductance values of the considered core-type trans-
former (wref = 1).
 PIERS ONLINE, VOL. 5, NO. 8, 2009 726

Without interleaving of windings, leakage inductance is about 50 times higher than the values
in Fig. 8, because of weak magnetic coupling between the coils of different legs of a core-type
transformer.
To predict the total leakage inductance of a core-type transformer with interleaving of windings,
leakage inductance values have to be merged together, which belong to couples of coils which are
localized on different legs (leakage inductance to be calculated due to the method of Lebedev)
and other couples of coils which are arranged on the same leg. Concerning the last-mentioned case,
alternatively the method of Rogowski or the method of Petrov can be used. As it can be seen
in Fig. 8, the application of the method of Rogowski results in a higher degree of coincidence
with measured values.
5. CONCLUSIONS
The leakage inductance of transformers can be predicted applying approximation methods relating
to the respective transformer design. Using computerized calculation after implementing the algo-
rithms of the approximation methods into appropriate calculation software (e.g., MATLAB° R
), it
is possible to determine the relevant leakage inductance values of a transformer within the short
computational time of a PC. Thus, efficient investigations of transformer concepts with different
geometry of windings can be performed. Furthermore, FEM simulation can be used for the de-
termination of leakage inductance values of transformers. Regarding the considered transformer
versions both the results of approximate calculation methods and FEM simulation are comparable
to measurements. Beyond the determination of leakage inductance, FEM simulation is a useful in-
vestigation tool for transformers to clarify certain aspects of magnetic field distribution concerning
core and leakage paths and current density distribution within the conductors of the windings.
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