Star-mesh transform

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The star-mesh transform (or star-polygon transform) is a mathematical circuit analysis technique to
transform a resistive network into an equivalent network with one less node. The equivalence follows from the
Schur complement identity applied to the Kirchhoff matrix of the network.

The equivalent impedance betweens nodes A and B is given by:

where is the impedance between node A and the central node being removed.

The transform replaces N resistors with resistors. For , the result is an increase in the
number of resistors, so the transform has no general inverse without additional constraints.

It is possible, though not necessarily efficient, to transform an arbitrarily complex two-terminal resistive
network into a single equivalent resistor by repeatedly applying the star-mesh transform to eliminate each non-
terminal node.

Special cases
N = 1: For a single dangling resistor, the transform eliminates the resistor.
N = 2: For two resistors, the "star" is simply the two resistors in series, and the transform yields a single
equivalent resistor.
N = 3: The special case of three resistors is better known as the Y- transform. Since the result also has
three resistors, this transform has an inverse -Y transform.

See also
Topology of electrical circuits
Network analysis (electrical circuits)

References
van Lier, M.; Otten, R. (March 1973). "Planarization by transformation". IEEE Transactions on Circuit
Theory. 20 (2): 169171. doi:10.1109/TCT.1973.1083633.
Bedrosian, S. (December 1961). "Converse of the Star-Mesh Transformation". IRE Transactions on
Circuit Theory. 8 (4): 491493. doi:10.1109/TCT.1961.1086832.
E.B. Curtis, D. Ingerman, J.A. Morrow. Circular planar graphs and resistor networks. Linear Algebra and
its Applications. Volume 283, Issues 13, 1 November 1998, pp. 115150.
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Categories: Electrical circuits Circuit theorems Transforms

This page was last edited on 21 February 2016, at 21:42.

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