MINIMIZING SKIN EFFECT IN RANDOM WOUND HIGH SPEED MACHINE STATOR

Henry M. Hämäläinen, Juha J. Pyrhönen, Jussi Puranen

Abstract: Usually skin effect is neglected in the
design of medium speed machines when using
random wound windings. That is because it is
thought that parallel strands mix enough so that
the skin effect can be neglected. In medium speed
machines operating in the frequency range of 100
– 300 Hz the skin effect problem may come up in
cases where the slots have only one or a couple of
turns despite the fact that the turn has been
divided into many parallel sub-conductors. Tests
were carried out with 310 kW medium speed
machines with nominal frequency of 200 Hz. One
of the machines was wound in a normal way and
the other machine was wound by twisting the
strands in the coil-end areas (not line-end) by 180
degrees. It is shown that taking care of the
transpose of parallel wires in a coil, skin effect and
losses remain tolerable. Before making final
decisions on about what kinds of windings are
embedded in a machine, they can be verified by
some analytical or finite element methods. FEM
gives quite good results compared to
measurements done with real rotating machines.
Index Terms: skin effect, ac resistance, 180 degree
twisting
I. INTRODUCTION
Skin effect can happen with the assistance of eddy
currents mainly in form wound machines or as
circulating currents in random wound medium or high
speed machines. The reason for the skin effect is the
uneven distribution of slot stray flux. Distribution of
flux in conductors suspended in air or embedded in
slots is quite different.
The way flux distributes in air-suspended
conductors can be seen in Fig.1. From the color shade
bar, it can be seen that the difference between the
smallest and the largest current densities is quite
small. When suspended in air the current tends to go
at strands near by the conductor’s surface. Circulating
currents are going against the main current in the
center of the conductor and summing to main current
in the surface of the conductor. On the other hand in
Figs. 4 and 6 the differences between the smallest and
the largest current density values are big. In air the
flux is not as big as in a slot because the slot is
surrounded by iron.
The reason for skin effect in a slot is the fact that
strands, near the slot opening, have higher proportion
of stray flux than the wires near the bottom of the slot.
Parallel strands are short circuited at both ends of a
coil. That is why potential differences between the
strands at the bottom and the top of the slot may cause
circulating currents. Circulating currents are flowing
to the opposite direction than the main current at the
bottom of the slot and summing up to the main
current in the top of the slot making the current
density in strands near the slot opening bigger.
Fig.1 – Equipotential flux lines created by conductor in
air.
Skin effect has to be minimized in order to avoid
unnecessary copper losses and local heating. Even 50
Hz medium voltage cage induction machine’s eddy
current loss is considered to be a significant factor for
the additional losses in the machine [1]. Modern
frequency converters have made it possible to produce
machines with hundreds of hertz nominal frequency.
With 50 Hz and under 1000 V machines the skin
effect problem is almost negligible. Transposition of
the winding is used to minimize the effects of the skin
effect [1] [2]. A transposed winding can be made by
several methods. Some of them are complex and
therefore too expensive to put in use. In large
machines Roebel-bar is most commonly used winding
to minimize skin effect.
The dc-resistance is defined in the equation (1).
Rdc depends on the length of the coil l, the number of
parallel coils a, the area of conductor Ac, and the
conductivity of the conductor material σ .
l
Rdc = . (1)
σaAc
Resistance also depends on the temperature as shown
in equation (2). Resistance values obtained in ambient
temperature are smaller than results obtained in
operating temperature
ρCu = ρCu ,20°C (1 + ΔTα Cu ) , (2)
where – ρ Cu resistivity of copper, ρ Cu , 20°C – resistivity
of copper at 20 degrees centigrade, ΔT – temperature
difference to 20 degrees centigrade and α Cu – the
temperature coefficient of resistivity.

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 When a current carrying conductor with a large
enough cross-sectional area carries an alternating
current, according to Faraday’s induction law, an
electric field strength curl is induced in the internal
paths of the conductor
∂B
∇× E = − , (3)
∂t
which in turn creates an eddy current density
J = σE . (4)
Classical skin effect formula can be used to calculate
the skin effect of the conductor suspended in air
1
δ= , (5)
fμσ
where δ – skin depth, f – frequency, μ–
permeability, σ – the conductivity of the conductor
material. Skin depth means the distance from the
conductor's surface where the current density has
reduced to 36.8 per cent (e-1 = 0.368) compared to
current density at the conductor's surface. In a slot the
skin effect is much stronger than in air and also the
current density distribution is different. Equation (5)
can be used to calculate the initial strand size. The
conductor has to be much thinner when located in a
slot than in air depending on the depth of the slot.
Skin depth at 200 Hz in copper is about 4.5 mm.
II. ANALYTICAL AND FEM SOLUTION
Many researchers have been able to calculate the
skin effect with analytical [3] [4] [5] and Finite
Element Methods [1][6][7]. With an analytical
solution we can calculate the skin effect quite easily
in one slot for form copper conductor or one with
strands using equations presented by Vogt [8]. Fig. 1
shows an equivalent circuit presentation of parallel
connected sub-conductors in a slot. The sub-
conductor number 1 is located on the bottom of the
slot. In the figure we can see that the current going
through the strand on the bottom of the slot faces
much more inductance than the current going through
near the slot opening. The impedance at the top of the
slot is smaller than the impedance at the bottom of the
slot.
Fig.2 – Analytical solution of the skin effect.
Same kinds of circuits for round wires and coaxial
conductors to evaluate ac resistance of two parallel
conductors have also been developed [6]. Also the
proximity effect has been taken into account.
III. SIMULATING SKIN EFFECT BY FEM2d
Skin effect in a slot can be quite fast simulated
with 2D FEM. There also exist complex and time
consuming ways [1] to do this but they are not
suitable for machine design processes. In FEM
simulation the end winding resistance and stray
inductance can be included. Evaluating the end
winding skin effect is difficult, if not impossible. In
these simplified simulations, neither the end winding
resistance nor the end winding stray inductance is
included. However, most of the skin effect is caused
by the stray flux in a slot. The simulation gives
simplified results of the skin effect compared to
measured results. Only half of the slot is covered
because that is how the real machine is wound as we
have a two level short pitched diamond winding.
In the simulation there are 40 parallel strands and
one turn (that is two slots which can be seen in Fig.
2). In Fig. 3 the circuit model is presented. One strand
in Fig. 4 is one component (for example M1) in Fig.
3. The sub-conductors are, therefore, short-circuited at
both ends of the turn. In Fig. 4 it is noticeable that
most of the current is going through the wires located
on the top of the slot, when the winding is made in a
conventional way. The conventional way means that a
sub-conductor that is located on top of the slot is also
on top of the next slot.
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 Fig.4 – Simplified simulation of one winding turn of a
two level short pitched winding.

There are five rows of sub-conductors in a slot (the

upper slot in Fig. 4). The middle one is used to draw
the current vectors in Fig. 5 from top to bottom of the
slot. The current source is 200 Hz and 5.65 A with
zero degrees. With dc, the current vector would be
only real part current 5.65 A. With 200 Hz ac current
there is a substantial difference between the currents
that run through different sub-conductors. Most of the
current is traveling on top of the slot. The phase angle
which is about 45 degrees in top of the slot and about
-110 degrees in the bottom of the slot is worth
noticing. So we have almost opposite directions of the
current between the bottom and the top of the slot.
The amount is different because all the circulating
currents are summing up to the main current at the top
of the slot. At the bottom of the slot the current is
canceling the main current, because it is going in the
opposite direction.
Fig.3 – Circuit model in FEM simulation. The current
source is 200 Hz sinusoidal 5.65 A current in 0 degrees.

The cause of the skin effect is the stray flux which

does not go over the air gap but crosses the slot
horizontally. In Fig. 4 there are equipotential lines that
have potential difference between them. Because of
that there is also potential difference between parallel
strands in the bottom and the top of the slot. That is
how circulating currents are formed. Sub-conductors
that are horizontally aligned have no potential
difference between them. In Fig. 4 the simulation
includes just one turn with 40 parallel sub-conductors
having a galvanic connection at both ends making
circulating currents possible. If Fig. 4 is observed Fig.5 – Current vectors drawn for the sub-
carefully one will see that the strands have also some conductors located in the middle of the slot. The
eddy currents running inside them. That does not have bottommost conductor currents on the left.
as much effect on the dc resistance in this case as the
circulating currents that produce almost the entire rise
of the ac resistance at higher frequencies. One solution to minimize the circulating current in
deep slots is to twist the sub-conductor bunch by 180
degrees at the end winding areas. As it can be seen in
Figs. 4 and 6 in the bottom slot the division of the
current is almost identical. But the most noticeable

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difference is in a slot where the current is going out
(the upper slot in Fig. 6), in where the skin effect has
moved from top to bottom. Also the quantity has
reduced from the previous situation if we look at the
color shade map.
Fig.6 – Simplified simulation of one winding turn of a
two level short pitched winding. The sub-conductor
bunch is twisted at end winding area by 180 degrees.
Resistance values are depicted in Fig. 7 and their
values are calculated with Equation (6) from the
simulation results. It is apparent that twisting the sub-
conductor bunches by 180 degrees at the end winding
has a significant effect in reducing the ac resistance.
One thing that can be read from these simulation
results is that the ac resistance can be reduced. The
amount how much ac resistance can be reduced is
uncertain because of things that can not be included in
simulation. In real machines the end winding
resistance is reducing the circulating currents and
therefore the p.u. values are smaller in a real machine
as it can be seen later. Also in real machines the
strands mix up a little when they are but into the slot
which can only decrease the ac resistance.
Fig.7 – Resistances in p.u. values measured at 50 Hz
and 200 Hz and compared to twisted situation with both
frequencies.
ac resistance can be calculated by measuring the
dissipation power and rms current in a stator without
rotor. The Iron losses must be subtracted. We have
P
Rac = , (6)
I rms 2
where P – dissipation power without iron losses and
I rms – current.
Simulation can be done to some extent and more
complicated simulation like simulating one phase of
the machines in used in measurements would be
difficult and very time consuming. The computer
needs to have a lot RAM. By simulating only one or
few rounds we can get close enough results to
estimate how the resistance would behave in a real
machine.
IV. MEASUREMENTS
All the phases were measured by one at time.
Measurements were carried out by measuring the
voltage with YOKOGAWA PZ4000 and to measure
the current a clamp meter Fluke 80i-110s was
connected to YOKOGAWA. The Power sources
were: Delta Elektronika SM30-100D for dc and
PACIFIC SmartSource 360-AMX for ac.
Measurements were made in room temperature. In
measurements it did not matter how big the used
current was. With three times the original current the
iron losses should be nine fold. Despite this in
measurement there were no change observed in the
resistance. That is why we concluded that iron losses
were negligible. As a function of frequency the iron
losses should increase about in power of two. In this
measurement it is, however considered that iron
losses are negligible.
Fig. 8 shows the measurement setup. The voltage
is measured over one phase in the connection box.
This eliminates losses of supply wires. A problem in
this measurement is to get enough voltage to the coil
because the supply wires form a bigger load than the
coil itself. The measurement current was about 6.7 A.
Fig.8 – Measurement setup with DC and AC power
source.
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 As it can be seen in Fig. 9, compared to simulation
results in Fig. 7, the resistance is a bit lower in 1,8

measured results. That is because of the equalizing 1,7 U phase

effect of the end winding resistance. The slot form 1,6 V phase

Resistance [p.u.]
used in the simulation is the same as in the real 1,5 W phase
1,4
machine, and hence, the results should be comparable.
1,3
In a real machine there will be current also in the
1,2
second half of the slot. That will have also some
1,1
effect on the resistance which can not be seen from
1,0
these measurements or simulations.
0,9
At 50 Hz the ac resistance is tolerable. So a DC 50Hz 100Hz 150Hz 200Hz 250Hz 300Hz
problem may be faced at higher frequencies, and
therefore, with random wound medium or high speed Fig.10 – Measurement results of a 250 kW machine
machines. with non twisted end windings.

3,0
2,8 U phase twisted
The best way to reduce eddy and circulating
2,6
V phase twisted
currents is to change the position of wire inside a slot
2,4
like in Roebel-bars and litz-wires. Then windings get
Resistance [p.u.]

W phase twisted
2,2
2,0
the same amount of stray flux induced to them. The
1,8 down side is that wider slot openings must be used
1,6
with prefabricated windings. With open slots the flux
1,4
1,2
density drops more at slot opening causing more
1,0 losses and torque ripple to the machine. Minimizing
0,8
DC 50hz 100hz 150hz 200hz 250hz 300hz
the ac resistance is always a compromise between the
ac resistance, manufacturing and the behavior of the
3,0
machine.
2,8 U phase
2,6
V phase
2,4 V. CONCLUSION
Resistansce [p.u.]

2,2 W phase
2,0
1,8
1,6
1,4
1,2
1,0
0,8
DC 50hz 100hz 150hz 200hz
Fig.9 – Measurement results of a 310 kW medium
speed machine at nominal frequency 200 Hz.
When using 180 twisting at the coil ends it is
possible to get a remarkable decrease in the ac
resistance compared to the traditional random wound
windings as it can be seen in Fig. 9. There might be
some error in the measurement because phase U
resistance goes below dc. The difference between
different phases in the resistances is notable. This
causes different kinds of temperatures in the machine
that stresses the insulation more in some parts of the
machine. Even with possible errors the results are
comparable to each other.
The slot depth is a critical factor to the skin effect
as we see by comparing two machines (310 kW in
Fig. 9 and 250 kW in Fig. 10). The difference
between them might be a result of the differences in
the slot depths which is smaller in a smaller machine.
As Hanselman (1995) concluded in his research, the
power loss in windings is proportional to the square of
the slot depth.
This paper shows that the skin effect has to be
considered when designing medium or high speeds
machines even with round enameled wires.
All kinds of winding methods can be simulated
with FLUX2d to some extent to verify if there is any
250hz 300hz presence of skin effect in the design. This presented
simulation method is simple and may be implemented
to machine design process to verify some winding
arrangements before making an actual machine.
180 degree twisting at the end winding area is a
cheap and manageable way to reduce the skin effect
in medium speed random wound machines. Also in
medium speed machines one should consider making
the slots as short and wide as possible. That is because
the slot depth effect on the ac resistance is substantial.
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Time-harmonic finite-element analysis of eddy currents
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September 2007
[2]. Stone G.C., Boulter E.A., Culbert I. & Hussein D.
Electrical insulation for rotating machines. Design,
evalution, aging, testing, and repair. A John Wiley &
sons. 2004.

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[3]. Kim Hong-Kyu, Jung Jin-Kyo, Park Kyong-Yop, Im
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Henry Hämäläinen: Hämäläinen got his Bachelor’s degree
in electrical engineering from South Carelia Polytechnic,
Imatra, Finland. And the M.Sc. degree he got from
Lappeenranta University of Technology in January 2009.
Since January 2009 he is working 20 % at The Switch
Electrical Machines and 80 % at Lappeenranta University of
Tecnology as a postgraduate student, mainly working with
electrical motor insulations and windings.
Juha Pyrhönen: Prof. Pyrhönen is active in researching
and developing special electrical machines, especially, large
high speed motors and permanent magnet machines for
industrial and distributed energy purposes.
Jussi Puranen: D.Sc. Puranen got his master's and doctor's
degree from Lappeenranta University of Technology 2003
and 2006, respectively. Since 2006 he has been working in
The Switch Electrical Machines as a technical account
manager. His main responsibility is electromagnetic design
of electrical machines.
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