538
1, JANUARY 2001
Accurate Analytical Model of Winding Losses in
Round Litz Wire Windings
F. Tourkhani, Member, IEEE, and P. Viarouge
Abstract—An accurate analytical model of losses in round
Litz wire windings is presented. The model is based on the exact
analytical equations for round conductors, and it closely includes
the distribution of the leakage field across the winding space.
A closed-form formula of the ac resistance of round Litz wire
windings is developed from the model. An analytic solution of the
optimal value of the ac resistance is derived. The expression of
the strand dimension corresponding to the optimal value of the ac
resistance is also determined.
Index Terms—Eddy current losses, Litz wire.
I. INTRODUCTION
A NALYTICAL analysis of winding losses in high-fre-
quency magnetic components has been receiving wide
attention during the past few years. This analysis method
provides a closed-form analytical formula of the ac resistance
of the winding, which can be easily included in the design
procedure of a magnetic component. This resistance includes
the dc resistance of the winding and a factor of excess loss
related to skin and proximity effects. The eddy current effects
cause an appreciable increase of winding losses and they should
be modeled by appropriate analytic expressions in the design
process of a magnetic component.
Some analytical models of winding losses for solid conductor
windings have been proposed in the literature. The first analyt-
ical model, which has been proposed by Dowell [1], is restricted
to foil conductor windings. This model respects the exact ana-
lytical equations for foil conductors and it closely includes the
linear distribution of the leakage field across the layers of the
winding. Some geometrical arrangements have been also pro-
posed [1] for extending the analytical model of foil conductor
windings to round conductor windings. For many years, copper
loss in round conductor windings has been approximated by that
in foil conductor windings, assuming that one layer of round
conductors is equivalent to a foil conductor. To avoid the error
introduced by replacing round conductors by foil conductors,
an analytical model of winding losses, which respect the exact
analytical equations for round conductors, has been developed
[4], [5], [7]. However, to simplify the derivation of this model,
Manuscript received September 8, 1999; revised September 20, 2000.
F. Tourkhani is with EMS Technologies, Space and Electronics Group, Ste-
Anne-de-Bellevue, QC H9X 3R2, Canada.
P. Viarouge is with LEEPCI, Department of Electrical and Computer Engi-
neering, Laval University, Quebec, QC G1K 7P4, Canada.
Publisher Item Identifier S 0018-9464(01)00610-0.
0018–9464/01$10.00 © 2001 IEEE
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, VOL. 37, NO.
the leakage field across each layer was considered constant and
uniform.
The latter analytical models for solid conductor windings
cannot be directly used to model losses in Litz wire windings,
since the internal leakage field between the strands is not
considered in these models. In [12], the one-dimensional (1-D)
solution of foil conductor windings [1] is applied to round Litz
wire windings, providing that a foil conductor is equivalent to
a stack of thinner foils. This model is not accurate, however,
because each thinner foil was considered equivalent to a layer
of round conductors [11]. In [2], an analytic expression of
eddy current losses in a single-stranded conductor has been
developed. Nevertheless, this result cannot be used in the
design process of windings, since it does not consider the prox-
imity effect between the conductors in the winding. In [10],
Ferreira applied the concept of orthogonality for developing
an analytic model of losses in a stranded conductor submitted
to an external leakage field, which is assumed uniform and
equal to its average value across the conductor. This model
is very convenient, as it includes the proximity effects due
to the external and the internal leakage fields. In addition, it
can be used to predict eddy current losses in any magnetic
component (machines, transformers, and inductors), providing
that the average value of the leakage field distribution across
the conductors is derived post priori.
In the case of transformer and inductor windings, the distribu-
tion of the leakage field is well known and can be modeled by an
analytical expression [1]. In these conditions, a closed-form an-
alytical formula, as it was derived by Dowell for foil conductor
windings [1], can be developed for the modeling of losses in
Litz wire windings used in high-frequency transformers and in-
ductors. With this modeling approach, the winding space can be
specifically considered in the modeling process and the leakage
field distribution will be accurately included in the power in-
tegral of eddy current losses. The end result of this modeling
approach is an analytical expression of the ac resistance, which
is very useful for the design of high-frequency transformers and
inductors.
In this paper, an analytical model of losses in round Litz wire
windings is developed. In this model, the linear distribution of
the leakage field across the winding layers is considered in the
formulation of the eddy current equations. Based on this model,
a closed-form formula of the ac resistance will also be deter-
mined. An analytic solution of the optimal value of this ac re-
sistance will be derived. An expression of the strand dimension
corresponding to this optimal value of the ac resistance will also
be developed.
TOURKHANI AND VIAROUGE: MODEL OF WINDING LOSSES IN ROUND LITZ WIRE WINDINGS 539

Fig. 1. Leakage field distribution in a portion of a Litz wire winding.

II. ASSUMPTIONS AND LIST OF SYMBOLS ductors with distributed air gap. The leakage field across the
winding is then given by
In the following analysis, we suppose that the individual wires
of the strands are enameled and waved along the entire divided
conductor in such a way that all wires successively pass through (1)
all points at the cross section of the conductor. This ensures that Fig. 1 shows the distribution of across the winding
the current will divide equally among the separate strands [10]. space. According to this distribution, the leakage field ( )
The following symbols will be used throughout the paper. acting at position of the th layer is then given by
Skin depth.
Diameter of a conductor. (2)
Diameter of a strand.
Amplitude of the leakage field. where is the current by unit width of a layer. To express
Factor of excess loss of the dc resistance. as a function of ( ), we can use the following result (Fig. 1):
Normalized value of the ac resistance.
Amplitude of the current in conductors. (3)
Amplitude of the current in strands.
Amplitude of the current by unit width of a layer. Thus, from (2)
Frequency.
Air permeability. (4)
Number of conductors in the winding.
Number of strands in a conductor. It can be shown that the internal field acting at the position
Number of layers. ( ) of each conductor (Fig. 1) can be expressed by [2], [3]
AC resistance of the winding.
DC resistance of the winding. (5)
Copper resistivity.
Normalized value of the diameter of a strand ( ). Thus, from (1), (4), and (5), we have

III. ANALYSIS OF THE LEAKAGE FIELD DISTRIBUTION ACROSS

A LITZ WIRE WINDING SPACE

Fig. 1 shows a portion of a Litz wire winding. In addition to (6)

the leakage field in the winding ( ), each strand of a given
conductor is also submitted to an internal leakage field ( ), The result of (6) gives the distribution of the leakage field
which is due to the current in the other strands inside the con- across a strand in the ( ) position of a conductor in the th
ductor. The leakage field ( ) is supposed 1-D ( direction) layer of the winding. This result will be used in the power inte-
[1]. This assumption is true in windings of transformers and in- gral of the proximity effect losses.
540 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, VOL. 37, NO. 1, JANUARY 2001

IV. EDDY CURRENT LOSSES IN ROUND LITZ WIRE WINDINGS To simplify the analysis, can be normalized with respect
Using the result of (30) (Appendix A), the expression of to
eddy current losses in a given strand of the ( th, th) conductor
(13)
(Fig. 1) is
If denotes the normalized values of , then we have
(7)

The density of eddy current losses in the ( th, th) conductor

can then be expressed by (14)
Figs. 2 and 3 show the curve of for equal to 20 and
(8)
50, respectively. It can be seen that, for a given number of layers
( ), there is a value of for which is minimal. This minimal
where is the packing factor and is the value of the leakage value of is the solution of the following equation:
field across the strand in the ( ) position of the conductor.
From (6) (15)

Substituting the result of (14) in (15), we obtain

(16)
(9)
It can be seen in Figs. 2 and 3 that the optimal value of
The power dissipation per unit length in the ( th, th) con- ( ) is less than 1.4. In these conditions, and can be
ductor of the winding can be determined by the integration of approximated by the first terms of their Taylor-series expansion
[see (8)]

(17)

Fig. 4 shows the curve of the actual functions and [see

(31)] and that of their approximation by the first terms of their
Taylor-series expansion [see (17)]. It can be seen that, for ,
the approximate model of and is very close to their actual
(10) model.
Using the result of (16) and (17), we get
If denotes the power dissipation per unit length in the
winding, we have (Fig. 1) (18)

The minimal value of then becomes

(19)

(11)
where is the number of layers, is the number of conductors
by layer, and is the number of conductors in the winding.
V. AC RESISTANCE OF ROUND LITZ WIRE WINDINGS
Using the result of (11), the ac resistance per unit length of
round Litz wire windings can be expressed by
(12)
The result of (19) shows that the optimal value of is in-
versely proportional to (Figs. 1 and 2). From this result it can
be expected that the optimum of the normalized value of
with respect to the dc resistance is constant, since the dc resis-
tance is also inversely proportional to . In fact
(20)
Thus, from (13) and (19)
(21)
According to the result of (21), it can be concluded that the
minimal value of the ac resistance is equal to the product of the
TOURKHANI AND VIAROUGE: MODEL OF WINDING LOSSES IN ROUND LITZ WIRE WINDINGS 541

Fig. 2. Normalized ac resistance of a round Litz wire winding (N = 20;  = 0:3).

Fig. 3. Normalized ac resistance of a round Litz wire winding (N = 50;  = 0:3).
dc resistance of the winding and a factor ( of excess loss,
which is constant and equal to 2. Equation (18) gives the value
of the diameter of the strands, which is corresponding to the
minimal value of the ac resistance of the winding.
VI. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE AC RESISTANCE MODEL
Eddy current losses in transformer and inductor windings
have been studied for many years by the model developed by
Dowell [1], which is normally restricted to foil conductor wind-
ings. Some geometrical arrangements have been proposed, how-
ever, for extending this analytical model of losses in foil con-
ductor windings to round conductor windings. Basically, these
geometrical arrangements assume that one layer of round con-
ductors is equivalent to a foil conductor [1].
The first advantage of the model of eddy current losses pre-
sented in this paper [see (11)] is that it respects the exact analyt-
ical equations for round conductors. In addition, this model is
accurate since the linear distribution of the leakage field across
the winding layers is considered in the formulation of the eddy
current equations.
The two models must obviously be compared for the same
dc resistance of the winding. In these conditions, this compara-
tive process can be done through the normalized value of
with respect to the dc resistance of the winding. This normal-
ized value of will be denoted
(22)
542 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, VOL. 37, NO. 1, JANUARY 2001

Fig. 4. The actual and the approximate models of the functions and .

Using the result of (12), we have

(23)
The expression of the normalized value of the ac resistance
of a foil conductor winding is given by [1]

(24)

It should be noted that in the latter equation the parameter

denoted the normalized value of the height ( ) of a foil con-
ductor: .
Fig. 5 shows the curve of for foil conductor windings [see
(24)] and round conductor windings [see (23)]. It can be seen Fig. 5. Curve of K (m = 2;  = 1; N = 1).
that the two models are very close in the dc domain ( ).
In the ac domain ( ), the value of the ac resistance of optimal size of the strands, which corresponds to the minimal
foil conductor windings is greater, however, than that of the ac value of the ac resistance. Thus, from (18)
resistance of round conductor windings.
(26)
VII. CONSIDERATION OF THE EDDY CURRENT EFFECTS IN THE
DESIGN PROCESS OF A LITZ WIRE WINDING
Many techniques, which do not consider the effect of eddy The number of the strands is given by
currents, have been proposed for designing inductors and trans-
formers [8], [9]. With these techniques, the dc resistance of the (27)
winding is used to compute the copper losses. To include the
Then
effect of eddy currents in these design techniques, the minimal
value of the ac resistance of the winding must then be used to
compute copper losses
(25)
(28)
The end result of these design techniques includes, in par-
ticular, the size of both the magnetic core and the conductors The result of (28) gives the optimal value of the diameter of
(diameter for round conductors), the number of turns ( ), the strands, which corresponds to the minimal value of the ac
and the number of layers ( ). When these parameters are de- resistance of the winding. In this equation, the value of (
termined, the result of (18) must then be used to compute the is a function of the parameters ( ) and ( ), which have been
TOURKHANI AND VIAROUGE: MODEL OF WINDING LOSSES IN ROUND LITZ WIRE WINDINGS
already determined in the design process of the magnetic com-
ponent.
VIII. CONCLUSION
Due to eddy current effects, winding losses in high-frequency
magnetic components are appreciably greater than those calcu-
lated from the dc resistance of the winding. These losses must
then be computed from the ac resistance of the winding which
includes the dc resistance and a factor of excess loss related
to skin and proximity effects. In this paper, an accurate an-
alytical model of losses in round Litz wire windings is pre-
sented. This model is based on the exact analytical equations
for round conductors and it closely includes the distribution of
the leakage field across the winding space. Based on this model,
a closed-form formula of the ac resistance of round Litz wire
windings is developed. An analytic solution of the optimal value
of this ac resistance is derived. The expression of the strand di-
mension corresponding to this optimal value of the ac resistance
is also determined.
APPENDIX A
EDDY CURRENT LOSSES IN ROUND CONDUCTORS
The expression of the eddy current density ( ) is developed
in the literature [1]–[3] for round and foil conductors. For round
conductors, a two-dimensional (2-D) analysis method in cylin-
drical coordinates is used to derive the expression of [2]. As
is usual with wires, the conductor is supposed straight and its
length is very large with respect to its cross section. Under this
assumption, we have [2]
(29)
where
amplitude of the current in the conductor (phasor
quantity);
amplitude of the leakage field across the con-
ductor (phasor quantity);
frequency;
diameter of the conductor;
skin depth;
543
copper resistivity;
air permeability;
and Bessel functions.
The power dissipation per unit length in the conductor is then
(30)
where
(31)
In the special case of stranded conductor windings, the con-
ductor is submitted to an internal ( ) and an external ( )
leakage field [see (1)]
(32)
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