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fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/TPWRD.2016.2579165, IEEE
Methodology to Evaluate the Electromechanical
Effects of Electromagnetic Forces on
Conductive Materials in Transformer Windings
using the Von Mises and Fatigue Criteria
J. F. Araujo, E. G. Costa, Member, IEEE, F. L. M. Andrade, A. D. Germano, T. V. Ferreira, Member,
IEEE
 (e.g., tilting, buckling, etc.) and the capability of the equipment
Abstract—A methodology based on computer simulations and
aiming to estimate the lifespan of transformer windings after the
occurrence of short circuits is presented in this paper. The Von
Mises and fatigue criteria are employed to determine the failure
proximity of the windings. The obtained results contribute to the
evaluation of the influence of electromechanical effects in
transformer windings and to the determination of the number of
short circuits that a transformer winding can support. The
simulation results may also be employed in the design of
transformers and failure diagnosis, to increase the security
margin against mechanical failures.
Index Terms—Fatigue criterion, transformer
mechanical stress, short circuit.
I. INTRODUCTION
T HE transformer is one of the most important equipments
for electrical systems. Thus, when a transformer presents
some kind of failure, a fast repair or replacement is needed.
Failures in transformers may cause decrease in the power
quality indexes of energy companies, as well as other damage
due to fines and revenue loss during power outages. Moreover,
these losses during power outages tend to affect the reputation
and image of energy companies. Therefore, it is important to
monitor transformers and to perform predictive maintenance,
so that unscheduled shutdowns are avoided. Therewith,
transformer manufacturing techniques have been improved in
the sense of increasing equipment reliability [1].
Failures in transformers might have a mechanical origin,
caused by the occurrence of short circuits. These failures are
related to vibration [2] and deformations in the transformer
windings.
Transformers are designed to withstand a certain number of
short circuits during their service life. Nevertheless, sooner or
later, a disturbance will cause a slight winding displacement
This work was supported by the: Hydro Electric Company of São
Francisco (CHESF), National Council for Scientific and Technological
Development (CNPq), and Post-Graduate Program in Electrical Engineering
(COPELE).
J. Araujo, F. Andrade, A. Germano, T. Ferreira and E. Costa are from the
Department of Electrical Engineering (DEE) at Federal University of
Campina Grande (UFCG), Brazil (e-mail: {jalberth.araujo; filipe.andrade;
andre.germano}@ee.ufcg.edu.br; {tarso, edson}@dee.ufcg.edu.br)
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to support new electromechanical effects will be reduced [3],
[4], [5].
Electromechanical effects, which are related to vibration
and deformations in transformer windings, are generally
damaging to the stability of the equipment and system. Hence,
electromechanical effects have been one of the major causes of
failure in transformers.
Monitoring the electromechanical effects, by measuring
electromagnetic forces (EF) or mechanical stresses (MS), is
one of the techniques that can be used to minimize the
winding, occurrence of mechanical failure in the windings. However,
the measurement of EF and MS, in loco, is not trivial, due to
the difficulty of introducing sensors at strategic points, since
the equipment is already assembled. Other challenges found
when placing sensors in the equipment are the difficulty of
access to manufacturers’ technology and the high cost of the
sensors [6]–[7].
On the other hand, the kinetic characteristics of windings,
under short circuit conditions, have been widely analyzed
numerically and the winding stability calculation has been the
central issue in the safe operation of transformers [8], [9], [10].
Hence, computer simulations can be applied as an alternative
technique to monitor the EF and the MS [11], [12], since the
simulations:
 Allow modeling of the transformer in 3D, with more
details, to determine the EF and the MS through the
finite element method (FEM), which is already a
consolidated technique;
 Are a noninvasive technique;
 Permit the use of electromagnetic and mechanical
physics to study the electromechanical phenomena
together;
 Do not use sensors to measure the EF and the MS;
 Predict equipment behavior;
 Reduce the costs of analysis;
 Aid the decision-making during design, according to
the EF or the MS to which the equipment will be
subjected.
In order to evaluate the influence of electromechanical
effects via computer simulations, new methodologies must be
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proposed. These methodologies can be based on the use of where k  3 / 7 is a parameter obtained from the stress vs.
mechanical failure criteria. strain curve;  y  0.1% corresponds to the strain; and
Currently, mechanical failure criteria are typically used to
 y  70 MPa is the yield stress of copper.
determine the failure proximity of windings when a short
circuit occurs. However, most of these criteria use the By determining the Von Mises stress through (1), the Von
asymmetric peak of the short circuit current and consider Mises criterion can thus be applied to the transformer
failure to happen only when the value of the MS is higher than windings. The Von Mises criterion can be represented as
the critical stress of the winding. However, a failure may also shown in Fig. 1, where it is seen that the Von Mises stresses
happen when values of the MS are lower than the critical stress that are located on the inside of an elliptical cylinder do not
of the winding. lead to plastic failure of the transformer windings.
It is known that short circuit currents through transformer
windings have a dynamic behavior; consequently, the MS
caused by these currents also have dynamic characteristics.
The mechanical failure criterion that uses the dynamic
characteristics of the MS to evaluate failure proximity and
allows failure to occur for values of MS lower than the critical
stress of the winding is called the fatigue criterion [13].
In this paper, a methodology for failure proximity
evaluation in transformer windings is proposed. The
methodology is based on computer simulations and on two
different failure criteria: Von Mises and fatigue.
II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
In this section, the theoretical framework regarding the two
failure criteria: Von Mises and fatigue.
A. Von Mises Criterion Fig. 1. Elliptical cylinder representing the safety region of the Von Mises
Depending on the value of the MS, generated by EF, the criterion.
windings may withstand plastic failure. The Von Mises B. Fatigue Criterion
criterion is one of the most employed criteria to investigate
plastic failure in ductile materials [14], such as the copper in Fatigue is a phenomenon in which a progressive
the transformer windings. According to this criterion, if the deterioration of a metal occurs when subjected to dynamic
value of the MS, which is the Von Mises stress, is larger than a loads [14].
critical value, the winding is expected to present plastic failure. Fatigue failures are characterized by material rupture. In
This can be seen in (1). these cases, the MS value that occurs is lower than the critical
1 material stress value. Thus, the fatigue criterion can be
   2 2  2  3 2  3  1 2  2
v m  1   crit , (1) employed in order to evaluate the MS values that do not cause
 2  plastic failure, but may still cause fatigue failure.
where  vm is the Von Mises stress; 1 ,  2 and 3 are the The tools used in the fatigue criterion to evaluate fatigue
are the S-N curves, or Wöhler diagrams. The S-N curves relate
principal stresses;  crit is the critical stress of the winding,
the number of cycles left until fatigue failure with the
which is calculated by (2) through the Newton-Raphson mechanical stress. The S-N curves can be expressed by (4).
method. In this expression, it can be verified that the critical
S  a  Nb , (4)
stress is dependent on the constructive characteristics of the
windings [15], [16], [17]. wherein S is the mechanical stress; N is the number of cycles;
2 a and b are parameters of the S-N curve.
m 1  0m m h
 crit    crit  0  E 0     0 , (2) From (4), it can be said that the S-N curves can be used to
 4 R perform studies of lifespan in components that are subjected to
where m = 11.6 and   5.4 are parameters obtained from the mechanical stresses, such as the transformer windings.
mechanical stress vs. strain curve of copper; E0 = 110 GPa is The S-N basic curve of copper presented in Fig. 2 is based
the elastic modulus; h is the radial build of the winding; R is on the references [14] and [18]. This curve intersects two basic
the mean radius of the winding and  0 [16] is a parameter that points, the first being the mechanical stress at 103 cycles,
which corresponds to 90% of the tensile strength of copper;
can be obtained through (3).
and the second is the mechanical stress at 106 cycles, which is
1
 k m  1 m 
called the fatigue limit. With these two points, the S-N fatigue
0      y  m  , (3) curve can be estimated and the lifespan of the winding can be
 E0   y 
  studied.

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200 nfad is the number of cycles of the reduced fatigue limit

180 extracted from the S-N admissible curve.
Mechanical stress (MPa)

160
III. METHODOLOGY
140
The main input data required for the simulation are the
120
transformer parameters. In this paper, a 3D model of a
100 100 MVA power transformer is used, and its main
80 characteristics are presented in Table I, where LV represents
60 3 low voltage, and HV stands for high voltage.
4 5 6
10 10 10 10
Number of cycles TABLE I
Fig. 2. S-N basic fatigue curve for copper, where a = 509.1 and b = -0.1367. 100 MVA power transformer characteristics.
The S-N fatigue curves can be modified so that the security Parameter Value
margin against the occurrence of fatigue failure is increased. Power (MVA) 100
Number of winding turns LV/HV 394/796
This increase in lifespan is achieved by reducing the value of
Mean diameter of winding LV/HV (mm/mm) 903/1201
the fatigue limit, defined in the previous paragraph. Frequency (Hz) 60
The fatigue limit can be reduced due to the characteristics Impedance (%) 9.32
of the material (composition, basis of failure, variability), Voltage LV/HV (kV/kV) 138/230
manufacturing (method, heat treatment, surface condition),
environment (corrosion, temperature) and design (size, shape). The results are obtained using Comsol Multiphysics®,
Thus, the reduced fatigue limit can be calculated by (5). which is a FEM-based software. A 3D model of the 100 MVA
power transformer is shown in Fig. 3.
 1
 f  k s  k t  k f  kT    f 0 ,
n

(5)

where  f is the reduced fatigue limit; ks, kt, kf and kT are the
fatigue limit modifying factors;  f 0 is the fatigue limit of the
S-N basic curve and n is a safety factor. The S-N curve with
the reduced fatigue limit is called the S-N admissible curve.
Additionally, when a short circuit occurs on the transformer
windings, the damage caused is cumulative and, in time, leads
to reduction of the winding’s lifespan. Thus, to quantify the
cumulative fatigue damage, the Palmgren–Miner cycle-ratio
summation rule, also called Miner’s rule, can be used. Miner’s
rule is presented in (6).


ni
 D, (6)
Fig. 3. 3D model of the 100 MVA power transformer.
Ni The proposed methodology is based on the following steps:
where ni is the number of cycles of the stress level  i ; Ni is  Developing a 3D model transformer, with
characteristics presented in Table I, to be
the number of cycles necessary to lead to fatigue failure, for
introduced as input data in Comsol Multiphysics®;
the stress level  i ; D is the accumulated damage. When
 Performing the computational simulation uniting the
D = 1, failure occurs. electromagnetic and mechanical physics under a
The calculation of the cumulative damage, according to transient short circuit condition;
Miner’s rule, evidences that a group of mechanical stresses  Determining the failure proximity of the winding by
occurring, for example, in the transformer winding, contributes using the Von Mises and fatigue criteria;
to the reduction of the area below the S-N fatigue curve and  Estimating and evaluating the number of short
thus to the reduction of the lifespan of the winding. This group circuits that cause the reduction of lifespan to a
of stresses is characterized by mechanical stress amplitudes, predetermined level.
 i , that last ni cycles. In order to evaluate the failure proximity in transformer
The accumulated damage thus leads to a percentage of life windings via computer simulations, Comsol Multiphysics® is
reduction of the winding, which can be determined by the employed. The software input data is the 3D transformer
expression (7). model displayed in Fig. 3. This 3D modeling is used in order
 n fr  to obtain a more accurate representation of the transformer
R%  1   100 (7) windings. Moreover, the determination of the mechanical
 n fad 
  stresses is dependent on the winding geometry, which is not
where R% is the percentage of reduction of life, nfr is the accurately represented in 2D.
number of fatigue limit cycles obtained after a short circuit and Once the transformer model is inserted in Comsol

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Multiphysics®, the computational simulations can be
performed. In order to do so, it is necessary to use short circuit
equations as input data in the software.
Simulations of the short circuit currents circulating through
the terminals of the windings are performed for different
asymmetry factors. These currents are input data of the
electromagnetic physics, in which the output data is the EF.
These EF are the input data of the mechanical physics, which
produces the Von Mises stresses as output. As a result, it is
possible to correlate the maximum Von Mises stress with the
increased in order to locate, when necessary, the critical
asymmetry factor of the winding.
According to Fig. 4 and to the Von Mises criterion, the low
voltage winding fails, plastically, with an asymmetry factor of
2.18 (which corresponds to a current peak of 13.8 kA). On the
other hand, Fig. 5 indicates plastic failure of the high voltage
winding with an asymmetry factor of 1.8 (current peak of
6.8 kA).
80

Von Mises Stress (MPa)

asymmetry factors of the simulated short circuit currents. This
60
is done in order to evaluate the failure proximity of the
windings. 40 Von Mises Stress
The failure proximity is then evaluated by comparing the Critical Stress

Von Mises stresses, for a certain asymmetry factor, with the 20

critical stress of the winding. This comparison is performed
graphically in Matlab® and allows the determination of the 0
1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8
point of plastic deformation, by applying the Von Mises Asymmetric Factor
Fig. 4. Failure proximity in the low voltage winding for short circuit currents
criterion. Besides, it is possible to determine the asymmetry depending on the value of the asymmetry factor.
factor which causes plastic failure in the winding, which is
then named the critical asymmetry factor. 80

Von Mises Stress (MPa)

The fatigue criterion can be employed when asymmetry
factors lead to a Von Mises stress that is lower than the critical 60

stresses, i.e., that does not cause plastic failure in the windings. Von Mises Stress
40
In order to employ the fatigue criterion in the windings, the Critical Stress

S-N admissible fatigue curve of copper must be employed. 20

The S-N admissible curve is determined using the S-N basic
fatigue curve of copper, presented in Fig. 2, and the admissible 0
1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8
fatigue limit, which is calculated by (5). These curves are then Asymmetric factor
Fig. 5. Failure proximity in the high voltage winding for short circuit currents
used to study the reduction of lifespan of the windings, due to depending on the value of the asymmetry factor.
the circulation of short circuit currents.
Plastic winding failure occurs when either of the windings
In such a manner, the estimation of the number of short
fails, i.e., according to the Von Mises criterion, this failure
circuits supported by the windings can be estimated by using
occurs when the asymmetry factor is 1.8, which indicates
the S-N admissible fatigue curve, Miner’s rule and expression
plastic failure of the high voltage winding.
(7). In order to estimate these values, it is necessary to fix a
value of percentual reduction of lifespan, and simulate short Since this study aims to investigate the failure proximity
circuits, in the time domain, with different asymmetry factors. when the mechanical stress is lower than the critical stress, and
Knowing that the circulation of short circuit currents reduces considering the limit value for plastic failure, the short circuit
the area below the S-N admissible fatigue curve, the short currents that do not cause plastic failure were considered, i.e.,
circuits must be simulated with the purpose of determining the short circuit currents with an asymmetry factor lower than 1.8.
number of short circuits that are necessary to lead to the Therefore, knowing the critical asymmetric factor, one can
reduction of the winding lifespan at the fixed percentual value. study the dynamic behavior of the EF and the MS, when short
In this manner, surfaces that correlate the number of short circuits lower than that threshold occur. Illustratively, the short
circuits still supported by the windings, the asymmetric factors circuit current with an asymmetric factor of 1.4 is shown in
of such short circuits, and the percentage of lifespan reduction Fig. 6.
10
of the winding can be plotted. Using the Matlab® software, the LV Current
HV Current
results from the application of the fatigue criterion are 5
obtained.
Current (kA)

0
IV. RESULTS
The failure proximity is presented in Figs. 4 and 5 for the -5

low and high voltage winding respectively, where the

-10
asymmetry factor of the short circuit current was varied from 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25
Time (s)
1.0 to 2.8. It is worth noting that although the asymmetry Fig. 6. Transient short circuit current on high and low voltage windings for
factor varies between 1.0 and 2.0, the range of variation was an asymmetry factor of 1.4.

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The transient short circuit current according to [19] and
[20] is shown in Fig. 6. During such an event, the dynamic
behavior of the radial and axial EF on the high voltage
winding can be determined using the procedure presented in
the references [21], [22] and [23]. The EF are presented in
Figs. 7 and 8.
25
Radial Electromagnetic Force (MN)
In order to employ the fatigue criterion, the admissible S-N
curve is determined, considering that the fatigue limit
modifying factors, presented in expression (10), are ks = 1,
kt = 0.75, kf = 0.62, kT = 1 and n = 3 [22]. With these
parameters, the S-N admissible curve is obtained, as presented
in Fig. 10.

200
S-N admissible curve
20 S-N basic curve

Mechanical Stress (MPa)

150
15

100
10

5 50

0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0 3 4 5 6
Time (s) 10 10 10 10
Number of cycles
Fig. 7. Dynamic radial electromagnetic force on the high voltage winding
under a short circuit current with an asymmetry factor of 1.4. Fig. 10. S-N admissible fatigue curve in the high voltage winding, where
a = 3894.4 and b = -0.4313.
2
The lifespan of the winding is determined using Miner’s
Axial Electromagnetic Force (MN)

rule, presented in expressions (6) and (7) and the S-N

1.5
admissible fatigue curve in the high voltage winding. The
reduction of the capacity of this winding to support the
1
cumulative damage due to short circuits is illustrated in
Fig. 11. In it, fixed percentages of lifespan reduction are
0.5
presupposed, which shall be determined in a later step.
200
0 S-N Admissíble
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 10 %
Time (s)
Mechanical Stress (MPa)

20 %
Fig. 8. Dynamic axial electromagnetic force on the high voltage winding 150 30 %
40 %
under a short circuit current with an asymmetry factor of 1.4. 50 %
60 %
100
70 %
In Figs. 7 and 8, the dynamic behavior of the 80 %
90 %
electromagnetic forces on the windings in the radial and axial 50 100 %
direction is presented. Since these forces are proportional to
the current squared, they are pulsating. Electromagnetic forces 0 3 4 5 6
also generate MS with dynamic behavior, which can be 10 10 Number of Cycles 10 10
observed in terms of Von Mises stresses, shown in Fig. 9. Fig. 11. Reduction of lifespan of high voltage winding due to the occurrence
of cumulative short circuit currents.
70

60 In order to better understand Fig. 11, two coordinates will

Von Mises Stress (MPa)

Von Mises Stress

50 be the starting point of the analysis: in the S-N admissible
Critical Stress
40 curve (in black), it can be seen that a mechanical stress of
30 200 MPa leads to fatigue failure, provided it persists for more
20
than 103 cycles. On the other hand, if the number of cycles of a
short circuit with the same characteristics lasts for 10 x 103
10
cycles, the mechanical stress that leads to fatigue failure is
0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 reduced to 70 MPa.
Time (s)
Fig. 9. Dynamic Von Mises stress in the high voltage winding for an If, now, one assumes that a winding has suffered a lifespan
asymmetry factor of the short circuit current of 1.4. reduction of 50% (turquoise blue curve) due to the occurrence
In Fig. 9 it is shown that the dynamic Von Mises stress on of cumulative damage caused by short circuits, the same
the high voltage winding is lower than the critical stress, so mechanical stress of 70 MPa that previously needed to be
that it does not lead to plastic failure of the winding. sustained for 10 x 103 cycles to lead to failure now leads to
From the above, and considering the purpose of the study, fatigue failure in just 5 x 103 cycles.
the fatigue criterion is utilized to show that MS with values Supposing now that the cumulative damage due to short
lower than the critical stresses may lead to failure caused by circuits is intense enough to lead to a reduction of lifespan of
fatigue of the winding. Such failure depends on the magnitude 90% (golden curve), the same mechanical stress of 70 MPa
of the MS and the number of cycles of the MS. already provokes fatigue failure after just 103 cycles.

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With that in mind, it is clear that, for a fixed mechanical lead to a certain reduction in lifespan. Notice how the vertical
stress, the increase in the percentual reduction of lifespan range in Fig. 13 is clearly higher than that in Fig. 12, although
causes a decrease of the number of supported cycles to fatigue both surfaces have roughly the same shape.
failure. Besides, for a fixed number of cycles, the increase in

Number of Short Circuits(x1000)

40
the percentual reduction of lifespan causes a decrease in the
mechanical stress necessary to lead to failure. 30
An asymmetry factor of 1.4 was used for all the
20
considerations made so far, as shown in Fig. 6. Moreover, the
number of cycles capable of causing a determined reduction in 10
the winding lifespan is not yet determined; what is known is
the correlation between the number of cycles and the MS. At 0
100 80 1,2 1
60 40 1,6 1,4
this point, the influence of the number of cycles on the 20 0 2 1,8

percentual reduction of lifespan is investigated. This Asymmetry Factor

Reduction of Life (%)
investigation allows an estimation of the number of short Fig. 13. Surface representing the relation between the number of short
circuits supported by the windings as a function of the circuits, the reduction of lifespan of a transformer, and the asymmetry factor
for short circuits of 0.05s.
asymmetry factor and the percentual reduction of lifespan.
With that in mind, and taking into account that the number The third simulation was performed for a short circuit of
of cycles of a short circuit depends on the protection system 3 s. This example represents the worst scenario for the
operation and the duration specified in type tests, the following transformer winding. Data is presented in Fig. 14.
short circuit durations were considered: 0.05 s, 0.25 s and 3 s
[20]. The duration of 0.05 s refers to the maximum operation
600
Number of Short Circuits
time of a circuit breaker in order to interrupt a short circuit
current; 0.25 s and 3 s are times which are specified in 400
standards for the execution of short circuit tests in the
transformer windings. 200
In Fig. 12 the result of the computer simulations performed
0
for the 3D model, for a short circuit duration of 0.25 s is 100
80
1
1.2
60 1.4
shown. The estimation of the number of short circuits is 40
20 1.8
1.6
0 2
presented in relation to the variation of the asymmetry factor Asymmetry Factor
Reduction of Life (%)
and the percentage reduction in the winding lifespan.
Fig. 14. Surface representing the relation between the number of short
8
Number of Short Circuits (x1000)

circuits, the reduction of lifespan of a transformer, and the asymmetry factor

for short circuits of 3 s.
6

4 In Fig. 14 it is shown that, for a short circuit with a duration

2
0 short circuit is a significant influencing factor on the number
100 80
60 40 1,6
20 0 1,8
2
Asymmetry Factor
Reduction of Life (%)
Fig. 12. Surface representing the relation between the number of short
circuits, the reduction of the lifespan of a transformer and the asymmetry
factor for short circuits of 0.25 s.
In Fig. 12 it can be observed that for a fixed asymmetry
factor, as the number of short circuits increases, so does the
percentage reduction of the lifespan. Furthermore, for a fixed
lifespan reduction, increase of the asymmetry factor leads to a
reduction in the amount of short circuits that must be applied
to cause fatigue failure.
The short circuit duration also influences the number of
short circuits that can be endured by the windings. For
example, when a short circuit of 0.05 s is applied, the
corresponding surface is presented in Fig. 13. In this figure, it
is verified that the reduction of the short circuit duration
causes an increase in the number of short circuits needed to
of 3 s, a significant reduction in the amount of tolerable short
circuits occurs. These results confirm that the duration of the
1
1,4 1,2 of short circuits supported.
Complementarily, observing Figs. 12, 13, and 14, one can
verify that the more predominant the number of steady-state
cycles, the lower the reduction rate of the number of short
circuits with the increasing asymmetry factor. This can be
observed in the surface color changing from red to blue. For
short circuits with a duration of 0.05 s, the color change is
faster than for short circuits with a duration of 3 s.
Additionally, the occurrence of plastic failure does not
necessarily imply fatigue failure. This fact may be observed, in
Figs. 12, 13 and 14, from the decrease of the number of short
circuits supported to a minimum in the region where the
asymmetry factor of the short circuit current is larger than the
critical asymmetry factor.
In Figs. 15 and 16, the Von Mises stress in the windings for
a short circuit with an asymmetric factor of 1.6 is shown.
These figures allow the effects of the MS in the transformer
windings to be observed.

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alternative to direct measurement. It also allows the security

margin against transformer mechanical failure to be increased.
The following conclusions were obtained:
 Computational simulations allow the determination

Von Mises Stress (MPa)

of failure proximity on transformer windings;
 Winding failures do not only happen when the
mechanical stress is greater than the critical stress.
Failure may also occur for mechanical stresses that
are lower than critical stresses, which characterizes
fatigue failure. The presented methodology
successfully analyzes these conditions;
 The use of the fatigue and Von Mises criteria allows
the reduction of the lifespan of transformer
windings due to short circuit conditions to be
determined;
 The presented results can be useful for designing
Fig. 15. Response of the low voltage winding to a short circuit with an transformers and for failure diagnosis;
asymmetry factor 1.6.  The current methodology replaces the state of the art
regarding the evaluation of electromagnetic forces
and mechanical stresses on transformer windings.
 The methodology can be employed in power
transformers with different construction
Von Mises Stress (MPa)

characteristics, since the procedures for its

Fig. 16. Response of the high voltage winding to a short circuit with an
asymmetry factor of 1.6.
In Figs. 15 and 16 it is possible to observe that the short
circuit condition causes compressive forces on the low voltage
winding and tractive forces on the high voltage winding. These
results show the advantage of computational simulations of EF
and MS in transformer windings, since it is possible to predict
the behavior of the windings under stress, thus providing
support for the design stage and maintenance, according to the
MS to which the windings are subjected.
Even though the MS do not cause plastic failure in the
windings, their duration and the number of occurrences may
still lead to winding failure due to fatigue.
From the abovementioned analysis, it is clear that the
presented methodology allows one to evaluate plastic winding
failure proximity, as well as to analyze the MS that may cause
failure due to fatigue. This methodology may be applied in the
design stage of transformers, in order to increase the safety
margin for failure occurrences.
V. CONCLUSIONS
In this paper, a methodology is proposed to evaluate the
electromechanical effects on transformer windings as an
application are universal.
It is worth noting that the presented model involves
simplifications, such as the representation of a transformer
merely by the core and the windings.
The model can be modified through the evaluation of
different types of conductors or the insertion of components
such as spacers, paper insulation, etc., which improves the
precision in the estimation of the number of short circuits.
The modifications are being considered for future research,
although the authors believe that they would only modify the
results, but the procedures adopted in the application of the
methodology remain unchanged. That, in the view of the
authors, is the main contribution of the paper.
VI. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of
CHESF, CNPq and COPELE.
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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI 10.1109/TPWRD.2016.2579165, IEEE
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André Dantas Germano was born in Esperança,
Paraíba, Brazil, in 1985. Graduated in Electrical
Engineering in 2009 and finished his masters in 2010,
both at the Federal University of Campina Grande
(UFCG). Conducted his Ph.D. at the Technische
Universität München from 2011 to 2015. Since 2016,
he is a professor at UFCG. His research interests
include high voltage equipment, insulation systems,
diagnostics, nanotechnology, and artificial neural networks
Edson G. da Costa (M’03) was born in 1954 in
Ribeirão, Pernambuco, Brazil and started his academic
career in Areia, Paraíba, Brazil. He obtained the B.Sc.,
M.Sc. and D.Sc. degrees, all in electrical engineering,
respectively in 1978, 1981 and 1999 (Federal
University of Paraíba). Since 1978, he has been
working as a professor in the Federal University of
Campina Grande (UFCG), Paraíba, Brazil. His
research interests include high voltage equipments, electric field mapping,
partial discharges, finite element method, surge arresters and insulation
systems. Dr. Guedes is a member of IEEE, CIGRÈ and SBA.
Tarso V. Ferreira was born in 1980 in Aracaju,
Sergipe, Brazil. He obtained the B.Sc., M.Sc. and D.
Sc. degrees, all in electrical engineering, in 2005, 2007
and 2011, respectively, at the Federal University of
Campina Grande (UFCG). Since 2008, he is a
professor at UFCG. His research interests include high
voltage equipments, electric field mapping, digital
signal processing and insulation systems.
Filipe L. M. de Andrade was born in 1990 in Patos,
Paraíba, Brazil. He obtained the B.Sc. and M.Sc.
degrees, all in electrical engineering, in 2014 and 2016,
respectively, at the Federal University of Campina
Grande (UFCG). Currently, He is a Ph.D. student in
Electrical Engineering at UFCG. His research interests
include high voltage equipments, insulation systems,
artificial neural networks, and electric field mapping.

VIII. BIOGRAPHIES
Jalberth Araujo was born in 1988 in Campina
Grande, Paraíba, Brazil. He obtained the B.Sc.,
M.Sc. and D. Sc. Degrees, all in Electrical
Engineering, in 2012, 2013 and 2016, respectively,
at the Federal University of Campina Grande
(UFCG). In addition, Jalberth is a professor of
engineering courses at the Faculty Maurice of
Nassau (Unit Campina Grande). His research
interests include high voltage equipments, harmonics, frequency response and
computer simulation of transformers.

0885-8977 (c) 2016 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.