Analysis on Magnetic Flux Density and Core Loss for

Hexagonal and Butt-lap Core Joint Transformers

M.M.Isa, M.Z.A.A.Kadir, C.Gomes, N. Azis, M. Izadi O.SH.Alyozbaky
Centre for Electromagnetic and Lightning Protection Research Department of Electrical Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
Universiti Putra Malaysia University of Mosul,
43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia Iraq
maryam@upm.edu.my

ABSTRACT calculation has been carried out [18]. However, a number of

studies and investigations have shown that the issue of the core
joint loss is still the main focus and holds the attention of the
Abstract—This paper presents the results of new hexagonal researchers. The primary significance of this study is the
configuration at the T-joint of three-phase transformer core. The
provision of a simple model to estimate the value of the magnetic
proposed model is compared with previous T-joint design, Butt-
lap, which is widely used at present by many transformer
flux density in the transformer core joint region. This study
manufacturers. The magnetic flux density distribution and core utilized the ANSYS-Maxwell software. In the simulation,
loss of a transformer rated 1000kVA are analyzed for the two types sinusoidal input voltages and a transformer in no-load working
of T-joint design. The 3D simulation are carried out by using the condition have been considered.
ANSYS-Maxwell software. The results show that the magnetic flux
density of the hexagonal shape T-joint is well distributed
compared to that in the Butt-lap T-joint design. The core loss for II. SIMULATION MODEL
the proposed model (hexagon) T-joint indicates a reduction of
more than 11 % compared to the Butt-lap T-joint design. The simulation was carried out based on three-phase 1000kVA,
Keywords; Power transformer, magnetic flux density, core losses, 11kV/0.433kV transformer. The transformer has three limb core
joints design. design. A Butt-lap core T-joint (90º) made of Cold Rolling Grain
Oriented silicon steel (CRGO) grade M5 3% silicon and 97%
iron material is used in the model. The three phase input power
supply which is used in the simulation is illustrated in Fig.1.
I. INTRODUCTION
For the past thirty years, there has been an increasingly rapid
research carried out in the field of transformer simulation. The
previous research has tended to focus on 2D simulation rather
than 3D simulation. Most of the parameters that affects the
transformer performances can be seen in the 3D simulation. The
results are near to the actual performance of the transformer. A
large volume of published work investigated core loss and the
distribution of flux density in the core area, especially in the
region of joints. In the recent decades, transformer magnetic
field and core loss issues have been one of the major interests in
research [1–10]. Much information has become available on the
behavior of magnetic flux lines and flux density with respect to Fig. 1. Three phase input voltage
rolling direction, type of materials and the localized losses due
to distorted flux in the joints region[11–16]. Several researchers Copper materials has been used in high voltage and low voltage
have studied the effects of changing the geometry of core joints windings whereas CRGO grade 30M5 has been used in core
with regard to the loss profile [17–24]. An investigation on the sheet lamination. The B-H curve of magnetic core materials and
effects of geometric shape in the magnetic field distribution B-P curves were obtained from the manufacturer’s data. The
characteristics has also been presented [17]. A study in core loss performance of the three-phase transformer can be
comparing the performance of transformers with respect to the improved by optimising the core joint design, which is an
quantitative analysis of localized flux distribution and loss interesting point for many researchers, as mentioned in the

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literature. The magnetic flux density distribution and core loss
were simulated in ANSYS Maxwell by using FEM. The
proposed model, hexagonal shape shown in Fig.2 is compared
with Butt-lap T-joint design as illustrated in Fig.3. The
difference between the two designs could be seen at the middle
limb of the transformer. There are two ways to enter the number
of mesh. One way is by using the default value from the
software, or to input any number manually according the needs.
Adequate number of mesh were set for both designs. It should
be noted that too small mesh will result in longer time taken for
the simulation to process. Fig. 4 and 5 show the mesh generated
for the core.
Fig. 2 Structure of hexagon T-joint design
Fig.3 Structure of Butt-lap T-joint design
Fig. 4 Mesh generated for Butt-lap design
Fig. 5 Mesh generated for hexagonal design
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III. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
The distribution of flux density in the Butt-lap T-joint design
core lamination is shown in Fig. 6. It appears that the flux
density reached 2.33T. Fig. 7 shows the flux density of the T-
joint design with the hexagonal shape where the value reached
1.74T. It shows a good distribution of flux density for the
structure in the hexagon design. The joint provides the flux
density a good connectivity for the flux line between limb and
yoke. The percentage different in the flux density between these
type of joint is around 25% higher for Butt-lap design compared
to the hexagonal design.
The flux density is quite uniform in the limbs and yoke area
but non-uniform in the joint area. The flux density increased
in the joint area for different type of T-joint geometries. The
maximum value of the flux density has been obtained by
monitoring the core behavior with the saturation phenomena.
The saturation phenomena is one of the important points in
transformer performance. In this study, the flux density for
Butt-lap T-joint may exceed the allowable limit if transformer
work on load.
Fig. 6 Flux density in Butt-Lap T-joint design
Fig. 7 Flux density in hexagonal T-joint design
The distribution of vector flux density plays an essential role in
transformers. The vector flux density for Butt-lap design is
shown in Fig. 8. The distribution of vector flux density for the
core joint in the hexagonal design becomes more smooth and
homogenous as shown in Fig. 9. The shape of the hexagon
design has two corners with slope which improves the flux path
and connectivity at the gap on the joints.
Furthermore, in practice, some flux deviates from the windings
and is termed as leakage flux which includes leakage
inductance in series with the mutually joined transformer
windings. One of the important issue which many researches
focus on, is the flux line distribution and how to reduce the flux
leakage. The flux leakage is decreased in the hexagon design as
shown in Fig.10. Fig. 11 shows the maximum flux leakage for
both design. The hexagonal is 46% decreased as compared with
Butt-lap design.
Fig.10. Flux leakage in one phase

Fig.11. Comparison of maximum flux leakage between Butt-lap (left) and

Fig. 8 Vector flux density in Butt-lap design
hexagonal (right) T-joint design

Core loss is considered one of the important factors that

Fig.9 Vector flux density in hexagonal design
transformer manufacturers are trying to reduce. Figure 12
shows the core loss values in both types of joint design. From
the results, the core loss in the butt-lap design was about
1264.3W while it was 1114.7W in the hexagon design. Lower
losses were obtained when the hexagon joint design was used.
The core loss was reduced by more than 11% in the hexagon
design compared to the butt-lap design. The percentage
differences between the core loss results in different types of
joint designs encourage reconsideration of the arrangement of
the joint design. Core losses depend on many factors, such as
hysteresis, eddy current, lamination stack, gaps, overlapping
distances and the joint design. In this study, the percentage
differences between the core losses in both types of joint is
significant.

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Fig.12 Core losses in different joint design
CONCLUSION
A proposed new geometry configuration at a T-joint of a core
with hexagonal design was presented. A 3D simulation for a
distribution transformer using the Ansys Maxwell Software was
compared with widely used T-joint design, Butt-lap. The new
hexagon design shows improvement in the magnetic flux density
and leakage flux reading. The flux density increases up to 33 %
and the stray flux lines decreased 46% compared to the Butt-lap
T-joint. For the core loss, the hexagonal T-joint is 11 % lower
compared to the Butt-lap T-joint design. The new design
proposed shows good results for a three-phase transformer.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors wish to thank the center for Electromagnetic and
Lightning Protection Research (CELP), Electrical & Electronic
Engineering Dept., University Putra Malaysia, Malaysia, for the
support given during this work.
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