Millman’s theorem

Tapas Kumar Bhattacharya

Department of Electrical Engineering

I.I.T Kharagpur
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October 23, 2017
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Tapas K Bhattacharya Millman’s theorem 2

Contents
1 Millman’s Theorem 3
1.1 Unbalanced star connected load fed from a balanced 3-ph supply . . . . . . . . . . . 3

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Tapas K Bhattacharya Millman’s theorem 3

1 Millman’s Theorem
Imagine you have number of sources with voltages E1 ,E2 · · · EN , with internal impedances Z1 ,Z2 · · · ZN
respectively and assume that these sources are connected in parallel as shown in figure 1. Millman’s
O

Z Z Z Z
1 2 3 n VON = ?
+ + + +
E E E En
1 2 3
_ _ _ _
N

Figure 1:

theorem gives you a handy formula to calculate the the terminal voltage VON . We write the KCL
at point O.
VON − E1 VON − E2 VON − En
+ +···+ = 0
Z1 Z2 Zn
 
1 1 1 E1 E2 En
or, + +···+ VON = + +···
Z1 Z2 Zn S Z1 Z2 Zn
E1 E2 En
+ + · · · Zn
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or, VON = Z1 1 Z2
Z2
+ · · · + Z1n
1
we know, Admittance Y =
TA

Z
E1 Y1 + E2 Y2 + · · · + En Yn
∴ VON =
Y1 + Y2 + · · · + Yn
After knowing VON , we can calculate currents through each branch. For example current through
Z1 from bottom to top is E1 −V
Z1
ON
.

2 Unbalanced star connected load fed from a balanced 3-ph

supply
Look at the circuit 2 where EAN , EBN and ECN represent a balanced three phase voltage, N being
the supply neutral. Magnitudes of the voltages are same and they are mutually 120◦ apart which
means that EAN + EBN + ECN = 0, O being the star point of the load not connected to the
supply neutral N. We want to calculate the currents IA , IB and IC .
E
AN Z1
+
A
IA
E
BN Z2
+
N O
B IB
E CN
Z3
+
C IC

Figure 2:
Tapas K Bhattacharya Millman’s theorem 4

These currents can be calculated provided we know VON which can be calculated by using
Millman’s theorem as follows.
EAN Y1 + EBN Y2 + ECN Y3
VON =
Y1 + Y2 + Y3
where, Y1 = 1/Z1 , Y2 = 1/Z2 and Y3 = 1/Z3. After knowing VON , the currents are calculated as
follows.

IA = VAO Y1 = (VAN − VON )Y1

IB = VBO Y2 = (VBN − VON )Y2
IC = VCO Y3 = (VCN − VON )Y3

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