Synopsis of

Detection of Winding Deformation in Transformers

during Short Circuit Tests

A Thesis

to be submitted by

S. Gopalakrishna

for the award of the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

Department of Electrical Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India
May, 2010
1. Introduction

A Power Transformer is key equipment in enabling transfer of bulk power in a power

system. Ratings as high as 500 MVA, 765 kV exist in operation today. The reliability of such

equipment can only be ensured by extensive tests in the factory during manufacturing. Some

tests such as power frequency tests are routine tests. The short circuit (S.C) test is an example

of a type test which is done for a particular design. Here, the mechanical integrity of the

windings is tested by a short circuit conducted as specified in standards [1]. The failure

during test is detected by a change in reactance before and after the test. A newer optional

method is the use of frequency response analysis before and after the S.C. test [2], [3]. In this

work alternative methods of testing and analysis are proposed which can significantly

improve objective identification of failure.

2. Motivation

The conventional method for detection of winding deformation as a result of a S.C.

test is by impedance comparison before and after the test. This is an offline method. Further,

untanking of the winding is done in order to confirm changes visually. Thus there is need to

develop more sensitive methods of detection which reduce the dependence on visual

inspection and also provides some analysis tools that help analyse failure modes.

The short circuit tests are done only in specialized short circuit testing laboratories such as

KEMA, CPRI, etc. These tests are expensive, involve considerable logistics and are time

consuming. The trend towards larger rating of transformers implies that facilities to test

might not exist anywhere at all. For example the largest rating of transformer that can be

tested at KEMA is 8.4 MVA, 245 kV for three phase and 5.0 MVA, 450 kV for single phase.

There is hence an increasing use of design calculations in lieu of actual tests. The method is

detailed in a 2006 amendment to IEC 60076 [1]. This might not be sufficient. In this context,

model based testing can serve as an alternative to the actual test. A scaled model of the actual

transformer is developed and is tested to destruction to establish design margin.

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3. Objective and Scope

The overall objectives and scope of the work can be summarized as follows

• Improved methods for assessment at power frequency (50 Hz) excitation.

• Improved methods for assessment with optimized concurrent high frequency

excitation.

• Use of scaled model short circuit testing to establish design margin.

• Extension of scaled model testing to other power apparatus such as current

transformer.

4.1 Improved Methods for Detection of Winding Deformation at Power Frequency

The first improvement suggested over the conventional method is an analysis of impedance

changes on a cycle to cycle basis during the S.C. test. As the test is done at 50 Hz, several

relevant variables can be measured in conjunction with impedance changes. Among them are

the changes in real power and reactive power drawn by the test object. Equivalently, if a

comparison method with an identical test object is possible, ‘errors’ with and without

deformation are measurable. Here, it is ensured that the test object to which the device under

test (DUT 1) is being compared does not undergo deformation. Consider as an example

a 11 kV/ 3 110 kV/ 3 , 100 VA, class 1.0 voltage transformer (VT) shown in Fig. 1(a)

whose cross sectional view is shown in Fig. 1(b). The secondary is fixed rigidly over the core

and primary is free to move over the secondary from position ‘A’ to position ‘B’. A solenoid

is used to move the primary from position ‘A’ to position ‘B’. A standard VT of same voltage

and current rating is used as the reference. A cycle to cycle deviation between the secondary

currents from the DUT 1 and the reference is expressed as ratio error (RE) and phase error

(PE). The plot of the RE and PE as the solenoid moves primary from position ‘A’ to position

‘B’ is shown in Fig. 2. Cycles 4 to 8 shows the period of movement (approximately 0.1s).

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 VT
a N Primary
Core
Core Secondary
n
A Solenoid
actuator

Solenoid actuator

Reference position, A
Position of primary
winding at maximum travel, B

Fig. 1(a) A 11 kV VT with solenoid arrangement (DUT 1) (b) Cross sectional view of DUT-1

0.6 15
Normalized PE (min)
% Normalized RE

0.4 10

0.2 5

0 0

0 5 10 0 5 10
Cycle Cycle
Fig. 2 Cycle to cycle measurement of ratio error (RE) and phase error (PE) in the VT of Fig.1 when
compared with a standard VT

In the above method, deformation is measured which is created by mechanical means.

Similarly the method is also extended to cater to deformation in windings with electrical

excitation.

4.2 Improved Methods for Short Circuit Testing of Power Transformer with High
Frequency Excitation

It has been known that frequency response analysis before and after the test is an alternative

method for assessing deformation [1]. We propose a method that uses concurrent high

frequency excitation along with the 50 Hz excitation in order to improve sensitivity of

deformation detection. The high frequency signal is an optimized signal arrived after

considering several alternative signals.

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Simulation study: In order to study the sensitivity of methods to identify deformation it

would be appropriate to consider a benchmark winding which has been validated for other

studies. We choose the coil proposed in [4] as it has a uniform layer winding, its resonant

frequencies are known and several practical measurements have been performed on it. The

winding was modeled by lumped parameters using 10 section model. It is proposed to use

impedance changes at resonant frequencies due to winding displacement. These are

calculated and compared with impedance changes at 50 Hz. Different cases of the

deformations are considered as shown in Fig. 3. To simplify the analysis, deformation is

assumed to occur in one section, without any mechanical effects on the other sections. Fig.

3(a) shows the schematic of the coil without deformation. Fig. 4(a) shows impedance (Z)

changes at 50 Hz due to 4% (of winding length) axial displacement in 1st section as shown in

Fig 3(b). Similarly Fig. 4(b) shows impedance changes at different resonant frequencies,

where nth resonant frequency is denoted as RF-n. A comparison shows that the sensitivity of

high frequency is higher than that of the 50 Hz frequency. Similar results are obtained for

radial inward and radial outward displacements of 5th section as shown in Fig. 3(c) and 3(d)

Experimental demonstration: A power transformer model (DUT 2) with four disc windings

and air core is chosen to demonstrate the method of concurrent excitation. The top two discs

of the model are connected in series and shorted. The bottom two are in series and excited

with high frequency and 50 Hz frequency signals. The circuit shown in Fig. 5 shows the

connection diagram for applying concurrent excitation. Here a specific capacitance CP is

introduced in parallel to the winding under test such that the circuit resonates at a frequency

fh. The frequency fh is chosen based on maximum sampling rate and data storage capacity of

the measuring equipment. Cs is used to decouple the 50 Hz source from the high frequency

source fh. A continual evaluation of deformation during the test is possible as the 50 Hz

current is measured across Rl and high frequency current is measured across Rh. The shorted

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coil is moved by mechanical means and current waveforms are recorded using digital

oscilloscope during coil displacement. For the same deformation, the current changes at 50

Hz are only 0.58 %, while that of high frequency is around 4.4 %. Fig. 6 shows cycle to cycle

basis percentage changes in the rms currents for both 50 Hz and high frequency signal. The

sensitivity of deformation detection at high frequency excitation is about 8 times and the

resolution is 880 times more than that of 50 Hz.

4.3 Signal Optimization for Improving Detection Sensitivity

Various high frequency signals such as chirp, impulse, oscillating impulse, etc. are used for

simultaneous excitation along with power frequency for detecting winding deformation [5],

[6]. Here we show that optimization of high frequency signal improves the sensitivity in

detecting winding deformation. An optimized signal maximizes the minimum accuracy

obtained in a fixed measurement time for a specified maximum peak value of excitation [7].

Core
First section

Fifth
Winding section

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Fig. 3 Schematic of a single layer winding (a) Coil without deformation (b) Axial displacement (c) Radial
inward compression (d) Radial outward buckling

80
0 RF-1
70
RF-2
60 RF-3
-0.2 RF-4
50 RF-5
Z-Changes (%)

RF-6
Z-Changes (%)

40
-0.4 RF-7
30 RF-8

-0.6 20

10

-0.8 0

-10

-1 -20
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
Winding displacement(%) Winding displacement(%)

Fig. 4 Variation in impedance with axial displacement expresses as % of winding length of the single layer
winding shown in Fig. 3 (a) 50 Hz frequency (b) nth resonant frequency (RF-n)

5
 7
50 Hz
6 High frequency

currents
5 ih
il Rl ih Rh

Irms
4

rms
winding in
in Change
3
ih+il
2
fh

% Change%
fl Cp il
1
Winding
0

-1
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
CS Time (s)

Fig. 5 Circuit for S.C. test on DUT 2 at power Fig. 6 Comparison of cycle to cycle variations of rms
frequency excitation (fl) with concurrent excitation (fh) currents in DUT 2 with and without deformation at fl
and fh

The device under test is the voltage transformer (VT) shown in Fig. 1 (DUT 1), whose

resonant frequencies were measured to be at 21 kHz and 64 kHz. Preliminary analysis

showed that 64 kHz is more sensitive and hence all further excitations are done centered at

this frequency. Three types of signals namely chirp, multisine and optimized multisine are

used. The multisine is generated by the sum of 11 instantaneous voltages of equal amplitude

in the range of 60 kHz to 70 kHz at an interval of 1 kHz. Chirp signal frequency varies from

60 kHz to 70 kHz with duration of 1 ms. All the three signals have 20 V peak to peak

voltage. These signals are superimposed on 50 Hz sine wave of amplitude 2 V and applied to

the VT. Currents IA and IB are measured at the two different positions of the primary,

position-A and position-B respectively with each of the excitation. The sensitivity of current

with winding displacement from position-A to position-B is given by

(I B − I A )
Sensitivity (%) = × 100 (1)
IA

The comparison of the sensitivity from equation (1) in frequency domain indicates that the

optimized signal is better than the other signals.

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4.4 Model Based Testing for Establishing Design Margin of Power Transformer

The improved methods of detection can also serve to analyse tests on model structures. We

propose model based testing, which involves developing a scaled model of the power

transformer to be tested. The physical relation between the model and complete transformer

winding can be established using finite element based field computations. The model is tested

in two ways. The first one involves electrical testing. The second one is testing with

hydraulic actuators which can simulate the forces under short circuit conditions.

We consider a 5 MVA, 22 kV/11 kV three phase transformer proposed in [8] for study. The

axial forces are calculated considering that the height of HV winding is 1% smaller than LV

winding. The total axial force on HV winding of the transformer is simulated in a FEM based

software. For the sake of simplicity, the windings are assumed as single conductors, as shown

in Fig 7(a). A zoomed view of high voltage (HV) and low voltage (LV) windings is shown in

Fig. 7(b). The axial force developed in a winding is the summation of forces at all

infinitesimal volumes through out the winding.

FAxial = ∫ fV dV (2)
V

where, fV = J × Bradial (3)

fV Axial force developed per unit volume ∆V, where ∆V → 0 (N/m3)

J Current density in ∆V (A/m2)

Bradial Radial component of magnetic flux density in ∆V (T)

Fig. 8(a) shows the variation of fV along the length of the HV winding, at the instant of

peak short circuit current. fV is almost constant along the width of the winding as winding

radius is much larger compared to its thickness.. A 2D axi-symmetric FEM analysis is

performed and fV is integrated over the 2D winding surface, which gives force per unit

length f L . Total force is obtained by multiplying f L with mean circumference of the winding.

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The short circuit current in HV winding is 1303 A. The top 91.5% of the winding experiences

a downward axial force (57700 N/m) and the bottom 8.5% experiences upward force (9778

N/m). The total axial force is in downward direction (47922 N/m). A Model is developed

with winding length 10% of the actual transformer, without altering the width of the core and

windings. A current of 1550 A causes a total axial force of 48260 N/m in the downward

direction in the model. The distribution of axial forces in the Model is shown in Fig. 8(b).

Table 4.1 shows a comparison of 22 kV/11 kV transformer and the model.

The model developed above produce similar ampere turn distribution and axial force as of the

actual transformer. As the windings are of different radii, the developed force has two

components, one in axial and other in radial direction as shown in Fig. 9 (a). As we are

interested in the axial force, the radial component has no useful purpose. We propose a model

as shown in Fig. 9(b) where all the force is only in axial direction, thus improving the force

output for a given VA rating.

A hypothetical 11 kV/ 415 V, 63 kVA transformer is considered to evaluate the axial forces

using FEM. The short circuit current is calculated to be 270 A. The net force developed in the

end sections is 632 N. A model with 5% of transformer length is simulated using FEM and

axial force developed in the model is found to same as that of actual transformer at a voltage

excitation of 11.4 V.

Testing the Physical Model by Electrical Excitation

In order to demonstrate the principle, a 5% length model is constructed. The winding is made

of aluminum and has two sections, with two discs per section and 10 turns per disc. An

arrangement for excitation was made similar to the requirements for short circuit test of a

transformer. A 400 V, 20 kVA variac was connected to a 400 V/10 V, 40 kVA transformer

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 Core

LV
HV

(a) (b)
Fig. 7 (a) Winding arrangement in 5 MVA transformer developed in FEM software (b)
Zoomed portion of the HV and LV windings

LV HV

50817 N/m
57700 N/m
91.5 %

82.5 %
Length

0.09h
9778 N/m

2557 N/m
8.5 %

17.5 %

-1.1e7 0 1.1e7 2.1e7

-2.1e7 0 9e6
JxBY (N/m ) 3 JxBY N/m3

Fig. 8 Changes in the axial force in HV (outer) winding as a function of length at peak value of short-
circuited current in (a) simulated Transformer (b) simulated model
Faxial Faxial

LV
Fradial

LV
CORE CORE

HV

HV

Fig. 9 (a) Model with two component forces (b) Improved model

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 Table 1. Comparison of transformer and the model (FEM simulation)
Parameter Transformer Model
Winding Height 1420 mm 142 mm
No. of turns 804 80
SC Current 1303 A 1550 A
Total Axial Force 47922 N/m 48260 N/m

which could source up to 8000 A with a short across its terminals. A timer was used to

restrict the time of energisation to 0.5 s. At full excitation, the current through the model is

778 A. This causes a net axial force that needs to be restrained by the end plate. It was easy to

demonstrate that the upper clamp plate could move if not adequately restrained.

Testing the Physical Model by Hydraulic Actuator

It is known that FEM can be used to obtain exact force profile as a function of time during an

S.C. test. With recent advancements in the field of hydraulic actuators with a good frequency

response, an identical force can be applied to a winding with an actuator rather than through

electromagnetic forces. We propose that an alternative method of excitation using mechanical

means be considered such that the force profile obtained from the mechanical device matches

that from the FEM solution. For the case of the 5%

winding length model we know that the required

force is of the order of 632 N. Thus the end plate is

Immovable
Upper arm
required to withstand this force. We place the
Load Cell

Winding winding in between the upper and lower arms of a

under test
hydraulic actuator as shown in Fig 10. The proposed
Movable
lower arm method is to apply mechanical force similar to that

developed in a transformer during short circuit test.

The force is applied till the breakdown of end plate,

Fig. 10 Arrangement for proving end thus the design margin of end plate is established.
clamping structure with a hydraulic actuator

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4.5 Force Calculations for Other Components with Short Time High Currents

The currents in the secondary of a power transformer are limited by the short circuit

impedance Thus there is an upper limit to the ratio of the short circuit current to the rated

current which depends on the transformer itself and not on system parameters. On the other

hand for a device such as a current transformer the primary short circuit current depends on

network parameters and can be sometimes 100-500 times the normal full load current. The

forces can hence be very high. The model based test method is extended to current

transformers for establishing a design margin.

5. Conclusions

Improved methods for assessment of winding deformation at power frequency during short

circuit test in power transformers are proposed. Simulation and experimental results shows

that the high frequency excitations are more sensitive than power frequency for detection of

axial as well as radial winding displacements. A method is proposed for concurrent high

frequency excitation during short circuit test. A method using scaled model is proposed to

establish design for the power transformer during short circuit. The designed scaled model is

tested by either ways (1) using electrical excitation (2) using hydraulic actuators. Model

based testing method is also extended to current transformers.

6. References

[1] IEC 60076-5: 2006, Power transformers- Ability to withstand short circuit.
[2] E. Rahimpour, J. Christian, K Feser and H. Mohseni, “Transfer function method to diagnose axial
displacement and radial deformation of transformer winding”, IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery, vol. 18,
No.2, pp 493-505, April 2003.
[3] S. A. Ryder, “Diagnosing transformer faults using frequency response analysis”, IEEE Electrical Insulation
Magazine, vol.19, no.2, pp.16-22, March/April 2003.
[4] R. C. Degeneff, “A general method for determining resonance in transformer winding”, IEEE Trans. on
Power Apparatus and Systems, vol. pas-96, no. 2 pp. 423-430, March/April 1977.
[5] S. Santhi, S. Jayalalitha, V. Jayashankar, V. Jagadeesh Kumar, “Detection of winding deformations during
short time current tests”, IMTC-2005, Canada, May 2005.
[6] S. Santhi and V. Jayalalitha, V. Jayashankar, “Continual assessment of winding deformation during a short
circuit test”, IEEJ Trans. Power and Energy, Vol. 126, No.7 pp. 712-713. June 2006.

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[7] Rik Pintelon and Johan Schoukens, “System Identification”, IEEE Press, pp. 115-138, 2001.
[8] M. Waters, “The short-circuit strength of power transformers”, MacDonald, London, 1966.

7. List of Publications

Journal

1. S. Gopalakrishna, M. K. Ilampoornan, and V. Jayashankar, “On the Conformance Test

for Mechanical Short Time Rating of a Current Transformer”, IEEE Trans. on Power
Del., vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 480-481, Jan. 2009.

2. A. Palani, S. Santhi, S. Gopalakrishna, and V. Jayashankar, “Real Time Techniques to

Measure Winding Displacement in Transformers during Short-Circuit Tests”, IEEE
Trans. on Power Del., vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 726-732, April 2008.

Conference

3. S. Gopalakrishna, Kishore Kumar, Boby George, and V. Jayashankar, “Design Margin

for Short Circuit Withstand Capability in Large Power Transformer”, in Proc. 8th
International Power Eng. Conf. (IPEC-2007), Singapore, Dec. 3-6, 2007, pp. 1732-1737.

4. S. Gopalakrishna, M. K Ilampoornan and V. Jayashankar, “Sensitive Method for

Detection of Winding Deformation During Short Circuit Test”, in Proc. International
Symposium on Electrical Insulating Materials (ISEIM-2008), Yokkaichi, Mie, Japan.
Sep. 7-11, 2008, pp. 167 - 170.

5. S. Gopalakrishna, J Joseph, and V. Jayashankar, “On the Use of Concurrent High

Frequency Excitation during a Short Circuit Test in a Power Transformer”, in Proc.
International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference (I2MTC –
2009), Singapore, May 5-7, pp.1258 – 1261.

6. S. Gopalakrishna and V. Jayashankar, “Model based short circuit testing for

standardisation of transformer winding structures”, in Proc. 8th International Conference
on Transformers (TRAFOTECH-2010), Mumbai, India, Jan. 18-19, 2010.

7. S. Gopalakrishna, C. Dharini, and V. Jayashankar, “A Designer’s Guide to

Rationalizing Short Time Current Tests”, in Proc. 2nd International Conference on
Instrument Transformers (TECH-IT 2010), Mumbai, India, Jan. 21-22, 2010.

8. Proposed Contents of the Thesis

1. Introduction
1.1 Short circuit test in power transformers
1.2 Motivations
1.3 Objectives
1.4 Organization of the Thesis

2. Online Methods for Detection of Winding Deformation during SC Test

2.1 Introduction
2.2 Deformation created by mechanical means

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2.3 Deformation due to electrical excitation
2.4 Deformation detection from real & reactive powers
2.5 Discussion
2.5 Conclusions

3. Improved Online Methods for Short Circuit Testing Of Power Transformer

3.1 Introduction
3.2 Improvement of sensitivity and resolution by high frequency excitation
3.3 Concurrent high frequency excitation during SC test
3.4 Signal optimization for improving detection sensitivity
3.5 Conclusions

4. Model Based Testing For Establishing Design Margin of Power Transfomers

4.1 Introduction
4.2 Scaled model of a 3Ф, 5 MVA, 22 kV/11 kV transformer
4.3 Improvement in the model to increase axial force
4.4 Conclusions

5. Force Calculations in CT with Short Time High Currents

5.1 Introduction
5.2 Computation of forces in primary of a CT during short time current test
5.3 Conclusions

6. Conclusions
6.1 Summary
6.2 Scope for Future Work

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