Interlaminar Flux Density Distribution at Joints of Overlapping Stacked Electrical Steel and Amorphous Ribbons

The design of joints in a transformer core significantly affects the transformer's efficiency. Air gaps cause variations in the flux distribution at the joints of the laminations, which depend on the geometry. Two similar samples consisting of electrical steel strips and amorphous ribbons were made. The spatial flux distributions were determined using an array of search coils for each sample. 2D models of these samples were created and examined by finite element analysis. The magnetic flux distribution for each lamination in the samples was computed. The results show that the flux density in amorphous ribbons above and below the air gap starts to approach saturation at lower flux density levels than for electrical steel. The flux density measured using the search coil under the air gap is increased in amorphous ribbons and decreased in the electrical steel with increasing frequency.