Electronic – How does a three-phase transformer work with phases sharing a common core

powerthree phasetransformer

Google search reveals a lot of pictures of three-phase transformers. Looks like a common setup is to have three pairs of winding and a shared core. The core typically consists of three "bars" in parallel and each pair of windings is wrapped onto its own "bar" and the "bars" are connected on both ends so the core is closed and effectively it is one single core of complex shape and each pair of windings occupies its dedicated place on the core.

-----------  << the two horizontal bars are free
|    |    |  
|    |    |  << windings are wrapped onto this vertical bars
|    |    |  << each pair occupies a separate bar
|    |    |
|    |    |
-----------

Now as I see it each phase will induce its own magnetic flux and since each phase is offset by 120 degrees its flux will also be offset and those three fluxes should mix and more or less annihilate each other (full annihilation should happen when all phases are loaded equally) and so the transformer should not output any power on the secondary windings. However three-phase transformers work just fine.

How does a three-phase transformer work with magnetic flux of each phase passing through the common core?

Best Answer

You are correct that in each winding, the magnetic field varies in phase with the current in the windings. What you're having a problem with is the concept of flux being 'annihilated' at where the cores are joined.

It's helpful here to think about 'magnetic circuits'. Think about a single phase transformer for a moment; the core completes a loop that passes through the windings, so the field from the windings has a closed path. Now think about a three phase transformer. Look at the phase A winding. It has a certain amount of field that needs to be returned from one end of the winding to the other. You could just close it on itself, and do the same with phases B and C, and have three separate single-phase transformers, and it would get the job done, but it would be wasteful of material. Consider that the phase relationship of the currents means that, at any given moment, the fields from phases B and C added together are equal and opposite to that of phase A. It doesn't matter which phase you look at, the fields from the other two add to cancel. You see, where you were surmising that the fields annihilated eachother, what in fact happens is that they complement one another, and provide the right amount of magnetic return path. This lets you use less core material, and so economics dictates that's the way to go.

It's a bit like what happens to the currents in a Y-connected three phase load; the currents sum to zero, but it's not that they annihilate one another, it's that they form balanced return paths for one another.