Electronic – Why is three-phase offset by 120 degrees

There are 3 phase alternators that produce a 3 phase supply which is then transmitted over 3 or 4 wire systems.One first needs to understand how a single phase voltage is generated based on Faraday's laws of electromagnetic induction.The generated voltage is, among other things, also dependent on the (sine of the) angle between the magnetic field and the coil in which the voltage is induced.Now in a 3 phase generator, the the magnets and the coils are aligned (mechanically) in such a way that the angles are 120 degrees apart.Consequently, the instantaneous voltage of each phase offsets the other phases by 2π/3 radians.

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.