Electrical Engineering ⇒ Topic : Eddy current loss

Eddy current loss

As ferromagnetic materials are conductors, the varying flux induces a current in it, which causes I²R loss. Solid core has low resistance and high induced current. So the core is broken into thin sheets, coated with insulating varnish and laminated. The eddy current loss is given by

where K_e is a constant, f is frequency, B_m, is maximum flux density, t is thickness of core material, and V is total volume of core material.

Eddy currents are not desirable in inductors, transformer cores, and the cores of rotating electrical machines since they increase power losses and temperature rises further.The eddy currents are used for heating metals, for damping in instruments, and also for braking in induction energy meters.