Experiment No: 2

Open circuit and short circuit tests on single phase

transformer
1

Aim
To understand the basic working principle of a transformer.
To obtain the equivalent circuit parameters from OC and SC tests, and to estimate efficiency &
regulation at various loads.

Theory

The physical basis of the transformer is mutual induction between two circuits linked by a common
magnetic field. Transformer is required to pass electrical energy from one circuit to another, via the
medium of the pulsating magnetic field, as efficiently and economically as possible. This could be
achieved using either iron or steel which serves as a good permeable path for the mutual magnetic
flux. An elementary linked circuit is shown in Fig.1. The principle of operation of this circuit can be
explained as follows:
Let an alternating voltage v1 be applied to a primary coil of N1 turns linking a suitable iron core. A
current flows in the coil, establishing a flux p in the core. This flux induces an emf e1 in the coil to
counterbalance the applied voltage v1 . This e.m.f. is
p
.
e1 = N1 d
dt

Assuming sinusoidal time variation of the flux, let p = m sin t. Then,

e1 = N1 m cos t,

where

= 2F

The r.m.s. value of this voltage is given by:

E1 = 4.44F N1 m
Now if there is a secondary coil of N2 turns, wound on the same core, then by mutual induction an emf
e2 is developed therein. The r.m.s. value of this voltage is given by:
E2 = 4.44F N2 0m
where 0m is the maximum value of the (sinusoidal) flux linking the secondary coil (s ).
If it is assumed that p = s then the primary and secondary e.m.f.s bear the following ratio:
e1
E2
N2
=
=
e2
N1
E1
Note that in actual practice, p 6= s since some of the flux paths linking the primary coil do not
link the secondary coil and similarly some of the flux paths linking the secondary coil do not link the
primary coil. The fluxes which do not link both the coils are called the leakage fluxes of the primary
and secondary coil.

In a practical transformer a very large proportion of the primary and secondary flux paths are
common and leakage fluxes are comparatively small. Therefore p s = mutual and therefore m
0m .
If in addition, winding resistances are neglected being usually small in a practical transformer, then
V 1 E1
Similarly,
V 2 E2
Although the iron core is highly permeable, it is not possible to generate a magnetic field in it without
the application of a small m.m.f.(magneto-motive force), denoted by Mm . Thus even when the secondary winding is open circuited, a small magnetizing current (im ) is needed to maintain the magnetic
flux. The current of the primary circuit on no-load is of the order of 5% of full load current.
Also, the pulsation of flux in the core is productive of core loss, due to hysteresis and eddy currents.
These losses are given by:
1.6
Ph = Kh Bmax
F,

2
Pe = Ke Bmax
F2

and Pc = Ph + Pe

where Ph , Pe and Pc are hysteresis, eddy current and core losses respectively, Kh and Ke are constants
which depend on the magnetic material, and Bmax is the maximum flux density in the core. These losses
will remain almost constant if the supply voltage and frequency are held constant. The continuous loss
of energy in the core requires a continuous supply from the electrical source to which the primary is
connected. Therefore, there must be a current component ic which accounts for these losses. It should
be noted that magnetizing current (im ) and core loss component of current(ic ) are in phase quadrature.
The resultant of these two currents is the no-load current io . Generally the magnitude of this current
is very small compared to that of the rated current of the transformer ( may be of the order of 5%
of the rated). This current makes a phase angle o of the order of (cos 1 (0.2)) with the applied voltage.
If a load of finite impedance is connected across the second coil, a current i2 will flow through it.
This tends to alter the mmf and thereby the flux in the core. But this is prevented by an immediate
and automatic adjustment of the primary current i1 , thereby maintaining the flux at the original
value. This value of flux is required to produce the emf of self induction e1 . Any reduction of the flux
would cause a reduction of e1 , leaving a voltage difference between v1 and e1 which would be sufficient
to increase the primary current and thereby re-establish the flux. Thus any current which flows in the
secondary causes its counterpart to flow in the primary so that the flux (and therefore the mmf Mm ) shall always be maintained at a value such that the voltage applied v1 to the primary terminals
shall be balanced by the induced emf e1 (neglecting voltage drops due to resistance and leakage flux
N2
i2 so that effective mmf in the
effects). Thus if current flows in the secondary (i2 ), then i1 = io + N
1
core remains at Mm . In phasor notation:
I1 = Io +

N2
I
N1 2

I o is quite small compared to the rated current and is usually neglected if transformer is loaded. Thus:
I1

N2
I
N1 2

It is therefore, evident that energy is conveyed from the primary to secondary by the flux: the primary
stores the energy in the magnetic field, and an extraction of some of this for the secondary load is made
up by the addition of energy from the primary, which consequently takes an increased current.

Thus by making the assumptions :

Winding resistances are small
Magnetising current is small
Core losses are small
Leakage fluxes are small
we can infer that (for an ideal transformer):
I1
E2
V2
N2
=
=
=
N1
I2
E1
V1

2.1

(1)

Equivalent Circuit of a practical Transformer

The practical transformer has coils of finite resistance. Though this resistance is actually distributed
uniformly, it can be conceived as concentrated. Also, all the flux produced by the primary current
cannot be confined into a desired path completely as an electric current. Though a greater proportion
links both the coils( known as mutual flux), a small proportion called the leakage flux links one or other
winding, but not both. It does not contribute to the transfer of energy from primary to secondary. On
account of the leakage flux, both the windings have a voltage drop which is due to leakage reactance.
The transformer shown in Fig.1 can be resolved into an equivalent circuit as shown in Fig.2 (a) in which
the resistance and leakage reactance of primary and secondary respectively are represented by lumped
R1 , X1 , R2 and X2 . This equivalent circuit can be further simplified by referring all quantities in the
secondary side of the transformer to primary side and is shown in Fig.2(b). These referred quantities
are given by:
1 2
)
R20 = R2 ( N
N2

N1 2
X20 = X2 ( N
)
2

N2
I20 = I2 ( N
)
1

1
V20 = V2 ( N
)
N2

Generally the voltage drops I1 R1 and I1 X1 are small and magnitude of E 1 is approximately equal to
that of V 1 . Under this condition, the shunt branch (comprising Xm and Ro ) can be connected across
the supply terminals. This approximate equivalent circuit ( shown in Fig.3) simplifies the computation
of currents and other performance characteristics of a practical transformer.

2.2

Determination of Equivalent Circuit Parameters

The equivalent circuit shown in fig.2(b) or 3 can be used to predict the performance of the transformer.
All the circuit parameters must be known so that the equivalent circuit can be used for the above
purpose. These parameters can be easily determined by performing tests that involve little power consumption. Two tests, a no-load test( or open circuit test) and short circuit test will provide information
for determining the parameters of the equivalent circuit.
2.2.1

Open circuit (OC) test

The shunt branch parameters can be determined by performing this test. Since, the core loss and the
magnetizing current depend on applied voltage, this test is performed by applying the rated voltage
to one of the windings keeping the other winding open (generally HV winding is kept open and rated
voltage is applied to LV winding). The circuit diagram to conduct this test is shown in Fig.4. Since,
the secondary terminals are open (no load is connected across the secondary), current drawn from the
3

source is called as no load current. On no-load, the approximate equivalent circuit shown in Fig.3
can be further reduced and is shown in Fig.5 (a). Under no-load condition the power input to the
transformer is equal to the sum of losses in the primary winding resistance R1 , (refer fig.2b) and core
loss. Since, no load current is very small, the loss in winding resistance is neglected. Hence, on no load
the power drawn from the source is dissipated as heat in the core. If Io and Pi are the current and
input power drawn by the transformer at rated voltage V1 respectively, then
cos o =

Pi
V1 .I0

From fig.5(b),
Ic =I0 cos o ,

Im =I0 sin o ,

Therefore,
R0 = V1 /Ic ,
2.2.2

Xm = V1 /Im

Short circuit (SC) test

Consider the circuit shown in Fig.3. Suppose the input voltage is reduced to a small fraction of rated
value and secondary terminals are short-circuited. A current will circulate in the secondary winding.
Since a small fraction of rated voltage is applied to the primary winding, the flux in the core and hence
the core loss is very small. Hence, the power input on short circuit is dissipated as heat in the winding.
The circuit diagram to conduct this test is shown in Fig.6 (a). In this test, the LV terminals of the
transformer are short circuited. The primary voltage is gradually applied till the rated current flows in
the winding. Since, the applied voltage is very small ( may be of the order of 5 8%), the magnetizing
branch can now be eliminated from the equivalent circuit. The modified equivalent circuit is shown in
Fig.6(b). If Vsc is the applied voltage to circulate the rated current (I20 ) on short circuit, and Pc is the
power input to the transformer then,
Zsc =

Vsc
I20

cos =

Pc
Vsc .I20

Therefore,
(R1 + R20 ) = Zsc cos ,

2.3

(X1 + X20 ) = Zsc sin

Efficiency

Efficiency of the transformer is defined as:

output power
= input power
Interms of losses,
=

output power
output power+ iron losses+copper losses

Let S be the rated VA of the transformer, x is the fraction of full load the transformer is supplying,
and is the load power factor angle. Under this condition the output power of the transformer is =
x.S. cos . If Pc is the copper loss (loss in winding resistance) at rated current, the corresponding loss
while supplying the fraction of load is = x2 .Pc . With transformers of normal design, the flux in the
core varies only a few percent between no-load to full load. Consequently it is permissible to regard the
core loss ( iron loss) as constant, regardless of load. Let this loss be Pi . Therefore equation becomes :
=

x.S. cos
x.S. cos +Pi +Pc .x2

2.4

Regulation

From Fig.3 it can be seen that if the input voltage is held constant, the voltage at the secondary
terminals varies with load. Regulation is defined as the change in magnitude of secondary (terminal)
voltage, when the load is thrown off with primary voltage held constant. Since, the change in secondary
voltage depends only on the load current, the equivalent circuit is further simplified and is shown in
Fig.7. The vector diagrams for lagging, unity and leading powerfactor loads are shown in Fig.8. It can
be proved that angle is very small and can be neglected. In that case, the expression for regulation
is given by
%regulation =
where
current,

I20 =load

Req = R1 + R20 ,

I20 .Req . cos I20 .Xeq . sin

100
V20

Xeq = X1 + X20 ,

(2)

+ sign for lagging pf & - for leading pf.

Note to TAs/RAs: Open the cover of the transformer and show the students HV and LV terminals,
conductors used for LV and HV winding. Also show them E & I laminations, and ferrite core.

Procedure

Note down the name plate readings and determine the rated currents for both the windings.

3.1

No-Load Test:

Connect the circuit as shown in fig.4.

Apply voltage to the LV side in steps upto the rated voltage and for each case record primary
current and power drawn from the source. Also, observe the waveform on DSO (Digital Storage
Oscilloscope). Save (record) signals of the voltage and the current in form of a data file.
Increase the applied voltage by 10% and repeat the above step.
Reduce the output voltage of the variac to zero and switch-off the supply.

3.2

Short-Circuit Test:

Connect the circuit as shown in Fig.6(a). Set the autotransformer output to zero. It is extremely
important to note that a low voltage is to be applied to the primary winding.
Adjust the output of the autotransformer such that rated current flows through the windings.
Record the applied voltage, current and input power.
Reduce the output voltage of the autotransformer to zero and put off the supply.

Report
Determine the equivalent circuit parameters from the test results.
Using equivalent circuit parameters compute the following:

 regulation at 25%, 75% and full load for powerfactor = 1, 0.6 lag and 0.6 lead.
efficiency at 25%, 50%, 75% and full load for powerfactor = 1, 0.8 lag, and 0.6 lead.
Plot the variation of
Efficiency with load VA for each power factor
Regulation with powerfactor.
Plot the recorded data of voltage and current using appropriate tool e.g. gnuplot, MATLAB.
Using this data, calculate the power dissipated and power factor. You need to do integrate the
discrete time samples of the voltage and the current obtained from the oscilloscope

Questions to be answered
Which winding ( LV or HV) should be kept open while conducting OC test? Justify your answer.
Assume that the transformer has the following name plate ratings:
40 kVA, 440 V/ 11 kV, 50 Hz
what do these numbers imply?
Comment on the nature of the current waveform drawn from the source during OC test for (i)
50%, (ii) 100% and (iii) 110% of the rated voltage.
Can the regulation be negative? What does it signify?
Assume that you have been given a transformer manufactured in the US ( The supply voltage
and frequency are 110 V and 60 Hz respectively). What voltage will you apply if this transformer
is to be used in this country? Justify your answer.
Assume that you have been given two transformers of identical VA, and voltage ratings. But one
of them is a 10 kHz transformer and another is a 100 Hz transformer. Just by inspection, how
would you identify which one is the high frequency transformer? Justify your answer. How does
this data compare with the data you have obtained using power analyzer?

kk2-eps-converted-to.pdf
Figure 1: Elementary Transformer