Leakage Inductance (Part 1): Friend Or Foe?

Focus:

In some situations leakage inductance in a transformer or coupled inductor creates power losses and generates unwanted noise. In these cases, the designer seeks to minimize leakage inductance as much as possible. In other situations, leakage inductance provides a benefit and may even play a critically important role in circuit operation. This three-part article series attempts to foster a better understanding of leakage inductance, how to design around the associated problems, and, where possible, how to use leakage inductance to advantage, to reduce power losses, size, and cost. Here in part one, the physics underlying leakage inductance is explained using simple descriptions of the effects of current flow through wire and loops of wire. Key concepts such as self inductance and mutual inductance and coupled and uncoupled flux are explained leading to the definition of leakage inductance. Basic techniques for measuring leakage inductance are explained and two equivalent transformer models including leakage inductance are given. Finally an empirical formula for calculating leakage inductance is given along with a brief description of how leakage inductance can be controlled.

What you’ll learn:

• How to understand the basic physics and math behind leakage inductance
• How to model, measure and calculate leakage inductance

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Author & Publication:

Ernie Wittenbreder, Technical Witts, Flagstaff, Ariz, How2Power Today, Oct 15 2015

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