Reductions in transformer losses achieved by staggering lamination layers

The total loss of identical 3-phase, 3-limb, mitred and staggered cores assembled from 0.3 mm thick, conventional high permeability and laser scribed grain oriented silicon iron have been compared. The croes built from conventional material produced the best improvements when staggered and these were chosen to carry out further investigation to examine the effect of the stacking number and the T-joint design on the power loss of the cores. The power loss generally increased as the stagger length was increased, but an optimum stagger length range was determined at which the power loss was lowest. The percentage improvement in the power loss due to the introduction of the staggered technique is dependent upon the orientation of the material and the T-joint design. The best loss reduction compared to a mitred core of the same rating was around 5% using a core assembled from conventional material.