3-Dimensional Calculation of the Magnetic

Field in the End Region of Hydrogenerators

at Various Steady-State Operation
Conditions
By: G. Traxler-Samek, A. Schwery, D. Taghezout

Power
Hydro Turbines

3-Dimensional Calculation of the Magnetic Field in the

End Region of Hydrogenerators at Various Steady-State
Operation Conditions
Georg Traxler-Samek, Alexander Schwery1 and Daho Taghezout2
1

ALSTOM (Switzerland) Ltd., CH5242 Birr, Switzerland, georg.traxler@power.alstom.com

2

applied magnetics, CH1110 Morges, Switzerland, magnetics@bluewin.ch

Abstract Synchronous machines in hydro power

plants are able to consume or deliver reactive power.
When changing from normal operation to an extrem
reactive operation (both over- and underexcited), the
magnetic field in the end region of the machine changes
significantly. Consequently the design engineer must
be able to check the magnetic field distribution on the
clamping plates and the end laminations of the stator
core. An evaluation of these fields helps to avoid high
local power losses and thus high local temperature rises
(hot spots).

grid the machine is regarded as an inductor.

This paper presents a comparision of the magnetic field distribution at different operation conditions computed by different calculation methods: 2D
Boundary-Element method, 3D Biot-Savart and 3DFinite-Element method. The purpose of the study is
to validate the self developped calculation methods and
to discuss their usability for decision making and integration in design tools.

p (pu) is the active power output, u (pu) the stator

winding voltage, us (pu) the synchronous voltage, xd
and xq are the synchronous reactances in the d- and
q-axes of the machine and is the rotor displacement
angle.

Keywords End Region, Magnetic Field, Synchronous

Machine

I. Introduction
Generally hydro power plants are equipped with
salient pole synchronous machines (figure 1). Such
machines are able to both consume or deliver reactive
power. At over-excited operation the machine delivers
reactive power. Seen from the grid, the machine can
be seen as a capacitor. Whereas at under-excited operation reactive power is consumed, from the electrical

The full operation range of such a machine can be

shown in the so-called power chart (Fig. 2). The power
chart is derived from the vector diagram of the salient
pole synchronous machine and based on the power
equation


1
u2
1
uus
sin +

sin 2 .
(1)
p=
xd
2
xd
xq

The power diagram shows, that the active and reactive power of the machine are delimited due to the
following restrictions:
1. The maximum rotor excitation current and
2. The maximum stator winding current in order to
avoid inadmissible overtemperatures.
3. The safety distance to the stability limit (maximum
rotor displacement angle max ).
4. The saftety distance to the reluctance circle.
All these conditions are usually kept by the control and
regulation system of the power plant in order to avoid
consecutive faults due to overtemperatures or instability.
The superposition of the stator and rotor fields
according to the vector diagram of the machine is
strongly influenced by the phase angle and the rotor displacement angle . When changing from rated
operation to an extrem reactive operation, over- or underexcited, the vector diagram of the machine changes
significantly (Fig. 2). Consequently also the magnetic
field distribution in the end region of the machine
changes.

Fig. 1. Stator of a 778 MVA, 80-pole hydrogenerator

When designing a machine for such an extreme range

of operation, the design engineer must be able to check
the magnetic field distribution in the stator winding
overhang [1], [8], [10] and especially on the clamping
plates (figure 3) in order to avoid high local power
losses and therefore high local temperature rises (hot
spots) [5].

Active Power

Theoretical
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0.95

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1.0.....................2
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0.80 Power Factor
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A
0.85
0.80
0.75
0.70

1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
Reactive Power Underexcited

0.2

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6
0.8
1.0 pu
Reactive Power Overexcited

Fig. 2. Power Chart of a synchronous machine

This paper presents a comparision of the magnetic field distribution at different operation conditions
computed by the two-dimensional Boundary-Element
method (no-load condition only) and by two different three-dimensional calculation methods: The BiotSavart and the Finite-Element method. The computations are performed for a 778 MVA hydrogenerator,
the machine data is shown in table I.

II. 2D-Boundary Element Method

The two-dimensional Boundary Element method [2]
(see figure 4) is used for the computation of the end
region magnetic field at no-load conditon with rated
voltage excitation. For this operation condition, the
stator winding needs not to be modelled, therefore a
two-dimensional radial/axial section of the end region
is sufficient.
Nevertheless such a model allows for taking into account the stator and pole end geometry (stator clamping plates, pole end plates) [9]. The calculated twodimensional distribution of the magnetic flux density
B2D (r, z) can be converted into a three-dimensional
distribution B3D (r, , z) as suggested in [13]:
 
D
D
(2)
fp
B3D (r, , z) = B2D (r, z) exp(jp)
2r
p
is the angle of the tangential coordinate e , D the
stator bore diameter, r the radial coordinate and p
TABLE I
Characteristics of the 778 MVA Three-Phase
Synchronous Generator

Fig. 3. End region and stator clamping plates for a typical

hydrognerator

Rated power
Rated voltage
Rated current
Rated speed
Power factor
Rated frequency
Stator bore diameter
Stator core length

777800
20000
22453
75
0.90
50
18800
2950

kVA
V
A
rpm
Hz
mm
mm

mm
100

......................................................................................................................................................................................................................
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ez axial
...............................

I
I
+
2
2

....
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... ....

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...
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.
.
.
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.................. ...............
...
..
... ............
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
... .....
..... ............... ........ ....
.......
.......................
.. ...
..... ......................................................................
.... ..
.. .......
..........
.
............
.........
.
.
.
.....
.
.
.
.
.....
.
.
.
.
.
.....
.....
.....
....
....

I
I
+
2
2

I
I
+
2
2

Fig. 4. 2-dimensional Boundary Element Model for the computation of the no-load magnetic field in the end region considering
the stator and rotor end geometry

Fig. 6. Application of the method of images, where mirror

conductors inside the stator core simulate the magnetic influence
of the stator core end

the number of pole pairs of the hydrogenerator. The

auxiliary function fp considers the influence of adjacent
poles with their negative orientations, d is the distance
of the field calculation point from the air-gap end and
p the pole pitch.

defined by a volume integration of the current density

distribution J inside a conductor as shown in figure 5.

III. 3D - Biot-Savart Method

The Biot-Savart method is a fast integral magnetic field calculation method [11], [12] used to calculate the resulting magnetic field of a set of conductors surrounded by air. The presented calculations are
based on the Biot-Savart law for solid conductors
Z
J (Q) ePQ
0
dV
(3)
B (P) =
4 V
r2PQ

When modelling the end region of a synchronous

machine with salient poles, the geometric details of
the stator core (clamping plates) and pole ends (pole
end plates) can not be considered. The existence of
the stator core end can be simulated by applying the
method of images [3] and introducing so-called mirror
conductors (see fig. 6).
The calculation model is shown in figure 7. The stator end is modelled as an infinite plane z = 0. The
method of images additionally allows for taking into
account the magnetic potential drop between stator

y,.

.
......
.........
... ... ...
...
...
..
...
...
........
.. .....
...
........................................................
.............
...
....
.
.
.
.
.........
...
..... ..
..... ..
... ..................
.... ..
.... ..
....
...
. ...
.... ... ....... ...
...........................................
. .....
.
... ........
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
...
.
. .
.. ..... ....
...........
............
....
........ ................
.
.
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.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
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.
.
....
.
.. ..
.... ..
... ......... ...
.... ..
..... ..
...
..... ....
.... ...
....
.......
.....
.... ....... ..... ....
... ........
....
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
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.
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.
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....
...
..
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.....
..
..... ....... ..
....
....
.... . ..... ......
....
....
....
.... .. ..
.....
.... ........................................................................................................................................
.
...
.
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.
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.
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.
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....
.... ..................
....
.
.
.
.
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... ..... ....
...
.
.
.
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.
............................................. ...
.
....
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... .... .....
....
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.
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.....
.
...
....
.
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.
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...... ...
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.
.... ...................................................
..
..
....
.
.
...
.
.
.
.. ...
.......
................
......

l/2

h/2

ePQ

h/2

x,

l/2

b/2 b/2

z,

Fig. 5. 3D-Biot-Savart model of a solid conductor surrounded

by air

Fig. 7. 3-Dimensional Biot-Savart model showing the stator

winding bar ends, the air-gap and the pole winding surrogate
conductors. The image conductors for the application of the
method of images are not displayed.

VI. Load magnetic field calculation

The 3D-Biot-Savart method and the FiniteElement method are used to calculate the magnetic
field distribution on the stator clamping plates at
serveral full load operation conditions (see power chart
in figure 2):
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Fig. 8. 3-Dimensional Finite Element model of a 800 MVA
hydrogenerator

and rotor by introducing an auxiliary air-gap conductor [3]. The pole winding ends are modelled with a
surrogate pole winding conductor [11].
IV. 3D - Finite-Element Method
Nowadays the Finite-Element method is a state of
the art method for electromagnetic field computations.
It allows for a detailled modelling of all geometric elements [7], [6] (see fig. 8). The disadvantage of a FiniteElement study is the big time consumtion of such a
computation.
All Finite-Elemente computations presented in this
paper are done with the help of a commercial FiniteElemente software [4]. This software provides the possibility for modelling the stator winding bars with
a Biot-Savart formulation included into the threedimensional solid Finte-Element model.
For the comparison of the magnetic field distribution
at various operation conditions a magnetostatic FiniteElement computation is sufficient.

Over-excited operation with cos = 0.00

Over-excited operation with cos = 0.75
Operation with cos = 1.00
Under-excited operation with cos = 0.75
Under-excited operation with cos = 0.00

All examples are calculated with the rated apparent

output 778 MVA i.e. rated stator current. The excitation currents in the rotor winding are obtained from
the electrical calculation of the machine (performed
for each of the operation points) and correspond to
the given power factors. The rotor is set into the right
position relative to the stator winding axis according
to the vector diagram.
For all given operation points, the axial component
of the magnetic flux density Bz on the clamping plate
surface is computed (fig. 9). The results are shown in
figures 1115.
VII. Disussion of Results
The comparison between the Finite-Element and the
Biot-Savart computations at no-load and full load
for different power factors (operation points AE) lead
to the following conclusions:
1. The noload simulation shows a good accordance
between the 3D Finite-Element and the 2D BoundaryElement method. In contrast to this the Biot-Savart
method is too pessimistic due to the fact that the influence of the rotor excitation on the resulting magnetic
field is overestimated in the Biot-Savart model.
2. The distribution of the magnetic flux density calcu-

V. No-load Magnetic Field Calculation

The no-load magnetic field calculation was performed at the rated stator winding voltage applying
the no-load excitation current on the rotor winding.
The axial componente of the magnetic flux density
Bz (r, 0 ) which is the componente perpendicular to
the clamping plate surface is computed on a radial
line from the radial inner ri to the radial outer edge
ra of the clamping plate (fig. 9). The anglular position
0 , which is the tangential position on the circumference of the machine, is choosen in order to obtain the
maximum values.
Figure 10 shows a comparison of the Boundary Element, the Biot-Savart and the Finite Element computations.

Fig. 9. Calculation of the radial distribution of the axial component of the magnetic flux density on the clamping plates

Fig. 10.
Magnetic field distribution on the stator clamping
plates at no-load conditions, calculated with three different computation methods

Fig. 13.
Magnetic field distribution on the stator clamping
plates at rated power load, cos = 1.00, calculated with two
computation methods

Fig. 11.
Magnetic field distribution on the stator clamping
plates at rated power load, cos = 0.00 over-excited, calculated
with two computation methods

Fig. 14.
Magnetic field distribution on the stator clamping
plates at rated power load, cos = 0.75 under-excited, calculated with two computation methods

Fig. 12.
Magnetic field distribution on the stator clamping
plates at rated power load, cos = 0.75 over-excited, calculated
with two computation methods

Fig. 15.
Magnetic field distribution on the stator clamping
plates at rated power load, cos = 0.00 under-excited, calculated with two computation methods

lated from the Biot-Savart method results in a relatively flat curve. Contrarily the distribution computed
with Finite-Elements shows a concentration at the inner clamping plate edge. This can be explained with
the physical effect, that magnetic field lines are always
concentrating close to edges. Unfortunately the BiotSavart calculation cannot consider the exact geometry including the clamping plate edges.

[9]

3. For under-excited operation, the Biot-Savart

computation calculates too low magnetic flux densities, the influence of the stator winding armature reaction on the resulting magnetic field is always underestimated.

[12]

VIII. Conclusion
The Finite-Element and the much simpler BoundaryElement computation at no-load condition show a good
accordance.
A comparison of the Finite-Element and the BiotSavart computations shows the following: The BiotSavart method overestimates the influence of the excitation current on the resulting magnetic field and
underestimates the influence of the stator winding armature reaction. Therefore the magnetic flux density
computed with the Biot-Savart method at underexcited operation conditions is too low.
Especially when it comes to loss calculation the
Biot-Savart method can not deliver reliable results.
Nevertheless, knowing these limitations, this method
can be used to decide in a particular case whether
it is necessary to make resource intensive 3D FiniteElement computations.
References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

Althammer, P.: Berechnung des magnetischen Feldes in

den Wickelk
opfen von Turbogeneratoren, Brown Boveri
Mitteilungen Mai 1964, p. 281292.
Brebbia, C., A.; Dominguez, J.: Boundary Elements An Introductory Course. WITPress, Southampton (UK),
1992.
Carpenter, C.J.: The application of the method of images to machine end-winding fields. Proc. IEE, Vol. 107
A, 1960, p. 487500.
Cedrat, Finite-Element Software Flux3D, www.cedrat.com.
Choi, S., S.; Jia, X. M.: Under Excitation Limiter and Its
Role in Preventing Excessive Synchronous Generator Stator
End-Core Heating. IEEE Transactions on Power Systems,
Vol. 15, No. 1, February 2000.
Fujita, M.; Tokumasu, T.; Yoda, H.; Tsuda, H.; Ito, K.;
Nagano, S.: Magnetic Field Analysis of Stator Core End
Region of Large Turbogenerators. IEEE Transactions on
Magnetics, Vol. 36, No. 4, July 2000.
Holmberg, M.T.: Three-dimensional Finite Element Computation of Eddy Currents in Synchronous Machines.
Technical Report No. 350, Department of Electric Power
Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, G
oteborg,
Sweden, 1998.

Kant, M.: Etude

du champ magn
etique de la partie frontale dun turbo-alternateur, Revue G
en
erale de

lElectricit
e, Juillet-ao
ut 1966, p. 913922.

[10]

[11]

[13]

Krajewski, W.: Computation of the turbogenerator endregion field using the BEM. Archiv f
ur Elektrotechnik, Vol.
75 (1992), p. 173178.
Sikora, R.; Gawrylczyk, K.M.; Gramz, M.; Gratkowski, S.;
Ziolkowski, M.: Magnetic field computation in the endregion of electric machines using various boundary conditions on iron surfaces, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics,
Vol. 22, No. 3, May 1986, p. 204207.
Traxler-Samek, G.: Zusatzverluste im Stirnraum von
Hydrogeneratoren mit Roebelstabwicklung. Dissertation,
TU-Wien, 2003.
Traxler-Samek, G.; Schmidt, E.: Analytic Determination
of Eddy Current Losses in the Stator Clamping Plates
of Salient Pole Synchronous Generators. Proceedings of
the 15th International Conference on Electrical Machines,
ICEM, Bruges (Belgium), 2002.
Traxler-Samek, G.; Schwery, A.: Optimised Calculation
of Losses in Large Hydrogenerators using Statistical Methods. Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on
Electrical Machines, ICEM, Krakow (Poland), 2004.

ALSTOM Power Hydro Generator Technology Centre CH-5242 Birr - Switzerland

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