Types of Electrical Transformers Part 1

There are different types of transformer based on their usage, design, construction, etc. We will discuss some of these types in this article below;

Based on its Core;

Classification of transformer base on the material used for its core,

Air core Transformer

This type of transformer uses plastic or air as its core. The windings are either wounded around the plastic core or there is no physical core. The air has very low magnetic permeability. So there is no flux linkage between the coils as they are linked through the air between them.

The absence of Ferro-magnetic core (such as iron core) reduces the core losses, as these losses increase with the frequency. The ferromagnetic material also causes distortion in high-frequency signal. So the air core transformer is suitable for radio frequency current. Another positive point of air core transformer is that they are lightweight & they are suitable for mobile electronic devices such as radio transmitter etc.

Ferromagnetic/Iron Core Transformer

As the name suggests, these transformer’s core is made of ferromagnetic material. A ferromagnetic core is used in a transformer to increase its magnetic field. The strength of the magnetic field depends on the magnetic permeability of the material used. Iron is a common ferromagnetic material used in such transformers.

Iron core transformers are used for heavy load applications having low frequency such as power supplies. The iron core does include its frequency dependent core losses such as eddy current & hysteresis losses.