Editing Transformer (section)

====Leakage flux====
{{Main|Leakage inductance}}

The ideal transformer model assumes that all flux generated by the primary winding links all the turns of every winding, including itself. In practice, some flux traverses paths that take it outside the windings.<ref name="McLaren1984-68">{{harvnb|McLaren|1984|pp=68–74}}</ref> Such flux is termed ''leakage flux'', and results in [[leakage inductance]] in [[series and parallel circuits|series]] with the mutually coupled transformer windings.<ref name="calvert2001"/> Leakage flux results in energy being alternately stored in and discharged from the magnetic fields with each cycle of the power supply. It is not directly a power loss, but results in inferior [[voltage regulation]], causing the secondary voltage not to be directly proportional to the primary voltage, particularly under heavy load.<ref name="McLaren1984-68"/> Transformers are therefore normally designed to have very low leakage inductance.

In some applications increased leakage is desired, and long magnetic paths, air gaps, or magnetic bypass shunts may deliberately be introduced in a transformer design to limit the [[Short circuit|short-circuit]] current it will supply.<ref name="calvert2001">{{cite web| last = Calvert| first = James| title = Inside Transformers| publisher = University of Denver| year = 2001|url=http://www.du.edu/~jcalvert/tech/transfor.htm| access-date = May 19, 2007| url-status = dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070509111407/http://www.du.edu/~jcalvert/tech/transfor.htm| archive-date = May 9, 2007}}</ref> Leaky transformers may be used to supply loads that exhibit [[negative resistance]], such as [[electric arc]]s, [[mercury-vapor lamp|mercury-]] and [[sodium-vapor lamp|sodium-]] vapor lamps and [[neon sign]]s or for safely handling loads that become periodically short-circuited such as [[arc welding|electric arc welders]].<ref name="Say1983"/>{{rp|485}}

[[Air gap (magnetic)|Air gaps]] are also used to keep a transformer from saturating, especially audio-frequency transformers in circuits that have a DC component flowing in the windings.<ref>{{cite book|last=Terman|first=Frederick E.|title=Electronic and Radio Engineering|url=https://archive.org/details/electronicradioe00term|url-access=registration| edition=4th |year=1955|publisher=McGraw-Hill|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/electronicradioe00term/page/15 15]}}</ref> A [[saturable reactor]] exploits saturation of the core to control alternating current.

Knowledge of leakage inductance is also useful when transformers are operated in parallel. It can be shown that if the [[Per-unit system|percent impedance]]{{efn|Percent impedance is the ratio of the voltage drop in the secondary from no load to full load.<ref name="Heathcote1998-4">{{harvnb|Heathcote|1998|p=4}}</ref>}} and associated winding leakage reactance-to-resistance (''X''/''R'') ratio of two transformers were
the same, the transformers would share the load power in proportion to their respective ratings.  However, the impedance tolerances of commercial transformers are significant. Also, the impedance and X/R ratio of different capacity transformers tends to vary.<ref name="Knowlton6-97">{{cite book|editor-last=Knowlton|editor-first=A.E. |title=Standard Handbook for Electrical Engineers|edition=8th|year=1949|publisher=McGraw-Hill|page=see esp. Section 6 Transformers, etc, pp. 547–644}} Nomenclature for Parallel Operation, pp. 585–586</ref>
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