Skin effect

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The skin effect is the tendency of an alternating electric current (AC) to distribute itself
within a conductor so that the current density near the surface of the conductor is greater
than that at its core. That is, the electric current tends to flow at the "skin" of the
conductor. The skin effect causes the effective resistance of the conductor to increase
with the frequency of the current. Skin effect is due to eddy currents set up by the AC
current.

Contents
 1 Introduction
 2 Effect on impedance of round wires
 3 Mitigation
 4 Examples
 5 See also
 6 References

 7 External links

Introduction
The effect was first described in a paper by Horace Lamb in 1883 for the case of
spherical conductors, and was generalized to conductors of any shape by Oliver
Heaviside in 1885. The skin effect has practical consequences in the design of radio-
frequency and microwave circuits and to some extent in AC electrical power transmission
and distribution systems. Also, it is of considerable importance when designing discharge
tube circuits.

The current density J in an infinitely thick plane conductor decreases exponentially with
depth d from the surface, as follows:

where δ is a constant called the skin depth. This is defined as the depth below the surface
of the conductor at which the current density decays to 1/e (about 0.37) of the current
density at the surface (JS). It can be calculated as follows:
where

ρ = resistivity of conductor
ω = angular frequency of current = 2π × frequency

μ = absolute magnetic permeability of conductor , where μ0 is

the permeability of free space (4π×10−7 N/A2) and μr is the relative permeability of
the conductor.

The resistance of a flat slab (much thicker than δ) to alternating current is exactly equal to
the resistance of a plate of thickness δ to direct current. For long, cylindrical conductors
such as wires, with diameter D large compared to δ, the resistance is approximately that
of a hollow tube with wall thickness δ carrying direct current. That is, the AC resistance
is approximately:

where

L = length of conductor
D = diameter of conductor

The final approximation above is accurate if D >> δ.

A convenient formula (attributed to F.E. Terman) for the diameter DW of a wire of

circular cross-section whose resistance will increase by 10% at frequency f is:

The increase in AC resistance described above is accurate only for an isolated wire. For a
wire close to other wires, e.g. in a cable or a coil, the ac resistance is also affected
by proximity effect, which often causes a much more severe increase in ac resistance.

Effect on impedance of round wires

 skin effect in round wire

For isolated round wires with radius R on the order of or smaller than d, the assumption
of exponential decrease of J with depthδ is no longer valid. In this case, J must be found
by solving

If we transform variables from r to j − 1 / 2r, this equation has the form of a zeroth-
order Bessel equation. Using the boundary condition J(R) = JS and considering
that J must be finite at r = 0 for a solid wire, the solution to this equation is

where J0(x) is the zeroth order Bessel function of the first kind,
and Ber(x) and Bei(x) are Kelvin functions.

The total current in the wire may be found by integrating J(r) from 0 to R. It may more
easily be found by relating it to the derivative of the electric field at the surface of the
wire via its magnetic field. Ampere's Law at the wire surface gives an azimuthal
magnetic field

Maxwell's Equations in cylindrical coordinates gives

where the electric field E points in the direction of the current. Equating these two
functions at r = R gives

where the prime on the J0 in the numerator indicates a first derivative, and we have
used J(r) = σE(r). The impedance in the wire is given by

where R' and L' are the resistance and inductance per unit length of the wire. Plugging in
for E(R) and I gives

where the fundamental resistance R0 and unitless scaled "radius" are given by

and

Mitigation
A type of cable called litz wire (from the German litzendraht, braided wire) is used to
mitigate the skin effect for frequencies of a few kilohertz to about one megahertz. It
consists of a number of insulated wire strands woven together in a carefully designed
pattern, so that the overall magnetic field acts equally on all the wires and causes the total
current to be distributed equally among them. Litz wire is often used in the windings of
high-frequency transformers, to increase their efficiency by mitigating both skin effect
and, more importantly, proximity effect.

Large power transformers are wound with stranded conductors of similar construction to
litz wire, but of larger cross-section. [1]
High-voltage, high-current overhead power transmission lines often use aluminum cable
with a steel reinforcing core, where the higher resistivity of the steel core is largely
immaterial.

In other applications, solid conductors are replaced by tubes, which have the same
resistance at high frequencies but lighter weight.

Solid or tubular conductors may also be silver-plated providing a better conductor (the
best possible conductor except for superconductors) than copper on the 'skin' of the
conductor. Silver-plating is most effective at VHF and microwave frequencies, because
the very thin skin depth (conduction layer) at those frequencies means that the silver
plating can economically be applied at thicknesses greater than the skin depth.

Examples

Skin depths for some metals

In copper, the skin depth at various frequencies is shown below.

frequency d

60 Hz 8.47 mm

10 kHz 0.66 mm

100 kHz 0.21 mm

1 MHz 66 µm
10 MHz

In Engineering Electromagnetics, Hayt points out that in a power station a bus

bar for alternating current at 60 Hz with a radius larger than 1/3rd of an inch (8 mm) is a
waste of copper, and in practice bus bars for heavy AC current are rarely more than 1/2
inch (12 mm) thick except for mechanical reasons. A thin film of silver deposited on
glass is an excellent conductor at microwave frequencies.

skin effect
Skin effect is a tendency for alternating current ( AC ) to flow mostly near the outer surface of a
solid electrical conductor, such as metal wire, at frequencies above the audio range. The effect
becomes more and more apparent as the frequency increases.

The main problem with skin effect is that it increases the effective resistance of a wire for AC at
moderate to high frequencies, compared with the resistance of the same wire at direct current
( DC ) and low AC frequencies. The effect is most pronounced in radio-frequency ( RF ) systems,
especially antenna s and transmission lines. But it can also affect the performance of high-fidelity
sound equipment by causing attenuation in the treble range (the highest-pitched components of
the audio).

Skin effect can be reduced by using stranded rather than solid wire. This increases the effective
surface area of the wire for a given wire gauge . Tinned wire should be avoided because tin has
higher resistance than copper. In large RF antenna arrays, hollow tubing can be used in place of
solid rods with little or no loss of efficiency; in this respect, skin effect is an asset. It also works in
favor of the use of copper-clad steel wire for more modest antennas. Such wire is mechanically
stronger than solid or stranded copper, because steel has a higher tensile strength than copper.
The skin effect causes most of the current to flow through the copper cladding, which is a better
electrical conductor than steel.

Skin effect occurs with brief pulses of current , for the same reasons it occurs at high AC
frequencies. This can save lives. If you are caught in a thundershower, you can take refuge in a
car or other metal vehicle and be relatively safe even if you suffer a direct hit. The skin effect
causes virtually all of the current to flow on the outside of the vehicle as it passes from cloud to
ground.

Also see ampere per meter squared , current , and radio frequency ( RF ).

Skin effect (electricity)

The tendency for an alternating current to concentrate near the outer part or “skin” of a conductor.
For a steady unidirectional current through a homogeneous conductor, the current distribution is
uniform over the cross section; that is, the current density is the same at all points in the cross
section. With an alternating current, the current is displaced more and more to the surface as the
frequency increases. The conductor's effective cross section is therefore reduced so the
resistance and energy dissipation are increased compared with the values for a uniformly
distributed current. The effective resistance of a wire rises significantly with frequency; for
example, for a copper wire of 1-mm (0.04-in.) diameter, the resistance at a frequency of 1 MHz is
almost four times the dc value. SeeElectrical resistance

A skin depth or penetration depth δ is frequently used in assessing the results of skin effect; it is
the depth below the conductor surface at which the current density has decreased to
1/e (approximately 37%) of its value at the surface. This concept applies strictly only to plane
solids, but can be extended to other shapes provided the radius of curvature of the conductor
surface is appreciably greater than δ.

At a frequency of 60 Hz the penetration depth in copper is 8.5 mm (0.33 in.); at 10 GHz it is only
6.6 × 10-7 m. Wave-guide and resonant cavity internal surfaces for use at microwave frequencies
are therefore frequently plated with a high-conductivity material, such as silver, to reduce the
energy losses since nearly all the current is concentrated at the surface. Provided the plating
material is thick compared to δ, the conductor is as good as a solid conductor of the coating
material.

The skin effect is the tendency of an alternating electric current (AC) to distribute itself within
a conductor so that the current density near the surface of the conductor is greater than that at its
core. That is, the electric current tends to flow at the "skin" of the conductor.

Introduction

The skin effect causes the effective resistance of the conductor to increase with the frequency of
the current. The effect was first described in a paper by Horace Lamb in 1883 for the case of
spherical conductors, and was generalized to conductors of any shape by Oliver Heaviside in
1885. The skin effect has practical consequences in the design of radio-frequency
and microwave circuits and to some extent in AC electrical power transmission and
distribution systems. Also, it is of considerable importance when designing discharge
tube circuits.

Skin depth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Skin depth is due to the circulating eddy currentscancelling the current flow in the center of a
conductor and reinforcing it in the skin.

Skin depth is a measure of the distance an alternating current can penetrate beneath the
surface of a conductor.

When an electromagnetic wave interacts with a conductive material,

mobile charges within the material are made to oscillateback and forth with the
same frequency as the impinging fields. The movement of these charges,
usually electrons, constitutes analternating electric current, the magnitude of which is
greatest at the conductor's surface. The decline in current density versus depth is known
as the skin effect and the skin depth is a measure of the distance over which the current
falls to 1/e of its original value. A gradual change in phase accompanies the change in
magnitude, so that, at a given time and at appropriate depths, the current can be flowing
in the opposite direction to that at the surface.

The skin depth is a property of the material that varies with the frequency of the applied
wave. It can be calculated from therelative permittivity and conductivity of the material
and frequency of the wave. (See the article Mathematical descriptions of opacity for
relationships with other optical and electrical parameters.) First, find the

material's complex permittivity,

where:

= permittivity of the material of propagation

 ω = angular frequency of the wave
σ = electrical conductivity of the material of propagation
j = the imaginary unit

Thus, the propagation constant, k, will also be a complex number, and can be separated
into real and imaginary parts.

The constants can also be expressed as[1]

where:

μ = permeability of the material

α = attenuation constant of the propagating wave

For a uniform wave propagating in the +z-direction,

then β gives a wave solution, and α gives an exponential decay as z increases and is for
this reason an attenuation term where α is an attenuation constant with the unit Np/m
(Neper). If α = 1 then a unit wave amplitude decreases to a magnitude of e − 1 Np/m.

It can be seen that the imaginary part of the complex permittivity increases with
frequency, implying that the attenuation constant also increases with frequency.
Therefore, a high frequency wave will only flow through a very small region of the
conductor (much smaller than in the case of a lower frequency current), and will
therefore encounter more electrical resistance (due to the decreased surface area).

A good conductor is per definition if why we can neglect 1 in equation (2) and it
turns to

where:

f = frequency of the wave

The skin depth is defined as the distance δ through which the amplitude of a traveling
plane wave decreases by a factor e − 1 and is therefore

and for a good conductor is it defined as

The term "skin depth" traditionally assumes ω real. This is not necessarily the case; the
imaginary part of ω characterizes' the waves attenuation in time. This would make the
above definitions for α and β complex.

The same equations also apply to a lossy dielectric. Defining

replace with , and with

Examples

Skin depths for some metals

The electrical resistivity of a material is equal to 1/σ and its relative permeability is
defined as μ / μ0, where μ0 is the magnetic permeability of free space. It follows that
Equation (8) can be rewritten as

where
 μ0 = 4π×10-7 H/m
μr = the relative permeability of the medium
ρ = the resistivity of the medium in Ωm
f = the frequency of the wave in Hz

If the resistivity of aluminium is taken as 2.8×10-8 Ωm and its relative permeability is 1,

then the skin depth at a frequency of 50 Hz is given by

mm

Iron has a higher resistivity, 1.0×10-7 Ωm, and this will increase the skin depth. However,
its relative permeability is typically 90, which will have the opposite effect. At 50 Hz the
skin depth in iron is given by

mm

Hence, the higher magnetic permeability of iron more than compensates for the lower
resistivity of aluminium and the skin depth in iron is therefore 5 times smaller. This will
be true whatever the frequency, assuming the material properties are not themselves
frequency-dependent.

Skin depth values for some common good conductors at a frequency of 10GHz
(microwave region) are indicated below.

Conductor Skin Depth (μm)

Aluminum 0.8

Copper 0.65

Gold 0.79

Silver 0.64

As one can see, in microwave frequencies most of the current in a good conductor flows
in an extremely thin region near the surface of the latter. A 10GHz microwave frequency
is approximately four times higher than the frequency of most modern devices such
as Bluetooth, wireless, microwave ovens, and satellite television which all operate in or
around the 2.4GHz band, and therefore have about two times as much penetration as
those figures for 10GHz.

The extremely short skin depth at microwave frequencies shows that only surface coating
of guiding conductor is important. A piece of glass with an evaporated silver surface 3µm
thick is an excellent conductor at these frequencies