Transformer core plays a crucial role in the efficient and reliable transmission of electrical power. As a key component, it provides a low reluctance path for the magnetic flux generated by the primary winding to be transferred to the secondary winding. Among various materials used for transformer cores, oriented silicon steel, also known as CRGO (Cold-Rolled Grain-Oriented) silicon steel or electrical steel, stands out for its exceptional magnetic properties and widespread application in different power ratings of transformers.

CRGO Silicon Steel: A Superior Core Material:

CRGO silicon steel is specifically engineered to exhibit grain orientation, enabling it to maximize its magnetic properties when subjected to an alternating magnetic field. The manufacturing process involves a controlled cold rolling technique that aligns the crystal grains within the steel in a specific direction. This grain orientation reduces the occurrence of magnetic domains and minimizes hysteresis losses and eddy current losses, making CRGO silicon steel the preferred choice for transformer cores.

Applications in Different Power Ratings:

1. Low-Power Transformers:
   In low-power transformers, such as those used in residential and small-scale commercial applications, CRGO silicon steel is utilized to enhance energy efficiency. The material's low core losses and high magnetic permeability contribute to reduced power wastage and improved voltage regulation, ensuring optimum performance in household appliances, lighting systems, and electronic devices.

2. Medium-Power Transformers:
   Medium-power transformers, commonly employed in industrial settings and power distribution networks, require reliable and efficient core materials. CRGO silicon steel offers excellent magnetic properties at intermediate power ratings, enabling enhanced energy transmission and minimal power losses. These transformers find application in areas such as manufacturing facilities, commercial buildings, and utility substations.

3. High-Power Transformers:
   For high-power transformers, such as those used in large-scale power generation and transmission systems, CRGO silicon steel provides superior performance. With its advanced grain orientation and optimized magnetic characteristics, it minimizes core losses and enhances efficiency, ensuring reliable power transmission over long distances. These high-power transformers are crucial components of electrical grids, enabling the efficient distribution of electricity to cities, industries, and infrastructure projects.

The selection of the core material plays a vital role in the performance and efficiency of transformers. CRGO silicon steel, also known as oriented silicon steel or electrical steel, stands out as an ideal choice for transformer cores across different power ratings. Its unique grain orientation and magnetic properties significantly reduce energy losses, ensuring optimal power transmission. Whether in low-power, medium-power, or high-power transformers, CRGO silicon steel demonstrates its superiority in enhancing efficiency and reliability in the transmission and distribution of electrical energy.

Transformers often require/use iron cores because they operate on magnetic forces, which are difficult to understand when sharing certain characteristics with good old "electricity" (ohms, volts, amperes, etc.). Let's try some simplified ways to get the overall idea.

Start with a screwdriver - just a cylindrical coil. If we let the current flow through, a magnetic field (we call it the H field) is formed. The field depicted with the imagined field line flows up through the center of the coil, then disperses again after leaving the cylinder, then reassesses and re-enters the other end. You've seen the picture in the textbook. The magnetic field is strong and contained inside the cylinder (ID), while the magnetic field strength is weak outside (OD) because it diffuses in space. If the H magnetic field interacts with "anything" around the coil, whether it is vacuum, air or iron, it produces what we call a B magnetic induction field within the "material", the strength of which depends on the strength of the magnetic field. The properties of "matter" are called "permeability". For a given magnetic field strength H, vacuum or air forms a relatively weak induction field B, while iron forms a very strong sensing field (1000 times stronger).

If we make a second coil (solenoid valve) and parallel it to the first coil in the air, a portion of the weak air sensing field B flows through the center of the second coil. If we change the current in the first coil, its B field will change slightly, as will the B field flowing through the second coil (absolutely by a small margin). This is not only because the entire B magnetic field is weak, but also because only a portion of the entire B magnetic field actually passes through the second coil. Recall maxwell's equation, saying that the voltage sensed in the coil depends on the magnitude of the change through its B field. Therefore, in our case, since the B-field change through the second magnetic field is very small, we can expect only one weak voltage to be sensed in the second coil.

To make it better, we can place a piece of iron in the center of the first coil. This will make the B field in the iron stronger than the B field in the air. In addition, we can extend the iron sheet into a ring so that it passes through the second coil. (We've made a transformer core ). Most of the enhanced B magnetic field from the first coil now passes through the iron into the second coil, and the magnetic field change caused by the current change in the first coil is amplified, resulting in a greater inductive voltage in the second coil. Coil.

That's why we use iron core simplification in many, but not all, transformers.