SKIN EFFECT,
TRANSMISSION LINES AND
WAVE GUIDES.
Presented by
Rohith K. M. (18mscphy25)
Dept. of Physical Sciences
SKIN EFFECT & SKIN DEPTH (δ)
• Skin effect is the tendency of high frequency alternating electric current (AC)
to become distributed within a conductor such that the current density is
largest near the surface of the conductor, and decreases with greater depths
in the conductor.
• The ‘effective current’ thus flows between the outer surface and a level
called the skin depth.
• In electromagnetics, skin depth is the distance through which an incident EM
wave penetrates until the amplitude of its electric field becomes 1/e times
that at the surface of the conductor. Here, it is the current density which
decays exponentially as (for infinite plane sheet),
• Hence, almost 98% of the total current will flow within a layer of thickness of
about four times ‘delta’.
• This phenomena is absent in case of Direct current in which the current is
distributed uniformly throughout its cross section.
WHY IT ARISES?
• It arises due to opposing eddy currents induced by the changing magnetic
field resulting from AC current
• Eddy currents are loops of currents produced inside a conductor, which lies
perpendicular to the plane of changing magnetic field that produced it. It acts
in accordance with Lenz’s law. When graphed, these circular currents looks
vaguely like eddies or whirlpools in a liquid.
• The magnitude of the eddy current in a given loop is proportional to the
strength of the magnetic field, the area of the loop, and the rate of change of
flux, and inversely proportional to the resistivity of the material.
• This changing magnetic field, in turn creates an electric filed which opposes
the current. This opposing electric field is called ‘counter emf’ or ‘Back emf’.
• The strength of this back emf is strongest at the center and decreases as we
move towards the surface of conductor
• For a good conductor (σ >> ωε) the formula for skin depth is given by:
• Where ρ -> resistivity of the conductor
• ω -> angular frequency of the current
• μ -> permeability of the material
• Graph of variation in skin depth with frequency of the current for different materials.
SKIN EFFECT IN ROUND WIRE
• The internal impedance per unit length of a segment of round wire is given
by
• This impedance is a complex quantity corresponding to a resistance (real) in
series with the reactance (imaginary) due to the wire's internal self-
inductance, per unit length.
• Where,
• k -> (1-j)/δ
• δ -> skin depth
• Jo -> Bessel functions of first kind, order 0
• J1 -> Bessel function of first kind, order 1
• ρ -> resistivity of wire
• R -> radius of the wire
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
• High-voltage, high-current overhead power lines often use aluminum cable
with a steel reinforcing core; the higher resistance of the steel core is of no
consequence since it is located far below the skin depth where essentially no
AC current flows.
• Solid or tubular conductors may be silver-plated to take advantage of silver's
higher conductivity. This technique is particularly used at VHF to microwave
frequencies where the small skin depth requires only a very thin layer of
silver, making the improvement in conductivity very cost effective. Silver
plating is similarly used on the surface of waveguides used for transmission of
microwaves.
TRANSMISSION LINES
• A transmission line is a set of two wires with a uniform geometry along its
length.
• It is used to send electromagnetic signals (generally in the RF region) from a
source to a receiver.
• Ordinary electrical cables suffice to carry low frequency alternating current
(AC), such as mains power, which reverses direction 100 to 120 times per
second, and audio signals.
• However, they cannot be used to carry currents in the radio frequency range,
above about 30 kHz, because the energy tends to radiate off the cable as
radio waves, causing power losses. Radio frequency currents also tend to
reflect from discontinuities in the cable such as connectors and joints, and
travel back down the cable toward the source.
• To study the transmission of signals through these wires, we can model them
in a simpler form
• the capacitance and inductance of any segment is proportional to its length.
We represent as a large number of small inductors and capacitors spaced
along the line.
• v (x, t ) and i (x, t) depend on both position and time.
After applying Kirchhoff's voltage and current rules, the transmission line
equations are given by
WAVE GUIDES
• At microwave frequencies and above, power losses in transmission lines
become excessive, and waveguides are used instead, which function as
"pipes" to confine and guide the electromagnetic waves.
• Waves propagate in all directions in open space as spherical waves. The power of the wave falls with
the distance R from the source as the square of the distance .
• A waveguide confines the wave to propagate in one dimension, so that, under ideal conditions, the
wave loses no power while propagating. Due to total reflection at the walls, waves are confined to the
interior of a waveguide.
• Transmission lines are a specific type of waveguide, very commonly used
• A propagation mode in a waveguide is one solution of the wave equations.
• Due to the constraints of the boundary conditions, there are only limited frequencies and forms for the
wave function which can propagate in the waveguide. The lowest frequency in which a certain mode
can propagate is the cutoff frequency of that mode.
THANK YOU
