TOROIDS

Design Considerations

Ferrite toroids provide an often convenient and very inductance index, AL, calculate the number of turns
effective shape for many wide band, pulse and power required to give the desired inductance. Now select the
transformers and inductors. The continuous magnetic largest practical wire size that will fit on the core. This
path yields the highest effective permeability and lowest is somewhat difficult for a toroid, but generally the total
flux leakage of any shape. wire cross section in the winding can be 30-60% of the
window opening. If there are Q or loss requirements cal-
Basic considerations: culate the resistance of the winding, taking into consid-
The inductance may be calculated from: eration the skin effect if the frequency is high, and add
it to the equivalent series resistance contributed by the

1 core losses. Equation 5 shows the relationship between

loss factor, Q and resistance.

(the units are in CGS system which is used throughout

this catalog). Here e and Ae are the effective magnetic
l 5
path length and cross sectional area of the core, μ is the
effective permeability of the material, and N is the If the calculated Q is inadequate you must reduce the
number of turns. This formula may be used for any shape total series resistance by selecting a larger core that will
under all conditions provided the correct value of μ is allow fewer turns of larger wire, select a less lossy
used and stray reactances are given proper consideration. material, or use Litz wire at high frequencies to minimize
In a toroidal core, this may be expressed as: the skin effect.
If losses are critical it is important to remember that
hysteresis losses have been assumed to be negligible.
2 Above mTesla these losses are measurable and increase
as approximately the 2.5 power of flux density. Also,
remember that ferrites like other magnetic materials
where OD, ID and H are the dimensions in inches. For show variation in inductance from part to part, with
low level conditions at comparatively low frequencies the temperature and with magnetizing force. Unlike pow-
formula may be simplified by using the Inductance dered metals which have air gaps between the particles
Index, AL, listed in this catalog. Then: a ferrite toroid is a continuous magnetic material with
variability effects undiluted by air gaps. This means that

3 tight tolerances such as required for wave filters are not

attainable in a toroid, but will generally require a
gapped structure such as an E core, pot core, or slug.
The other value most frequently needed is peak flux
density, which may be calculated from: POWER INDUCTORS:
In this section we consider inductors where the design is
limited by saturation or heating due to core or winding
4 7 mTesla losses. Although there is no systematic connection
between permeability and losses, below about 1 MHz
relatively high permeability manganese-zinc ferrites have
Here E is the RMS voltage, 4.44 is a constant depending the most desirable combination of high saturation flux
on the wave shape (use 4 when E is a symmetrical density and low hysteresis losses. The first step is to
square wave and 1 where E is a unipolar pulse), and f is select one of those materials having the desired proper-
the frequency in hertz. ties (usually B material) and select a core based on
space limitations. Then select a suitable operating flux
LOW LEVEL INDUCTORS: density. As a general rule, at room temperature materials
This section considers those applications where may be operated to the knee of the BH loop when the
nonlinearity and losses due to hysteresis are negligible. frequency is 20 kHz or less. At higher frequencies
Generally this means flux densities below a few hundred hysteresis losses produce enough heat to require that
Gauss. The first material choice is the one having both the flux density be decreased. As a first approximation,
the highest permeability and lowest loss factor, tan δ/μ, the product of flux density and frequency can be held
at the operating frequency. Considering the space constant above 20 kHz. Knowing the voltage, frequency,
available, select a core from the table and, using its flux density and area of the chosen core the minimum
number of turns may be calculated from equation 4.
11
 TOROIDS

Design Considerations
The inductance can then be estimated from equation 3 space must be shared between the primary and secondary
or calculated more exactly from equations 1 or 2 by windings. Usually half the space is allotted to each.
using the appropriate value of permeability under these In selecting the inductance required, it is easiest to
operating conditions. If this inductance is less than the envision the equivalent circuit as an ideal transformer
desired value, the number of turns can be adjusted (figure 1) with a primary self inductance shunting the
upward provided there is sufficient space for the wind- transformer primary. When the impedance represented by
ing. If the inductance is too great it will be necessary to this inductance is high compared to the primary and
choose a larger core whose cross sectional area is greater transformed secondary impedances it may be neglected
but whose ratio of Ae/ e is less, or a material with lower
l and an ideal transformer results. Ordinarily this imped-
permeability. ance is selected to be between 3 and 10 times the source
For inductors operating above 1 MHz, the material impedance. At very high frequencies losses or winding
choice becomes more difficult since other requirements capacitance and leakage inductance may predominate.
such as return loss may be more important. The material
choice and design procedure will depend on which FIGURE 1
factors predominate in your particular design. Inductors
having dc current superimposed on the ac excitation
must be given special treatment. The magnetizing force
may be calculated using equation 6:

6 x 79.55 A/m
These situations are considered in later paragraphs.

With this information it is possible to estimate from the CURRENT TRANSFORMERS:

BH curves how significant will be the effect of the dc This special class of low level (and sometimes power)
current. Generally dc magnetizing forces less the coercive transformers includes ground fault interrupters (GFI)
force will have only a small effect on permeability, sensors. In this case it is simpler to design around the
moderate values will depress the permeability, and secondary. Because there are often few primary turns
magnetizing forces approaching the knee of the BH loop (usually one) and many secondary turns, the transformed
will considerably reduce the permeability and severely source impedance (Zs) and primary winding resistance
limit the peak flux density available for ac excitation. (Rwp) can not always be neglected. As shown in figure 2,
In these cases, unless a higher inductance can be used these impedances are increased by 1/n2 (where n is the
it will be necessary to go to a core with a considerably primary to secondary turns ratio) .
longer magnetic path length or to provide an air gap
FIGURE 2
such as by slotting the core.
In many power applications thermal considerations
control the design. One rule of thumb that may be useful
for first approximations is that core losses of 100 to 600
mW/cm3 produce an approximate 40° C temperature rise.
The exact value depends on inductor geometry and ther-
modynamic considerations beyond the scope of this
guide. You must also consider the power dissipated in
As n is decreased to raise the secondary voltage, all four
the winding and its contribution to inductor heating.
internal impedances shown in figure 2 increase. This
Heat sinking or coolants may be used to remove this
limits the available load voltage, so a compromise
heat, but the thermal conductivity of ferrite is relatively
must be made for optimum performance. Since the core
low, so the interior core temperature will be higher.
losses of high permeability ferrites are small at audio
Should a large temperature gradient develop, the core
frequencies, they may often be neglected. For this
may crack from thermal stresses. Also, where consider-
reason, ferrite toroids are usually selected for grounded
able temperature excursions occur due either to self
neutral transformers in GFIs-particularly when
heating or ambient temperatures, the effect of these
frequencies above 60 Hz are used for this test. Special
changes must also be considered with respect to changes
manufacturing and test techniques can be used to
in saturation flux density and inductance.
enhance the properties of ferrite toroids for GFI
LOW LEVEL TRANSFORMERS: differential fault transformers as well.
The design procedure here is essentially the same as for
12 low level inductors except, of course, that the winding
 TOROIDS

Design Considerations

POWER TRANSFORMERS: criteria as at lower frequencies. Usually the flux density

Here we are considering the same kinds of situations we will have to be limited to a few hundred Gauss or less.
covered under power inductors, that is, those cases Care should be taken to select a core which will allow a
where the design is limited by saturation flux density or compact winding so that leakage inductance and winding
self heating due to core and winding losses. At low self capacitance will be small. Winding design requires
frequencies, say below 1 MHz, the design procedure is careful consideration also because skin effects will make
the same as that for power inductors except, of course, the winding resistance (and, hence, loss) much greater
that winding space must be allowed for both windings. than at low frequencies. A technique popular when one
Ordinarily allot half each to the primary and secondary, winding is a single turn is to use tubing. The wall thick-
or with a push-pull primary, slightly less than one third ness should be chosen to be slightly more than the cur-
to each primary half. In most cases the voltage and rent penetration depth, and the secondary winding can
frequency are known (use the lowest operating frequency go within the tubing. Litz wire can also be used to
for design purposes). Select a material and flux density reduce the effective resistance. A trial design and a few
in the same manner as for power inductors. Then using iterations are usually required to optimize RF power
equation 4, calculate the product of Ae and N required. transformer designs.
It is then a simple matter to go down the list of suitable
core sizes substituting for Ae, calculating the minimum WIDE BAND TRANSFORMERS:
number of turns required and checking the fit of the The best starting point is with the equivalent circuit
winding in that core. Calculating the primary inductance shown in figure 3.
from equations 1, 2, or 3, you will ordinarily find that
FIGURE 3
the inductance will be large enough that the magnetiz-
ing current may be neglected under full load. (This is the
current drawn by the primary inductance which shunts
the ideal transformer.) The rest of the transformer design
is fairly straight-forward and is covered in other
publications. Most devices of this type are limited by
either saturation or heat dissipation, temperature rise
and efficiency. Often winding losses are greater than
Here Lp and Rp are the parallel inductance and resistance
core losses below 50 kHz. In some cases other considera-
(loss) of the wound core, Rw is the winding resistance,
tions such as regulation may take precedence, but the
Cd is the distributed self capacitance of the winding, Ll
considerations described above must still be met.
is the leakage inductance (representing flux that does
At higher frequencies in the MHz range other factors
not link the core), and Zs and ZL are the source and load
such as eddy currents influence the design. For this
impedances. At low frequencies the contribution of Ll
reason higher resistivity nickel zinc ferrites are ordinarily
and Cd are so small they may be neglected. The low
used. For example, the volume resistivity of G, J, K and P
frequency cut-off, where insertion loss, VSWR or source
materials is typically 103 to 106 times greater than
loading become unacceptable, is then determined by Lp,
manganese zinc materials. Furthermore, winding design
Rp, and Rw. Since the reactance of Lp (X = 2π f Lp) is
can be of major importance because of the critical
proportional to frequency, it is usually the determining
nature of winding losses (including skin effects), leakage
factor. The objective is then to choose a core, material
inductance and self capacitance. Again, cooling is often
and winding that will have the highest Lp and Rp at the
a major problem and increasing core size is limited by its
lower frequency while keeping Rw small. To do this,
effect on winding characteristics. It is sometimes helpful
select a material having high permeability and low loss
to assemble the core as a stack or two stacks of a
at that frequency. Choosing a core with a high AL, it
number of smaller toroids since this facilitates cooling,
must be wound so that Lp and Rp are high enough and
and results in a compact winding. Occasionally oil
Rw low enough to meet the insertion loss, VSWR, return
cooling or heat sinking are used to improve heat
loss or loading requirements. At the high frequency cut-
transfer. Material selection is difficult because of the
off, Lp can usually be neglected while Ll and Cd assume
influence of several factors which do not lend themselves
critical importance. These elements depend almost
to analytical prediction. Lacking previous experience with
entirely on the winding and very little on the core. They
a similar design, some guesses will have to be made.
can not be readily calculated, but are minimized by
A good starting point is material having the lowest loss
keeping the winding length and number of turns low. The
factor at the minimum operating frequency. A trial
optimum core is difficult to select since it must balance
design can be worked up using the same core selection
13
 TOROIDS

Design Considerations

these considerations with winding space, ease of If the voltage and inductance are constant the current
winding, integer turns, space limitations and core will rise linearly with time. This produces a drop across
manufacturing constraints. Generally, it is best to choose Zs accounting for droop of the load voltage pulse (eL).
a core with a large OD/ID ratio and the greatest practical In order to minimize droop, L must be made large.
height. For this reason high frequency wide band This can be accomplished by choosing the highest
transformers are often wound on cores found in the permeability material (typically B,T or V material) and
BEAD and MULTI-HOLE sections. largest core practical. To determine the AL value under
There are also techniques covered in the literature on pulse conditions, multiply the sine AL by 1.1. Lp can
winding transformers with transmission lines such that at then be calculated from equation 3. Also, flux density
low frequencies the device operates conventionally as must be considered. Equation 4 may be rewritten:
above. At higher frequencies coupling is via the
transmission line enabling extension of the upper
operating limit.
In this section you will find curves of Xp, Rp and Z
8 7 mTesla

versus frequency for certain cores. This data simplifies It can be seen that flux density rises linearly with time.
material, core and winding selection. With the exception As this approaches the knee of the hysteresis B-H) loop,
of the highest frequencies, these curves may be shifted permeability and inductance start to fall and the current
upward or downward to fit a given application by the begins to rise rapidly (figure 5).
ratio of N2 of the new winding to N2 indicated on the
graph. FIGURE 5

PULSE TRANSFORMERS:
In many ways pulse transformers are a special case of
wide band transformer because the pulse train can be
represented by a number of sine waves of different
frequencies. The turns ratio, though, is usually deter-
mined by voltage or current ratios rather than impedance
matching, so the design approach is governed by pulse
fidelity requirements rather than insertion or return loss.
The equivalent circuit of figure 3 can help illustrate the From equation 3 and 8, you can see that increasing N
elements influencing fidelity. Looking first at the flat top will both raise L and diminish B. However, rise and fall
(low frequency) portion of a rectangular pulse (es), time are limited by leakage inductance(Ll ) and distrib-
figure 4 shows some of the voltage and current wave uted self capacitance (Cd) in the same way as high
shapes. frequency response in a wide band transformer. Therefore,
the number of turns must be balanced between these
FIGURE 4 conflicting requirements. The tools available are higher
permeability and flux density material, and a larger core.
High pulse repetition rate can have two effects. The
dc level represented by averaging the pulses produces
magnetizing force (H) to bias the starting point of each
pulse to the right on the B-H loop (figure 5) . This can
significantly reduce the available flux density. One possi-
ble solution is described under Slotted Toroids. Second,
each pulse traverses a minor hysteresis loop producing
an energy loss. This can cause core heating that will
affect saturation flux density and permeability.
Neglecting the rise and fall portions (high frequencies),
current through Rp is constant during the pulse and SLOTTED TOROIDS:
current through Lp flows according to equation 7. In a number of applications described earlier the design
is limited either by dc current, excessive inductance,
or variability effects of the ferrite. A slot cut through
7 the cross section can sometimes be used to advantage.

14
 TOROIDS

Design Considerations

The effect of the gap is magnified by the material OTHER APPLICATIONS:

permeability according to: Most other uses for toroids are variations on the above
classes. Toroids used for noise or RFI suppression are
9 covered in the BEADS section. If you have a special
problem, Ferronics engineers will be happy to assist you.

Where lm and lg are the path length in the magnetic COATINGS:

material and the gap respectively and, μ is the material Ferrites are hard, abrasive ceramic materials which can
permeability. This can be used to reduce the effect of dc abrade wire insulation films during winding. Ferronics
bias when the le calculated above is substituted into toroids are ordinarily tumbled so that sharp edges are
equation 6. For example 1 Adc flowing through 10 turns rounded. However, if a higher level of insulation
on a core with a path length of 2 cm produces a magnet- protection is desired, a smooth as well as an insulating
izing force (H) of 500 A/m. This is enough to saturate coating can be provided. This coating should be soft
most high permeability materials. Now if a .010" (.0254 to prevent stressing the core upon curing or during
cm) slot is cut and the material permeability is 5000, temperature cycling, have a low coefficient of friction,
the effective path length (from equation 9) is 129 cm. withstand normal environments (including cleaning
The magnetizing force from the dc is reduced to 7.7 A/m solvents) and provide some additional insulation. We use
and the effect of the dc bias is very small. two materials which admirably fill these requirements.
In similar fashion a gap can be used to reduce induc- Parylene® C is used for smaller cores. It is vapor deposit-
tance to the required value when the minimum turns are ed - a process well suited to bulk coating and produces
dictated by flux density considerations. The effective an exceptionally uniform coating normally about .0007
permeability of a gapped core can be calculated from: inches thick. Epoxy is used on larger cores. It is sprayed
producing a variable thickness of about .001-.005 inches,
and has better physical and chemical properties than
10 other choices.
Standard minimum voltage breakdown for both
Parylene®and epoxy coated cores is 500VAC. If a higher
This value of m can be used with equations 1 or 2 to level of protection is required, please consult with our
calculate inductance. It is also apparent from equation engineering department.
10 that as g is increased, relative lm changes in μ will
l
have a smaller effect on μe. This can be used to reduce
changes in inductance caused by permeability variations
due to temperature, flux density, bias, stress, time, etc.
For example, with 5000 permeability material and lg /lm
= .01, a 20% change in μ will result in only a 0.2%
change in μe.
Equations 9 and 10 are exact only when there is no
flux fringing in the gap. This is a good assumption when
A >>l g, but as the gap increases the actual μe will be
greater than the calculated value and actual μe will be
less. More elaborate equations can extend the range of
accuracy somewhat, but with larger gaps some experi-
mentation is necessary. A wide range of slot widths are
available. Consult the factory regarding your application.

Parylene is a registered trademark of Union Carbide.

15