Transformer core saturation- is this core saturating?

[EddieP]

Please excuse me if this is a very basic question, but I am just hoping someone can enlighten me on something.

I am using the program FEMM to simulate a transformer. Unfortunately, I am unable to find data on the BH Curve of the material I’m using for the core, and I am worried that my simulated transformer might be reaching saturation. I am not too experienced with the program, but I have read that it only indicates saturation in certain circumstances.

When I run the simulation, I can see an image representing the flux density in the core, in Tesla. Flux is shown as different colors - weaker flux density is yellow, stronger is red and pink etc. In this case, the pink is getting close to the saturation point of many materials. My question is this - if the bulk of the core is shown as yellow, i.e. weaker flux density, and only some parts are shown as red to have a higher flux, is it safe to assume the core is not saturating? For example, if around 10% of the core is getting close to what I have arbitrarily deemed saturation level, will the whole core saturate?

Probably something intuitive that everyone knows, but if anyone would like to rid me of my ignorance, I would much appreciate it!

 

[nbryan5]

No, it is not safe to assume that the core is not saturating just because the bulk of the core is represented by a weaker flux density. The way a transformer works is that the flux density can be highest in certain parts of the core while being lower in others. This means that even if only 10% of the core is getting close to saturation level, the whole core may still saturate. It is important to keep an eye on the flux density distribution and make sure that it does not exceed the saturation point for the material you are using.