Coil Inductance Factors

To increase the property of inductance, the conductor can be formed into a loop or coil. A coil is also called an inductor. The first illustration shows a conductor formed into a coil.

Current through one loop produces a magnetic field that encircles the loop in the direction as shown in the first illustration view(A). As current increases, the magnetic field expands and cuts all the loops as shown in view B). The current in each loop affects all other loops. The field cutting the other loop has the effect of increasing the opposition to a current change. These are the coil inductance factors .

Inductance coils.

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Inductors are classified according to core type. The core is the center of the inductor just as the core of an apple is the center of an apple. The inductor is made by forming a coil of wire around a core. The core material is normally one of two basic types: soft-iron or air.

An iron-core inductor and its schematic symbol (which is represented with lines across the top of it to indicate the presence of an iron core) are shown in the second illustration below view(A).

The air-core inductor may be nothing more than a coil of wire, but it is usually a coil formed around a hollow form of some nonmagnetic material such as cardboard. This material serves no purpose other than to hold the shape of the coil. An air-core inductor and its schematic symbol are shown in view(B).

Inductor types and schematic symbols.

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There are several physical factors which affect the inductance of a coil. They include the number of turns in the coil, the diameter of the coil, the coil length, the type of material used in the core, and the number of layers of winding in the coils.

Inductance depends entirely upon the physical construction of the circuit, and can only be measured with special laboratory instruments. Of the factors mentioned, consider first how the number of turns affects the inductance of a coil.

The third illustration shows two coils. Coil (A) has two turns and coil (B) has four turns. In coil (A), the flux field set up by one loop cuts one other loop. In coil (B), the flux field set up by one loop cuts three other loops. Doubling the number of turns in the coil will produce a field twice as strong, if the same current is used.

A field twice as strong, cutting twice the number of turns, will induce four times the voltage. Therefore, it can be said that the inductance varies as the square of the number of turns.

Inductance factors coil length loosely wound.

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The second factor is the coil diameter. In the following illuastration you can see that the coil in view B has twice the diameter of coil view A.

Physically, it requires more wire to construct a coil of large diameter than one of small diameter with an equal number of turns. Therefore, more lines of force exist to induce a counter emf in the coil with the larger diameter. Actually, the inductance of a coil increases directly as the cross-sectional area of the core increases.

Recall the formula for the area of a circle: A = pr2. Doubling the radius of a coil increases the inductance by a factor of four.

Inductance factor (diameter).

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The third factor that affects the inductance of a coil is the length of the coil. The next illustration shows two examples of coil spacings.

Coil (A) has three turns, rather widely spaced, making a relatively long coil. A coil of this type has few flux linkages, due to the greater distance between each turn. Therefore, coil (A) has a relatively low inductance.

Coil (B) has closely spaced turns, making a relatively short coil. This close spacing increases the flux linkage, increasing the inductance of the coil. Doubling the length of a coil while keeping the same number of turns halves the value of inductance.

Coils inductance.

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The fourth physical factor is the type of core material used with the coil. The illustration below shows two coils: Coil (A) with an air core, and coil (B) with a soft-iron core. The magnetic core of coil (B) is a better path for magnetic lines of force than is the nonmagnetic core of coil (A).

The soft-iron magnetic core's high permeability has less reluctance to the magnetic flux, resulting in more magnetic lines of force. This increase in the magnetic lines of force increases the number of lines of force cutting each loop of the coil, thus increasing the inductance of the coil. It should now be apparent that the inductance of a coil increases directly as the permeability of the core material increases.

Inductance factor core material.

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Another way of increasing the inductance is to wind the coil in layers. The illustration below shows three cores with different amounts of layering. The coil in view(A) is a poor inductor compared to the others in the figure because its turns are widely spaced and there is no layering. The flux movement, indicated by the dashed arrows, does not link effectively because there is only one layer of turns.

A more inductive coil is shown in view(B). The turns are closely spaced and the wire has been wound in two layers. The two layers link each other with a greater number of flux loops during all flux movements. Note that nearly all the turns, such as X, are next to four other turns (shaded). This causes the flux linkage to be increased.

Coils of various inductances.

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A coil can be made still more inductive by winding it in three layers, as shown in the last illustration view(C). The increased number of layers (cross-sectional area) improves flux linkage even more. Note that some turns, such as Y, lie directly next to six other turns (shaded). In actual practice, layering can continue on through many more layers. The important fact to remember, however, is that the inductance of the coil increases with each layer added.

As you have seen, several factors can affect the inductance of a coil, and all of these factors are variable. Many differently constructed coils can have the same inductance. The important information to remember, however, is that inductance is dependent upon the degree of linkage between the wire conductor(s) and the electromagnetic field.

In a straight length of conductor, there is very little flux linkage between one part of the conductor and another. Therefore, its inductance is extremely small. It was shown that conductors become much more inductive when they are wound into coils. This is true because there is maximum flux linkage between the conductor turns, which lie side by side in the coil.

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