This paper describes an analytical-numerical method for the skin and proximity effects in a system of two parallel conductors of circular cross section—a system very frequently encountered in various applications. The magnetic field generated by the current applied on each conductor is expressed by means of vector magnetic potential and expanded into Fourier series. Using the Laplace and Helmholtz equations, as well as the classical boundary conditions, the current density induced due to the proximity and skin effect is determined in each conductor. The resulting current density is expressed as a series of successive reactions. The results obtained are compared with those obtained via finite elements. Although the paper is theoretical, the considered problem has a practical significance, because transmission lines with round conductors are universally used. Besides, the results can be used to estimate errors when only the first reaction is taken into account, which gives relatively simple formulas.

This paper presents a semi-analytical method for determining the distribution of the thermal field in a system of two parallel round conductors, taking into account the skin and proximity effects. The method of a suitably constructed Green’s function was applied to find an analytical expression for the eigenfunctions describing the temperature distributions. In turn, the relevant integrals, which cannot be determined analytically, were calculated numerically. The foundation of the method is the knowledge of the current density distribution in the conductors. As a result, the steady-state distribution of the temperature field in the conductors for various parameter values can be determined. The obtained numerical results were positively verified using the finite element method. Using the developed method, the share of skin and proximity effects in the temperature rise and steady-state current rating was evaluated. Closed analytical formulas were obtained for the AC case with the skin effect taken into account. When the skin depth is smaller than the wire radius, the skin effect has quite a large impact on the conductor temperature. The impact of the proximity effect is much smaller but clearly noticeable when the distance between the wires is smaller than five times the wire radius. In addition, the influence of the value of the heat transfer coefficient on the thermal field of the conductors was also examined.

Devices for electric heating of railroad turnouts are elements of the railway infrastructure protecting railroad turnouts against blocking them by snow and ice in winter. They often operate based on the principle of resistance heating but other solutions are also emerging. In this paper, one of such new solutions using the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction was presented and tested under various conditions. In comparison with traditional resistive heaters, the inductive ones offer heat distribution directly to ice and snow without intermediation of rails. Moreover, they can use a wide range spectrum of frequency to shorten the melting time. The resistive and inductive devices were tested with respect to melting time, temperatures and energy consumption. It follows that the induction-based device offers much lower energy consumption at a level of 30%–60% of that by resistive heater. The details depend on frequency used, initial temperature and number of induction devices of action assumed equivalent to the resistive one. Inductive heating of turnouts also offers shorter times of operation, which are obtained for frequencies in the range 40–70 kHz. The inductive device was also tested with respect to magnetic field levels around it to assess its possible influence on nearby infrastructure.

Hysteresis loops constitute the source of important information for the designers of magnetic circuits in power transformers. The paper focused on the possibility to interpret the phenomenological T(x) model in terms of effective field vs. magnetization dependence. The interdependence of anhysteretic curve and hysteresis loops was emphasized. The concept of the anhysteretic plane introduced at the end of the last century by Sablik and Langman was subject to a tangible interpretation within the hyperbolic model framework. A novel geometric interpretation of the “effective field” related to the concept of affine transformation was introduced. It was shown in the paper that minor hysteresis loops of grain-oriented electrical steel may be described with the proposed formalism.

Power and communication lines with round wires are often used in electrical engineering. The skin and proximity effects affect the current density distribution and increase resistances and energy losses. Many approaches were proposed to calculate the effects and related quantities. One of the simplest approximate closed solutions neglects the dimensions of neighboring wires. In this paper, a solution to this problem is proposed based on the method of successive reactions. In this context, the solution with substitutive filaments is considered as the first approximation of the true solution. Several typical arrangements of wires in single-phase communication lines or three-phase bus ducts are considered to detect the limits of applicability of the first approximation. The error of the first approximation grows with wire radius to skin depth ratio and wire radius to wire spacing ratio. When the wire radius to skin depth ratio is up to 1, and the gap between the wires is above the wire radius, the error is at a level of 1%. However, lowering the distance and/or skin depth leads to a much larger error in the first approximation.