General Characteristics of Magnetic Amplifiers

A general analysis of basic types of magnetic amplifiers without and with feedback is presented in dimensionless form. The use of a simplified approximation of the normal magnetization curve with a hyperbolic sine function permits a comparatively simple treatment of a most comprehensive nature on a purely analytical basis. General dimensionless characteristics are obtained which apply, without need for further calculations, to any kind of design specifications and to any core material of not too abruptly varying incremental permeability. Thus the influence of factors of design and materials on the performance is made evident. This approach also yields a practical method of accounting for the simultaneous conduction of the feedback rectifiers (commutation) in terms of a correction factor which is applied to the feedback ratio. Numerical values of this correction factor are calculated for some significant instances.