What Is Amorphous Metal?
Amorphous metals are solid metal alloys with disordered atomic arrangement, amorphous, glass-like structure.
Ordinary metal solid state for the crystal structure, the atoms are highly ordered arrangement, the existence of grain boundaries.
Amorphous metal is formed through extremely rapid cooling, the atoms remain chaotic arrangement, no grain boundaries, no grain defects.
Special structure gives it excellent soft magnetic properties, is the production of high-performance transformer core ideal material.
What is an Amorphous Core Transformer?
Amorphous steel core transformer is a kind of high-efficiency electrical transformer, which adopts amorphous metal alloy core instead of traditional orientated silicon steel. The key difference lies in the atomic structure of the core material – amorphous steel does not have the rigid, ordered grain structure of a traditional transformer core. This disordered atomic arrangement greatly reduces hysteresis losses, which means less energy is wasted as heat during the magnetisation and demagnetisation cycle.
What makes amorphous core transformers particularly valuable is their significantly lower no-load losses, which typically reduce energy losses by up to 70 per cent compared to standard transformers. This high efficiency is particularly beneficial in application scenarios with fluctuating load demands, such as renewable energy systems – where minimising standby power losses directly translates into long-term cost savings and grid stability.
Characteristics and Working Principle of Amorphous Alloy Cores
Core value of amorphous iron core is to reduce the transformer’s two core losses from the root: hysteresis losses and eddy current losses.
Reduce hysteresis loss
Traditional grain boundaries exist in the silicon steel core, the magnetic field commutation of the grain boundaries produce resistance, in the form of heat dissipation of energy.
Amorphous metal has no grain boundaries and the atoms are arranged in a disorderly manner, so the magnetisation and demagnetisation are smoother and the hysteresis loss is greatly reduced.
Suppressing Eddy Current Losses
Eddy current is a circulating current induced inside the iron core, which is the main cause of heat generation and inefficiency.
Amorphous core is made of an ultra-thin strip of approximately 25 microns, which is only 1/10 the thickness of conventional silicon steel, naturally limiting the formation of eddy currents and significantly reducing heat generation.
Core Magnetic Performance Advantages
High permeability : Easier flux transfer and faster response to current changes;
Low coercivity: Extremely low energy consumption for magnetisation/ demagnetisation cycles, suitable for high-frequency switching scenarios such as smart grids and new energy sources.
Amorphous iron core makes the transformer smoother magnetic conduction, less power consumption and lower heat generation.
Key Advantages of Amorphous Metal Transformer Cores
Compared with the traditional silicon steel core, the advantages of amorphous iron core cover the whole dimension of energy efficiency, cost, life and environmental protection:
No-load loss is extremely low
No-load loss is only 1/4 ~ 1/3 of the traditional silicon steel transformer, 24 hours uninterrupted operation energy saving effect is remarkable.
Smaller volume, lighter weight
Under the same capacity, the volume of iron core is about 75% of the traditional products, installation and maintenance are more convenient.
Low operation and maintenance cost
Less heat generation, strong overload capacity, excellent short-circuit resistance, longer life, lower long-term operation and maintenance costs.
Outstanding environmental benefits
Reduces fossil energy consumption and SO₂ and other pollutant emissions, in line with the dual-carbon target.
Considerable economic benefits
High long-term cumulative energy-saving costs and a significant reduction in the cost of electricity for enterprises.
Applications of Amorphous Metal Transformer Cores
Power Distribution System
Preferred choice of grid distribution transformer, with lower loss from HV to LV, suitable for upgrading and reconstruction of urban and rural power grids.
Electric vehicle fast charging station
Reduce transmission loss and heat generation, avoid high temperature affecting battery life, and support stable operation of high-power fast charging.
Solar Photovoltaic System
Enhance the efficiency of low-voltage photovoltaic grid connection and reduce the waste of energy in the conversion and transmission of light energy.
Data Centre
Accurately regulates the server power supply voltage to reduce overall energy consumption while safeguarding computing power.
High Frequency Electronics
Frequency response is better than traditional iron core, used in high-frequency scenarios such as broadcasting and communication, with low signal loss and high transmission quality.
Manufacturing Process of Amorphous Core Transformers
Production of amorphous iron core is a complex process of high precision, fast cooling and strict control, which is divided into five major steps:
Raw material selection
Amorphous alloy based on iron and nickel, with strict control of magnetic properties, thermal stability and mechanical strength.
Melting and extremely fast solidification
After melting, alloy is sprayed onto a high-speed rotating copper wheel and cooled instantly to form an ultra-thin strip of 20-100 microns, locking the amorphous structure.
Heat treatment and annealing
Eliminate internal stress, optimise permeability, coercivity and other key parameters to stabilise core performance.
Winding and precision cutting
Strip is evenly wound into a core and cut to standard size by laser or precision equipment.
Insulation Coating and Assembly
Coated with epoxy and other insulation layer to prevent corrosion and short circuit, assembled into transformers and passed the stringent quality inspection.
Future Development and Innovations
As the power system is upgraded to high efficiency, intelligence and green, amorphous iron core technology continues to iterate:
New Material Formulation
Research and development of new amorphous alloy with higher magnetic properties and lower loss.
Integration of new power electronic equipment
Adapt to solid-state transformers and high-frequency power converters to improve power density and controllability.
Expanding emerging scenarios
Deeply integrated into energy storage system, smart grid, virtual power plant and other new power infrastructure.
Scale down cost
Manufacturing process optimisation to promote the popularity of amorphous transformers in more areas.
Amorphous metal transformer core as the core of energy-saving transformers, with no crystal boundary atomic structure and ultra-thin strip, significantly reduce hysteresis, eddy current loss, in terms of energy efficiency, life and other aspects of better than the traditional silicon steel core.
It is widely used in power grids, new energy and other fields, and is the key to efficient and low-carbon operation of modern power systems, as well as an important development direction for green energy facilities.
