Influence of magnetic concentrator on Hall effect based current sensor

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of the paper is to clarify the influence of introducing magnetic concentrators on the performance of Hall effect based current sensors and to obtain dependencies of the sensor characteristics on the conductor position. Design/methodology/approach The finite element method and Comsol software are used for analysis of the three-dimensional magnetic field of the constructions of Hall effect based current sensor with different types of magnetic concentrators – closed-core (of rectangular and toroidal type) and open-core of toroidal type – with additional larger air gap. The Hall plate is also included in the model with its real dimensions and the magnetic flux density is obtained by integrating over its volume. Findings It has been found that there is dependence of the output signal (proportional to the magnetic flux density) of Hall effect based current sensor with both closed- and open-core magnetic concentrators on the position of the current carrying conductor. Distribution of the magnetic flux density and dependencies of its value in the Hall plate on the conductor position and on the additional air gap have been obtained. Optimization is carried out with respect to the additional air gap and cross-section dimensions of the concentrator. Originality/value Estimation of the influence of the introducing magnetic concentrators is made with respect to relationships between the output signal and conductor position for different constructions of the magnetic core of the concentrators.