Piezoelectric non-resonant transformer to measure high voltage

The present paper is based on the research activity carried out at the Poly technic University of Catalunya on the development of a new instrument tran sformer to measure voltages in distributing networks. This novel instrument transformer is presented as a future alternative to the classical electrom agnetic instrument transformer. Such a solution uses piezoelectric material s working in non-resonance to perform the transformation from high voltage to low voltage. The configuration of piezoelectric instrument transformer o f two columns (actuator and sensor columns) was chosen to perform the resea rch. Mechanical, electrical and thermal limits were clearly defined to sele ct the appropriate materials and to determinate the lines of the design to obtain a reliable and precise device. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Limited. Al l rights reserved.