saturable reactor


saturable reactor

[′sach·rə·bəl rē′ak·tər] (electromagnetism) An iron-core reactor having an additional control winding that carries direct current whose value is adjusted to change the degree of saturation of the core, thereby changing the reactance that the alternating-current winding offers to the flow of alternating current; with appropriate external circuits, a saturable reactor can serve as a magnetic amplifier. Also known as saturable-core reactor; transductor.