This paper analyzes the skin and proximity effects in different conductive nonmagnetic straight
conductor configurations subjected to applied alternating currents and voltages. These effects have
important consequences, including a rise of the ac resistance, which in turn increases power loss,
thus limiting the rating for the conductor. Alternating current (ac) resistance is important in
power conductors and bus bars for line frequency applications, as well as in smaller conductors for
high frequency applications. Despite the importance of this topic, it is not usually analyzed in
detail in undergraduate and even in graduate studies. To address this, this paper compares the
results provided by available exact formulas for simple geometries with those obtained by means of
two-dimensional finite element method (FEM) simulations and experimental results. The paper also
shows that FEM results are very accurate and more general than those provided by the formulas, since
FEM models can…