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The name derives from the shapes of the circuit  diagrams

The Y-Δ transform, also written Y-delta, Wye-delta, Kennelly’s delta-star transformation, star-mesh transformation, T-Π or T-pi transform, is a mathematical technique to simplify the analysis of an electrical network.

The transformation is used to establish equivalence for networks with 3 terminals. Where three elements terminate at a common node and none are sources, the node is eliminated by transforming the impedances. For equivalence, the impedance between any pair of terminals must be the same for both networks. The equations given here are valid for real as well as complex impedances.