Methods and algorithms for behavioral modeling of ferrite power inductors

Abstract

Information technology allows solving numerous problems regarding all the aspects of everyday life, including technical activities related to the design of devices and systems. In the electronic eld, di erent types of softwares are widely used to support designers in solving the problems of electronic cir- cuit design, at device level and system level. Power electronics is one of the most important modern technologies, since power supply systems are used to feed any electric and electronic device and system in manifold applications (e.g. computers, automotive, aerospace, consumer electronics, etc). Switch- ing power supply design is mostly driven by high e ciency and high reliability requirements. The strong non linearity of switching power supplies and the di culty of application of advanced design methodologies often push design- ers to adopt a conservative approach, based on simpli ed robust and reliable methods. This mostly result in sub-optimal design solutions characterized by components oversizing. This dissertation discusses innovative applications of enhanced numerical techniques and intelligent algorithms to power supplies optimization and design. The impact of innovative modeling and computing techniques in the discovery of novel advanced solutions outperforming the traditional conservative designs is emphasized. Power electronics is ever moving towards higher e ciency and higher power density. Magnetic components | inductors and transformers | oc- cupy a signi cant amount of space in today's Switch-Mode Power Supplies (SMPSs), and furthermore, considerable losses occur in these components. In order to achieve a higher level of miniaturization, reduction in the size of these components is crucial. Ferrite Power Inductors (FPIs) are usually the rst choice for high-e ciency designs of SMPS, thanks to their resulting low losses. However, FPIs su er of a pretty sharp inductance drop when their current exceeds a certain threshold, occurring due to the saturation of their magnetic 2 core. In SMPS design, it is commonly considered a good practice to select FPIs operating in the region of weak saturation (within about 20% inductance drop). This limitation is due to the lack of methods for quick prediction of real impact of FPIs saturation in SPMS applications. The consequence of the adoption of such conventional design approach is that inductors are often oversized. … [edited by author]