Inductive power transfer: Through a bondgraph analogy, an innovative modal approach

There is a wide research interest in the field of design and optimization of inductive power transfer systems due to increasing diffusion of sustainable electric powered transportation systems involving the development of both conventional and autonomous ground, air and marine vehicles. In this work authors, focused their attention on a consolidated toy benchmark (a cylindrical inductive pattern fed by a resonant converter), to introduce, test and validate an innovative approach based on the analogy between electromagnetic systems and mechanical ones. In this way, many key features of resonant inductive power transfer systems should be modelled and understood using methodologies previously developed for the study of mechanical vibrating systems and widely adopted for the optimization and control of suspension systems. In this work an example is validated both on a simplified experimental setup and on the corresponding Finite Element model, showing feasibility and advantages deriving from the proposed approach.