One-way vs. two-way coupled simulation: Investigation of thermal management of wireless power transfer modules for electric vehicles

The thermal management of vehicular wireless power transfer modules featuring a high volumetric power density is a major challenge. Taking into account the interaction of the electromagnetic and thermal field leads to extensive computational effort for a simulative prediction of the thermal behavior. One approach for reducing the required computational effort is the use of one-way coupled simulations. In this context, the presented paper addresses the quantitatively comparison of one-way and two-way coupled electromagnetic-thermal simulation models to predict the thermal behavior of an exemplary vehicular wireless power transfer module. The performed studies show a good consistency of the two-way coupled simulation results compared to the experimental validation, whereas the one-way coupled model predicts overall too low temperatures. Thus, two-way coupled simulation models are therefore recommended for the electromagnetic-thermal dimensioning of wireless power transfer modules for electric vehicles.