Modeling, Magnetic Design, Simulation Methods, and Experimental Evaluation of Various Powder Cores Used in Power Converters Considering Their DC Superimposition Characteristics

Powder cores have been gaining much attention as one of the attractive magnetic cores used in power converters due to their superior features such as high saturation flux density and their capability to suppress fringing flux due to the distributed airgaps. However, powder cores have a unique feature that the relative permeability of the magnetic core varies depending on the magnetic field intensity. The comprehensive modeling of variable relative permeability, design method of powder cores, and computer simulation methods are not well discussed in the relevant literature. This paper proposes a novel modeling, magnetic design method, and simulation technique considering dc superimposition characteristics of powder cores. The modeling method relies on a simple novel model equation representing the behavior of the variable relative permeability under the dc current superimposition condition, which is helpful to evaluate the performance of powder cores and to properly design various magnetic components. In this evaluation, five different magnetic powder cores are used to show the accuracy and properness of the proposed method. Theoretical analysis has been presented and the effectiveness of the proposed methods has been evaluated through simulation and experimental tests.