A minimum loss inductor design for an actively clamped resonant DC link inverter

The actively clamped resonant DC link inverter (ACRLI) is a well established soft-switching topology, however its resonant inductor is problematic, and is often cited as its primary stumbling block. This paper presents the design and fabrication of a very-low-loss high frequency ACRLI optimised inductor. The low-loss design was obtained by minimising the hysteretic and eddy current loss of the inductor's ferrite cores, and the conduction loss of the Litz wire windings. The inductor was built, including custom Litz wire, with a resulting loss of less than 16 watts, or 0.16% of the total 10 kW inverter throughput. This represents a significant improvement in the current state of the art in ACRLI inductor design and extends the applicability of the ACRLI topology.

[1]  Fred C. Lee,et al.  A high frequency model for Litz wire for switch-mode magnetics , 1993, Conference Record of the 1993 IEEE Industry Applications Conference Twenty-Eighth IAS Annual Meeting.

[2]  A. Schellmanns,et al.  Modeling Litz wire windings , 1997, IAS '97. Conference Record of the 1997 IEEE Industry Applications Conference Thirty-Second IAS Annual Meeting.

[3]  Deepak Divan,et al.  Zero-switching-loss inverters for high-power applications , 1989 .

[4]  Deepak Divan,et al.  System design issues for resonant DC link inverter based drives , 2002 .

[5]  E. Snelling.  Soft ferrites: properties and applications , 1969 .

[6]  Yim-Shu Lee,et al.  Simple approximations of the DC flux influence on the core loss power electronic ferrites and their use in design of magnetic components , 1997, IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron..

[7]  G. Venkataramanan,et al.  Design methodologies for soft switched inverters , 1988, Conference Record of the 1988 IEEE Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting.

[8]  Deepak Divan,et al.  The Resonant DC Link Converter--A New Concept in Static Power Conversion , 1986, 1986 Annual Meeting Industry Applications Society.

[9]  A. Brockmeyer.  Experimental evaluation of the influence of DC-premagnetization on the properties of power electronic ferrites , 1996, Proceedings of Applied Power Electronics Conference. APEC '96.

[10]  A. Brockmeyer,et al.  Frequency dependence of the ferrite-loss increase caused by premagnetization , 1997, Proceedings of APEC 97 - Applied Power Electronics Conference.

[11]  Thomas M. Jahns,et al.  System design considerations for a high-power aerospace resonant link converter , 1993 .

[12]  T. Durbaum,et al.  Calculating core losses in transformers for arbitrary magnetizing currents a comparison of different approaches , 1996, PESC Record. 27th Annual IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference.

[13]  Chas.P. Steinmetz,et al.  On the law of hysteresis , 1984, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[14]  R. D. De Doncker,et al.  Calculation of losses in ferro- and ferrimagnetic materials based on the modified Steinmetz equation , 1999, Conference Record of the 1999 IEEE Industry Applications Conference. Thirty-Forth IAS Annual Meeting (Cat. No.99CH36370).

[15]  M. Bartoli,et al.  Modeling Litz-wire winding losses in high-frequency power inductors , 1996, PESC Record. 27th Annual IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference.

[16]  Charles R. Sullivan.  Optimal choice for number of strands in a litz-wire transformer winding , 1997 .

[17]  Charles R. Sullivan.  Cost-constrained selection of strand diameter and number in a Litz-wire transformer winding , 1998 .

[18]  Jan Abraham Ferreira,et al.  Improved analytical modeling of conductive losses in magnetic components , 1994 .

[19]  Andrew M. Tuckey.  Resonant link inverters for trapezoidal flux electrically commutated machines , 2000 .