1

I. Magnetic Circuit Concept

Magnetic circuit in which flux is guided through high permeability
ferromagnetic material.


H B
R MMF dl H Ni F
ds B
c
s

u
|
=
= = = =
=
}
}

MMF : magnetomotive force

Applying Ampere`s circuital law to the toroidal core
m m
c
l
Ni
r
Ni
H
Ni dl H
=
H
=
=
}
2

S
l
R
m

= : reluctance of the magnetic path

Ni R
P
|
= =
1
: permeance
P
Ni i
N
i
L
N N
= = = =
2 2
| |

001227njh01
S
lm
R

=
l
m
rm
S
H
Ni
: reluctance
Ni
R
S
l
Ni
S H S B
m
= = = =
1
|
2
a)

B
H
b)
BS = u
Ni Hl =
m l
S
p

=
c)
u = N
i
P L
N
2
=
990102chn04

Change from material properties (a) to device properties involves scaling of the
coordinates by geometrical factors (cross-section, magnetic path length ) (b)
and turns ratios c)

II. Magnetic circuit with Air-Gap

1. The reluctance of the airgap
N
i
lm
lg
Ni
R m
R g
a)
b)
990102chn06

(a)Magnetic circuits with air-gap (b) its linear reluctance model

S
l
R
m
m

=
: Reluctance of the core
S
l
R
o
g
g

=
: Reluctance of the gap
g m R R
Ni
+
= |
or
) (
1 1
2
2 2
P P N
P P
N
R R
N
g m
g m
g m
i
i i
N =
+
=
+
= = |

) (
2
P
g
P
m
N
i
Leff = =


3
In practice, the reluctance of the airgap is often much larger than that of the
magnetic path even though
l l g m
>>
, since the permeability of airgap is so much
smaller, that is,

((
o

r o
or
1 (( = =

r
g
m
o
g
r o
m
g
m
l
l
l
l
R
R
S
S


R
m
<<
R
g

P
m
>>
P
g

L=
N
2
(
P
m

P
g
)
N
2
P
g


l
N
l
g
o
g
S
L

2
) ( =

2. Device or Inductance Model



P N L
P N L
g g
m m
=
=
2
2


R
m
<<
R
g

P
m
>>
P
g

Leff
=
L
m

L
g

L
g


3.Effects of Air-gap on the device characteristics

i
N o a i r - g a p
( l a r g e L )
W i t h a i r - g a p
( s m a l l L )
sat
sat
s l o p e = L
IL I' L

V
Lg Lm


4
The saturation is independent of the air gap.
The air-gap decreases the inductance but it enhances the current
handing capacity of the inductor.

Note. If Air-gap exists (Air-gap is increased) ,
1. increase the number of turns (N) to sustain the same value of
L.
2. L is decreased but the range of current that can carry is
increased.

III. Periodic Waveform

To avoid Saturation ,
V Ts
N B S
V Ts N B S
V Ts
B S
N low er it
V
B S f
N low er it
sat sat
sat
sat
sat s
.
.
.
.
( lim )
( lim )
2
2 2
4
4
4
s
s
s
s

V
L
N
S 980103YCY02

t
VTs/2
i
sat
V.dt Li
-
sat
980103YCY02
V
L
Area = VT s / 2
V
-V
Ts/2
Ts
t

5
1. Basic Equation : V Ts N B S sat . s 4
1) When Ts is fixed , the larger B sat
Smaller S & Smaller N
Smaller Core Size
2) When B sat is fixed , the smaller Ts ( the larger fs )
Smaller S & Smaller N
Smaller Core Size

2. Basic Equation : V Ts N B S sat . 4
( V.Ts = fixed , S = fixed )
A : optimal N
Most efficient use of
the core.
optimal design.
B : Small N
Result in Saturation.
C : Large N
Inefficient use of core.
Oversized Core.


3. Flux Balance Condition



A : area of A = area of B

To avoid the flux walking
or Saturation.

A A increase decrease
V t V t 1 1 2 2 . .
Volt-Second Balance




i
sat
C
A
B
980103YCY03

V
L
V
t
1
2
A
B
-V
t2
t1
IL
980103YCY03

6
IV. Inductor Design Using Area Product Approach

1. Electrical Specification

DC current IL is determined from the Load requirement.
Current ripple , AiL determines the value of the inductance.

(EX) Buck Converter


A
A
i
V V
L
t
L
V V
i
t
L
g o
on
g o
L
on
=


=



Here, in general rule #1,
AiL dont exceed 20% of IL
to reduce the output ripple.


Ai
I
L
L
< 0 2 .

Winding Loss(I R
2
) determines the current density J.
Here, in general rule #2, J A cm A cm = 250 1000
2 2
~ ,
the common value is 450 A cm
2
.

2. Design Strategy





S : Cross-sectional area
W : Window-area




VL
iL
t
t
AiL
IL
980104ycy01

W
S
980104ycy01

7
Strategy #1. Full utilization of flux capability.


iL
t
iL

*
IL
*
s l o p e = L
s a t
990102chn05


) 1 (
S
*
B
*
L
I L
N
*
I L S
*
B N
*
) i
2
1
I
*
I (
8 . 0 ~ 6 . 0
* *
I L
L
L L L
s L

=
= =
+ =
= =

A


N : the number of turns.
B
*
: 0.25~0.32[T] for ferrite.
*
L
I : peak inductor current.

Strategy #2. Full utilization of the window area.
) 2 (
*
L
I N J W k =
k : Window utilization factor (0.3<k<0.6)
From (1) and (2) ,

k J B
2
)
*
L
I ( L
*
B N
*
L
I L
J k
*
L
I N
S W AP

= =
AP : Area Product (Energy handling Capacity)
8

3. Inductor Design Steps

1). Pick the core with the area product closest but higher than the one
calculated by :

k J
*
B
2
)
*
L
I ( L
S W AP

= =
B
*
: 0.25[T] for ferrite ( . ) m ax B = 0 25
J : 450 ( / ) A cm
2

k : 0.3
2). Determine the number of turns by :

S
*
B
*
L
I L
N

= ( lower limit )
3). Determine the wire cross-section.
A
I
J
w = and the wire size.
4). Using the mean length per turn data , find the winding loss.
P I R I is rm s value loss =
2
( .)
5). Calculate the air-gap by using :

) P
. 2
N L (
l
S
2
N
L g
g
o
=

=


or more practically adjust the air-gap to obtain the desired inductance.
6). Find the core loss from the core data sheet.
Loss in core I) Hysterisis loss( f, minor loops area)
II) Eddy current loss: neglect in ferrite meterial










9

4. Inductor design example.

When the following values is given by , input voltage : Vg = 12 (V)
output voltage : Vo = 5 (V)
load resistor : R load = 1 (O)
switching frequency : fs = 40 kHz

1) Determining the values of the inductance of L such that
Ai
I
L
L
= 0.2 ,

H L
DT
L
V V
I i s
o g
L in ax L
73
2 . 0 I I m m
~

= = = A

from : # L i A = iL*0.2 = (Vo/Rload )*0.2 = (5/1)*0.2 = 1 [A]
# D = Output / Input = 5 / 12
# Ts = 1 / fs = 25 * 10
-6
[sec]

2) The steady-state waveforms of V t i t L L ( ) , ( ),











V
Vo
L
i
L
+
Vg
+
S
C
Buck Converter
980105ycy01

VL
iL
t
t
AiL
IL=5A
-5(v)
7(v)
ton
ton Ts
980105ycy01

10




[Inductor Design Steps]

1) Pick the core with the area product.

k J
*
B
2
*
I L
S W AP

= = =(73*10
-6
*5.5
2
)/(0.25*450*0.3)=6.54*10
-9

AP = ) ( 10 54 . 6
4 9
m

= W.S = A A cw e .
A cw : Cross-sectional winding area of core.(
2
m )
A e : Effective cross-sectional area. (
2
m )=S
Select PC44PQ26/20Z-12 ; AP=7.188
9
10

Ae=119
6
10

2) Determine the number of turns by ,

) ( 14
5 . 13
6
10 119 25 . 0
5 . 5
6
10 73
*
*
turns N
S B
I L
N
>
~

=

3) Determine the wire cross-section area ,

1 )
2
/ ( 5 . 4 / ) ( 5 )
2
/ ( 450 / ) ( 5 ~ = = = mm A A cm A A
J
I
Aw
Select #16AWG (with Bare Area = ) ( 324 . 1
2
mm )

4) Calculate the air-gap by using ,


g
o
l
S
2
N
L

=

lg = 0.635 (mm)

We can select Core PC44PQ26/20Z-12, and should wind the number of
14 turns as the #16AWG using BE-28-1110CP .
And then , we should the value of L(=73uH) as adjusting the air-gap.



11




[ Winding Loss , Core Loss and efficiency ]

To finding the winding loss (P I R loss =
2
) ,
The resistance of #16AWG wire : ) / (
6
10 8 . 131 cm O

Average length of turns around the bobbin of BPQ26/20-1112CP
bobbin :
l m m w = 56 2 .
Effective resistance of the wire : ) ( 37 . 10 14 62 . 5 10 8 . 131
6
O = ~

m R
P I R l o s s =
2
=
3 2
10 37 . 10 5

=0.259(W)


To finding the core loss from the core data sheet ,


A A
A
A
A
A
A
A

=
=

= =


=
~
=
= =
N B S
B
N S
L
i
s lo p ein the i graph
B m T
B
m T flux density
P W m at C kH z
P P C ore Volum e m W
cv
coreloss cv
75 10
6
41 45
2
20
0 5
3
60 40
2 745
( .)
. ( )
( ) ( )
. ( / ) ( , )
. ( )



For finding the overall efficiency of the inductor :


q =
+

=
P P P
P
o u t p u t c o r e l o s sw i n d i n g l o s s
o u t p u t
( )
. %
100
98 5

12









Inductor design






















(2005. 8. 4)