Transformer and Series Inductance Integration
for Harmonic Filtering in PWM Inverters Based
in a Simple Design Procedure
J. Pleite, V.Valdivia, P. Zumel, C.Gonzalez
J. Pleite, V. Valdivia, P. Zumel, C. Gonzalez
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain
Abstract— PWM inverters are widely used in different power
electronics applications. PWM waveforms have a harmonic
content which should be filtered, typically based on LC
topologies. If a transformer is required, the leakage inductance
can be used as a series inductance for the LC filter.
This work proposes an easy procedure for the integration of
the series inductance for harmonic filtering inside the
transformer, while the value of the leakage inductance can be
determined by design.
Index Terms—integrated magnetics, inverters
I. INTRODUCTION
Inverters in power electronics usually work with PWM
waveforms which have a high harmonic content. This
harmonic content should be filtered due its annoying effects
(losses increasing, load malfunction, EMI noise, etc). In single
stage solutions, low frequency approach is required. An LC
filter implementation is shown in figure 1a as an example of
this application.
Figure 1a solution can be improved if a magnetic
integration is carried out (figure 1b), in order to decrease both
the overall volume and weight.
Additional series inductor
Transformer
C
INVERTER + + +
VPWM VSIN VOUT
- - -
PWM waveform Sinusoidal waveform
(a)
Integrated transformer and series inductor
C
INVERTER + +
VPWM VOUT
- -
PWM waveform Sinusoidal waveform
(b)
Figure 1 Inverter coupled with a transformer through an LC filter
Magnetic integration has been widely used in the last years
in power electronic applications, principally DC/DC
converters. The size, weight and cost of ferromagnetic cores
are considerable. The number of these elements, needed in the
converter, can be reduced using this technique. Thus, it is
useful to design coupled inductors, integrated transformers,
and integrated inductor and transformer [1-4].
In this work, an easy and accurate design process of the
1-4244-0755-9/07/$20.00 '2007 IEEE
integrated transformer and inductor based on leakage
inductance is presented. In this solution, only a gapped leg is
needed (less radiated EMI), and no winding is placed around
its (less copper losses due to proximity effect caused by
fringing flux).
II. BASIC APPROACH
The filter inductor L is series connected with the
transformer, which means that L and the leakage inductance of
the transformer are series connected. The natural leakage
inductance of the transformer usually has a very low value
respect to that filter inductor and can be neglected for filtering
purposes. However, if this value could be increased, the use of
an additional inductor could be avoided. There are 3 major
questions when using the leakage inductance as the filter
inductance:
• The inductance value must be high enough.
• The inductance value must be easy to design. The leakage
inductance can be obtained using advanced simulation
techniques such as Finite Element Analysis, but these
techniques are not available for every designer.
• The inductance value should be repetitive in a
manufacturing process, so it should be controlled by design.
The proposed integrated magnetic component overcomes
these requirements. The presented work is focused on a 3-leg
core shape. Figure 2 shows an example of the proposed
integrated magnetic component, while figure 3 represents its
equivalent reluctance model.
The key point is that the magnetic flux Ɏ3 implies the
existence of a leakage inductance which value can be
determined by design, because its magnetic path is closed
trough the magnetic core. Primary winding is divided in two
sub-windings (N11 and N12): one of them (N12) is in the same
leg that the whole secondary winding (N2) and the other
subwinding (N11) is placed in an ungapped independent leg.
Considering that the whole flux is confined within the core,
there is no significant leakage inductance in the secondary
winding N2, because the whole secondary flux Φ 2 is shared
with the N12 primary winding. However, there is a part of the
primary flux (Φ 3) that is not shared with the secondary
winding, and therefore there is a significant leakage
inductance in the primary winding. The magnitude of Φ 3 can
be controlled by means of the air gap thickness.
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 1 § ℜ3 · V/
Tr = ·¨¨ N 11 + N 12 ¸¸ = 1 (7)
The goal of the following analysis is finding simple N2 © ℜ1 + ℜ 3 ¹ V2
equations to determine the primary leakage inductance and the
transformation ratio (V’1/V2) of the equivalent circuit shown And Ll is the leakage (series) inductance:
2
in figure 4. N 11
Ll = (8)
Primary winding (N 11 turns) Secondary winding ℜ1 + ℜ 3
(N 2 turns)
Φ1 Φ3 The magnetizing inductance can be easily calculated,
i1 i2
Φ2 +
assuming that the leakage inductance of the secondary
+
V2 winding (the energy not shared with the primary winding) is
V1 -
negligible. Thus, the magnetizing inductance referred to the
- Air gap secondary winding is:
2
N2
Lm = (9)
Primary winding (N 12 turns) ℜ ·ℜ
ℜ2 + 1 3
Figure 2 Integrated magnetic component ℜ1 + ℜ 3

III. COMPONENT MODELING Leakage Inductance Ll

The equivalent magnetic circuit of the integrated magnetic i1 i2
component shown in figure 2 can be observed in figure 3, + + +
V1 V’1 V2
where ℜ1, ℜ2 and ℜ3 are the reluctance of the different
- - -
magnetic branches of the core, N11•I1, N12•I1 and N2•I2 are the
magnetomotive forces created by the windings. Magnetizing
Transformation ratio Tr Inductance
Φ1 Φ3 Figure 4 Electrical equivalent circuit

Φ2 The equivalent electric circuit corresponding with (6) is

ℜ1 ℜ2 ℜ3
represented in figure 4. Note that the highest value of the
+
+ leakage inductance is obtained when there is no air gap. The
N 2 ·I 2
N 1 1 ·I 1 thicker the air gap, the higher the transformation ratio and the
N 1 2 ·I 1
lower the leakage inductance.
+
The reluctances ℜ1 and ℜ3 can be expressed as a function
Figure 3 Reluctance model
of the air-gap thickness, providing more useful expressions
The relationship between Ɏ3 and Ɏ2 can be obtained from from a designer point of view. Thus, ℜ1 and ℜ3 are:
figure 3 as follows:
leff 1 leff 2
ℜ N I ℜ1 = , ℜ2 =
Φ 3 = −Φ 1 1 + 11 1 (1) Aeff ·µ0 ·µr Aeff ·µ0 ·µr
ℜ3 R3 (10)
Taking into account that Φ3= Φ1+Φ2, equation (2) can be leff 3
ℜ3 = ℜ + ℜ( gap ), ℜ =
' '

Aeff ·µ0 ·µr

3 3
obtained:
ℜ3 N 11 I 1
Φ 1 = −Φ 2 + (2) Where leff is the effective legth of the reluctance defined by
ℜ1 + ℜ 3 ℜ1 + ℜ 3
the external leg of the core (ℜ1), Aeff is the effective area of
On the other hand, V1 and V2 can be easily obtained from ℜ1, µr is the relative permeability of the core material, and
the Faraday’s law: ℜ(gap) is the reluctance of the air gap thickness.
dΦ 1 dΦ 2 A accurate calculation of ℜ(gap) can be found in [9] which
V1 = N11 − N12 (3)
dt dt proposes (11).
dΦ 2 1 (11)
V2 = − N 2 (4) ℜ( gap) =
dt ªω 2§ Π ·º
Applying equation (2) in (3) yields to equation (5): µ0 « c + ¨ 1 + ln cc (cc − ωc ¸ »
¬ la Π © 2la ¹¼
ℜ3 · dΦ 2
§ N 11 dI
V1 = −¨¨ N 11 · + N 12 ¸¸· 2 + · 1 (5)
ℜ1 + ℜ 3 ¹ dt ℜ 1 + ℜ 3 dt
© cc , ωc and la are geometric parameters of the core which
Finally, applying (4) on (5), expression (6) can be deduced.
can be identified in figure 5.
dI dI
V1 = Tr ⋅ V 2 + Ll 1 = V1/ + Ll 1 (6)
dt dt
Where Tr is the transformation ratio:

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 TABLE 1. COMPARISON BETWEEN TRANSFORMATION RATIO OBTAINED FROM
FEA SIMULATIONS AND CALCULATION RESULTS
wc Gap Transformation ratio
(µm) Calculated FEA Error %
la 0 0,667 0,667 0,09
200 0,532 0,532 0,05
400 0,519 0,519 0,08
cc 600 0,514 0,514 0,10

Figure 5 Air gap parameters TABLE 2. COMPARISON BETWEEN LEAKAGE INDUCTANCE VALUES OBTAINED
FROM SIMULATIONS AND CALCULATION RESULTS
If the permeability of the magnetic core is high enough, the Primary leakage Secondary leakage Ll 2
expressions of the electrical parameters of the integrated inductance, Ll1 (mH) inductance, Ll 2 (mH) Ll1 %
magnetic (figure 4) component became simpler. If Gap Calcu- FEA Error FEA

(leff 3 +leff 1 ) µr <<lgap , expressions (7), (8) and (9) can be written
(µm) lated %
0 0,902 0,920 1,09 0,002 0,03
200 0,217 0,223 2,55 0,002 1,02
as follows:
400 0,131 0,138 5,16 0,002 1,42
N2 Aeff ·µ0 ·µr Aeff ·µ0 600 0,097 0,104 7,59 0,002 1,71
tr = ; Lm2 = N22 ⋅ ; Ll = N112 ⋅ (12)
N11 + N12 leff 2 + leff 3 lgap
TABLE 3. COMPARISON BETWEEN MAGNETIZANTION INDUCTANCE VALUES
OBTAINED FROM SIMULATIONS AND CALCULATION RESULTS

Those equations allows to design the proposed magnetic Gap Magnetization inductance (referred to secondary winding) (mH)
(µm) Calculated FEA Error %
component following and easy procedure. 0 2,252 2,467 8,72
200 1,528 1,625 6,00
IV. SIMULATION RESULTS 400 1,468 1,559 5,82
600 1,534 1,446 5,75
Simulations using FEA (finite element analysis) have been
carried out in order to check the proposed approach to design
Ll1 simulated Ll1 calculated
integrated magnetic components. An E42/21/15 Ferroxcube Lm2 simulated Lm2 calculated
core with a relative permeability µr=2300 has been simulated, 3
according to the winding arrangement described in the 2,5
previous section with N11=20, N12=20, N2=20. Equation (13) 2
L(mH)

has been used in order to obtain the transformation ratio, once 1,5
Ɏ1/Ɏ2 relation was obtained from the FEA simulation. 1
N2
Tr = (13) 0,5
Φ
N 12 + N 11 ⋅ 1 0
Φ2 0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Magnetic fields obtained from FEA simulations have been gap(um )

processed to determine the magnetizing inductance, the
leakage inductance of the primary and secondary windings,
and the transformation ratio. The method followed is
presented in [5], [6] and [7]. In all cases, simulations were
made under no saturation conditions.
On the other hand, simple calculations according to the
proposed design method ((7) and (8)) have been carried out in
order to obtain the primary winding leakage inductance and
the transformation ratio. Tables 1 and 2 and Figure 6 show all
the data obtained for different air gap thicknesses, comparing
Figure 6. Leakage inductance and magnetizing inductance.
In table 1, is possible to see that the difference between
analytical and simulation results is less than 0,1%. The
transformation ratio can be obtained through an analytical way
with great accuracy.
0,8
0,6

the FEA results with the simple calculation values obtained 0,4
tr

through the proposed method. 0,2

The reluctances for the proposed design approach have been 0
obtained from the geometrical data and material properties 0 100 200 300 400 500 600

provided in the manufacturer datasheet. As predicted above, gap(um )

the maximum leakage inductance and the minimum Figure 7. Transformation ratio.
transformation ratio are obtained for the minimum air gap
thickness. From table 2, different conclusions can be observed:
• Secondary leakage inductance can be neglected respect
the Primary leakage inductance.
• The error is reasonably low. In this case, an air gap length
of 1,4% of the total column length corresponds with a

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 7,6% error. This difference is mainly due to “fringing core material is M0H oriented grain with a plate thickness of
flux” effect. 0,23mm.
• The bigger the gap length, the grater the error. 300

Table 3 shows the value of magnetization inductance. The 2

difference between analytical and simulation results is close to
5% in all the cases. A B C

180
300
Two plots are displayed in Figure 8. The first one shows the
difference between primary leakage inductance values
calculated analytically and the simulation values. The second
60 60
plot shows the same results for magnetization inductance. Dimensions in mm.
Depth = 80mm.

Figure 10 Core designed. Dimensions.

Error Ll1(%) Error Lm2 (%)

50
In this work, no size optimization was developed. In the
next future, this final step will be carried out in order to obtain
40
an optimized model which will improve the overall size of the
30
system
%

20 The HP419A impedance analyzer was used to obtain the

10 inductance values. Open and short circuit test results are
0
shown in table 4.
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
gap(um ) TABLE 4. SERIES INDUCTANCE VALUES OBTAINED IN SHORT CIRCUIT AND
OPEN TESTS . TR = 1.
Figure 8. Differences between calculated values and FEA results for N11=110,N12=310,N2=400 L(mH) L(mH)
magnetization and series inductance values. 100Hz 1500Hz
Secondary open 1070 703
In conclusion, integrated magnetic components can be Primary open 1040 740
designed with a simple analytical process, without needing the Secondary in short circuit 31 15
use of FEA techniques.
The model has been provided with various connections
V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS (figure 9) that allow adjusting the transformation ratio and the
series inductance. Changing the voltage ratio is possible in
Once the analytical design method has been verified using
order to evaluate the leakage inductance of each winding
FEA techniques, a real magnetic component has been
separately (table 5).
designed in order to obtain a validation based on experimental
results. TABLE 5. SERIES RELUCTANCE VALUES OBTAINED MODYIFING WINDING
The lab prototype (figure 9) is part of a distributed TURNS. SECONDARY IN SHORT CIRCUIT TEST.
generation system which supplies up to 1 kW. The input is a N12=350, N2=460 N11=110, N2=460 N11=110, N12=350
N11 L(mH) N12 L(mH) N2 L(mH)
PWM signal whose fundamental harmonic is 50Hz, and its 100Hz. 100Hz. 100Hz.
switching harmonic is 1500Hz. The system has been designed 110 31,5 350 31,5 460 31,5
in order to filter the switching frequency harmonics, and to 100 26,2 340 31,3 450 31,2
obtain a 1:1 transformation ratio (input-output voltage ratio) at 90 21 330 31 440 31
the fundamental frequency.
In table 5, it is possible to see that most part of the series
inductance is due to N11 winding. Thus, the previous
calculated results predicting that the majority of the leakage
flux path is closed into the core have been verified.
Comparison between experimental measured values and
analytical values are presented in table 6.

TABLE 6. COMPARISON BETWEEN EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENTS AND

ANALYTICAL VALUES.
Experimental Analytical value Difference
measured value (mH) (%)
(mH)
Lm 1070 1370 22
Ll 31 24 23
Figure 9. Built prototype. Differences between theoretical and real value of the
The core dimensions are shown in figure 10. The length of magnetization inductance are mainly due to:
the air gap is about 0,7% of the total length of the column. The

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 • Permeability of the material. 4
10
• Effective length of the magnetization flux path.
• Effective surface of the magnetization flux path. 3
10

Amplitude (Vp)
However, magnetization inductance value is stronger 2
10
enough and this error is not critical for our purposes.
On the other hand, the measured series inductance is bigger 1
10
than the analytically calculated. That difference is mainly due
to the fringing flux and the natural leakage flux of the 0
10
windings, and was perfectly expected.
-1
10 0
In figure 11 it is presented the transfer function Vout/Vin in a 10 10
1
10
2
10
3 4
10
frequency sweep, measured with an impedance analyzer under Frequency (hz)
(a)
no load working conditions, and with an external capacior of 5
10
10uF parallel connected in the secondary winding (figure 1b).
4
10

Amplitude (Vp)
3
10

2
10

1
10

0
10

-1
10 0 1 2 3 4
10 10 10 10 10
Frequency (hz)
(b)

Figure 13. Vin (a) and Vout (b) harmonic content.

An attenuation of 33dB is obtained at switching frequency

(1500 Hz). A negligible amplification of 0,8dB is measured at
50Hz. In these working conditions, the component has an
efficiency of 94%.
Figure 11. Measured Bode Diagram of Vout/Vpwm. ( magnitude and phase).
VI. CONCLUSIONS
A simple approach to design integrated magnetic
Figure 11 represents the transfer function of a second order
components has been presented. This approach is useful in
low ದ pass filter. cases such as an inverter coupled with a transformer through
an LC filter. Integrating the L filter component with the
Finally, in figure 13a and 13b are presented input Vin and transformer allows the designer to determine the value of the
Vout Fourier Transform, respectively, in full load working leakage inductance in the transformer, avoiding additional
conditions shown in figure 12 (“CF” vaule is 10uF). inductor filter.
The simple proposed analytical design process is accurate
Magnetic Load
enough and makes FEA techniques unnecessary.
Vin CF Vout
Inverter Integrated 1 kW Experimental results exhibit a good agreement between
Components 220Vrms
analytical values and experimental measures.
Figure 12 Component integrated in the distributed generation system.
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