Design of Inductor

Inductor value: The first step towards the inductor design is to find out the value of L for the
𝑑𝑖
particular application. The Faraday’s equation 𝑒 = 𝐿 is used to find the value of L
𝑑𝑡
for any circuit. This equation is best suited for switched mode applications. For
circuits based on resonant frequency and the Q of the circuit etc.. So depending on
the type of application and the configuration of the circuit, the value of L has to be
arrived at.

Area Product: The energy to be handled by the inductor core is given by

1 2
𝐸= 𝐿𝐼𝑚 ... (1.1)
2

where, E is the energy in joules, L is the inductance in Henrys and 𝐼𝑚 is the peak
inductor current in amps.

The window area of the core should accommodate ‘N’ turns of wire cross-section
area ‘a’. Thus,

𝐾𝑤 𝐴 𝑤 = 𝑁. 𝑎 ... (1.2)
𝐼
But,𝑎 = , where 𝐼 is the rms current through the inductor in amps and 𝐽 is the
𝐽
current density in A/mm2. So the equation (1.2) can be rewritten as
𝐼
𝐾𝑤 𝐴 𝑤 = 𝑁.
𝐽

Defining crest factor 𝐾𝑐 as

𝐼𝑚 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘
𝐾𝑐 ≡ = , and substituting for 𝐼, we have,
𝐼 𝑟𝑚𝑠

𝐾𝑤 𝐾𝑐 𝐴𝑤 𝐽 = 𝑁. 𝐼𝑚 ... (1.3)

From the Faraday’s equation, we have

𝑑𝑖 𝑑𝜙 𝑑𝐵
𝑒=𝐿 =𝑁 = 𝑁𝐴 𝑐 and
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

𝐿𝐼𝑚 = 𝑁𝐴 𝑐 𝐵𝑚 ... (1.4)

Substituting the equation (1.4) the equation (1.1), we have

1
𝐸 = 𝑁𝐼𝑚 𝐴𝑐 𝐵𝑚 ... (1.5)
2

Substituting for 𝐼𝑚 in equation (1.5) from (1.3) and rearranging, we have the Area
Product core given by,
 2𝐸
𝐴𝑝 = 𝐴𝑤 𝐴𝑐 = 𝐾 ... (1.6)
𝑤 𝐾𝑐 𝐽 𝐵𝑚

As there is only one winding, 𝐾𝑤 can be chosen as 0.6

The core can be chosen by comparing the area product value obtained from
equation (1.6) with the core datasheets.

No. of turns: The number of turns can be calculated from equation (1.4), which can be rewritten
as

𝐿𝐼𝑚
𝑁= ... (1.7)
𝐴 𝑐 𝐵𝑚

Gauge of wire: The cross-section of the wire can be calculated from formula,

𝑎=𝐼 𝐽 ... (1.8)

The gauge of the wire can be decided by comparing the calculated wire cross section
from the equation (1.8) with Wire Size Table

Air gap, 𝑙𝑔: The air gap is used to reduce the core size

From the Faraday’s equation, we have,

𝑑𝜙 𝑑𝑖
𝑒=𝑁 =𝐿 , we have
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

𝐿𝐼
𝐵= ... (1.9)
𝑁𝐴𝑐

𝜙
where 𝐵 =
𝐴𝑐

from Ampere’s Law, we have

𝑚𝑚𝑓 = 𝑁𝐼 = 𝐻. 𝑑𝑙, which gives rise to

𝑁𝐼
𝐻 =𝑙 where 𝑙𝑚 is the mean magnetic path length
𝑚

𝑁𝐼
so, 𝐵 = µ ... (2.0)
𝑙𝑚

Equating equations (1.9) and (2.0), we have

𝑙𝑚 𝑁2
= ... (2.1)
µ𝐴 𝑐 𝐿

𝑙𝑚 𝑙𝑐 𝑙𝑔
is the reluctance of the magnetic path which can be split into +
µ𝐴𝑐 µ 0 µ 𝑟 𝐴𝑐 µ 0𝐴 𝑐

where 𝑙 𝑐 is the mean magnetic path in the magnetic material, m

𝑙𝑔 is the air gap length, m

 𝐴 𝑐 is the core section, m2

If the material is of high permeability one, then the reluctance is contributed mainly
by the air gap, so

𝑙𝑐 𝑙𝑔
≪
µ0 µ𝑟 𝐴𝑐 µ0 𝐴𝑐

so the equation (2.1) can be rewritten as,

µ 0 𝑁2 𝐴𝑐
𝑙𝑔 = 𝐿

In calculating 𝑁, 𝐵𝑚 is assumed, which may not be the exact 𝐵𝑚 in the core, so the
air gap calculated may not be exact. So in many cases, value of 𝐿 may have to be
trimmed by slightly adjusting the air gap.

Summary
 Determine L for particular application
 Calculate Area Product
1
𝐸= 𝐿𝐼𝑚2
2

2𝐸
𝐴𝑝 = 𝐴𝑤 𝐴𝑐 = 𝐾
𝑤 𝐾𝑐 𝐽 𝐵𝑚

Choose core

 Calculate the number of turn

𝐿𝐼𝑚
𝑁=
𝐴 𝑐 𝐵𝑚

 Determine gauge of the wire

𝑎=𝐼 𝐽

Choose wire gauge

 Cross check

The inequality 𝐴 𝑤 𝐾𝑤 > 𝑎 ∙ 𝑁 should be satisfied, or else repeat the calculations for
the number of turns and gauge of the wire after choosing the next bigger core.

Note that the value of ‘a’ should be the actual cross section area of the wire used
and not the calculated value.

 Calculate air gap length 𝒍 𝒈

µ 0 𝑁2 𝐴 𝑐
𝑙𝑔 =
𝐿