New Core Loss Measurement Methods

Mingkai Mu, Fred C. Lee,

January 12, 2010

September 16, 2010 1

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Increasing Frequency for High Power
Density
Frequency
10MHz

TI(1A)
Enpirion (9A)

Maxim (3.6A)
TI
(1A)
Maxim (10A)
1MHz

Linear
(8A)

Power-one ( 15A)
Delta (15A)
Year
100kHz
1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010
September 16, 2010 2
Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Core Loss Density vs. Frequency

Explore Higher Frequency

September 16, 2010 3

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Outlines

• Overview
• Existing core loss measurement methods
• Proposed core loss measurement method I:
– For sinusoidal excitation
• Proposed core loss measurement method II:
– For arbitrary excitation
• Conclusion

September 16, 2010 4

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Core Loss Measurement Method 1

c p ⋅ m ⋅ ∆T
P=
dt

Pros
Arbitrary waveform

Cons
•Setup is complex and time
consuming.
•If use winding to excite the
core, winding resistance can
Block Diagram of Closed Type Calorimeter be hardly separated.

*Chucheng Xiao, Gang Chen and .G.Odendaal, “Overview of Power Loss Measurement Techniques in Power
Electronics Systems”, Industry Applications Conference, 2002
September 16, 2010 5
Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Core Loss Measurement Method 2
ω Li

i i
ωC

Choose C to resonant with L at the measured frequency,

so voltage on L and C cancel each other.

1
Pros.
Rc +
Vout − pk jωC 1 Minimize phase error.
= ≈
Vin − pk Rcore + Rcu + Rc ωC ( Rcore + Rcu + Rc )

Cons.
1 Vin − pk
•Hard to exclude winding loss
Rcore ≈ − Rcu − Rc •C value is critical
ωC Vout − pk
*Yehui Han, Grace Cheung, An Li, Charles R. Sullivan† and David J. Perreault, “Evaluation of Magnetic
Materials for Very High Frequency Power Applications”, Power Electronics Specialists Conference, 2008.
September 16, 2010 6
Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Core Loss Measurement Method 3

Equivalent Circuit model

Calculation

iR 1 N1 f
Pcore = =
T T∫ ∫ v (t )v
vm (t )im (t ) dt 2 R (t )dt
Lm N 2 Rref T

*Thottuvelil, V.J.; Wilson, T.G.; Owen, H.A., Jr.; , "High-frequency measurement techniques for magnetic
cores," Power Electronics, IEEE Transactions on , vol.5, no.1, pp.41-53, Jan 1990
September 16, 2010 7
Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Limitation: Sensitivity to Phase Discrepancy

Lm
vR iR

1° discrepancy
For a film resistor of 2 ohm, the ESL is 0.5nH,
which gives 0.9° discrepancy at 10MHz.

% Power Error

Phase angle between

V2 and IR 1° phase discrepancy
Phase angle between V2 and IR
September 16, 2010 8
Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Sources of Phase Discrepancy
Phase Discrepancy

Sample rate limitation

Mismatch between
probes

Pros
Cons
•Exclude winding loss. •Sensitive to phase error. So not suitable
for high frequency core loss measurement

September 16, 2010 9

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Outlines

• Overview
• Existing core loss measurement methods
• Proposed core loss measurement method I:
– For sinusoidal excitation
• Proposed core loss measurement method II:
– For arbitrary excitation
• Conclusion

September 16, 2010 10

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Proposed Method: keep φV-I far from 90°
Equivalent model

Lm

Cr

% Power Error

Phase angle v2=vm 1° phase discrepancy

vR Phaseangle
Phase anglebetween
betweenVV23and
andIIRR
V3 =(v2+vc)
September 16, 2010 11
Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Testing Core Shape and Winding

Toroid Core
• Symmetric, so flux almost evenly distributed

Symmetric winding- turn ratio 1:1

•Effective turn ratio will be very close to 1:1 no
matter the leakage flux
•Less parasitic inter-winding capacitance

Tight winding
•Tight coupling
•Currents are almost perpendicular to the surface
surrounded by magnetic path

September 16, 2010 12

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Current Sensing Resistor and Voltage Probe
Selection
Current Sensing Resistor
Use low tolerance film chip resistor to sense the current through the primary
winding of the transformer.

Multiple sensing resistors in parallel to reduce the phase discrepancy caused

by ESL.
Voltage Probe
The voltage probe should be the same model, and their delay times match
well, to reduce the phase discrepancy caused by different probe delay.

Ll1 Ll 2 Low input capacitance probe

should be used to reduce the
Cr
i1 i2 loading effect.
Lm

1
Cr ω Lm <<
ωC probe

September 16, 2010 13

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Capacitors Selection
Capacitors

Zin>>Rs
C1: DC blocking capacitor

C2: Matching capacitor

Cr: Resonant capacitor.

MICA cap are selected due to low ESR.

September 16, 2010 14

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Measurement Setup
Core material: NiZn ferrite (4F1)
Number of Turns: 14:14
Core Cross section area: A=5.98*10-6m2
Average flux path length: l=7.19 cm
Osc-scope: Tek TDS7054

Hot plate

core under test

immersed in
thermal oil

Power Input Oscilloscope

September 16, 2010 15

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Working Waveform

V3 (cancelled voltage)

V2 (secondary side)

VR (current sensing)

4.2 ° Lm

Cr

The phase angle is moved below 5°

September 16, 2010 16
Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Measurement Result @ 10MHz
4F1 (NiZn Ferrite) @100 °C

Datasheet Result@100°C
+ Without Cap @100°C
。 With Cap @ 100°C
September 16, 2010 17
Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Major Sources of Error

• Phase Error
– This error is reduced using the resonant capacitor.

• Resonant Cap ESR

– An additional resistor is in series with the Rc, Lm, C branch.

• Parasitic Cap
– These parasitic capacitor on secondary side will introduce a
small current on the secondary side.

September 16, 2010 18

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Phase Error Analysis

Error Percentage for different phase Waveform relationship when

angle (1° phase discrepancy) different C values are chosen
% Power Error

100%

1%
°

1° phase discrepancy v2
Phase angle between V3 and IR vR
Acceptable phase v3
angle region

The recommended phase angle is below 30°.

September 16, 2010 19

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Capacitor ESR Error Analysis

As calculated, the equivalent core loss resistor is varying with

flux density.
Rcore (ohm)
1.8
1.6
Equivalent Rcore
1.4
ESR
1.2
1
Lm
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2 Cr
0
0 2 4 6 8
B (mT)

The resonant cap is 2*68pF MICA cap in parallel. The total ESR is about
50mΩ. So this ESR will give 3.3% to 6.4 % error.

September 16, 2010 20

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Error Induced By Parasitic Capacitor

Ll 2

i2 Cp
i1 Lm

Cr

Assume Rcore<< ߱Lm ; R2, ߱Ll2<< 1/߱Cp; ߱Lm<< 1/߱Cp

Pmeasured − Pactual ∫ (v3iR − vm im )dt Lm 2

∆= = ≈ ω R2C p
Pactual ∫ vmim dt Rcore

September 16, 2010 21

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Reduce Parasitic Capacitor Caused Error
Lm 2
∆≈ ω R2C p
Rcore
For Cp=10pF, Lm=2uH, Freq=10MHz, R2=200mΩ
Equivalent Rcore
Rcore 1.8 Error Percentage
2.50%
(Ohm) 1.6 Equivalent
1.4 Rcore 2.00%
1.2
1 1.50%

0.8
1.00%
0.6
0.4
0.50%
0.2
0 0.00% B (mT)
0 2 4 6 8 0 2 4 6 8
B (mT)

Methods to reduce this error.

1. Reduce winding resistance of secondary side.
2. Using low input cap probe and reduce transformer parasitic cap.
September 16, 2010 22
Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Improved Circuit

Ll1 Ll 2

i2 C probe V2
i1 Lm C probe

Cr C probe

Measure the voltage on resonant cap, instead of the voltage

of transformer’s secondary. Benefit:
1. Merge the parasitic cap into the resonant cap.
2. Less loading effect by probe input cap.

September 16, 2010 23

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 NiZn Ferrite Core Loss compared with
Datasheet

Datasheet Result@100°C
Measured Result@100°C
September 16, 2010 24
Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Core Loss Comparison
LTCC 40010, 40011, 40012 and 4F1
4 4
10 10

1.5MHz 3 MHz

4 F 4 0 11
0
4F 40 10

1 01
2

0
2
1 01

40
01
0
1
40
01

40
40
3 3
10 10

Pv (kW/m3)
Pv (kW/m3)

2 2
10 10

1 1
10 0 1 2
10 0 1 2
10 10 10 10 10 10
4
B (mT) B (mT)
10

5 MHz
1

0
01

1 01
40

4F 40

3
10
Pv (kW/m3)

NiZn Ferrite (4F1) 100°C

2
40010 100°C
10
40011 100°C
40012 100°C
1
10 0 1 2
10 10 10
B (mT) * All core loss are measured at 100°C
September 16, 2010 25
Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Outlines

• Overview
• Existing core loss measurement methods
• Proposed core loss measurement method I:
– For sinusoidal excitation
• Proposed core loss measurement method II:
– For arbitrary excitation
• Conclusion

September 16, 2010 26

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Proposed Method II: Arbitrary Waveform

• Solution

Ll1 Ll 2
*

Lm *

When rectangular voltage exerted on the input port, the voltage on the
magnetizing inductor is no longer rectangular, because of the resonant
network of L and C.

September 16, 2010 27

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Using Air Core or Low Loss Core
Transformer’s Magnetizing Inductor
Core under test
Ll1 Ll 2

Air cored transformer or

Low core loss transformer
Using the magnetizing inductance of air core or low loss core to eliminate the error
caused by winding resistance.
September 16, 2010 28
Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Measurement Example: LTCC 40011

LTCC 40011 4F1

Core sample Core sample
Test LTCC 40011 using 4F1

Core loss in 4F1 is much smaller than 40011, so we can use 4F1 as the reference core
to measure LTCC 40011.

September 16, 2010 29

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Measurement Waveforms
Sinusoidal Voltage

V2 (secondary side)

VR (current sensing)

V3 (cancelled voltage)

Ll1 Ll 2

September 16, 2010 30

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Measurement Waveforms
Rectangular Voltage

V2 (secondary side)

VR (current sensing)

V3 (cancelled voltage)

Ll1 Ll 2

September 16, 2010 31

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Core Loss of LTCC 40011
Rectangular Voltage Waveforms of Different Duty Cycles

260

240

220

200

180

160

140
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9

September 16, 2010 32

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Comparison Between
Proposed Method I and II

Method I Method II

Advantages Advantages
More symmetric, low parasitic, so Can measure loss with arbitrary
higher frequency. excitation.

Disadvantage Disadvantage
Can’t measure when excited with More transformers, not symmetric
non-sinusoidal wave (like winding, more parasitic, so lower
rectangular). When input is frequency.
rectangular voltage, the voltage on
the inductor is no longer rectangular.

September 16, 2010 33

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Conclusion

• Two new core loss measurement methods are proposed for

high frequency magnetic materials, which overcome the
shortcomings of existing methods.

• The principle is to cancel the reactive voltage to reduce the

sensitivity to phase error.

• With proper design, the measurement error of proposed

method can be controlled below 10%.

• These two methods are easy to implement and could be the

standard methods for magnetic loss measurement.

September 16, 2010 34

Atlanta
ECCE 2010
 Q&A

Thank you!

September 16, 2010 35

Atlanta
ECCE 2010