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Multiphysics Modelling of High-Frequency Inductive Devices

Article · October 2007

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 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Users Conference 2007 Grenoble
Multiphysics Modelling of High-Frequency Inductive Devices
M. Jungwirth*,1 and D. Hofinger1
1
University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, Campus Wels
* Stelzhamerstrasse 23, 4600 Wels, Austria, m.jungwirth@fh-wels.at
Abstract: An application-based modelling and
simulation scheme for high frequency inductive
devices using COMSOL Multiphysics® 3.3 is
presented. The effects of power loss in power
transformers, e.g. winding and core losses, are
described, modeled and simulated employing an
iterative multi-field coupling scheme. Simulation
and measurements of temperature rise in the
transformer core are consistent. A system
simulation comprising voltage source,
transformer and discrete electrical components
such as resistors, inductors and non-linear
elements (e.g. diodes) is performed. Two
different transformer winding-schemes are
compared using transient current simulations.
Keywords: Multi-field coupling, Inductive
devices, Power loss, Combined simulation,
Optimization.
1. Introduction
Nowadays, the demand for an optimal design
of products has increased dramatically in the
international market all over the world. In most
cases, the design process of mechatronic
components is lengthy and costly. The still
widely used experimental-based design exhibits
many disadvantages. Mainly it is very time-
consuming, since for each change in the design a
new prototype has to be fabricated and the
relevant parameters have to be measured.
In the design of high frequency inductive
devices, e.g. power transformers, performing
multi-field simulations of electromagnetical,
thermal and possibly structural field interaction
is inevitable. For an optimal design of such
devices one has to understand the mechanisms of
losses within the device and the interaction with
electrically connected components.
In practice some energy is dissipated due to
the resistance of the windings (known as
winding or copper losses) and due to magnetic
effects mainly attributable to the core (known as
core or iron losses). Furthermore, the interaction
of the transformer with its surrounding electrical
components like resistors, inductors and non-
linear elements, e.g. diodes, is important to find
an optimum operation for the whole system.
This paper is based on a practical
configuration of electrical source, transformer
and connected electrical components as for
example can be found in modern switched-mode
power supplies. As a first step we concentrate on
the power transformer and its winding losses. An
example of two different winding layer
configurations will demonstrate the proximity
effect and its consequence. To account for the
core losses, an iteration-based multiphysics
approach is employed and compared to
temperature measurements. Finally, the whole
system consisting of transformer and electrical
components is processed in a combined Finite-
Element / discrete component (SPICE)
simulation using COMSOL Multiphysics® 3.3.
In this simulation the effect of interleaving
primary and secondary winding layers is shown
by the comparison of net-currents over time.
2. Winding Losses
A major part of the total losses in power
transformers operating at high frequency is
produced in the windings. Due to the high
switching frequency, skin- and proximity effects
cause serious additional power loss compared to
low frequency transformers [1]. The rising of the
operation temperature evolved from the induced
eddy currents limits the range of application. The
proximity effect and in particular the multi-layer
proximity effect plays an important role in the
reduction of power loss in windings. To reduce
the winding losses it is relevant to understand the
related physics in order to look for an optimal
design.
2.1 The Multi-Layer Proximity Effect in
Transformer Windings
The proximity effect is the mutual influence
of two or more conductors carrying electrical
current. In transformers this effect is remarkable
because of the close-packed conductors and has
to be considered in the structure of the windings.
For an optimal transformer design it is essential
 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Users Conference 2007 Grenoble

to estimate the induced eddy currents in order to example shows the influence of the multi-layer
minimize the loss of power. proximity effect and how it can be reduced by
The magnetic flux inside a transformer can interleaving primary and secondary winding
be separated in two components, the mutual flux layers.
and the leakage flux. The mutual flux, which is
evoked by the magnetizing current in the primary 2.2 Reduction of winding losses
winding, is large compared to the leakage flux,
because it encloses inside the highly permeable The arrangement of the windings influences
material of the magnetic core and is linked with the power loss due to the multi-layer proximity
the primary and secondary winding. The leakage effect. To clarify this effect two simple winding
flux is caused by the load current, does not link schemes as shown in figure 2 and figure 3 are
both windings and goes through the core window compared.
(see figure 1).
lw
Sec. Layer 2

Sec. Layer 1

Pri. Layer 2
Pri. Layer 1

MMF(r)

Figure 2. Winding scheme 1

Figure 1. Transformer configuration with winding

layers, currents, magnetic flux and MMF-diagram

This leakage flux causes the multi-layer

proximity effect. For simple winding structures
the leakage flux can be found by applying
Ampere’s Law as shown in figure 1. For such
winding structures, the field lines of the leakage
flux have only a vertical component and
therefore the magnetic field strength H is solely a
function of the radial distance r. If the magnetic
field inside the core window is known, the eddy Figure 3. Winding scheme 2
currents in the conductors can be calculated. For
sinusoidal waveforms and one dimensional Both winding schemes consist of a primary
winding arrangements this can be done and secondary winding with two copper foil-
analytically [2]. For more complex winding turns each. The ‘Azimuthal Induction Currents,
structures, e.g. two dimensional arrangements, Vector Potential (time harmonic analysis)’ FE-
analytical solutions are hard to find. application mode is used to model this axially
Employing numerical methods like the symmetric winding structure. The loop potentials
Finite-Element (FE) method it is possible to for the winding subdomains are coupled with
calculate the magnetic field and the current additional ODEs in order to model a voltage
density distribution for any arbitrary winding source on the primary side and a load resistor on
structure and current shape. The following
 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Users Conference 2007 Grenoble

the secondary side. The conditions for two loop

potentials are:
VPr i1 + VPr i 2 = V IN
VSek 1 + VSek 2 = I Sek1 RLoad
In order to ensure the same current flow in
each foil turn of the primary winding (and
respectively the secondary winding) the
conditions for the remaining loop potentials are:

I Pr i1 = I Pr i 2
I Sek1 = I Sek 2
To show the multi-layer proximity effect, the
thickness of each foil is large compared to the
skin depth. Figure 4 shows the current density
distribution normalized to the peak value of the
load current. In primary layer 1 and secondary
layer 2 the current penetrates only the inner side
of the conductor, thus just one skin depth of the Figure 5. Normalized Current Density of winding
conductor thickness is utilized. scheme 2

3. Core Losses

Core or iron losses can be split into

hysteresis- and eddy current losses. Hysteresis
losses are related to the energy loss in each
alternating-cycle of the magnetic field in the
ferrite core. Whereas induced eddy currents
cause resistive heating in the ferrite core. [3]
The main parameters of core losses are the
magnetic flux density B, the operating frequency
f and the temperature T. A well known and
frequently used analytical method calculating
core losses is the equation of Steinmetz [4]. In
our work we have combined an enhanced
Steinmetz equation, the Ridley-Nace equation
(equation 1), with a Finite-Element Model to
predict the core losses, the heat distribution and
the temperature rising in an iterative procedure
Figure 4. Normalized Current Density of winding as shown in Figure 6.
scheme 1
Temperature

Primary layer 2 and secondary layer 1 show Time

Harmonic
T
Simplified
an eddy current flowing in the opposite direction. ELECTROMAGNETIC
SIMULATION B RIDLEY-NACE Transient
THERMAL
SIMULATION
Equation
Because the conductor is thick compared to the Magnetic
Flux Density P
skin depth, this eddy current will increase the Power
Dissipation
power loss by five times compared to DC. The Figure 6. Iterative multi-field simulation procedure
influence of these eddy currents can be reduced
by interleaving primary and secondary layers as Pv = af (α + b ) B ( cf + d ) g (T ) (1)
shown in figure 3 and 5. Placing the secondary
layers between the primary ones, the eddy
current vanish and the power loss reduces
considerably (see figure 5).
 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Users Conference 2007 Grenoble
The parameters of the Ridley-Nace equation
have been found by curve fitting of power loss
measurements provided by the manufacturer.
The core losses Pv depend on the magnetic
flux density B, the frequency f and the
temperature T as given in equation 1. Where a, α,
b, c, d are material dependent constants and g(T)
represents the temperature dependency of the
ferrite material.
These effects do interact with each other and
it is necessary to solve the coupled partial
differential equations of heat flux (Fourier law)
and magnetic field (Maxwell equations).
Because the reluctance of the magnetic loop
is mainly determined by the air gaps, the
temperature dependency of the core material is
negligible. The magnetic field in the transformer
is solely given by the magnetization current of
the primary winding. If the temperature of the
core is kept constant, one can omit the secondary
windings in the simulation, which is equivalent
to an open-circuit loading.
Figure 7. Geometry setup with different domains
Due to the symmetrical shape of the
transformer a reduction in simulation complexity
is possible using three planes of symmetry as
shown in Figure 7. This reduces the simulation
effort to one eighth compared to the original
design.
For the simulation procedure a harmonic
magnetizing current is used as input for the
primary winding. The ‘Quasi-Statics, Magnetic
Induction Currents’ application mode is used.
This current produces a steady-state magnetic
field which varies over position. The thermal
simulation is running in the transient mode with
a certain initial.
Now the power loss density is determined for
each position using the Ridley-Nace equation
(see equation 1) with the input parameters
magnetic flux density B and temperature T.
Further on, this is used as heat source Q for the
thermal simulation, where the heat is dissipated
by natural convection and radiation using the
‘Heat Transfer by Conduction’ model. This
iteration is performed for every time step until it
reaches its state of equilibrium.
In figure 8 the verification of our simulation
procedure with measurements is shown. The
temperature change over time at the
measurement point is consistent.
Figure 8. Verification of simulation and measurement
4. Circuit Simulation
High frequency transformers are the heart of
modern switching converters. The physical size
of the transformer depends on the power to be
transferred as well as the operating frequency. In
the design process numerical circuit simulation
tools, e.g. SPICE, are used to simulate the
electrical behaviour of switching converters.
This process is based upon application specific
design parameters as the power to be transferred,
the voltages on primary and secondary side, the
operation frequency etc. As a next step one has
to find the unknown parameters of the power
transformer model. Measurements can assist to
identify the electrical characteristics, but they are
often difficult to perform, because of the high
currents and strong magnetic field surrounding
the transformer. Manufacturing various
prototypes is essential, but costly. Using a
combined simulation of the FE-model including
discrete components is less time consuming,
reduces the number of prototypes and gives a
better insight into the physics.
The transient behaviour of the transformer
FE-model inside the electric circuit is modelled
using the ‘Azimutal Induction Currents, Vector
 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Users Conference 2007 Grenoble

Potential’ FE-Application Mode. Figure 9 shows there is an interleaving of the primary and
the circuit of discrete components (SPICE- secondary windings.
model) and the transformer (FE-model).

ROFF
RShunt
G
FE
RPri1 RSec1 D1 LChoke
N = 20

N=5

VIN RPri2
RLoad
N = 20

N=5

RSec2 D2
Figure 10. Winding configuration A and B

Figure 9. Typical system configuration As shown in figure 11, the primary current of
configuration A does not split-up equally on both
In the FE-model the windings consist of litz windings. This is due to the multi-layer
wires to avoid eddy currents [5]. Since litz wires proximity effect as described in chapter 2. In
are made of many twisted single copper strands, configuration B, the primary current is divided
the current distribution inside the wire is nearly equally on both windings (see figure 12).
assumed to be uniform. This is taken into In this case the power loss is about half
account by using a uniform external current compared to configuration A.
density in the litz wire subdomains. The
resistance of the litz wire is modelled as discrete
resistors (RPri1,2 and RSec1,2). Eddy currents on
strand level are neglected.
In figure 9, Vin represents the typical primary
voltage of a switching converter circuit. The
transformer secondary voltage is rectified and
smoothed using the diodes D1, D2 and LChoke. The
electrical load is represented by the resistor
RLoad. The circuitry of the discrete components is
represented as a SPICE netlist and included into
the COMSOL model by the SPICE import script.
The generated ODEs representing these elements
have to be modified to handle multiple Figure 11.Primary currents over time in
configuration A
input/output ports as given in our example.
Using the standard SPICE model of a diode,
problems in convergence occurred. Therefore,
we used a simplified mathematical model as
shown in figure 9 for the diodes D1 and D2. In
this model the gain of the current source G is a
function of the voltage across the resistor RShunt.
The resistor ROFF is used to guarantee a certain
voltage on the resistor RShunt in the reverse region
of the diode.
As an example, two different winding
configurations as shown in figure 10 are
compared. The two configurations differ from
each other in the arrangement of the parallel Figure 12. Primary currents over time in
configuration B
connected primary windings. In configuration B,
 Excerpt from the Proceedings of the COMSOL Users Conference 2007 Grenoble

This example demonstrates the influence of

different winding structures which is considered
in the combined simulation, but can not be
observed in a stand-alone SPICE simulation.

5. Conclusions

In this paper, a multi-field simulation of a

power transformer working at high frequencies
was presented. Winding and core loss
mechanisms were described, modeled and
simulated by demonstrating various examples. A
combined simulation of an FE-model and a
circuit with discrete components was carried out
with COMSOL Multiphysics® 3.3.
The usefulness of using FE-simulations in
the design process of power transformer systems
was confirmed by the good agreement of
simulation with measurement.

6. References

1. Küpfmüller, K. et. al, Theoretische

Elektrotechnik, 16. Auflage, Springer, Berlin
Heidelberg New York (2005)
2. Dowell, P.L., Effects of eddy currents in
transformer windings, Proceedings of the IEE,
Vol. 113 No.8, 1387–1394. (1966)
3. Kampen, D. Weichmagnetische Werkstoffe,
Institut für Antriebstechnik, Leistungselektronik
und Bauelemente, Bremen (2004)
4. Ridley, R and Nace A., Modeling Ferrite Core
Losses, Switching Power Magazine, (2006)
5. Sullivan, C., Optimal Choice for Number of
Strands in a Litz-Wire Transformer Winding,
IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, Vol.
14 No.2, 283 - 291 (1999)

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