Sizing Your Power Converter's Magnetics (Part 1): Inductor Power Rating With Fixed Input Voltage
by Dennis Feucht, Innovatia Laboratories, Cayo, Belize, How2Power Today, Apr 18 2016
Focus:
When designing inductors and transformers for PWM-based power converters, engineers may rely on
published formulas or design tools provided for a specific topology to determine the power
rating of the power magnetic component. But a more analytical approach gives designers greater
insight when the objective is optimizing the magnetics design for size, efficiency, cost or
other goals. The methods of analysis described in this series are applicable to inductors and
transformers for the three PWM-switch configurations and their derivatives. With this approach,
the rating of the inductor or transformer can be determined at the start of the inductor
design. Here in part 1, the author derives the design formulas for determining the power rating
of the power inductor used in each of the three PWM switch configurations in cases where input
voltage is fixed.
What you’ll learn:
- How to calculate the required power rating and therefore size of a power inductor for a given PWM switch configuration when input voltage is fixed
- How to determine the required power rating of an inductor at the start of an inductor design
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