Thermal Design of High-Energy-Density Wound Components

This paper presents an alternative computationally efficient approach to the thermal design of compact wound components. The method is based on the use of anisotropic lumped regions within 3-D thermal finite-element analyses. The lumped regions replicate the multimaterial composites used in the construction of wound components. Material data for these lumped regions are obtained experimentally, accounting for the thermal anisotropy. Input loss data for the analysis were derived by combining electromagnetic finite-element iron loss calculations with experimental ac copper loss correlations. The technique is applied to a design of a high-energy-density filter inductor. Thermal measurements from prototype inductors are compared with the theoretical predictions showing a good agreement.