Design with optimization of an interleaved buck converter for automotive application; effect of the EMC constraint

This paper presents a design methodology for an interleaved converter with a focus on the integration of the electromagnetic compatibility constraint. This methodology is based on a multi-physics optimization by considering different constraints impacting this power converter design. The used modeling takes into account the number of cells as a key parameter. The established analytical models to consider all aspect of converter operating in its environment were developed to provide a necessary compromise between the computational time and accuracy. The proposed methodology is applied to an interleaved buck converter for automotive application and addresses the electrical, volume, efficiency, thermal and EMC disturbance aspects. It attends to the optimal architecture converter finding the optimal number of cells and looking for the appropriate active and passive components technologies in the manufacturer´s data base. The aim of the methodology is to eliminate the risk on the converter feasibility considering several significant design specifications.