Gyrator-capacitor modeling: a better way of understanding magnetic components

Engineers new to power electronics often find magnetic components puzzling, especially multi-winding devices and integrated magnetics. Gyrator-capacitor modeling offers an alternative way of understanding such components. This tutorial paper begins with a review of the gyrator-capacitor approach, followed by some examples drawn from the field of DC-DC power conversion: a simple choke; a flyback-converter transformer; a pair of coupled chokes (in which the zero-ripple phenomenon is explained); and a two-output forward-converter transformer. Finally, core saturation is modeled by means of nonlinear capacitance and illustrated by SPICE simulation. Gyrator-capacitor modeling offers a unified, logical way of understanding the magnetic components commonly met with in power electronics