Iron loss eveluation of filter inductor used in PWM inverters

This paper presents two methods of loss characterization of filter inductors used in PWM inverters of those developed by the authors, and verifies the results on both methods. The one is a loss-map-method, and the other is an ILA (Inductor Loss Analyzer)-method. The former method is useful for calculating the iron loss in the designing process of the converters, and the latter is useful for measuring the iron loss in a practical setup. By applying both methods, more accurate design and efficient verification will be available in designing high-power converters. Firstly, principles of two methods are briefly described. Next, comparison of both measurement results is made. The measured results were compared also with the one on a high precision power meter, and verified the accuracy of the ILA method. In some conditions, deviation between the loss-map method and the ILA method is observed, and proposed a method to improve the accuracy of loss calculation. An equation to describe frequency dependency of the iron loss with which the loss map method can be combined is also proposed.