Reducing ac-winding losses in high-current high-power inductors

Foil windings are preferable in high-current high-power inductors to realize compact designs and to reduce dc-current losses. At high frequency, however, proximity effect will cause very significant increase in ac resistance in multi-layer windings, and lead to high ac winding losses. This paper presents design, analysis and experimental verification of a two winding technique, which significantly reduces ac winding losses without compromising dc losses. The technique uses an inner auxiliary winding, which is connected in parallel with an outer main winding. The auxiliary winding is optimally designed with low ac resistance and leakage inductance to carry the ac current while the outer winding is designed for the large dc current. Detailed analysis and design of a 350 A, 10 kW inductor with the proposed technique are presented with discussions. Experimental results of a prototype 350 A inductor, used in a 10 kW fuel cell dc-dc converter, are also presented to demonstrate the validity of the proposed technique and its superior performance.