Optimal DC gapped inductor design including high-frequency effects

DC inductor design has recently drawn the attention of magnetic designers due to the rise in the number of DC-DC power converter applications, such as electric vehicles and renewable distributed generation systems. The design methods found in the literature are highly iterative and make it difficult to assess the design trends and optimize the power converter as a whole. In this paper, the DC gapped inductor design problem is analyzed. A unified inductor model is first developed and a novel inductor design methodology is then proposed. The comprehensive inductor model makes it possible to easily introduce all the phenomena present in the inductor operation in the design process, including winding high-frequency effects and fringing flux in the gap. With this so-called analytical inductor design methodology, the inductor energy density can be maximized while achieving high efficiencies. Finally, an inductor for a fuel cell 2.4 kW-22 kHz boost converter is optimally designed reaching an energy density of 0.61 J/dm3 and an efficiency of 99.04%.