Performance Evaluation of Fe-Based Nanocrystalline Cores With High and Low Residual Flux

Fe-based nanocrystalline (FE-N) cores are widely used in pulsed-power and power electronic systems. In this paper, FE-N cores with high and low residual flux were tested and compared under single impulses. The loss density and permeability of the two FE-N types are evaluated in the usable flux swing range of ~0.0-1.4 T, and a range of magnetization rates of ~1.0 μs-6.0 T/μs. When the loss density and average relative permeability are evaluated for magnetization from initial point to positive saturation based on the initial magnetization curves, the FE-N with low residual flux has lower loss density and larger average relative permeability than the one with high residual flux under low magnetization rates. The loss density and average relative permeability of the two FE-N types are almost the same values under high magnetization rates. The application of the measured results in magnetic switch design and performance analysis is presented. The presented results of the two FE-N cores can be aided in the practical magnetic designs of magnetic switches, pulse transformers, and inductors, but not restricted to those.