The primary and secondary magnetic couplers used by an inductive power transfer (IPT) based wireless EV charger are constructed as coplanar coils wound typically using Litz wire on ferrite bases. The cost of these couplers’ accounts for a significant portion of the total system cost. As such, it is advantageous to find ways to reduce the cost of the couplers. One such option is to use cheaper stranded copper or copper sheet/foil windings to replace the expensive Litz wire. However, to-date, no one has looked at the advantages and disadvantages of these options.
This research project, therefore, aims to investigate the impact on efficiency and magnetic performance, of couplers that use stranded copper and copper sheet/foil windings. The students will first conduct FEM simulations using Ansys Maxwell to evaluate the coupling and leakage of each design. A method to estimate winding loss will also be investigated. The findings will be verified experimentally by constructing prototypes and characterizing them under a few realistic operating conditions.
Undergraduate
Expected outcomes are
- Understanding the impact on performance of using cheaper windings
- An experimentally validated model that can predict winding loss
ELECTENG 734
Lab allocations have not been finalised