Analysis and Optimization of Wireless Power Transfer Efficiency Considering the Tilt Angle of a Coil

Wireless power transfer (WPT) based on magnetic resonant coupling is a promising technology in many industrial applications. Efficiency of the WPT system usually depends on the tilt angle of the transmitter or the receiver coil. This work analyzes the effect of the tilt angle on the efficiency of the WPT system with horizontal misalignment. The mutual inductance between two coils located at arbitrary positions with tilt angles is calculated using a numerical analysis based on the Neumann formula. The efficiency of the WPT system with a tilted coil is extracted using an equivalent circuit model with extracted mutual inductance. By analyzing the results, we propose an optimal tilt angle to maximize the efficiency of the WPT system. The best angle to maximize the efficiency depends on the radii of the two coils and their relative position. The calculated efficiencies versus the tilt angle for various WPT cases, which change the radius of RX ($r_2=0.075m$, 0.1 m, 0.15 m) and the horizontal distance (y=0 m, 0.05 m, 0.1 m), are compared with the experimental results. The analytically extracted efficiencies and the extracted optimal tilt angles agree well with those of the experimental results.