Efficiency Optimization with a Novel Magnetic-Circuit Model for Inductive Power Transfer in EVs

The technology of inductive power transfer has been proved to be a promising solution in many applications especially in electric vehicle (EV) charging systems, due to its features of safety and convenience. However, loosely coupled transformers lead to the system efficiency not coming up to the expectation at the present time. Therefore, at first, the magnetic core losses are calculated with a novel magnetic-circuit model instead of the commonly used finite-element-method (FEM) simulations. The parameters in the model can be obtained with a one-time FEM simulation, which makes the calculation process expeditious. When compared with traditional methods, the model proposed in the paper is much less time-consuming and relatively accurate. These merits have been verified by experimental results. Furthermore, with the proposed loss calculation model, the system is optimized by parameter sweeping, such as the operating frequency and winding turns. Specifically, rather than a predesigned switching frequency, a more efficiency-optimized frequency for the series-parallel (SP) compensation topology is detected and a detailed investigation has been presented accordingly. The optimized system is capable of an efficiency that is greater than 93% at a coil separation distance of 200mm and coil dimensions of $600mm{\times}400mm$.