3-D-Printed Air-Core Inductors for High-Frequency Power Converters
3-D-Printed Air-Core Inductors for High-Frequency Power Converters
复制标题
用于高频电源转换器的 3D 打印空芯电感器
DOI：
10.1109/tpel.2015.2441005
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发表时间：
2016
影响因子：
6.7
通讯作者：
J. Rivas
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Wei Liang;Luke Raymond;J. Rivas
本文介绍了用于高频电力电子电路的3-D打印空心电感器的设计、建模和表征。使用3-D建模技术来制造无源元件扩展了设计灵活性，并解决了传统工艺的一些制造限制。最近的工作[1]- [9]已经证明了在高频（>10 MHz）开关功率转换器中结合空心电感器的可行性。这些实施方式已经使用了分立的线绕电感器和环形线圈，以及使用印刷电路板迹线或微制造技术来制造空芯电感器的平面组件。然而，这种部件的实现在性能和适用性方面具有限制，包括有利于泄漏场流动的开放路径，以及难以实现最佳横截面以最小化损耗。沿着目前涉及3-D打印技术来制造电感器的努力[10]，[11]，我们提出使用3-D打印和铸造/电镀技术作为简单且可访问的替代方案，其为空心电感器设计增加了灵活性和功能性，用于在中等到高功率下的高频功率转换（例如，几十到几千瓦）和高压（大于100 V）水平。在本文中，我们提出了几个使用3-D打印和铸造/电镀技术实现的空心电感器的例子，以给出可能设计的几何形状的想法。此外，我们表明，这些设计中的一些可以导致改善的电气性能。本文还描述了作者用于设计、制造和表征空心电感器电磁性能的工具。用于生成电感器的3-D支架的软件是免费提供的，并且易于访问。鼓励读者探索更多的几何可能性，可以导致更好的性能与易于制造。随着增材制造的继续发展，我们设想3D打印一个完整的支架结构，在电镀（或铸造）后，它将包含RF开关转换器的所有谐振无源组件。为了实现这一目标，我们提出了一个70 W的原型27.12 MHz谐振逆变器，其中包含了一些为本文开发的3D打印组件。
This paper presents the design, modeling, and characterization of 3-D-printed air-core inductors for high-frequency power electronics circuits. The use of 3-D modeling techniques to make passive components extends the design flexibility and addresses some of the fabrication limitations of traditional processes. Recent work [1]- [9] has demonstrated the feasibility of incorporating air-core inductors in high-frequency (>10 MHz) switching power converters. These implementations have used discrete wire wound solenoids and toroids, and planar components that use printed circuit board traces or microfabrication techniques to make air-core inductors. However, realizations of such components have limitations in performance and applicability including open paths conducive to the flow of leakage fields, and difficulties in achieving optimal cross section to minimize loss. Along with the current effort of involving 3-D printing technology to make inductors [10], [11], we propose the use of 3-D printing and casting/plating techniques as a simple and accessible alternative that adds flexibility and functionality to the air-core inductor design for high-frequency power conversion at moderate to high-power (e.g., tens to thousands of watts) and high-voltage (greater than 100 V) levels. In this paper, we present several examples of air-core inductors realized using 3-D printing and casting/plating techniques to give an idea of the geometries that are possible to design. Moreover, we show that some of these designs can lead to improved electrical performance. This paper also describes the tools used by the authors to design, fabricate, and characterize the electromagnetic performance of the air-core inductors. The software used to generate the 3-D scaffolds for the inductors are freely available and easily accessible. Readers are encouraged to explore more possibilities of geometries that can lead to better performance with the ease of manufacturing. As progress in additive manufacturing continues, we envision 3-D printing of a complete scaffold structure that after plating (or casting) will contain all resonant passive components of an RF switching converter. Toward this goal, we present a 70-W prototype 27.12-MHz resonant inverter that incorporates some of the 3-D-printed components developed for this paper.