Thermal Resistance Matrix Extraction from Finite-Element Analysis for High-Frequency Magnetic Components

Abstract

The thermal management of magnetic components for power electronics is crucial to ensure their reliability. However, conventional thermal models for magnetic components are known to have either poor accuracy or excessive complexity. Contrary to these models, the use of Thermal Resistance Matrices is proposed in this paper instead, which combine both accuracy and simplicity. They are usually used to characterize semiconductor devices, but not for magnetic components. The guidelines to apply Thermal Resistance Matrices for magnetic components are discussed in detail. The accuracy of this model is validated by 3D FEA simulations and experimental results, showing an absolute error lower than 5 ∘C and a relative error between −6.4% and 3.9%, which is outstanding compared to the carried-out literature review.

Keywords

• electrothermal effects
• Finite Element Analysis
• inductors
• thermal model
• transformers