Current sharing between parallel turns of a planar transformer: prediction and improvement using a circuit simulation software

Xavier Margueron (1) , Jean-Pierre Keradec (1) , Abdelhadi Besri (1)

1 G2ELab - Laboratoire de Génie Electrique de Grenoble

With the increase of power needs in low voltage applications, wiring several windings in parallel to sustain large currents becomes common. This operation often has a dangerous impact on transformer reliability because additional currents, we call "circulation currents", create extra losses, generally not taken into account by analytical approaches. Yet, hot points which result from these currents can destroy the component. In planar transformers, windings are made of PCB layers and circulation currents lead to severe unbalance of current sharing between parallel layers. This paper presents an analytical method which enables currents in all layers to be evaluated using only a circuit simulation software such as Pspice® or PSIM®. For a designer, this method is very intuitive and fast compared with the use of fem simulations.

Domaines: Energie électrique

Xavier Margueron, Jean-Pierre Keradec, Abdelhadi Besri. Current sharing between parallel turns of a planar transformer: prediction and improvement using a circuit simulation software. IEEE Industrial Application Society 2007, Sep 2007, New Orléans, United States. ⟨hal-00289169⟩