Improvement of the thermal flow with potting structured inductor for high power density in 40kW DC-DC converter

The fluctuations of the battery voltage along with the load profiles make it difficult to increase the power of the traction motor. 40kW dc-dc converter was added to solve these problems. The silicone resin potted high power inductor for boost converters were proposed in comparison with conventional air-cooled inductors. Total volume of inductors could be reduced dramatically by improved thermal flows across the inductor to the water-cooled bottom. Simulations and operating tests for thermal analysis were fulfilled with the 40kW boost converter testing system. The differences of the temperature saturation were analyzed according to the thermal conductivities of potting materials.