A Finite Element Simulation of Nanocrystalline Tape Wound Cores

In this paper a method is presented for comparing the data of numerical simulations for magnetic nanocrystalline tape wound cores with experimental results. Usually, the Finite Element Method (FEM) is applied to calculate magnetic cores with nonconductive bulk models. However, nanocrystalline material is conductive and these models do not describe the electrical behavior. The electrical eddy current behavior of genuine nanocrystalline tape is determined by its thickness of only 18-25 micrometer. Such thin structures cannot easily implemented in FEM calculations of cores. Normally the tape dimension in core simulations is in the range of millimeters. Thus, numerical results cannot be directly compared with measurements. The method for the comparison of FEM simulations to experimental results, which is presented here, relies on an elaborated scaling of calculated data. This improves the interpretation and understanding of the experimental data.