Material savings using coupled inductors in hard switched power-electronic building blocks: Modeling and experimental validation

A full-bridge power-electronic building block using an inverse coupled inductor (CI) is presented which could substitute standard hard switched inverter legs. In contrast to commercial CPU supplies using CIs, the system is operated at full duty cycle range 0...1 at elevated power levels and shows experimentally proven material savings. The mathematical modeling leads to a volume comparison between single inductors (SIs) and coupled inductors using E-cores. An outlook is given on CIs based on tape-wound cores.