Losses and thermal considerations on an IPOS structure with 20kW high-frequency planar transformers

Nowadays power electronics is looking for more integrated and compact insulated DC/DC converters. Electrical machines, like transformers, have a fundamental role in those kinds of converters. One of the main integration issue is the thermal aspect due to the power losses. Moreover, in an insulated DC/DC converter the bulkiest device is the transformer. Based on the high frequency power application the adopted transformer could be planar or litz wounded technology. In this work a single phase planar transformer for high power application has been investigated. An IPOS structure connecting many planar transformers has been performed to cope with the limitations that a single component gives. An experimental set-up adopting a SiCH-bridge power module feeding the different transformer structure. A power losses comparison among different structures has been realized. Indeed, the comparison is made connecting the H-bridge to a: single phase planar transformer, IPOS with 2 transformers, IPOS with 5 transformers, IPOS with 6 transformers and IPOS with a 10 transformers. The paper proposes thermal simulations for the IPOS made by 10 transformers and experimental results.