Heat Source Analysis of an Induction Heater for an Electric Vehicle

The electric vehicle requires an independent device to generate heat because there is no engine which drives a heat pump. An induction heater is the best solution for heat source due to the characteristic of fast temperature rise by inputting electric power directly. An induction heater generates heat in work pieces made of ferromagnetic material directly by electromotive force from Litz coils in which high-frequency ac voltage is induced. Moreover, in order to generate a higher heat source, the electric power is controlled by an LC resonance converter. For the analysis of the induction heater, it is important to calculate the inductance parameter by analyzing linkage magnetic flux between coils, which are affected by the skin effect in the work pieces. In this paper, the heat source of core loss in the work pieces and copper loss in Litz wire is analyzed by considering the skin effect from the ac voltage source from the LC resonance converter using co-simulation between the circuit and electromagnetic analysis method. Finally, the simulation results are compared with experimental ones for the verification of the proposed analysis method.