Design of a Patterned Soft Magnetic Structure to Reduce Magnetic Flux Leakage of Magnetic Induction Wireless Power Transfer Systems

A soft-magnetic-metal-based shield structure was designed to reduce magnetic flux leakage in magnetic-induction wireless power transfer systems. Soft magnetic metals have the advantages of high permeability and low magnetic loss, but have the disadvantage of high power loss owing to eddy current that is induced on the surface as a result of low-insulating characteristics. In order to solve this problem, a patterned soft magnetic metal was used to cut the route of the induced current. This decreases the power loss and reduces the leakage of magnetic field. A soft-magnetic-metal-based structure that has various patterns was designed to find the optimal structure for reducing the leaking magnetic field. By applying this structure to Wireless Power Consortium commercial A10 coil, the inductance, transfer efficiency, and magnetic flux leakage of the coil according to the material and the structure of the soft-magnetic-metal-based structure were observed. Fabrication and measurement tests were performed to verify the proposed structure, and it was found that the test results corresponded to the simulation results. It was confirmed that the proposed structure had a 84% thinner thickness compared with that of a conventional ferrite shield, an equivalent transfer efficiency of 74.5%, and a reduction in magnetic flux leakage of 20.9%.