A Multiload Wireless Power Transfer System With Concentrated Magnetic Field for AUV Cluster System

In this article, a multiload wireless power transfer (WPT) system is proposed for the power supply of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) cluster system. The segmented arc solenoid transmitter coil is designed to generate the concentrated magnetic field. The adjacent transmitter coils are reversely wound to form the strengthened magnetic field, which can improve the coupling between the transmitter and the receiver. The proposed coil structure is verified via finite element analysis based on ANSYS Maxwell. The transfer performance is analyzed and it is found that the transfer efficiency can be maximized against the voltage gain under the two-receiver case, which can also be extended to multiple-receiver case. An LCC–LCC compensated multiload WPT prototype was established and the experimental results verified the theoretical analysis and simulations. The output power of each receiver and the system efficiency can reach 500 W and 90% under the different angles between any two receivers.