A New Winding Design Method for Inductors and
Transformers
Murat Kaymak, Zhan Shen and Rik W. De Doncker
E.ON Energy Reasearch Center, Institute for Power Generation and Storage Systems, RWTH Aachen University,
Mathiuestr. 10, 52074 Aachen, Germany, post pgs@eonerc.rwth-aachen.de
Abstract—In this paper an optimal winding design of inductors
and transformers with different winding types is presented. The
winding design is implemented both with iterative algorithm
and analytical expressions. The optimum thickness formula by
Hurley is modified for the use at higher current harmonics
and checked with numerical solutions. A design software tool
with a graphical user interface is implemented to construct
the windings of a medium-frequency transformer at minimal
achievable winding loss intended for a three-phase dual-active
bridge (DAB3) application. Measurements of the transformers
have been performed at a DAB3 platform to compare the
calculations of the design tool.
Index Terms—Winding loss, transformer design, inductor de-
sign
I. I NTRODUCTION
The beneficial design of a high-power dc-dc converter
system relies on the efficiency optimized design at a certain
operation frequency of the medium-frequency transformer
utilized for isolation purposes [1]. Optimization algorithms
are used at given system specifications and requirements to
achieve the best possible efficiency of the medium-frequency
transformer [2] [3] [4]. The utilization of potential core
materials, core types and different winding types are indeed
included in the optimization algorithms, but the efficient
winding arrangement with the geometrical restrictions of the
transformer during the design process are not considered
sufficiently enough [4] [5]. Due to the implementation aspects
of a optimization algorithm, a closed-form analytical solution
is preferred. Numerical methods such like finite-element sim-
ulation (FEM) in 2D or 3D provide precise results but require
more computational time and the winding geometry has to
be defined explicitly in advance requiring preprocessing [6],
[7]. Although conventional methods exist to derive the optimal
thickness or diameter of different winding types [8] [9],
the structure of the winding area during the design of the
transformer is not comprised and estimation errors have been
reported especially at high harmonic content of the current
waveform and higher operation frequencies [3]. Therefore the
objectives of this paper are as follows: 1) Based on the most
accurate analytical approach to determine the resistance factor
Fr of the windings, the accuracy of the optimum thickness
calculation of the windings is improved by modifications of the
analytical formula. The modified Dowell method is selected
as basis for further analytical calculations, since it offers the
highest precision for the regarded application [10]. An iterative
978-1-5090-1815-4/16/$31.00
2016
c IEEE
search of the global minimum of Fr is used as reference.
2) The winding arrangement for different winding types at
given restrictions of the winding area is deduced for minimal
achievable winding loss of both inductors and transformers.
All the presented methods are obtained by analytical calcu-
lations and iterative algorithms. 3) With the derived tools
a graphical user interface (GUI) is implemented to design
an optimal winding arrangement for a low-power medium-
frequency transformer as test object. 4) Measurements on a
three-phase dual-active bridge (DAB3) converter test-platform
with three single-phase medium-frequency transformer are
performed to compare the calculated winding and core loss
to the measured power loss [11].
II. O PTIMUM C ONDUCTOR C ALCULATION
In the following, the calculation method for the derivation
of the optimum conductor is introduced. The ac resistance
factor Fr is valid for both foil and round conductors using
physical parameter adjustment [12]. High frequency effects in
conductors lead to a reduction of its effective conductive area
characterized by the skin depth δ and the penetration ratio
4, where f is the frequency, σ is the conductivity of the
conductor material, µ is the permeability and dw is the foil
or rectangular conductor thickness. In case of non-sinusoidal
current waveforms δ and 4 are used for each number of
harmonic n. Besides, the vertical porosity factor η is applied in
the winding area to account for the packaging coefficient of the
winding, the insulation and the shape of actual foil, rectangular
or round conductors [12]–[17]. Hence a corrected penetration
ratio 400 as well as effective skin depth δ 00 is adopted reported
with convenient precision [12] [18].
r
00 δ 1 1 √ √ dw
δ =√ = √ 400 = nη4 = nη (1)
nη πµσf nη δ
Both skin and proximity effect increase the ac resistance Rac
or rather the resistance factor Fr . The ac resistance factors
Fr,n for each harmonic n is the ac resistance Rac,n in relation
to Rdc . The total ohmic power loss at current Irms,n for n
harmonics can then be stated as
∞
Rac,n 2
X
2
Fr,n = Ploss = Rdc Idc + Fr,n Rdc Irms,n . (2)
Rdc n=1
 Iterative 2,5 2
Analytical Exact ϕ00
1 Exact ϕ00
2
3-order 3-order
2 11-order 1,5 11-order
4 = 1.61 4 = 1.61

ϕ001

ϕ002
200 1,5 1
Rac /Rδ

100 15 1 0,5

10
0 0,5 0
0 0 1 2 3 4 0 1 2 3 4
2 5
4
6 Penetration ratio 4 Penetration ratio 4
8
10 0
Penetration ratio 4 Number of layers m (a) Skin effect factor ϕ00
1 (b) Proximity effect factor ϕ00
2
n = 1

Fig. 1: Resistance factor in relation to 4 of foil winding 10

n = 1 approx
n = 5
n = 5 approx

Reff /Rδ
n = 9
2
Using the effective resistance Reff with Ploss = Reff Irms , n = 9 approx
n = 13
5
equation (2) can be rewritten to [8] [19] n = 13 approx
n = 17
n = 17 approx
∞
X 4 = 1.61

2 2
Idc + Fr,n Irms,n 0 1 2 3 4
Reff n=1 Penetration ratio 4
= 2
. (3)
Rdc Irms (c) Exact value and third-order
approximation of Reff /Rδ
Utilizing the one-dimensional solution of the magnetic field at n current harmonics
in the winding area of the transformer, Dowell developed fol- Fig. 2: Exact and different order approximation of ϕ001 , ϕ002 and
lowing closed-form formula for a winding with m layers [12]. Reff /Rδ

2
Fr,n = 400 [ϕ001 + (m2 − 1)ϕ002 ] (4) The optimum thickness or diameter for all considered types
3 of conductors at constant m and with superposition of all
The frequency dependent variables for the skin and proximity harmonics n is then calculated by:
effect are: s
1 ωIrms
sinh(2400 ) + sin(2400 ) 00 sinh 400 − sin 400 4opt = q 0
(9)
ϕ001 = ϕ2 = (5) 4 5m2 −1 Irms
00
cosh(24 ) − cos(24 )00 cosh 400 + cos 400 45

with v
To account for different conductor types the penetration ratio u X∞
2
u 2
4 is adapted for a round solid conductor with diameter dr to s u Idc + Irms,n
ωIrms
u
= u ∞ n=1
u
√ π dr 0
(10)
4r = η( )0.75 (6) Irms u X
4 δ t n2 I 2 rms,n
n=1
and for a litz-wire strand with strand diameter dstr to
0
where Irms is the rms value of the derivative with respect to
√ π 0.75 dstr time for the arbitrary non-sinusoidal current waveform. In case
4str = η( ) . (7)
4 δ of litz-wire conductors the optimum number of strands kopt
for each bundle at minimum Fr can be given by:
The bundle of litz-wire winding is modeled as a single
winding consisting of kNt turns for the strand wire, each with 9 ωIrms 1
kopt = ( 0 )2 + (11)
homogeneous current sharing I/k in each strand, where Nt (π/4)3 η 2 m2 (dstr(opt) /δ)4 Irms 5m2
is the number of turns and k is number of strands [20] [19]. Here, kopt is only valid for the derivative of dstr(opt) at
Each bundle is approximated as an square shape arrangement constant k. In Fig. 1 the defined resistance ratio Reff of the
of the strands√representing the total number of strand layers exact solution (4) in relation to Rδ is depicted to describe
as Nl,str = km, so m in (4), (8) and (9) changes to Nl Reff over m, 4 and the thickness dw of the foil conductor,
accordingly [21]. where Rδ is dc resistance of a foil conductor with thickness
As a mathematical basis of the optimum conductor derivation, δ. The minimum resistance ratio from iterative searching (red
Hurley’s method (4) is utilized with the approximation of Fr,n line) and from the approximate equation (9) (orange star line)
by Taylor series expansion up to the third-order [8] [19] [21]. are highlighted to derive the optimum conductor thickness
The resulting error is less than 10 % for 4 < 1.2 [8]. and at the same time to show the deviations between both.
(5m2 − 1)n2 4 In the region of 4 > 0.75 and m <= 2 estimation errors
Fr,n ' 1 + 4 4≤2 (8) of the optimum resistance ratio are reported, especially at
45
higher harmonic content the error can be up to 50 % due to Iterative
11th-order approx

the third-order Taylor approximation [3]. One option to avoid Third-order approx

the approximation error is the utilization of look-up tables

for (4) with iterative search. However, for each non-sinusoidal 10
current waveform, it is costly in terms of calculation time.

Reff /Rδ
5 4
Consequently, a more precise analytical expression is to be
3
found to consider the optimization of single-layer windings. 0 2
0
By means of Fig. 2a and Fig. 2b the overestimation range of 0,5
1 1
4 is determined to be from 0.75 to 1.61 with the third-order 1,5
2 0
Number of layers m
approximation of ϕ001 and ϕ002 , which is used for the derivation Penetration ratio 4
of (8) and (9), respectively. The green line corresponds to the Fig. 3: Reff /Rδ of foil winding
border 4 = 1.61 as a result of (9) if the number of layers is
m = 1. Up to this border a high accuracy of (9) is desired The non-sinusoidal current i(t) can be represented by:
to get appropriate results for single-layer windings. The solid
∞
lines are the exact solutions of ϕ1/2 and the dashed lines X
i(t) = Idc + cn cos(nωt + ϕ0n ), (19)
are the different order approximations of the Taylor series.
n=1
Consequently, by Hurley’s third-order approach of (4), the
required precision of (9) is not reached. Furthermore, with The p-th order derivation of i(t) is:
higher current harmonics n, the third-order approximation of  ∞
p+1
X
(−1) ω p
np cn sin(nωt + ϕ1 )

Fr leads to an increasing overestimation error (Fig. 2c) also p
 2
d i(t) 
n=1
for windings with higher number of m. The approximation = ∞ (20)
accuracy of (8) can be easily improved by adding more terms dtp p
X
(−1) 2 ω p np cn cos(nωt + ϕ1 )


of the Taylor series to ϕ001 and ϕ002 . The 11th-order Taylor’s

n=1
series approximation of (4) yields the modified optimum foil
for p as odd or even number, respectively. So the rms value
thickness to improve the approximation accuracy. Below the
of the derivative of the current results in:
derivation of the new expression with more accuracy for non- ∞ ∞
sinusoidal current waveforms and single-layer windings is (p) 2
X n2p c2n X
Irms = ω 2p = ω 2p n2p In2 (21)
given. First taking the 11th-order Taylor’s series approximation n=1
2 n=1

1 3 17 691 Substituting (21) into (18) yields the resistance ratio:

ϕ1 ' 4 − 47 + 411 +o(413 ) (12)
6 2520 2494800 Reff 1
0002
a I 6 411 +b Iω4 47 +c Iω2 43
002 02

= + ω 2
, (22)
1 4 3 16 88448 Rδ 4 Irms
ϕ2 ' + 4 − 47 + 411 +o(413 ),
4 45 4725 638512875 Taking the first derivative of the resistance ratio to zero the
(13) optimum value 4 is obtained:
the ac resistance factor Fr,n will be: 1 2 1
1 (−12a0 c0 + 4b02 − 2b0 Γ 3 + Γ 3 ) 4
2 4opt = 1 1 (23)
Fr,n = 4[ϕ1 + (m2 − 1)ϕ2 ] (14) (6a0 ) 4 Γ 12

3
with
= an6 412 +bn4 48 +cn2 44 +1 (15) √ p
Γ = 12 3a0 18a0 b0 c0 + 4a0 c03 − b02 c02 + 27a02 − 4b03 (24)
where +36a0 b0 c0 + 108a02 − 8b03 (25)
943215m2 − 235631 −21 2
and
a= b = − 85m
18900 (16)
5108103000
I 0002 I 002
c= 5m2 −1
(17) a0 = 11a b0 = 7b (26)
45 ω 6 Irms
2 ω 4 Irms
2
02
Substituting (14) into (3) yields: I
c0 = 3c (27)
ω 2 Irms
2
∞ ∞
X X 0 00 000
2
Idc + a 412 n6 In2 + b 48 n4 In2 where Irms , Irms , Irms are the rms values of the first, second
n=1 n=1 and third-order derivation of the current. The optimum thick-
∞
X ∞
X ness of the foil conductor at third- and 11th-order approxima-
+ c 44 n2 In2 + In2 tion here with sinusoidal current is illustrated in Fig. 3. The op-
Reff n=1 n=1 timum penetration ratio 4 with iterative searching (black line),
= ∞ . (18)
Rdc X with approximation (9) (orange star line) and with 11th order
2
Idc + In2
expansion approximation (23) (red star line) are highlighted.
n=1
For reference, the maximum error |(4real − 4opt )/ 4real | 169
144156
30

Conductors in direction t
between the numerical solution and both approximations of 121132143
100110120130

Reff in Ω
10
∆opt occurs at m = 1 and reduces from 11.4% to 2.6%, 20 81 90 99 108117
64 80 88 96 104
respectively. 10 49 56 63 70 77 84 91
42 54 66 72 78
5 25 35 45 50 55 60 65
0 28 32 40 44 48 52
III. W INDING D ESIGN 15 21 27 30 33 36 39
10 14 16 18 20 22 24 26
10
The optimal winding arrangement is based on the calcula- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
0 0 0 0
tion made in section II with further restrictions of the winding Layers m 0 5 10
Conductors in direction t Layers m
area and defined number of turns Nt resulting from the
(a) Reff for rectangular conduc- (b) Minimum loss arrangement with
general design procedure or optimization, respectively. First, tor arrangement turn number Nt as circle
the winding design is executed with an inductor depicted in
Fig. 4 with fixed core width dc and core height hc . Here in Fig. 5: Comparison for rectangle conductors with different number
of turns Nt
the first step, rectangular and foil windings with height hw and
width dw are presented as an example. Normally, the cross-
section area of the conductor i.e. product of hw and dw is and litz-wire winding are different compared to the previous
determined by the current density, which is predefined by the conductor types. Once the diameter dr of the conductor is
design optimization. Due to (23) the number of layers m has determined by the current density, the shape of the conductor
is fixed, so there is no conductor height as variable anymore.
z Core Within the algorithm only the number of total conductor Nt
x is a sweep parameter, while the core width dc and core height
y 12 m hc are the limiting factors. When Nt is 1, the number of layer
t hw1 m is 1 and the optimum diameter is calculated. Increasing
hc hw2
hw3 Nt step by step, the number of conductor in vertical (y-
2 axis) direction increase. Growing in vertical direction (along
1 dw1,opt y-axis) is more economical than in horizontal direction (x-
dw2,opt
dw3,opt direction). In case of horizontal growing m increases and thus
dc the optimum diameter of conductor decreases. Although the
Fig. 4: Comparison of different winding arrangement 4 is reduced, however, Rdc increases accordingly, so in most
cases Reff increases. The difference between the map of the
to be fixed in advance to determine the optimal thickness of round conductor (Fig. 6b) and the map of the foil conductor
the conductor dw,opt . So the algorithm for the mentioned con- (Fig. 5b) in case of same layer number range 1 < m ≤ 169
ductor types to achieve the optimum value of Reff depends on comes from the beneficial round wire winding arrangement in
the two variables dw and hw resulting in various arrangement vertical direction. Based on the discussion in section II and the
methods depicted in Fig. 4. If hw minus the required insulation investigation of optimal winding arrangement, it is feasible to
to the core is equal to hc foil conductor type is chosen. The design a series inductor for dc-dc converter with the optimum
situation of m layers in Fig. 4 leads to m − 1 possibilities conductor thickness or diameter. On the one hand in some
from occupying only one layer with rectangular conductors to applications foil conductors are an unfavorable choice due to
the use of foil conductors. Commonly there is a trade-off in large parasitic capacitances and on the other hand for round or
the selection of the optimum layer number m between low dc litz-wire winding using the expressions to derive the optimum
resistance Rdc and low ac resistance Rac . Now, by using an diameter (9) (23) is not directly possible due to the number of
implemented iterative algorithm with the shown parameters of layer m as variable. Below, the assumptions for the inductor
the rectangular winding and by using (9) with fixed number
of wire turns Nt , the optimal number of layers m, the optimal 52 65 78 91 104117130143156169
48 60 72 84 96 108120132144
thickness dw,opt and the winding arrangement with the lowest
Conductors in direction t

33 44 55 66 77 88 99 110121
30 40 50 70 80 90 100
Reff in Ω

10
winding loss is calculated. The result is illustrated in Fig. 5. 50 18 27 36 45 54 63 81
16 24 32 56 64
In Fig. 5b only rectangular or foil conductors for a layer 14 21 28 35 42 49
6 12
number range 1 < m ≤ 169 with the lowest calculated Rac 0 5 5 10 15 20 25
4 8
are selected and listed in the map. The corresponding Rac is 3 9 39
10 2 22 26
illustrated in Fig. 5a. In particular the foil winding seems to 10 1 7 11 13
0 0 0 0
have superior performance compared to rectangular conductors Layers m 0 5 10
Conductors in direction t Layers m
in terms of dominating Rdc , but is highly subjected to the
height and width of the core window. So each winding design (a) Reff for round conductor ar- (b) Minimum loss arrangement with
rangement turn number Nt as circle
output is strongly dependent on the core geometry, which is
determined by the superimposed inductor optimization. In the Fig. 6: Comparison for round conductors with different number of
next step, the winding arrangement of square, round solid turns Nt
 x Core
y
z z Core
Core x z 1 2 m
x
y y 1 2 m t0 = 3
1 2 m hc a2
t0 = 3 t0 = 3
a2 hc a1
hc (1 + 2p)dopt
a1
(1 + 2p)dopt dopt
dopt dc
dc dc d1 d2 d3
(a) Design of round winding (b) Design iteration of round Fig. 8: Transformer optimum design with round or litz wire
winding
Fig. 7: Optimum design of round winding If (29) is violated, the process of reducing dr to fit the winding
into the winding area by setting (29) into (28) yields the
design flow with optimum round as well as litz-wire windings adapted number of layers mre :
are stated: q
−a1 + a21 + 4(hcN−2a 1)
(dc − a1 )
• Number of turns Nt is constant; mre =
t
Nt (34)
• Winding window height hc is constant; 2(hc − 2a1 )
• Winding window width dc is constant; and the reduced diameter dr can be expressed by:
• Winding mean length turn lMLT is constant; q
• Insulation distance between winding and core a1 is con- −a1 + a21 + 4(hcN−2at
1)
(dc − a1 )
stant; dr = . (35)
2(1 + 2p)
• Insulation distance between layers a2 is constant;
For round wire winding k = 1 is applied.
• Insulation thickness of single round conductor p is con-
The winding design of the transformer (see Fig. 8) follows
stant;
the same method like the inductor winding design, so an
• In case of litz-wire winding number of strands is constant
iterative algorithm to find the minimum value of power loss
(k = constant).
with the above restrictions is implemented as well. However,
The implemented iterative algorithm follows the procedure the transformer have both primary and secondary windings and
according to Fig. 7 and (Fig. 6b) with checking the geometrical additionally the window width for each winding is not fixed
limits of the winding area. If the limits for instance dc are any more. So, the sum of the primary winding width d1 and
exceeded, the diameter of the conductor dopt is decreased with secondary winding width d3 with constant isolation distance
accepting higher Reff . Another possibility is the derivation between primary and secondary winding d2 leads to the new
of an analytical expression to describe this algorithm without restriction:
utilizing iterative computing effort. In this context, the height: d1 + d3 = dc − d2 . (36)
Nt
hc = (1 + 2p)dopt ·
Secondary winding loss in W

+ 2a1 , (28)
Primary winding loss in W

m
20
and the width restriction for limit checking are defined: 20

10 10
dc ≥ m(1 + 2p)dopt + (m − 1)a2 + 2a1 . (29)
0 1 0 1
0,20,4 0,8 0,2 0,4 0,8
Inserting the optimum diameter calculation formula (9) and (7) 0,60,8 0,4
0,6
0,6 0,8 0,4
0,6
1 0,2 1 0,2
for litz-wire conductors, the optimum number of layers m can
Width ratio Height ratio Width ratio Height ratio
be derived:
r (a) Primary winding loss (b) Secondary winding loss
1 6γ 24 12 comparison comparison
mopt = + + (30)
6 m mγ m Iterative
Analytical

with
Total winding loss in W

√ q
1 20
γ = (108χ42 G2 + 12 3χ22 G 27G2 χ42 + 4 + 8) 3 (31)
10 1
0,8
0 0,6
0,2 0,4 0,4
0,6 0,8
1 0,2
G = 5k (32) Height ratio
Width ratio

and (c) Total winding loss com-

√
4
√ r parison
15 k(1 + 2p)dopt Nt δ ωIrms
χ= √ . (33) Fig. 9: Comparison of transformer winding design
(hc − 2a1 ) η( π4 )0.75 I 0 rms
 TABLE II: Optimum 4 for different m of designed transformer
Layers m 4 Layers m 4
1 1.57 6 0.53
2 0.96 7 0.49
3 0.77 8 0.46
4 0.66 9 0.43
5 0.58 .̇.

Fig. 10: Transformer winding design software with GUI

Fig. 11: Winding design result of GUI
The design procedures for the transformer is also performed
by analytical expressions by using (30) or (34) as well as (35)
are chosen separately, so two different litz-wire windings
for each winding, by sweeping the parameters d1 , d2 and by
with round and rectangular shape are analyzed. The optimum
combining together with the additional restriction:
diameter of each number of layers m for the round conductors
Ptotal = Ppri (d1 ) + Psec (dc − d2 − d1 ). (37) of round and litz-wire is calculated by the method in section II
(see Table. II). In Table III and Table IV the results for the
Both analytical solution and the implemented algorithm results round shape and rectangular shape litz-wire winding by the
are shown in Fig. 9 for the designed transformer in section IV. design software are demonstrated. For rectangular litz-wire
In Fig. 9a and Fig. 9b the results for Reff of the primary and winding, the predicted winding loss is 1.62 W. Due to the
secondary winding with respect to the occupied width ratio inaccuracy of analytical litz-wire calculation formula, the mea-
dratio and height ratio hratio sured total winding resistance at 1 kHz is 24.18 mΩ, slightly
mopt (1 + 2p)dopt Nt (1 + 2p)dopt higher than the optimum calculation result of 19.18 mΩ. For
dratio = hratio = (38) round wire winding, the total winding loss is also estimated to
dc hc mopt
be 1.62 W and the predicted ac resistance at 1 kHz is 19.49 mΩ
of the entire transformer winding area are depicted. In Fig. 9c compared to the measured value of 19.19 mΩ. The calculated
the total loss is derived by (37). The purple surface with high and measured ac resistance Rac matches accurately for round
loss at the edge is obtained by iterative solution and the red conductors. In case of litz-wire winding the porosity factor
surface is obtained by the analytical calculation method. Cor- is very low, so the measured Rac is 26 % higher than the
respondingly, the dark circles are the solution of the optimum optimum result. The transformers are tested under different
analytical calculation and the red stars are the optimum result operation points to verify the calculation methods (Fig. 13a
of the algorithm. Both results show that the optimum width and Fig. 13b). Additional air-core inductances are connected
ratio is 0.5 in case of two windings [19]. The interface between in series with the transformers to achieve the total required
the user and the calculation software is provided by a graphical Lσ . The analytical calculation of the total loss Ptot is given
user interface (GUI) to design the winding area of a medium- by equation:
frequency transformer in a DAB3 application. The results are Ptot = Pc + Pw , (39)
represented there both graphically as well as in values (cf.
Fig. 10). where Pc is the calculated core loss by the Steinmetz equa-
tion [22] and Pw is the ac loss of the windings calculated
IV. M EASUREMENTS
TABLE III: Transformer winding design output (Round Litz)
With the methods described in former section, three single-
phase transformers with amorphous core AMCC 50 and turn Primary side Secondary side
ratio 1/7 for a DAB3 application by using the GUI for Winding type Round Litz Round wire
Number of turns Nt 11 74
optimum winding design is designed and constructed. First, Winding diameter output 75 × 0.286 mm 1.021 mm
with the specifications of Table I, the current waveform of the Winding diameter chosen 75 × 0.355 mm 1.000 mm
DAB3 is calculated. For the primary side litz-wire winding and Number of layer m 1 2
Conductor per layer t 11 44
for the secondary side round solid wire are selected according Winding width 3.716 mm 3.262 mm
to the specifications. Two number of strands k = 75, 144
TABLE IV: Transformer winding design outputs (Rect. Litz)
TABLE I: Design input parameters of the DAB3 circuit transformer
Primary side Secondary side
Parameters Value Winding type Rectangular Litz Round wire
DAB3 output power Pout 540 W Number of turns Nt 11 74
DAB3 input dc voltage Vin 60 V Winding diameter output 144 × 0.206 mm 1.021 mm
DAB3 output dc voltage Vout 380 V Winding diameter chosen 144 × 0.200 mm 1.000 mm
Operation frequency f 1 kHz Number of layer m 1 2
Leakage inductance Lσ 540 µH Conductor per layer t 11 44
Maximum dc input current Iin,max 7.8 A Winding width 3.714 mm 3.262 mm

Secondary side voltage supply
Fig. 12: Transformer measurement platform
14 14
12 Measured 12
Total loss Ptot in W
Total loss Ptot in W
Core
10 Winding 10
8 8
6 6
4 4
2 2
232.26 207.05 194.89 30.47 23.81
Real power Pout in W
(a) Round litz-wire winding (b) Rectangular litz-wire winding
Fig. 13: Measurement results of medium-frequency transformer
by the software. The measured total loss of the single-phase
transformer is compared to the analytical calculations. It is
obvious that the results are in good agreement as depicted in
Fig. 13a and Fig. 13b.
V. C ONCLUSIONS
A software tool with a graphical user interface is realized to
perform an optimal winding design of different winding types
for both inductor and transformer. To achieve accurate results
of the optimum thickness formula by Hurley at higher current
harmonics, the existing analytical expression is modified and
checked with the numerical solution. Measurements have been
done on single-phase medium-frequency transformers operated
in a three-phase dual-active bridge application and compared
to analytical results of the design tool. The calculated losses
give an accurate prediction of the measured winding loss.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work is part of the research conducted in the research
project ”Research Campus Future Electrical Networks Project
2: Equipment and Network Technologies for Medium-Voltage
DC Applications” funded by the German Federal Ministry of
Research and Education (03SF0489).
R EFERENCES
[1] R. U. Lenke, A contribution to the design of isolated dc-dc converters
for utility applications. E. ON Energy Research Center, RWTH Aachen,
Univ., 2012.
[2] G. Ortiz, J. Biela, and J. Kolar, “Optimized design of medium frequency
transformers with high isolation requirements,” in IECON 2010 - 36th
Annual Conference on IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, 2010, pp.
631–638.
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