A Cost-effective Magnetic Coupler Design with Hexagonal Coils for Electric Vehicle Wireless Charging Systems

Recent engineering investigations tend to focus on the cost-effectiveness of wireless power transfer (WPT) in electric vehicles (EVs). One promising method is to save raw material usage from the magnetic coupler part. LITZ wire is widely used in EV wireless charging systems, which is more expensive than conventional wires. It is feasible to save LITZ wire usage with a delicate magnetic coupler design. This article presents a configurable magnetic coupler to realize constant current (CC) and constant voltage (CV) for wirelessly charging battery-oriented applications. Such a magnetic coupler utilizes hexagonal coils to save raw material usage. Most importantly, the main magnetic coupling between the transmitting and receiving coil can be enhanced. And the undesirable magnetic coupling between the source and receiving coil can be reduced. Simulation validation of coils is conducted through finite element analysis (FEA) with the help of ANSYS Maxwell. Circuit analysis is conducted to verify the CC and CV characteristics theoretically.