Recursive inductor core loss estimation method for arbitrary flux density waveforms

Estimating the core losses of magnetic materials is crucial for the electrical, thermal, and mechanical modeling of modern power electronic converters. Thus, there have been a number of methods proposed in the literature to estimate core losses. However, none of the existing works have introduced a method to estimate the core losses for arbitrary flux density waveforms by making use of manufacturer provided loss calculation parameters with a memory efficient algorithm. In this paper, existing core loss estimation methods are reviewed and a novel method is proposed to estimate the core losses under arbitrary voltage excitation by a modification of the improved Generalized Steinmetz Equation (iGSE) algorithm. The novel method is referred to as the Recursive Improved Generalized Steinmetz Equation (RiGSE) and its performance is experimentally verified for arbitrary flux density waveforms. The experimental verification of the proposed core loss estimating method is the only known example in the existing literature in terms of the evaluation of arbitrary flux density waveforms.