Magneto-thermal coupling simulation and experimental verification for a three-winding high-frequency transformer

As a core component of the power electronic transformer (PET) in DC network, the multi-level high-frequency power transformer has received great attention due to the insulation material fatigue problems resulting from the hot-spot temperature rises. To solve this problem, a three-winding high-frequency transformer for 10 kVA PET application is designed and made in the laboratory, and the loss and temperature rise distribution is calculated by means of the finite element (FE) electromagnetic-thermal coupling simulation. The influence of temperature on the hysteresis and loss properties of core material has been carefully considered and measured. The influence of skin effect and end effect on the winding loss is taken into account through the establishing three-dimensional FE model. Besides, the convective heat transfer coefficient is solved based on the principle of heat transfer instead of the empirical coefficient method. By compared with the experimental results, the calculated results are validated to be effective in predicting the loss and hot-spot temperature rises of the transformer.