Single-winding saturable inductors in airborne secondary power supplies

Аuthors

Shevtsov D. A., Turchenko I. S.^*

Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University), 4, Volokolamskoe shosse, Moscow, А-80, GSP-3, 125993, Russia

*e-mail: i.s.turchenko.ing@mail.ru

Abstract

During last decade foreign manufacturers were displaying an increasing interest in application of modern soft magnetic materials for saturable inductors, used as components of airborne electrical equipment, that was demonstrated in scientific-technical publications.
Nowadays, amorphous and nanocrystalline alloys have such advantages as very narrow hysteresis loop and reduced eddy current losses, lower weight and volume, enhanced stability of magnetic properties, extended operational temperature range in comparison with conventional crystalline materials that make it possible to design saturable inductors with higher operational characteristics.
This fact allows for combining in modern converting devices based on saturable inductors the merits of their traditional magnetic controlled predecessors, such as easy fabrication and high reliability, low level of interferences radiated, and improved weight, size and energy characteristics.
The principle of saturable inductor operation is based on switching between unsaturated and saturated states of a magnetic core. When the core is saturated and the inductor is conducting electric current as the magnetic switch, which is «on». When the core is unsaturated, the inductor is «off».
The single-winding saturable inductor contains only one winding, which is used as an operating one in the first half-cycle of the supply voltage, and as a controlling one in the second half-cycle of the supply voltage. The application of such inductors enables to improve the manufacturability, reliability of the items, and decreases the cost of devices, based on them.
Authors have proposed new circuitries of regulated single-phase rectifying devices, in which the output voltage is controlled by two single-winding saturable inductors, operating in both DC and AC circuits of the rectifier.
The features of the proposed circuitries are as follows:

• demagnetization processes of both inductors are under the control of one controlling element only;
• due to the narrow hysteresis loop, the energy released in controlling element is relatively low;
• edges of the current flowing through the saturable inductor are relatively smooth what reduces the level of interferences radiated;
• single-winding saturable inductor can function as the short-circuit protection for the regulated rectifying device load.

New proposed circuitries of regulated rectifying devices based on single-winding saturable inductors using modern soft magnetic materials allow for designing more efficient devices with improved energy characteristics. In addition, the single-winding saturable inductor is not critical to current and voltage overloads. This fact considerably simplifies the protection system of the rectifying device, based on single-winding saturable inductors.

Keywords:

soft magnetic material, amorphous alloy, nanocrystalline alloy, single-winding saturable inductor, regulated rectifying device

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