In power electronics, magnetic components, such as inductors or
transformers, are one of the main device which raise problems. Reliability
for a large proportion depends on thermal stresses which are not easy to
model nowadays. Moreover, both electrical and magnetic characteristics of
magnetic components strongly depend on the temperature. In this case, it is
very important to determine operating temperatures of such devices, in order
to model correctly the magnetic components.
This paper describes a thermal measurement equipment suitable for thermal
characterization of magnetic components used in power electronics. Such
equipment is essential for developing thermal models. The final aim is to
define easy to use thermal models which are able to provide magnetic
component operating temperatures for both transient and steady state
conditions versus copper and core losses.
The described thermal equipment in this paper is a powerful and original
tool for magnetic component thermal characterization, because without any
device modification, this equipment is able to measure operating magnetic
component temperatures in both static and dynamic modes of testing.
Temperatures are measured with an accuracy of 2 °C or better. Such
accuracy is sufficient for determining steady-state thermal resistance with
few temperature points.