Impact of the Pad Geometry on System-Level Performance Indicators for IPT Systems in Electrical Vehicles

Inhalt:
This paper deals with the choice of the shapes of the coils of a resonant Inductive Power Transfer (IPT) system for dynamic recharging of electrical vehicles. It investigates the impact of the coil shapes on some relevant system-level performance indicators, such as the voltage gain and the resonant frequency, associated to the variation of the coil coupling factor along the vehicle’s trajectory. A trade-off is found between maximizing the coupling factor and minimizing its variations along the trajectory. The case study here is a dynamic real 85-kHz resonant IPT system, whose reference coil geometry is rectangular. Alternative coil shapes (circular, rounded edges) are investigated, highlighting what are the best options for the specific design optimization targets.