An Open-Source FEM Magnetics Toolbox for Power Electronic Magnetic Components

Abstract:
The design of magnetic components is one of the most crucial tasks in the development of power electronics. While there are excellent open-source FEM (finite-element method)-simulation tools that are script controllable, there is a lack of toolboxes that can use these, to automatically draw inductors and transformers, simulate them, and return the results. This paper proposes a Python-based opensource FEM magnetics toolbox (FEMMT), where magnetics can be simulated in a guided, standardized format, requiring minimal effort. By choosing a core, air gap, and winding of interest, structures will be automatically drawn inside the existing FEM tool. Material and currents are assigned, the simulation is performed and the results are read back. With the help of this toolbox, which is developed on GitHub, entire parameter sweeps can be easily performed and the simulation process is significantly speeded up.