Circular Economy Oriented and Reconfigurable Planar Transformer Design for Isolated DC/DC Converters

Abstract:
The need for high power density, efficiency and predictable parasitic parameters is driving the use of high-frequency planar transformers (PTs). The scarcity of resources and the generated electronic (e)- waste impose new constraints on the PT design. In circular economy, hardware design should be adapted such that components are reused, repaired, maintained, refurbished and upgraded. Therefore, this paper introduces modularity to the printed circuit board (PCB) layer design for PTs as well as proposes a reconfigurable design methodology to fulfill the circular economy implications on PTs. The efficiency (η) and power density (ρ) of the proposed PT are optimized employing etarho-Pareto optimization and the reconfigurable and modular PTs are selected from the optimal solutions. Four different PTs are built and extensively tested. The theoretical, analytical, and experimental results demonstrate that the objectives of circular economy can be addressed without violating the etarho-Pareto optimal solutions.