Analysis of Flux Leakage of a 3-D Inductive Power Transfer System

To date, inductively coupled power transfer systems are widely present throughout industry including monorail systems, electric vehicles, biomedical implantation, and battery charging applications. However, in a majority of current applications, a portion of the magnetic field is leaked outside of the intended power zone. This can be problematic and lead to electrical shocks and breakdown of electrical circuitry or even cause potentially severe harm to human skin tissue. This paper presents the analysis of the flux leakage of a 3-D inductive power transfer system used for battery charging. The analysis is done by finite element analysis software to develop a custom electromagnetic shield. This shield is analyzed in terms of the leakage magnetic flux density and the system is implemented. The experimental results show the effectiveness of the shield by considering the leakage radiation outside the intended 3-D power zone.