Numerical modelling of IPT pad combinations

Inductive power transfer (IPT) has become increasingly popular for various charging applications including cellphone charging and electric vehicles. In order to design the magnetic pads for use with IPT, many individual simulations often have to be performed in order to determine magnetic properties such as the coupling factor and quality factor of the pads with relative offsets. As magnetic systems become increasingly complex with varying sizes and topologies, the number of required simulations increase exponentially and end up taking a significant amount of time. This paper focuses on the EV application and presents a method of reducing the number of required simulations by only requiring the boundary conditions to be simulated and then applied to a numerical model based on an Dagum distribution. Mixed pad topologies of varying sizes are trialled at different heights and displacements. The models are confirmed via practical validations.