Patent ID: 8180618

Claim:
A method of determining power loss in an inductor comprising: modeling an inductor's windings and core using electromagnetic field simulation finite element analysis software executing on a computer; determining a ratio of AC resistance to DC resistance (Rac/Rdc) for the inductor at one or more frequencies using the electromagnetic field simulation finite element analysis software, wherein the electromagnetic field simulation finite element analysis software causes a 1 amp current to be applied individually to each turn of the windings and an eddy-current solver of the electromagnetic field simulation finite element analysis software is used to determine Rac/Rdc at the one or more frequencies using a sum of all ohmic power loss of all the windings; determining DC resistance (Rdc) of the windings based on material properties and shape of the windings, wherein the DC resistance is used to determine AC resistance (Rac) using the ratio, Rac/Rdc; determine winding power loss at the one or more frequencies based on the AC resistance (Rac); determine core loss of the inductor at the one or more frequencies using a core loss versus frequency curve; and summing, for each of the one or more frequencies, winding power loss and core loss.