Improved gyrator-capacitor modeling of inductive components with a FINEMET-type nanocrystalline alloy core using SPICE

Abstract

• An improved gyrator-capacitor SPICE model of inductive components with the implementation of a Langevin function-based, magnetization curve model. • The application of a differential, evolution-based method of identification of model parameters for FINEMET-type nanocrystalline alloys. • The high accuracy of the improved gyrator-capacitor SPICE model creates new possibilities for the development and optimization of power conversion devices. Power conversion devices, such as switching mode power supplies, require the use of a wide range of inductive components. Despite the intense development of advanced magnetic materials for the cores of such elements, SPICE models of these components are still inaccurate and oversimplified. In this paper, a SPICE model of inductive components is used to show that an improved gyrator-capacitor can be produced using cores made of both isotropic and anisotropic soft and magnetic materials - particularly nanocrystalline alloys. The implementation of a Langevin, function-based, magnetization curve model, as well as the application of a differential, evolution-based method of identification of model parameters, allowed for the effective modeling of inductive cores that were made from FINEMET-type nanocrystalline alloys. The modeling quality was quantitatively confirmed by measuring the R-squared coefficient, which exceeds 0.97 for driving frequencies up to 100 kHz. The high accuracy of the improved gyrator-capacitor SPICE model creates new possibilities for the development and optimization of power conversion devices.