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Magnetics Modeling and Simulations

D11.3 - High-Efficiency 10 kW Transformer Design, Loss Evaluation, and Misalignment Analysis for Inductive Wireless Charging of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs)

Thursday, March 26, 2026
12:00 PM - 1:45 PM CT
Location: Hemisfair Ballroom
This paper presents the magnetic design and loss analysis of a compact 10 kW transformer for underwater inductive wireless power transfer (WPT) in autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) docking. The coupler uses a hybrid UU-core with planar Litz-wire windings, designed to operate across a 16 mm total gap that includes a 2 mm seawater layer. A full set of parasitics, including frequency-dependent AC resistance, seawater-induced eddy-current resistance, self, mutual, and leakage inductances, and winding capacitances, are extracted from three-dimensional finite-element simulations and embedded in a CLLLC resonant-tank model. A gap-dependent leakage model and a reluctance-based magnetizing model are derived and shown to match finite-element results over a 0.1–100 mm Tx–Rx gap. Seawater eddy-current loss is described using both a field-based expression and an equivalent series resistance referred to the transmitter side. A prototype transformer has been built, and transformer-level measurements of inductances and resistances are used to validate the analytical and simulation results. System-level simulations predict transformer-only efficiencies of about 99.7% at 10 kW and 60 kHz.