Innovative Magnetic Material Solutions For Navy High-frequency Power Systems

Overview

From phone chargers to the power grid, every system that converts and delivers electricity depends on magnetic components, and the better those components perform, the less energy is lost along the way. As demand for electric power grows, these components are asked to handle more power than ever. The problem is that the magnetic ceramics inside them, called soft ferrites, can only handle a limited amount of power before their performance drops.

My research is to improve ferrite materials and investigate novel ferrite/metal nanocomposites, aiming to develop magnetic materials that deliver more power efficiently across a wide range of applications.

Technical description

Soft magnetic ferrites and nanocomposites were fabricated by atmosphere-controlled sintering. Characterize phase compositions and microstructures by XRD and SEM. Static magnetic properties are characterized by VSM. Magnetic permeability and core losses are characterized by the impedance analyzer and standard two-winding loop test setup. Modelling work includes empirical and analytical magnetization models and core loss models, micromagnetic modelling with FEM for nanoscale magnetization and loss simulation.

Why it matters

• Lower core loss means more efficient, higher-power transformers and inductors for power-electronic grid equipment.
• Size-dependent pinning rules replace trial and error in tailoring soft magnetic materials.