Inductor losses estimation in DC-DC converters by means of averaging technique

A suitable inductor modeling for power electronic DC-DC converters is presented in this paper. It is developed with the aim of improving inductor losses estimation achievable by averaged models, which inherently neglect inductor current ripple. In order to account for its contribution to the overall inductor losses, an appropriate parallel resistance is thus enclosed into the inductor model, whose value should be chosen in accordance with the DC-DC converter operating conditions. This allows the development of improved averaged models of DC-DC converters, especially in terms of power losses estimation. The effectiveness of the proposed modeling approach has been validated through a simulation study, which refers to the case of a boost DC-DC converter and is performed by means of a suitable circuit simulator designed for rapid modelling of switching power systems (SIMetrix/SIMPLIS).