How To Choose Between Ferrite Or Powdered-Iron Cores: A Case Study

Focus:

This case study explores the design of a 5-W dc-dc converter. The focus here is on determining which core material is optimal for a flyback converter that uses ripple-current steering in both primary and secondary circuits. Ripple-current steering makes it possible for even a continuous-conduction mode (CCM) flyback converter to have CCM primary and secondary currents with their benefits of higher efficiency and reduction in noise. Ripple steering is explained and the choice of ferrite or iron-powdered cores is then explored through a detailed analysis. Article concludes with a discussion of the relative merits of ferrite and powdered-iron cores

What you’ll learn:

• How to choose between ferrite and powdered iron cores when designing low-power dc-dc converters
• How to understand the operation and benefits of ripple current steering in CCM flyback converters

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Author & Publication:

Dennis Feucht, Innovatia Laboratories, Cayo, Belize, How2Power Today, Feb 15 2013

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