Optimized Magnetics Winding Design (Part 1): A Discovery Over Fifty Years Late

Focus:

Dowell derived a 1D field solution for a pair of parallel plates conducting current, much like the layers of windings in a transformer. Magnetics textbooks routinely derive and explain it, and how it can be applied to magnetic component analysis, which is to say the calculation of winding resistance and therefore power losses for a given transformer design. Yet there is also an obvious way to apply it for magnetics design optimization, which minimizes winding resistance while applying constraints on certain winding parameters. This article explains the concepts and methods useful for design optimization of windings in transformers and inductors. Concepts presented previously by the author are presented here in more of a tutorial format with further explanation.

What you’ll learn:

• How to apply Dowell’s equations to determine optimal wire size in a transformer at a given frequency
• How to apply Dowell’s equations to determine optimal wire size in a transformer at a given frequency when wire bundling is used
• How to apply Dowell’s equations to determine optimal wire size in a transformer at a given frequency and for a given winding window area

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Author & Publication:

Dennis Feucht, Innovatia Laboratories, Cayo, Belize, How2Power Today, May 15 2025

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