A Circuit-Based Formulation for Soft Magnetic Materials Using the Jiles–Atherton Model

Abstract

It is crucial to accurately estimate the performance of magnetic components, such as inductors and transformers, during their pre-design stage. The magnetic characteristics of soft magnetic materials are significantly affected by their excitation. For example, a time-varying excitation results in dynamic losses (eddy and excess loss components), and an excitation with harmonics leads to extra losses. To accurately model these components with a generalized approach, it is important to consider a physics-based hysteresis formulation in electromagnetic analysis. Some circuit and electromagnetic field simulators can model hysteresis characteristics using formulations, such as the Jiles-Atherton (JA) hysteresis model. However, these simulators require the JA model parameters as input, and it is a challenge for simulation engineers to calculate the JA model parameters. In this work, an inductor circuit element is proposed using the JA model to define the magnetic characteristics of soft magnetic materials in an open-source circuit simulator. Providing hysteresis (or B–H loop) data as input to the circuit element in the proposed approach obviates the need of calculating the JA model parameters for circuit simulation. The B–H data are used to determine the JA model parameters, which are automatically transferred to the inductor model in the circuit simulation. The approach can be used to model the topological-based equivalent circuit of magnetic components, such as inductors and transformers.