Ferrite Transformer Turns Calculation for High-Frequency/SMPS

Inverter
On different forums, I often find people asking for help in calculating the required
turns for a ferrite transformer they are going to use in high-frequency/SMPS
inverters. In a high-frequency/SMPS inverter, the ferrite transformer is used in the
step-up/boost stage where the low voltage DC from the battery is stepped up to
high voltage DC. In this situation, there are really only two choices when selecting
topology push-pull and full-bridge. For transformer design, the difference between
a push-pull and a full-bridge transformer for same voltage and power will be that
the push-pull transformer will require a center tap, meaning it will require twice the
number of primary turns as the full-bridge transformer.
Calculation of required turns is actually quite simple and Ill explain this here.
For explanation, Ill use an example and go through the calculation
process:
Lets say the ferrite transformer will be used in a 250W inverter. The selected
topology is push-pull. The power source is a 12V battery. Output voltage of the DCDC converter stage will be 310V. Switching frequency is 50kHz. The selected core is
ETD39. Remember that the output of the transformer will be high frequency AC
(50kHz square wave in this case). When I refer to an output of high voltage DC (eg
310VDC mentioned above), this is the DC output obtained after rectification (using
ultrafast recovery diodes configured as bridge rectifier) and filtration (using LC
filter).
During operation, the battery voltage does not stay fixed at 12V. With high loads,
the voltage will be less than 12V. With low loads and near-fully charged battery, the
voltage may be higher than 13V. So, it must be kept in mind that the input voltage
is not constant, but is variable. In inverters, the battery low-cut is usually set at
10.5V. So, well take this as our lowest possible input voltage.
Vinmin = 10.5V
The formula for calculating the number of required primary turns is:

For our push-pull transformer, this will be one-half the required number of turns.

Npri means number of primary turns; Nsec means number of secondary turns;
Naux means number of auxiliary turns and so on. But just N (with no subscript)
refers to turns ratio.
For calculating the required number of primary turns using the formula, the
parameters or variables that need to be considered are:
Vin(nom) Nominal Input Voltage. Well take this as 12V. So, Vin(nom) = 12.
f The operating switching frequency in Hertz. Since our switching frequency is
50kHz, f = 50000.
Bmax Maximum flux density in Gauss. If youre used to using Tesla or milliTesla (T
or mT) for flux density, just remember that 1T = 104Gauss. Bmax really depends on
the design and the transformer cores being used. In my designs, I usually take
Bmax to be in the range 1300G to 2000G. This will be acceptable for most
transformer cores. In this example, lets start with 1500G. So Bmax = 1500.
Remember that too high a Bmax will cause the transformer to saturate. Too low a
Bmax will be under utilizing the core.
Ac Effective Cross-Sectional Area in cm2. You will get this information from the
datasheets of the ferrite cores. Ac is also sometimes referred to as Ae. For ETD39,
the effective cross-sectional area given in the datasheet/specification sheet (Im
referring to TDK E141. You can download it from
here: www.tdk.co.jp/tefe02/e141.pdf ), the effective cross-sectional area (in the
specification sheet, its referred to as Ae but as Ive said, its the same thing as Ac)
is given as 125mm2. That is equal to 1.25cm2. So, Ac = 1.25 for ETD39.
So now, weve obtained the values of all required parameters for calculation Npri
the number of required primary turns.
Vin(nom) = 12
1500

f = 50000
Ac = 1.25

Plugging these values into the formula:

Bmax =

Npri = 3.2
We wont be using fractional windings, so well round off Npri to the nearest whole
number, in this case, rounded down to 3 turns. Now, before we finalize this and
select Npri = 3, we better make sure that Bmax is still within acceptable bounds. As
weve decreased the number of turns from the calculated figure (down to 3.0 from
3.2), Bmax will increase. We now need to figure out just how much Bmax has
increased and if that is still an acceptable value.
Vin(nom) = 12

f = 50000

Npri = 3

Ac = 1.25

Bmax = 1600
The new value of Bmax is well within acceptable bounds and so we can proceed
with Npri = 3.
So, we now know that for the primary, our transformer will require 3 turns + 3 turns.
In any design, if you need to adjust the values, you can easily do so. But always
remember to check that Bmaxis acceptable.
For example, if for construction difficulties, winding 3 turns + 3 turns becomes
difficult, you may use 2 turns + 2 turns or 4 turns + 4 turns. Increasing number of
turns wont hurt youll just be under utilizing the core. However, decreasing
number of turns increases Bmax, so just recheck to make sure Bmax is okay. The
range Ive stated for Bmax (1300G to 2000G) is just an estimate. It will work for
most cores. However, with many cores, you can go higher to decrease the number
of turns. Going lower will just be under utilizing the core, but may sometimes be
required if number of turns is too low.

Ive started off with a set Bmax and gone on to calculate Npri from there. You can
also assign a value of Npri and then check if Bmax is okay. If not, you can then
increase or decrease Npri as required and then check if Bmax is okay, and repeat
this process until you get a satisfactory result. For example, you may have set Npri
= 2 and calculated Bmax and decided that this was too high. So, you set Npri = 3
and calculated Bmax and decided it was okay. Or you may have started with Npri =
4 and calculated Bmax and decided that it was too low. So, you set Npri = 3 and
calculated Bmax and decided it was okay.
Now its time to move on to the secondary. The output of our DC-DC converter is
310V. So, the transformer output must be 310V at all input voltages, from all the
way up from 13.5V to all the way down to 10.5V. Naturally, feedback will be
implemented to keep the output voltage fixed even with line and load variations
changes due to battery voltage change and also due to load change. So, some
headroom must be left for feedback to work. So, well design the transformer with
secondary rated at 330V. Feedback will just adjust the voltage required by changing
the duty cycle of the PWM control signals. Besides feedback, the headroom also
compensates for some of the losses in the converter and thus compensates for the
voltage drops at different stages for example, in the MOSFETs, in the transformer
itself, in the output rectifiers, output inductor, etc.
This means that the output must be capable of supplying 330V with input voltage
equal to 10.5V and also input voltage equal to 13.5V. For the PWM controller, well
take maximum duty cycle to be 98%. The gap allows for dead-time.
At minimum input voltage (when Vin = Vinmin), duty cycle will be maximum. Thus
duty cycle will be 98% when Vin = 10.5 = Vinmin. At maximum duty cycle = 98%,
voltage to transformer = 0.98 * 10.5V = 10.29V.
So, voltage ratio (secondary : primary) = 330V : 10.29V = 32.1
Since voltage ratio (secondary : primary) = 32.1, turns ratio (secondary : primary)
must also be 32.1 as turns ratio (secondary : primary) = voltage ratio (secondary :
primary). Turns ratio is designated by N. So, in our case, N = 32.1 (Ive taken N as
the ratio secondary : primary).
Npri = 3
Nsec = N * Npri = 32.1 * 3 = 96.3
Round off to the nearest whole number. Nsec = 96.
Thus 96 turns are required for the secondary. With proper implementation of
feedback, a constant 310VDC output will be obtained throughout the entire input
voltage range of 10.5V to 13.5V.

Here, one thing to note is that even though I took 98% as the maximum duty cycle,
maximum duty cycle in practice will be smaller since our transformer was calculated
to provide 330V output. In the circuit, the output will be 310V, so the duty cycle will
be even lower. However, the advantage here is that you can be certain that the
output will not drop below 330V even with heavy loads since a large enough
headroom is provided for feedback to kick in and maintain the output voltage even
at high loads.
If any auxiliary windings are required, the required turns can be easily calculated.
Let me show with an example. Lets say we need an auxiliary winding to provide
19V. I know that the output 310V will be regulated, whatever the input voltage may
be, within the range initially specified (Vinmin to Vinmax 10.5V to 13.5V). So, the
turns ratio for the auxiliary winding can be calculated with respect to the secondary
winding. Lets call this turns ratio (secondary : auxiliary) NA.
NA = Nsec / Naux = Vsec / (Vaux + Vd). Vd is the output diode forward drop. Lets
assume that in our application, a schottky rectifier with a Vd = 0.5V is used.
So, NA = 310V / 19.5V =15.9
Nsec / Naux = NA
Naux = Nsec / NA = 96 / 15.9 = 5.96
Lets round off Naux to 6 and see what the output voltage is.
Vsec / (Vaux + Vd) = NA = Nsec / Naux = 96 / 6 =16.0
(Vaux + Vd) = Vsec / NA = 310V / 16.0 = 19.375V
Vaux = 19.375V 0.5V = 18.875V (rounded off)
I would say thats great for an auxiliary supply. If in your calculations you come to a
voltage that is too far off the required target voltage and thus greater accuracy is
required, take Vaux as something higher and use a voltage regulator.
For example, if in our previous example, instead of18.875V we had gotten 19.8V but
needed more accuracy, we could've used 24V or thereabouts and used a voltage
regulator to give 19V output.
So, there we have it. Our transformer has 3 turns + 3 turns for primary, 96 turns for
secondary and 6 turns for auxiliary.

Heres our transformer:

Faraday's law states

that:
B=U*t/(Ae*N),
where B is the flux
swing, U the applied voltage,
t the time the voltage is applied across the inductor, Ae the effective area of the
magnetic core and N the number of turns in the inductor.
As you can see the numerator is voltage*time, that is V*s.
Thus, the volt-microsecond rating gives you the saturation limit of a particular
inductor.
The manufacturer knows the magnetic core, its maximum allowable flux swing
before it saturates, its effective area, the inductor's number of turns.
From all these values you could calculate B yourself, but you would have to do it
for each inductor and you would need to know all those parameters.
So, instead of all the above details, the manufacturer gives you an easy way of
selecting inductors: you get the inductance, DC resistance and V.s rating. You can
tell at a glance if the inductor suits your application or not: you know your
maximum voltage and maximum on time (from frequency and max duty-cycle).
Multiply them and then select and inductor whose Vs rating is higher than that.
It makes your life easier.