Pan African International Conference on Information Science, Computing and Telecommunications (2013)

Effects of Misalignment between Filamentary

Circular Coils Arbitrarily Positioned in Space
Anele O. Amos1, 2, Hamam Ykandar1, 2, 3, Alayli Yasser 2 and Djouani Karim1, 4

Dept. of Electrical Engineering

1
Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa
2
LISV Laboratory, UVSQ, Paris, France
3
ESIEE Paris Est University, Paris, France
4
LISSI Laboratory Paris Est University, Paris, France
anelea@tut.ac.za, hamama@tut.ac.za, yasser.alayli@lisv.uvsq.fr, djouanik@tut.ac.za

Abstract—This paper investigates the effects of lateral and angular achieved via the CIPT transformer which consists of air-cored
misalignments between filamentary circular coils which are circular coils (see Fig. 2). However, coil misalignment is the
arbitrarily positioned in space. This investigation is achieved by inherent problem of CIPT transformer because it limits its full
computing the mutual inductance and the magnetic force between potential since the value of the mutual inductance and the
filamentary circular coils based on the advanced and relevant models magnetic force exerted on the current carrying conductor
which are obtainable in the literature. Detailed results obtained using depends on the shapes and orientations of the two circular
SCILAB application software show that as the arbitrary coils in the CIPT transformer [3].
misalignments increase the mutual inductance and the magnetic force
between the filamentary circular coils decrease and increase with
respect to certain variable rotation angle at any point of the secondary
coil. This investigation shows that to successfully transfer electrical
energy over a relatively large air-gap via high frequency magnetic
fields, issues regarding arbitrary lateral and angular misalignments
must be considered in the model to be designed for the contactless
inductive power transfer (CIPT) transformer.

Keywords—Contactless inductive power transfer system,

Filamentary circular coils, Magnetic force, Misalignment, Mutual
inductance

I. INTRODUCTION
Amongst the eco-friendly vehicles, electric vehicles (EVs) are Fig. 1: Plug-in connector
considered as a favourable solution for a greener energy.
However, users and owners of EVs are faced with the
challenge of limited range travel distance per charge since
EVs require sufficient battery storage on board in order to
provide sufficient driving autonomy. Plug-in connectors have
been commonly proposed for EV battery charging [1].
However, these are inherently unsafe due to the exposed
electrical terminals which could cause electrocution especially
in wet and hostile environment (see Fig. 1).
In order to circumvent the problems of electrocution,
contactless inductive power transfer (CIPT) system is used
[2]. CIPT systems are a novel technology used for transferring
electrical energy over a relatively large air-gap via high
frequency magnetic fields. The wireless transfer of electrical Fig. 2: CIPT system for EVs
energy to the on-board battery storage system of EVs is

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 Pan African International Conference on Information Science, Computing and Telecommunications (2013)

Circular coils with air-core are widely used in various c  2  ab c

electromagnetic applications. These are preferred to the iron- p1   , p2   and p3 
 L L
cored type due to their design objectives of controllability and
capability of a high power transfer [4]. Amongst other air- RS x y z
 ,  C ,  C and   C
cored circular coils [5, 6], the authors of this paper consider RP RP RP RP
the use of filamentary circular coils since in several
electromagnetic applications regarding coil misalignments, the L  a2  b2  c2 and   a2  c2
optimal magnetic coupling between circular filamentary coils  k2 
is required [7].  k   1   K k   E k 
 2 

The computation of the mutual inductance and the magnetic 4V0
force between coaxial circular coils has been completely k
A0  2V0
solved by [6, 8-20]. However, the present-day focus has been
shifted to the computation of the mutual inductance and the  b 2c 2  2 
magnetic force between circular coils with lateral and angular V02   2 1  2 2  cos 2   c sin 2   abc sin   
 2 2
misalignments [21-30]. Furthermore, these computations can   L    L 
be achieved correctly and speedily by using finite element and ab   2 2 c
boundary element methods [31, 32]. Notwithstanding, the  2   2  2 cos   sin 
L 
authors in [22, 24] argue that analytical and semi-analytical
methods can be used to achieve this task since they A0  1   2   2   2   2  2  p 4 cos   p5 sin  
significantly simplify the mathematical procedures which in where  0 is the magnetic permeability of space, RP is the
turn leads to a considerable reduction of the computational radius of primary coil, R S is the radius of the secondary coil,
effort. Finally, it is concluded that the mathematical models
formulated for the mutual inductance and the magnetic force  is the shape factor of the circular coil, xC , yC and z C  is
between filamentary circular coils are slightly more general centre of the secondary coil, a, b and c are the parameters
and simpler to use (i.e., easy to understand, numerically defining the secondary coil plane  , k is a variable and not
suitable and easily applicable for engineers and physicists). indices K k  and E k  are the complete integral of the first
Based on this information, this paper investigates the
and second kind respectively [33, 34].
effects of lateral and angular misalignments on the mutual
inductance and the magnetic force between filamentary circular B. Magnetic Force between Filamentary Circular Coils using
coils which are arbitrarily positioned in space. This task is Mutual Inductance Approach
achieved as follows. Section 2 presents the formulated The magnetic force Fg between filamentary circular coils
mathematical models which are obtainable in the literature. In
section 3, the results obtained using SCILAB application arbitrarily positioned in space can be computed by [14]
software is given. Discussion of the results is given in Section M
Fg  I P I S (2)
4 and section 5 concludes the paper. g
where I P and I S are the primary and secondary currents in
II. FORMULATED MATHEMATICAL MODELS
the coil, M is the mutual inductance given in (1) and
This section presents the relevant and advanced models for g  x, y, or z are the xyz components.
computing the mutual inductance and the magnetic force
Finding the first derivative in (2), the magnetic force can be
between filamentary circular coils which are arbitrarily
obtained by the following components:
positioned in space 2
 I I
A. Mutual Inductance Model between Filamentary Circular
Coils using Magnetic Vector Potential Approach
Fx  0 P S
 I
0
x d

2
The mutual inductance M between the filamentary circular  0I P I S
coils as shown in Fig. 3 can be computed by [24] as Fy 
 I y d (3)
 0 RS
2
 p1 cos   p 2 sin   p3 k d 0
M
  (1)  0I P I S
2

0 k V03 Fz 
4 I
0
z d

where

ab   2  bc c  a
p4   and p5  
L L

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 Pan African International Conference on Information Science, Computing and Telecommunications (2013)

where
 k  kT 0  p1 cos   p 2 sin   p 3 
I x  q 3 sin   
k V03 8 V09

  k 

A  2V 2

12V0 
 k 
k 2 A0  2V02  
 0 0 
  k2  2 

 k  kS 0  p1 cos   p 2 sin   p3 
I y   q5 cos   q 4 sin    
k V03 8 V09
 
 12V0 
 k  A0  2V0  2   k 
2
 k 2 A0  2V02   Fig. 3: Circular coils with arbitrary misalignments [24].

  k  2  In order to investigate the effects of lateral and angular

Iz  1
 p cos   p 2 sin   p3 L0 k  misalignments between circular coils which are arbitrarily
positioned in space, the authors of this paper re-stated
V05 Equations (1) and (3) in terms of the common notations given
in [24].
 2  ab c  ab c
q1  , q2   , q3   , q4  , q5  
L  L L  III. RESULTS OBTAINED
2 2 2 2 2
L a b c and   a  c Shown in Figs. 4-11 are the results obtained based on the
R x y z re-stated models of Equations (1) and (2) which are based on
  S ,   C ,  C ,  C the common notations. These results are achieved using
RP RP RP RP
SCILAB application software [35] and the data used is shown
c  2  ab c in Table I.
p1   , p2   , p3  Lateral Misalignment =0.04m
 L L 0.11
=30 deg
ab   2  bc c  a 0.1 =45 deg
p4   , p5   =60 deg
L L 0.09
=75 deg

 k  2 0.08

k   1  K k   E k 
Mutual Inductance H

2 
0.07
 0.06
E k 
k    K k  0.05

1 k2 0.04

 k2 
k   k k   k 
0.03

 2  0.02

0.01
4V0 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

k , Variable Rotation Angle  in degrees

A0  2V0 Fig. 4: Effects of misalignments on the mutual inductance


V02   2   2   2 l1 cos 2   l 2 sin 2   l 3 sin 2   Lateral Misalignment =0.08m
2 q1 cos   q 2 sin   0.055

A0  1   2   2   2   2  2  p 4 cos   p5 sin  
0.05 =30 deg
=45 deg
T0     q 4 cos   q5 sin  
0.045
=60 deg
=75 deg
S 0    q3 cos  0.04
Mutual Inductance H

L0     q6 cos   q7 sin   0.035

bc a 0.03
q6   , q7  
L  0.025

0.02

0.015

0.01
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Variable Rotation Angle  in degrees

Fig. 5: Effects of misalignments on the mutual inductance

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 Pan African International Conference on Information Science, Computing and Telecommunications (2013)

Lateral Misalignment =0.14m

0.04 Lateral Misalignment =0.08m and Angular Misalignment =45 degrees
=30 deg 0.5

Magnetic Force Components Fx, Fy and Fz in N

=45 deg
0
0.035 =60 deg Fx
=75 deg -0.5
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Variable Rotation Angle  in degrees
0.03
Mutual Inductance H

Lateral Misalignment =0.08m and Angular Misalignment =45 degrees

0.32

0.025 0.3
Fy

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400

0.02 Variable Rotation Angle  in degrees
Lateral Misalignment =0.08m and Angular Misalignment =45 degrees
-0.02
0.015 Fz
-0.03

-0.04
0.01 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 Variable Rotation Angle  in degrees
Variable Rotation Angle  in degrees

Fig. 6: Effects of misalignments on the mutual inductance Fig. 9: Effects of misalignments on the magnetic force
Lateral Misalignment =0.19m
0.03 Lateral Misalignment =0.14m and Angular Misalignment =60 degrees
=30 deg 0.2

Magnetic Force Components Fx, Fy and Fz in N

=45 deg 0
=60 deg Fx
0.025 -0.2
=75 deg 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Variable Rotation Angle  in degrees
Mutual Inductance H

Lateral Misalignment =0.14m and Angular Misalignment =60 degrees

0.02 0.2
0.18
0.16 Fy
0.015 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Variable Rotation Angle  in degrees
Lateral Misalignment =0.14m and Angular Misalignment =60 degrees
-0.01
0.01 Fz
-0.015

-0.02
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
0.005 Variable Rotation Angle  in degrees
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Variable Rotation Angle  in degrees

Fig. 7: Effects of misalignments on the mutual inductance Fig. 10: Effects of misalignments on the magnetic force

Lateral Misalignment =0.19m and Angular Misalignment =75 degrees

Lateral Misalignment =0.04m and Angular Misalignment =30 degrees
0.1
0.5
Magnetic Force Components Fx, Fy and Fz in N
Magnetic Force Components Fx, Fy and Fz in N

0
0
Fx Fx
-0.5 -0.1
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Variable Rotation Angle  in degrees Variable Rotation Angle  in degrees
Lateral Misalignment =0.04m and Angular Misalignment =30 degrees Lateral Misalignment =0.19m and Angular Misalignment =75 degrees
0.55 0.12
Fy Fy
0.5 0.1

0.45 0.08
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Variable Rotation Angle  in degrees Variable Rotation Angle  in degrees
Lateral Misalignment =0.04m and Angular Misalignment =30 degrees x 10
-3
Lateral Misalignment =0.19m & Angular Misalignment =75 deg
-0.02 -6
Fz Fz
-0.04 -8

-0.06 -10
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Variable Rotation Angle  in degrees Variable Rotation Angle  in degrees

Fig. 8: Effects of misalignments on the magnetic force Fig. 11: Effects of misalignments on the magnetic force

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 Pan African International Conference on Information Science, Computing and Telecommunications (2013)

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