Convective Cooling of a Potcore Inductor

The inductor is a common component in a variety of electrical devices. Its applications include power transformation and measurements, and it can also be used together with capacitors to create oscillators. In small devices with many components, such as in laptops, heat generation can be a problem and must be accounted for in the design.

This axi-symmetric model studies the heat transfer in such a potcore inductor. It solves for the heat transfer inside the inductor and in the surrounding air, taking into consideration the air flow around the inductor.

The model accounts for both convective heat transfer as well as surface to surface radiation.

Revolved plot of the temperature distribution. Arrows show the velocity field.