FURI | Fall 2024

Variable Inductor Controlled by Piezoelectric Actuation

Variable inductors are a potentially high-performing means of achieving wide operating variations in a power electronic converter in a miniaturized form factor. Variable inductors today typically operate by changing the permeability of the inductor’s core via DC current biasing. This electronically controlled method, while useful, can be lossy due to pushing the material into an “edge case” operating condition. This project explores the use of piezoelectric actuators to directly modulate the gap reluctance of an inductor system, thus changing its inductance value without a corresponding change in the permeability of the core material, making it more energy efficient. It also uses a DC voltage to control the gap reluctance, rather than a DC current, which can allow for more precision in selecting target inductance values.