Impedance Design of Cooking Appliances with Multilayer Induction-Efficient Cookware

Multi-layer and multi-material induction cookware has become a standard among manufactures due to its superior cooking performance and efficiency. Resonant converters are usually adopted to achieve an optimal power transfer at high supply frequency so that the load impedance modeling becomes of great importance. In this work a coupled finite element-circuit model of an induction-efficient appliance including a multi-layer pan is proposed. Equivalent circuit parameters, extracted from the FEM model, can be used when designing resonant converters. The frequency-behavior of the load impedance at the inductor terminals is analyzed for different types of materials and layer arrangements in the typical operating range (20–100 kHz).