Single Objective Topology Optimization and Experimental Validation of a VA Ferrite Plate for a SAE-Compliant WPT System

Ferrite plates are essential elements in wireless power transmission systems. Their presence is critical to achieving adequate magnetic coupling and minimizing the stray magnetic field. At the same time, reducing the volume of ferrite used in the vehicle assembly (VA) offers significant benefits in terms of cost and weight reduction. Topology optimization methods are particularly effective tools for applications like Wireless Power Transfer, where the magnetic field is not confined to a well-defined volume, unlike in classical electrical machines. In the present work, the Solid Isotropic Material with Penalization (SIMP) method is used to achieve an optimized reduced-volume design of the VA ferrite plate of an SAE-compliant system. The optimized plate was manufactured and its performance was experimentally validated and compared to the original VA. The results show that the fabricated plate is able to maintain a mutual inductance reduction of less than 10% with a 55% reduction in material volume. The impact of the material reduction on the system's losses was also evaluated, revealing that the proposed solution results in a 3% increase in losses when tested on a 3.4 kW test bench.