Transformer Selection and Manual Design

When creating a design PI Expert automatically designs an optimized power transformer that uses the smallest core and bobbin for the specified output power. PI Expert also gives you the ability to optimize designs using only the cores you have specified. It is important to include cores and bobbins that are able to deliver the power specified in your design; otherwise, optimization will fail.

Selecting Cores

There are different ways to specify the cores and bobbins that you would like the software to use during optimization:

It is important to be careful when limiting the number and the range of transformers during optimization. The software may not be able to optimize your design successfully using the transformers you have chosen. The failure to optimize can happen, for example, due to power limitations of the core or inadequate winding window area of the transformer.

 

Stacking Configuration

PI Expert allows you to modify the output stacking configuration through the Stacking dialog for more control over the design of the power transformer including preforming optimization using your manually entered stacking configuration. However, placing constraints on the stacking configurations the software uses during optimization can result in the failure to optimize or to meet your specified tolerances.

 

Main Secondary Turns

You can select a range of the number of main secondary turns to be examined using the Solutions Filter manually. You can force the software to use a specified number of secondary turns on the main output by setting the value of the starting turns range equal to that of the end of the range in the Solutions Filter. Trying to modify the range of turns examined during optimization can result in the failure to optimize or to meet your specified tolerances.

 

Other Transformer Parameters

You can also modify the secondary winding order, the wire gauge or foil thickness and the start and termination pins for each winding using the Secondaries dialog. PI Expert  allows for the modification of nearly every aspect of power transformer design, construction and documentation. See the Winding Construction help topics for more information.

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