Electromagnetic Finite Element Modeling of PCB-Embedded Toroidal Inductors Featuring Iron-Powder Magnetic Cores

This study presents an advanced finite element modeling framework for the accurate electromagnetic simulation of PCB-embedded magnetic components, developed within the TECoCIP project for high-frequency power electronics. Using ANSYS Electronics, a comprehensive simulation workflow is established employing Ansys Maxwell Icepak and HFSS 3D solvers, targeting frequency ranges from 5 kHz to 30 MHz. The aim to this work is the implementation of customized magnetic material models derived from experimental permeability measurements. Real and imaginary components of complex permeability are measured and integrated into the simulation environment to capture frequency-dependent magnetic losses. The dielectric layer permittivity is also characterized and included to accurately model parasitic capacitance and its effect on self-resonance behavior. Equivalent electrical parameters-including inductance (L), resistance (R), and parasitic capacitance (C)are extracted directly from the simulation results. Additionally, the influence of material nonlinearity, and boundary condition settings are systematically studied to improve model convergence and physical accuracy. This modeling approach enables predictive simulation of embedded magnetic components without relying on physical prototypes, significantly reducing design cycles and improving simulationto-hardware correlation. The results lay the foundation for virtual prototyping of power-dense converter architectures using embedded magnetics.