Suppose you have an inductor in a boost converter. The core gets hot. Why? What are the physical mechanisms that cause core loss? Eddy currents? Magnetic domains flipping? Coupling to materials outside the core? Others? How can these losses be minimized?
Electronic – What are the physical mechanisms of core loss, and how can they be minimized
coreheatinductormagnetics
Best Answer
Most of the losses in a well-designed boost inductor are going to be:
I won't attempt to trump Wikipedia's explanation of hysteresis losses:
Essentially, the more you slosh around in the B-H loop, the more heat you make because sloshing around in the B-H loop generates heat. Higher frequency = more sloshing per unit time = more power loss. Also, since it's both the magnetizing current and the load current contributing to the B-H sloshing, higher power = more sloshing per unit time = more core loss.
I said "well-designed" for a reason. In my opinion, a well-designed boost inductor is going to use ferrite core material, which is essentially non-conductive and therefore practically immune to eddy current losses (i.e. there may be some, but they're insignificant compared with the hysteretic loss).