Performance Study of Split Ferrite Cores Designed for EMI Suppression on Cables

• Main Authors: Adrian Suarez, Jorge Victoria, Jose Torres, Pedro A. Martinez, Antonio Alcarria, Joaquin Perez, Raimundo Garcia-Olcina, Jesus Soret, Steffen Muetsch, Alexander Gerfer
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-11-01
• Series: Electronics
• Subjects: electromagnetic interference (EMI) suppressors; sleeve ferrite cores; cable filtering; nanocrystalline (NC); split-core; snap ferrite
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/9/12/1992

The ideal procedure to start designing an electronic device is to consider the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) from the beginning. Even so, EMC problems can appear afterward, especially when the designed system is interconnected with external devices. Thereby, electromagnetic interferences (EMIs) could be transmitted to our device from power cables that interconnect it with an external power source or are connected to another system to establish wired communication. The application of an EMI suppressor such as a sleeve core that encircles the cables is a widely used technique to attenuate EM disturbances. This contribution is focused on the characterization of a variation of this cable filtering solution based on openable core clamp or snap ferrites. This component is manufactured by two split parts pressed together by a snap-on mechanism which turns this into a quick, easy to install solution for reducing post-cable assembly EMI problems. The performance of three different materials, including two polycrystalline (MnZn and NiZn) materials and nanocrystalline (NC) solution, are analyzed in terms of effectiveness when the solid sleeve cores are split. The possibility of splitting an NC core implies an innovative technique due to the brittleness of this material. Thus, the results obtained from this research make it possible to evaluate this sample’s effectiveness compared to the polycrystalline ones. This characterization is carried out by the introduction of different gaps between the different split-cores and analyzing their behavior in terms of relative permeability and impedance. The results obtained experimentally are corroborated with the results obtained by a finite element method (FEM) simulation model with the aim of determining the performance of each material when it is used as an openable core clamp.