Getting started with TRAFOLO

From installation to first results with the Flyback Transformer template, in six steps.

Transformers, chokes, planar magnetics and busbars modelled in TRAFOLO.

1. Install

Fill in the form on the download page to get TRAFOLO and a 14-day free trial license, then run the installer. Requirements and details: Installation.

2. Activate the license

The license key is sent to your email. To activate it, online or offline, see Licensing.

3. Open the template

On the Welcome screen, under Examples, click Flyback Transformer (1).

Example cards Toroidal Inductor, Flyback Transformer and Wireless Charging with the Flyback Transformer card marked — Welcome screen, Examples: click Flyback Transformer (1).

In Create Project, enter a Project Name and a Location (2), then click Create (3). TRAFOLO copies the template into a new project folder and opens it.

Create Project dialog with Project Name Flyback Transformer, Location C Trafolo and the Create button — Create Project: enter Project Name and Location (2), then click Create (3).

4. Look at the model

The sidebar lists the tabs in the order you work through them, from Setup to Results. In the template every input is already set. The Interface Reference Manual describes each tab; the Flyback Transformer walkthrough builds a similar model step by step.

Flyback Transformer template on the Assembly tab with an angled 3D view of core, bobbin and windings — Flyback Transformer template on the Assembly tab: ferrite core, bobbin and two Litz windings, half model (z ≥ 0).

5. Run the simulation

On the Solve tab, set Parallel cores (4) to the number of performance (P) cores of your CPU; Recommended shows an estimate for the model size. Click Simulation Setup (5) to write the solver input files, then Run Simulation (6). When the run ends, the status bar shows Solved successfully.

On a laptop CPU with 6 P cores (Intel Core Ultra 7 155H), Simulation Setup takes about 15 s and the run about 1.5 minutes.

Solve tab of the Flyback Transformer with Parallel cores, Recommended, Simulation Setup and Run Simulation marked — Parallel cores with the Recommended value (4), Simulation Setup (5), Run Simulation (6).

6. Read the results

On the Results tab, Summary (7) lists the losses per winding and in the core (Total Loss [W] (8)), the component values, the Hotspot [°C] (9) and, further down, the Computation Time.

Results tab, Summary with losses, component values and hotspot temperature of the Flyback Transformer — Summary (7), Total Loss [W] (8), Hotspot [°C] (9), Open in ParaView (10).

Magnetic Flux, Coil Losses, Core Losses and Temperature show the 3D fields in TRAFOLO; the slider under the view steps through the time steps.

Magnetic Flux view of the Flyback Transformer core with B up to 0.578 T — Magnetic Flux: flux density B in the core, up to 0.578 T at t = 0.589 ms.

Temperature: the windings are hottest at 79.1 °C, the Hotspot [°C] value in Summary.

Open in ParaView (10) opens them in ParaView, see ParaView (post-processing).

ParaView render of the Flyback Transformer windings coloured by loss density in W per cubic metre — After Open in ParaView: winding loss density in W/m³, 0.19 to 1.02 MW/m³ in TRAFOLO's first prepared view.

Change the model to your design: geometry on Core and Coil, excitation on Waveform, materials on Materials. After a geometry change, click Reset Geometry and Assemble Geometry on Assembly, then Evaluate Mesh and Compute Mesh on Mesh, and run again.
Find the template closest to your component: Templates.
If a message appears: Troubleshooting.

Video (16 min): what to know before you model your own component, from input data and limits to typical use cases.