The Effect Waveform has on the Efficiency of AC Based Wireless Power Transfer System
The objective of this experiment was to determine the most efficient AC waveform of a wireless power transfer system. Thus, the hypothesis was derived that “if a sinusoidal waveform is used in a wireless power transfer system, the system will be the most efficient in transferring power,” which was tested by running three different waveforms (sine, square and triangular) through a wireless power system. The wireless power transfer system was built by wiring an amplified function generator to the transmitter coil and having a receiver coil wired to an oscillator. The efficiency was found by comparing the input voltage of the transmitter coil to the output voltage of the receiver coil. The two sample t-tests conducted on the data collected led to the conclusion that the sine waveform was the least efficient, making the hypothesis was false. The efficiency of the sine waveform were determined to be the lowest efficiency waveform a statistically significant difference to those of the square and triangular waveforms, whilst the highest efficiencies that were the square and triangular were not determined to be statistically different from each other. These results are most likely due to an incident which affected the square and triangular waveform data gathered during the experiment. The scientific importance of this experiment is minimal since the effects of AC has on induction is already well known in the scientific community, whilst the real world importance is quite great. Wireless power transfer systems are useful in many different fields where delivering power to more difficult to reach.
Research Conducted By:
Brendan Maletski
South Lake High School
Warren Consolidated Schools