Active-clamp snubbers for isolated half-bridge DC-DC converters

In conventional isolated half-bridge dc-dc converters, the leakage-inductance-related losses degrade converter efficiency and limit the ability to increase the converters' switching frequencies. In this paper, a novel active-clamp snubber circuit for half-bridge dc-dc converters is proposed to recycle the energy stored in the leakage inductance by transferring this energy to a capacitor with zero-voltage zero-current-switching switched auxiliary switches, such that body-diode conduction of primary-side main switches are prevented and primary side ringing are attenuated resulting in improved converter efficiency. Principles of operation and simulation analysis are presented and supported by experimental results that show significant improvement in efficiency.     

Active-clamp ZVS converter with step-up voltage conversion ratio

This article presents the circuit implementation and design considerations of a zero voltage switching (ZVS) converter with voltage step-up for battery-based applications. An active-clamp circuit including one auxiliary switch and one clamp capacitor is connected in parallel with the main switch to allow resonant behaviour by the output capacitances of switches and transformer leakage inductance during the transition interval. Thus, the ZVS turn-on of switches can be achieved. The switching losses and thermal stresses of the semiconductors are reduced. The circuit configuration, operation principle and design considerations of the converter are discussed in detail. Finally, experiments conducted on a laboratory prototype rated at 200 W are provided to verify the theoretical analysis and the effectiveness of the proposed converter.     

Analysis, Design, and Implementation of a Parallel ZVS Converter

A soft-switching converter is presented in this paper to achieve a zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) turn on for all switches. Two half-bridge converters with asymmetric pulsewidth-modulation scheme are connected in parallel to control the output voltage at the desired value and achieve load-current sharing. Based on the output capacitance of power switches and the resonant inductance, including the external inductance and the transformer leakage inductance, the resonance can be achieved at the transition interval of power switches. Therefore, the ZVS turn on of power switches can be realized. The peak voltage of the power switches is limited to input dc voltage. The center-tapped rectifier is adopted at the transformer secondary side to achieve a full-wave rectification. Operation principles, steady-state analysis, and design equations of the proposed converter are discussed in detail. Finally, experimental results based on a 240-W prototype are provided to verify the performance and the feasibility of the proposed converter.     

Interleaved ZVS Converter With Ripple-Current Cancellation

In this paper, an interleaved soft-switching converter with ripple-current cancellation is presented to achieve zero- voltage-switching (ZVS) turn-on and load current sharing. In order to achieve ZVS turn-on, an active snubber is connected in parallel with the primary winding of the transformer. The energy stored in the transformer leakage inductance and magnetizing inductance can be recovered so that the peak voltage stress of switching devices is limited. The resonance at the transition interval is used to realize ZVS turn-on of all switches. In order to achieve three-level pulsewidth-modulation (PWM) scheme, an addition fast-recovery diode is used in the converter. Three-level PWM scheme can reduce the ac ripple current on the output inductor such that the output inductor can be reduced. The current-doubler rectifier is adopted in the secondary side of the transformer to reduce the transformer secondary-winding current and output voltage ripple by canceling the current ripple of two output inductors. The output voltage is controlled at the desired value using the interleaved PWM scheme. These features make the proposed converter suitable for the dc-dc converter with high output current. The operation principles, steady state analysis, and design equations of the proposed converter are provided in detail. Finally, experiments based on a 600-W (12 V/50 A) prototype are provided to verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed converter.     

Utilization of an active-clamp circuit to achieve soft switching inflyback converters

Flyback derived power convertor topologies are attractive because of their relative simplicity when compared with other topologies used in low power applications. Incorporation of active-clamp circuitry into the flyback topology serves to recycle transformer leakage energy while minimizing switch voltage stress. The addition of the active-clamp circuit also provides a mechanism for achieving zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) of both the primary and auxiliary switches. ZVS also limits the turn-off di/dt of the output rectifier, reducing rectifier switching losses, and switching noise due to diode reverse recovery. This paper analyzes the behavior of the ZVS active-clamp flyback operating with unidirectional magnetizing current and presents design equations based on this analysis. Experimental results are then given for a 500 W prototype circuit illustrating the soft-switching characteristics and improved efficiency of the power converter. Results from the application of the active-clamp circuit as a low-loss turn-off snubber for IGBT switches is also presented     

A zero-current-switching PWM flyback converter with a simpleauxiliary switch

A simple and effective approach of turning an isolated hard-switched converter design into a soft-switched one is presented. By adding an auxiliary winding, switch and small capacitor to the conventional pulsewidth modulation (PWM) isolated flyback converter, all switches and diodes are softly turned on and off. No extra active or passive voltage clamp circuit is needed to suppress voltage stress on the switching devices that were usually found in classical converters. A zero-current-switching (ZCS) PWM flyback converter topology with multiple outputs is analyzed and examined. The proposal inherently utilizes the leakage inductance of the “flyback” transformer to achieve ZCS of all switching devices. A complete steady-state DC analysis and the operating principle are described. The performance of an 80 W experimental converter prototype with dual-voltage outputs is included     

Analysis and Design for a New ZVS DC–DC Converter With Active Clamping

A new zero voltage switching (ZVS) boost converter is presented in this paper. By using an auxiliary switch and a capacitor, ZVS for all switches is achieved with an auxiliary winding in one magnetic core. A small diode is added to eliminate the voltage ringing across the main rectifier diode. This clamping technique can also be utilized in other dc-dc converters, and a family of new ZVS dc-dc converter is derived. A prototype (500 W/193 kHz) is made to verify the theoretical analysis. The efficiency is higher than 94% at 90-V input at full load     

A zero-voltage-switched PWM boost converter with an energyfeedforward auxiliary circuit

A zero-voltage-switched (ZVS) pulsewidth-modulated (PWM) boost converter with an energy feedforward auxiliary circuit is proposed in this paper. The auxiliary circuit, which is a resonant circuit consisting of a switch and passive components, ensures that the converter's main switch and boost diode operate with soft switching. This converter can function with PWM control because the auxiliary resonant circuit operates for a small fraction of the switching cycle. Since the auxiliary circuit is a resonant circuit, the auxiliary switch itself has both a soft turn on and turn off, resulting in reduced switching losses and electromagnetic interference (EMI). This is unlike other proposed ZVS boost converters with auxiliary circuits where the auxiliary switch has a hard turn off. Peak switch stresses are only slightly higher than those found in a conventional PWM boost converter because part of the energy that would otherwise circulate in the auxiliary circuit and drastically increase peak switch stresses is fed to the load. In this paper, the operation of the converter is explained and analyzed, design guidelines are given, and experimental results obtained from a prototype are presented. The proposed converter is found to be about 2%-3% more efficient than the conventional PWM boost converter     

一种新颖有源箝位ZVS正激变换器的研究

介绍了一种中心抽头全波整流有源箝位ZVS正激变换器的工作原理及主要参数计算。有源箝位电路由一个箝位开关管和箝位电容组成。变压器磁芯实现无损复位,励磁能量和漏感能量全部传递到负栽.磁芯利用率高,功率开关管承受电压应力降低。通过变压器漏感与开关管输出电容的谐振,主开关管与箝位开关管都可以实现ZVS开通,提高了变换器工作效率。文章首先分析了变换器工作原理,然后给出了主要参数的计算方法,最后通过样机(48V输入5V/20A输出)实验验证了该拓扑的高效性能。     

Analysis and implementation of active clamp SEPIC converter with synchronous rectifier

An active clamp SEPIC converter with synchronous rectifier is presented to achieve zero voltage switching (ZVS). The active clamp circuit is adopted in the proposed converter to absorb the energy stored in the leakage inductance of the transformer and limit the peak voltage stress on the switching devices. The resonance during the transition interval between the switching devices will help the power switches to turn on at ZVS. Therefore, the switching losses of switches are effectively reduced. The synchronous rectifier is used at the secondary side of the transformer to further reduce the conduction loss. The principle of operation and the steady-state analysis of the proposed converter are presented. Finally, the experimental results taken from a laboratory prototype with 240 W (12V/20A) rated power are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed converter.     

A zero-voltage transition boost converter using a zero-voltage switching auxiliary circuit

A soft switching boost converter with zero-voltage transition (ZVT) main switch using zero-voltage switching (ZVS) auxiliary switches is proposed. Various operating intervals of the converter are presented and analyzed. Design considerations are discussed. A design example with experimental results obtained from a 300-W, 250-kHz, 300-V output DC-DC converter is presented. A modified gating scheme to utilize the auxiliary switch in the main power processing is discussed. A 600-W, 100-kHz, 380 V output, 90-250 V AC, power factor corrected, AC-to-DC, boost converter with the modified gating scheme is presented. Results show that the main switch maintains ZVT while auxiliary switches retain ZVS for the complete specified line and load conditions. Parasitic oscillations existing in the converters proposed in the literature are completely removed.     

Improved voltage clamping scheme for ZVS PWM three-level converter

This paper proposes an improved zero-voltage-switching pulsewidth-modulation (ZVS PWM) three-level converter, which is improved from the original ZVS PWM three-level converter by merely exchanging the position of the resonant inductance and the transformer, such that the transformer is connected with the lagging switches. The improved converter has several advantages over the original, e.g., the clamping diodes conduct only once in a switching period, and the resonant inductance current is smaller in zero state, leading to a higher efficiency and reduced duty-cycle loss. A blocking capacitor is usually introduced to the primary side to prevent the transformer from saturating. This paper analyzes the effects of the blocking capacitor in different positions, and a best scheme is determined. A 2.5-kW prototype converter verifies the effectiveness of the improved converter and the best scheme for the blocking capacitor.     

Low cost high efficiency DC-DC converter for fuel cell powered auxiliary power unit of a heavy vehicle

In this paper, a new dc-dc converter for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) powered auxiliary power unit (APU) is proposed. The proposed converter does not consider the leakage inductance of the transformer as a parasite and uses it for energy transfer, thus avoiding problems of low efficiency and difficulty in control, caused by leakage inductance. The need for a separate filter inductor is also eliminated. Soft switching is done for some of the switches of the proposed converter, thereby further increasing the efficiency of the converter. Thus, the achieved low cost and high efficiency of the proposed converter make it suitable for SOFC powered APU applications. Simulation and experimental results are presented to verify the proposed dc-dc converter. The achieved cost and efficiency of the prototype are 50.8$/kW and 90%, respectively.     

Zero-Voltage-Transition PWM Converters With Synchronous Rectifier

In this paper, a family of zero-voltage-transition (ZVT) pulsewidth-modulated converters with synchronous rectifier (SR) is introduced. The SR decreases the conduction losses, while it increases the achieved soft switching range. In this family of converters, zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) condition is attained for the main and rectifier switches. Also, zero-current switching is achieved for the auxiliary switch. In addition, the applied ZVS technique can eliminate the reverse recovery losses of the rectifier switch body diode. The ZVT buck converter with SR is analyzed, and the presented experimental results confirm the theoretical analysis.      

A new active clamping zero-voltage switching PWM current-fed half-bridge converter

A new active clamping zero-voltage switching (ZVS) pulse-width modulation (PWM) current-fed half-bridge converter (CFHB) is proposed in this paper. Its active clamping snubber (ACS) can not only absorb the voltage surge across the turned-off switch, but also achieve the ZVS of all power switches. Moreover, it can be applied to all current-fed power conversion topologies and its operation as well as structure is very simple. Since auxiliary switches in the snubber circuit are switched in a complementary way to main switches, an additional PWM IC is not necessary. In addition, it does not need any clamp winding and auxiliary circuit besides additional two power switches and one capacitor while the conventional current-fed half bridge converter has to be equipped with two clamp windings, two ZVS circuits, and two snubbers. Therefore, it can ensure the higher operating frequency, smaller-sized reactive components, lower cost of production, easier implementation, and higher efficiency. The operational principle, theoretical analysis, and design considerations are presented. To confirm the operation, validity, and features of the proposed circuit, experimental results from a 200-W, 24-200Vdc prototype are presented.     

A new soft-switched PWM boost converter with a lossless auxiliary circuit

A soft-switching scheme for the PWM boost converter is newly proposed to obtain the desirable features of both the conventional PWM boost and resonant converters such as ease of control, reduced switching losses and stresses, and low EMI. In order to achieve the soft-switching action, the proposed scheme employs an auxiliary circuit, which is added to the conventional boost converter and used to achieve soft-switching for both the main switch and the output diode while not incurring any additional losses due to the auxiliary circuit itself. The basic operations, in this paper, are discussed and design guidelines are presented. Through a 100?KHz, 60?W prototype, the usefulness of the proposed scheme is verified.     

Novel zero-voltage-transition PWM multiphase converters

Novel zero-voltage-transition (ZVT) pulse-width-modulation (PWM) multiphase converters are presented. To construct a ZVT multiphase converter in a conventional way, it is necessary to add the auxiliary circuits with as many number of phases. In the proposed converter, only one auxiliary circuit provides the zero-voltage switching (ZVS) for main switches and diodes of all phases. So, the new converters are cost effective and attractive for high-performance and high power-density conversion applications. Operation, features, and characteristics of the two-phase buck converter are illustrated and verified on a 4-kW 100-kHz insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)-based (a MOSFET for the auxiliary switch) experimental circuit     

A novel self-oscillating, boost-derived DC-DC converter with load regulation

This paper proposes a novel self-oscillating, boost-derived (SOBD) dc-dc converter with load regulation. This proposed topology utilizes saturable cores (SCs) to offer self-oscillating and output regulation capabilities. Conventionally, the self-oscillating dc transformer (SODT) type of scheme can be implemented in a very cost-effective manner. The ideal dc transformer provides both input and output currents as pure, ripple-free dc quantities. However, the structure of an SODT-type converter will not provide regulation, and its oscillating frequency will change in accordance with the load. The proposed converter with SCs will allow output-voltage regulation to be accomplished by varying only the control current between the transformers, as occurs in a pulse-width modulation (PWM) converter. A control network that combines PWM schemes with a regenerative function is used for this converter. The optimum duty cycle is implemented to achieve low levels of input- and output-current ripples, which are characteristic of an ideal dc transformer. The oscillating frequency will spontaneously be kept near-constant, regardless of the load, without adding any auxiliary or compensation circuits. The typical voltage waveforms of the transistors are found to be close to quasisquare. The switching surges are well suppressed, and the voltage stress of the component is well clamped. The turn-on/turn-off of the switch is zero-voltage switching (ZVS), and its resonant transition can occur over a wide range of load current levels. A prototype circuit of an SOBD converter shows 86% efficiency at 48-V input, with 12-V, 100-W output, and presents an operating frequency of 100 kHz.     

Design and Implementation of an Accurately Regulated Multiple Output ZVS DC–DC Converter

An accurately regulated multiple-output zero-voltage switching (ZVS) DC-DC converter is proposed. The converter is composed of three outputs altogether. The first and second outputs are regulated through the duty cycle control of two asymmetrical half bridge converters, while the third output is regulated through the phase shift of the two asymmetrical half bridge converters. The characteristic of this multiple-output dc-dc converter is analyzed and design process is investigated. ZVS is realized for all the main switches. Therefore this multiple-output dc-dc converter can operate with higher efficiency at higher switching frequency. The operation stages, ZVS condition and control detail are also presented. A 400 V input, 48 V/10 A, 5 V/20 A, 12 V/5 A outputs prototype is built to verify the design. The efficiency at rated input voltage full load is 93.36%.     

A new family of isolated converters that uses the magnetizinginductance of the transformer to achieve zero-voltage switching

A new family of isolated, zero voltage switched power converters which utilizes the magnetizing inductance of the transformer to achieve zero voltage turn-on of the primary switches is proposed. By employing saturable inductor(s) on the secondary side, soft turn-off of the output rectifier(s) is obtained with a minimum circulating energy flowing through the power converter. The proposed converters can operate either with a variable or a constant switching frequency. A complete DC analysis and design guidelines for the half-bridge topology are described, and the performance of a 100 W experimental power converter is presented