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 Variable Frequency Phase-Shift Modulated Three-Level Resonant Single-Stage Power Factor Correction Converter

This paper presents a new single-stage three-level resonant power factor correction ac-dc converter suitable for high power applications (in the order of multiple kilowatts) with a universal input voltage range (90–265 Vrms). The proposed topology integrates the boost input power factor preregulator with a half-bridge three-level resonant dc-dc converter. The converter operation is controlled by means of a combination of phase-shift and variable frequency control. The phase-shift between the switch gate pulses is used to provide the required input current shaping and to regulate the dc-bus voltage to a set reference value for all loading conditions, whereas, variable frequency control is used to tightly regulate the output voltage. An auxiliary circuit is used in order to balance the voltage across the two dc-bus capacitors. Zero voltage switching (ZVS) is also achieved for a wide range of loading and input voltage by having a lagging resonant current in addition to the flowing of the boost inductor current through the body diodes of the upper pair of switches in the free wheeling mode. The resulting circuit, therefore, has high conversion efficiency and lower component stresses making it suitable for high power, wide input voltage range applications. The effectiveness of the proposed converter is verified by analysis, simulation, and experimental results.      

A self core reset and zero voltage switching forward convertertopology

A self core reset and zero voltage switching (ZVS) forward converter topology is presented in this paper. By employing a simple auxiliary circuit, the proposed topology is able to achieve self reset of the power transformer without the use of the conventional tertiary reset winding, and its main switch can be turned on and turned off under ZVS independent of line and load conditions. This simplifies the power transformer, and the switching losses are substantially removed to improve the overall efficiency. Steady state analysis of the circuit is performed. Based on the analysis, a design procedure is presented, and the effects of the circuit parameters on the flux excursion of the power transformer are investigated to make sure self reset can be achieved without increasing the core losses. Simulation and experiment on a 5 V, 100 W prototype circuit operated at 200 kHz are carried out to verify the design, about 5% higher overall efficiency is obtained in the prototype converter than in its conventional counterpart     

Effect of resonant transition on efficiency of forward converter with active clamp and self-driven SRs

Forward converter with active clamp is a suitable topology for a low output voltage and high output current dc-dc power supply module. The topology can be used in a resonant transition manner to obtain a low voltage over the main switch at turn-on instant. A low voltage can be obtained by adjusting the magnitude of the magnetizing current of the transformer and the delay between the two primary side switches. An increased magnetizing current, however, increases conduction losses in the primary side of the converter and may consume the advantage gained in the switching losses. The converter can also be easily used for self-driven synchronous rectification. However, pursue for low switching losses for the primary side switch may deteriorate performance of the self-driven synchronous rectifiers, particularly at high loads. This paper presents a study of the applicability and advantage of the use of the resonant transition in Forward with active clamp and self-driven synchronous rectifiers. The emphasis is on the comparison of the achieved efficiency with different voltage levels over the primary switch prior to turning on. Measurement results show that, at low loads, a reduced voltage level improves the efficiency but, on the other hand, at high loads the advantage is not so significant, or it may be totally lost, mainly due to the increased losses of the self-driven synchronous rectifiers. The paper includes discussion on the effect of the magnetizing inductance on the efficiency of the converter and the optimal voltage level at which the primary switch should be turned on. Measurement results from a 3.4-V 30-A prototype converter are included.     

A novel ZVS DC/DC converter for high power applications

This paper presents a novel zero voltage switch (ZVS) pulse-width modulation (PWM) DC/DC converter for high power, high output voltage applications. By using two active switches in the secondary side of a transformer, the proposed converter achieves not only ZVS of the active switches in the entire load ranges but also soft commutation of the output rectifier diodes. The proposed topology has simple structure and control strategy. Simulation results and experimental results of a 2.8 kW 200 kHz DC/DC converter are presented.     

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%.     

Zero-voltage-switching half-bridge DC-DC converter with modified PWM control method

Asymmetric control scheme is an approach to achieve zero-voltage switching (ZVS) for half-bridge isolated dc-dc converters. However, it is not suited for wide range of input voltage due to the uneven voltage and current components stresses. This paper presents a novel "duty-cycle-shifted pulse-width modulated" (DCS PWM) control scheme for half-bridge isolated dc-dc converters to achieve ZVS operation for one of the two switches without causing the asymmetric penalties in the asymmetric control and without adding additional components. Based on the DCS PWM control scheme, an active-clamp branch comprising an auxiliary switch and a diode is added across the isolation transformer primary winding in the half-bridge converter to achieve ZVS for the other main switch by utilizing energy stored in the transformer leakage inductance. Moreover, the auxiliary switch also operates at ZVS and zero-current switching (ZCS) conditions. Furthermore, during the off-time period, the ringing resulted from the oscillation between the transformer leakage inductance and the junction capacitance of two switches is eliminated owing to the active-clamp branch and DCS PWM control scheme. Hence, switching losses and leakage-inductance-related losses are significantly reduced, which provides the converter with the potential to operate at higher efficiencies and higher switching frequencies. The principle of operation and key features of the proposed DCS PWM control scheme and two ZVS half-bridge topologies are illustrated and experimentally verified.     

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 design-optimization of LCC resonant inverter forhigh-frequency AC distributed power system

The analysis and design of an LCC resonant inverter for a 20 kHz AC distributed power system are presented. Several resonant converter topologies are assessed to determine their suitability for high efficiency power conversion, under resistive and reactive loads. Two LCC-resonant inverter designs were implemented. One with all switches operating with zero voltage switching (ZVS), and another with two switches operating with ZVS and two switches with zero current switching (ZCS). The experimental results are presented along with a performance comparison of the two versions     

1-kW PFC converter with compound active-clamping

A PFC converter employing compound active clamping technique is proposed. It can effectively reduce the loss caused by diode reverse recovery. Both the main switch and the auxiliary switch can achieve soft-switching (ZVS) under certain conditions. The parasitic oscillation caused by the parasitic capacitance of the boost diode is eliminated. The voltage on the main switch, the auxiliary switch and the boost diode are clamped. The principle of operation and theoretical analysis are presented. The maximum voltage stress of switches and the soft-switching region with relation to the resonant inductor and resonant capacitance are investigated. A prototype of 1kW is built to test the proposed topology. The input voltage is from 90V/sub rms/ to 265V/sub rms/. The output voltage is 380V. The operation frequency is 100 kHz. The measured efficiency at full load with different input voltage is from 93.5% to 97.8%.     

Integrated Cuk-forward converter for photovoltaic-based LED lighting

An integrated Cuk-forward converter for a photovoltaic (PV)-based light emitting diodes (LED) lighting system is presented. In this converter, the Cuk converter delivers the solar energy via PV cell modules to a battery bank in charging mode during the daytime. However, the zero voltage switching (ZVS) forward converter drives the LED lighting system in discharging mode during the night time. Power switches in the Cuk converter and ZVS forward converter are integrated to reduce the component count and the synchronous switch is used in the circuit to reduce the conduction losses and increase the circuit efficiency. Thus, the advantages of the proposed converter are smaller size, lighter weight, fewer components and higher efficiency. Experimental results based on the laboratory prototype rated at 200 W are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed converter.     

Three-level LLC series resonant DC/DC converter

Paper presents a three-level soft switching LLC series resonant dc/dc converter. Zero-voltage switching (ZVS) is achieved for each main switch without any auxiliary circuit. Voltage stress of each main switch is half of input voltage. Zero-current-switching (ZCS) is achieved for rectifier diodes. Wide input/output range can be achieved under low frequency range because of two-stage resonance. Only one magnetic component is required in this converter. Efficiency is higher in high line input, so this converter is a preferable candidate for power products with the requirement of hold up time. For design convenience, relationship between dc gain and switching frequency, load resistance is deduced. Its open load characteristic and short load characteristic are exposed to provide theory basis for no load operation and over current protection. Design consideration of four dead times is presented to assure that voltage stress for main switches is within half of input voltage and ZVS for each main switch is achieved. Finally the principle of operation and the characteristics of the presented converter are verified on a 500V-700V input 54V/10A output experimental prototype, whose efficiency reaches 94.7% under rating condition.     

Electronic step down (220/110 V) transformer using a new quantumseries resonant converter

A novel quantum series resonant converter (QSRC) topology for a pure sinewave 60 Hz AC chopper is proposed. It has three bidirectional switches and operates at high switching frequency with low switching loss. Bidirectional power flow is possible, and the switches can operate in either zero current switching (ZCS) mode or zero voltage switching (ZVS) mode by slight modification. The QSRC is thought to be suitable for such a system with fixed voltage conversion ratio. The proposed converter is applied to an electronic 220/110 V transformer. Detailed analyses and experimental results for 1 kVA are presented     

Zero-voltage-switching PWM three-level converter with two clamping diodes

A zero-voltage-switching pulsewidth-modulation three-level (ZVS PWM TL) converter realizes ZVS for the switches with the use of the leakage inductance (or external resonant inductance) and the output capacitors of the switches, however, the rectifier diodes suffer from reverse recovery which results in oscillation and voltage spike. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes a novel ZVS PWM TL converter, which introduces two clamping diodes to the basic TL converter to eliminate the oscillation and clamp the rectified voltage to the reflected input voltage; in the meanwhile, all the switches keep to realize ZVS. Furthermore, the proposed ZVS PWM TL converter can be simplified by removing the two freewheeling diodes. The operation principle of the novel converter and the simplified converter are analyzed and are verified by a prototype converter. The experimental results are also included in this paper.     

A new ZVS bidirectional DC-DC converter for fuel cell and battery application

This paper presents a new zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) bidirectional dc-dc converter. Compared to the traditional full and half bridge bidirectional dc-dc converters for the similar applications, the new topology has the advantages of simple circuit topology with no total device rating (TDR) penalty, soft-switching implementation without additional devices, high efficiency and simple control. These advantages make the new converter promising for medium and high power applications especially for auxiliary power supply in fuel cell vehicles and power generation where the high power density, low cost, lightweight and high reliability power converters are required. The operating principle, theoretical analysis, and design guidelines are provided in this paper. The simulation and the experimental verifications are also presented.     

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     

一种新型的零电压零电流三电平变换器的研究

针对采用IGBT的软开关三电平变换器中IGBT关断过程存在的电流拖尾现象,以及基本三电平拓扑变压器次级存在的电压过冲和电压振荡现象,提出了改进型ZVZCS三电平结构。该结构在基于拓扑的三电平桥臂侧和两电平桥臂侧分别加入了一个无源辅助网络,三电平桥臂侧的辅助变压器在续流阶段为主变压器初级电流回零提供了条件,两电平桥臂的谐振电感和箍位二极管有效地抑制了主变压器次级电压的过冲现象。详细分析了改进拓扑的工作原理、工作模态,以及辅助网络的工作特点,并研制了实验样机,验证了理论分析的正确性以及改进拓扑的可行性。     

A New PWM-Controlled Quasi-Resonant Converter for a High Efficiency PDP Sustaining Power Module

A new pulsewidth modulation (PWM)-controlled quasi-resonant converter for a high-efficiency plasma display panel (PDP) sustaining power module is proposed in this paper. The load regulation of the proposed converter can be achieved by controlling the ripple of the resonant voltage across the primary resonant capacitor with a bidirectional auxiliary circuit, while the main switches are operating at a fixed duty ratio and fixed switching frequency. Hence, the waveforms of the currents can be expected to be optimized from the view-point of conduction loss. Furthermore, the proposed converter has good zero-voltage switching (ZVS) capability, simple control circuits, no hign-voltage ringing problem of rectifier diodes, no dc offset of the magnetizing current and low-voltage stresses of power switches. Thus, the proposed converter shows higher efficiency than that of a half-bridge LLC resonant converter under light load condition. Although it shows the lower efficiency at heavy load, because of the increased power loss in auxiliary circuit, it still shows the high efficiency around 94%. In this paper, operational principles, features of the proposed converter, and analysis and design considerations are presented. Experimental results demonstrate that the output voltage can be controlled well by the auxiliary circuit using the PWM method.      

An improved self-resonant PWM forward converter

This paper presents a forward converter with a nondissipative cell which provides a soft switching converter operation. This approach is based on the principle of self-resonance, that is: an auxiliary voltage source feeds the resonant circuit, charging a capacitor which provides the condition for zero voltage switching (ZVS) turn on and turn off of the switches. The complete operating principle, relevant equations, simulation, and experimental results are presented     

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.