Steady-State Analysis of the Series Resonant Converter AXE. WITULSKE RW. ERICKSON, Member, IEEE ‘The serfs resonant converte is analyzed in sendy sate, and for constant switching frequency the output current and voltage characteristics are found tobe elipes. The converter operating ‘oln can then be cally obtained by superimposing lad ine om these spa characteris. Peak resonant capacitor voltage nod Inductor curent are ao plotted Inthe output plane and are ‘dependent o frst order only on ouput current. When peak voliage ‘and current are plotted in this manner, the dependence of ‘component stress on operating pot leary reveled, The ‘tpt characteristics are modified to inca the effect of transistor ‘and diode voltage drops, and experimental verifeatlon Is presented. Manuscript recive Je 14, 1985, “This work wae supported pty gems fom the fatto ‘osinss Machines Coroestion, Boule, Cola, aa te General lcte Foundation, Autor” ades: Deparment of Becca and Computer Eaginering, Campus Hox 425, University of Cola, Bauder, CO BIR. ‘ora 9251851 100-0791 $1.00 © 1985 IEEE 1. INTRODUCTION I is well known that analysis of the series resonant converter is difficult. The techniques of state space averaging are unsuitable because the converter natural time constants are nearly the same as the switching period, and the mathematical manipulations required to solve the circuit exactly are tedious and complicated. Existing analytical models are accurate and thorough, but difficult to apply to design problems as they involve either an inconvenient design parameter (such as diode ‘conduction angle in [1, 2}) oF the use of iterative ‘computer solutions for implicit equations (.e., the solution for de conversion ratio M in [3, 4]) ‘Vorperian and Cuk derived the frst complete solution for the de conversion ratio ofthe series resonant ‘converter with switching frequency control [3, 4]. In their analysis they plotted M versus the switching frequency for constant values of load resistance. This approach is similar tothe analysis of pulsewidth modulated converters in which M is plotted as a function of the duty rato. However, because they obtained M by computerized ‘numerical solution of implicit equations, a new computer solution for M is required each time a circuit parameter is changed. Moreover, they assumed a constant resistive load in their calculations, so application of their model to ‘nonlinear or time-varying loads is difficult. ‘An alternative analysis is presented, in which the characteristics of the series resonant converters are plotted in the output plane, i.e, output cuztent /ay is ploted versus output voltage V..., for constant values of switching frequency. ‘These output characteristics have & particularly simple solution in closed form, namely, ellipses. The designer can then superimpose the load characteristics on the output characteristics of the converter, in a manner similar to overlaying a load fine in the output characteristics of a transistor in conventional ‘amplifier design. ‘The operating point of the converter ‘output voltage, current, and switching frequency) is then ‘quickly evident for any point on the load line. ‘Component stresses, such as peak resonant current and peak resonant capacitor voltage, can also be plotted in the ‘output plane, thereby easily relating stresses to the ‘operating point. Hence, given the specifications (load line) for a particular application, the designer can see ‘immediately how the converter output voltage and current, switching frequency, peak capacitor voltage, and peak resonant current vary over the full range of specified ‘operating conditions. ‘The development of the output plane model of the series resonant converter is as follows. In Section II the ‘operation of the converter is reviewed, and the results of some previous analyses are discussed. Then an explicit ‘equation is derived in Section IM that relates output current to de conversion ratio and switching frequency. A physical interpretation of this output equation is given in Section IV, together with a discussion of regions in the ‘output plane for which the equation is valid. Section V illustrates the use of the output equation in plotting IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AEROSPACE AND ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS VOL. AES-21, NO.6 NOVEMBER 1985, -contours of constant component stress in the output plane, ‘The analysis is modified to include the effect of semiconductor voltage drops in Section VI, and experimental verification of the primary result is also presented. Finally, Section VII summarizes the major results and principal conclusions of the analysis , REVIEW OF THE SERIES RESONANT CONVERTER ‘A brief explanation of the converter operation is presented, together with terminology needed to describe the behavior of the converter in different operating modes. In addition, some of the results of previous analyses are reviewed. ‘A simple form of the series resonant converter is shown in Fig. 1. When the switches SI and 82 are ‘opened and closed alternately, a voltage square wave is applied to the resonant LC network. The voltage square wave induces a ringing, or resonant current jy in the tank Circuit, which when rectified and filtered results in the de ‘output voltage. The magnitude of the output voltage is ‘determined by the magnitude and waveshape of the resonant current, and by the load resistance. The resonant ‘current, and hence the output voltage, depends on the frequency at which the LC network is excited. ‘The load resistance and the switching frequency determine whether the resonant converter operates in continuous or discontinuous mode. Continuous conduction mode (CCM) occurs when the resonant ccurent rings continuously for the full switching period. Discontinuous mode occurs when the load current is sufficiently small that the output capacitor need only be ‘charged for a portion of the switching cycle to maintain the steady-state output voltage. Thus even though the switch SI or $2 is closed and capable of conduction, the ‘output diodes become reverse biased, 90 no resonant corrent flows in the inductor during a portion of the ‘switching period. ‘The mode index p is related to the switching frequency at which the converter operates. In type p CCM, the switching frequency f, is in the range lL +P) Sf, 5 help wo where fo is the resonant frequency. The mode index is related to the number of cycles of resonant current that ‘occur during half of a switching period. Furthermore, if is odd, the transistor conducts first when the switch is closed; if p is even, the diode conducts first when the switch is closed (Fig. 2(2)). In discontinuous mode, the ‘mode index p is the number of resonant half-cycles of current that occur in one-half switching period 7,/2, before the bridge is reverse biased (Fig. 2(b)) 4 % a ° Resonant urea waveform fr) aod and even continous node, und () ano and even disootnvous mode ig.2 Previous analytical models of resonant converters fall into two groups, which King and Stuart [1, 2} have classified as the “alpha”” and “gamma” models. Inthe alpha model, the converte is controlled by the diode ‘conduction angle a, while in the gamma model the independent variable used to control the converter is the ‘normalized switching frequency, Y= hf e Vorperian and Cuk were the first to solve for the de conversion ratio of the series resonant converter in terms of y and load resistance. Beginning with the assumption that for an ideal converter in steady state the power in ‘equals the power out, they expressed the de conversion ratio M as the ratio of the total charge transferred from the input source to the total charge flowing into the load ‘during one switching period. ‘The resulting equations for continuous conduction mode are [3] sy VAR +p — 0 Op 1) (ps1 MRY me siny _ ple aK) _ Pepa mR PA E8S Tm B) m IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AEROSPACE AND ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS VOL. AES.21, NO. 6 NOVEMBER 1985[p++ M+ af?K)] cosy T+ (pt iiM + MK T+ (prim + MK sny (p+) -M=MK) T-Mptipe mg PO ORE O ‘The parameter K in (3) and (4) is defined as K = VARCy, o ‘where R is load resistance and C is the resonant ‘capacitance. The significance of these equations is that they relate M (which can also be thought of as normalized output voltage) to the load (through K) and the switching frequency +. By using iterative computer routines, these equations can be used to generate M ‘versus f/f curves for constant values of load resistance. Hence these results can be interpreted as a series of contours in the M versus f/fy plane, as shown in Fig. 3 “The meaning of the mode index p is clearer now; referring to Fig. 3, the even continuous modes occur at frequencies above the resonant frequency or its subharmonics, and the odd continuous modes occur below those resonant frequencies. ‘modes p = 0,1, 2, 3, and dacontinous modes p In addition Vorperian and Cuk solved for Min the discontinuous mode, which is a linear relationship as shown in Fig, 3. Finally, they derived the relationships between peak resonant capacitor voltage, peak inductor current, and the parameters M, +, K, and p. Both the advantages and disadvantages of this approach can be clearly seen. The advantage is the clear presentation of the operating modes of the converte, their relationships {o one another, and their relationship to M and f/f. However, the necessity of a numerical solution of the equations, and the restriction of resistive loads lead us to ‘seek a more general, design-oriented approach, IIL, DERIVATION OF A CLOSED-FORM SOLUTION IN THE OUTPUT PLANE [A closed-form expression for the load current is derived that enables us to plot the output characteristics \WITULSKI 8 ERICKSON: SERIES RESONANT CONVERTER STEADY-STATE ANALYSIS of the converter. Starting with (3) and (4), a change of variable is made and the resulting fourth-order equation is factored to obtain Ing explicitly in terms of normalized ‘output voltage and switching frequency. For simplicity, the derivation is done here for the mode p = 0 (above resonance), but the derivation in the general case follows he same line of argument. For p = 0, (4) takes the form: (1+ M+ MPKL cos y_, VMK MRED sin y T+ i+ MR T+ i MR daw —en, 1-M+MK o First, define the characteristic impedance of the tank as Ry = VIC = Wio)C and express the output current as Tou = MV,IR. Then substitute these expressions for the appropriate quantities in (5) to obtain vk o Ro had, the normalized output curtent To facilitate the factoring, define the intermediate variables y and ® o 10) ‘Siny is positive in (10) for even modes and negative for ‘dd modes. Now (6) can be rewritten as (tm), , VO=DI=WGF A=) May M+y My yoM ‘A fourth-order polynomial in y may be obtained by subtracting the first term in (11) from both sides, ‘squaring the resulting expression, and multiplying by a ‘common factor to cancel the denominator (A907 = = He} —W) year — My = 27M) My + +a Mae, 1) When the quantities in parentheses in (12) are multiplied through, and the coefficients of the powers of y are collected, itis found thatthe coefficients of y* and y! ae zero. In other words, (12) may be expressed as O= Cyt +O + Co aa “which is a quadratic expression in y®. Application of the ‘quadratic formula and a trigonometric identity yields ay ws