CHAPTER 5

DC Choppers
1. INTRODUCTION

A DC chopper is a circuit in which a thyristor is used to switch on supply

to the load for a certain interval and the switch off the supply for another certain
interval. This cycle of operations is repealed. The thyristor acts as a fast acting
switch. For turning on the thyristor, a gate signal is applied. To turn it off some
method of forced commutation is needed.
DC Choppers are very widely used to obtain a variable dc voltage from a
constant dc voltage. Thus it is a dc-dc converter. It can be used to increase or
decrease a dc voltage.
DC Choppers are very widely used in electric traction, trolley cars, mine
haulers, dc voltage regulators, marine hoists etc. They can also be used for
regenerative braking in electric traction. They provide smooth acceleration
control, high efficiency and fast dynamic response.

2. CHOPPER PRINCIPLE
Figure 1 (a) shows the principle of operation of a DC chopper. When the
thyristor is conducting, voltage is applied to the load. When the thyristor is not
conducting, the voltage applied to the load is zero. Ton and Toff are the periods of
conduction and blocking. Figure 1 (b) shows the wave shape of voltage applied
to the load. For a resistive load the average load voltage is
Ton T
Vav  V  V on  V
Ton  Toff T

Where V= the applied voltage.

Vav= average value of output voltage.
Ton= the on time (duration of blocking).
T=Ton+Toff.
α=Ton/T=duty cycle.
 And F=1/T= chopper frequency.

Figure 1 DC Chopper.

3. Control techniques:
Two methods are used to control the duty cycle α, they are known as constant
frequency system and variable frequency system.
3.1 Constant frequency system
As the name indicates, the frequency F (and therefore T) is kept constant. Time
Ton is varied to change the duty cycle α. It is illustrated in the figure 2. In figure
2(a) Ton is 0.4T giving duty cycle of 0.4. In figure 2 (b), Ton is 0.8T giving a
duty cycle of 0.8. By varying Ton from 0 to T the output voltage can be varied
from 0 to V. This method is known also as Time Ratio Control (TRC) or Pulse
Width Modulation (PWM).

Figure 2. Pulse width modulation (a) α=0.4 (b) α=0.8.

3.2 Variable frequency system:
In this method, the operating frequency F (and there for T) is varied but Ton is
kept constant (it is also possible to keep Toff constant). The figure3 illustrates this
method. In figure 3(a), Ton is 0.8 T giving a duty cycle of 0.8. In figure (b), Ton is
0.4T giving a duty cycle of 0.4.This method is also known as frequency
modulation. The frequency modulation method has the following
disadvantages:
i. Chopping frequency may have to vary over every wide limit to change the
output voltage over a wide range. This may result in harmonics and the filter
design may be difficult.
ii. If the time is too large, the circuit current may become discontinuous.

Figure 3Frequency modulation. (a) α=0.8 (b) α=0.4.

4. Analysis of step down chopper with resistive load

Let the load in figure 1(a) be a resistance load. It is a step-down chopper
because the output voltage Vo is always less than input voltage V. when the
control pulse applied on the switch (Forced commutation Thyristor, BJT, IGBT,
MOSFET or MCT) is turned on and the output voltage equal to the supply
voltage. The current also equal to the vo/R through this period. When electronic
switch becomes open the output voltage and its current equal to zero.
V 0  t  Ton
vo  
0 Ton  t  T
T
1 on T
Vo   Vdt  on V  V
T 0 T
Ton
1 V Ton V V V
Io   R dt    o
T 0
T R R R

The rms values for output voltage and current is given by:
T
1 on 2 Ton
Vorms   V dt  V  V
T 0 T

Ton
1 V2 Ton V V
I orms 
T 0 R dt  T R   R
 The output power is given by:
2
Vorms 2 V 2
Po   I orms R watt
R R
5. Analysis of step-down DC chopper with RLE load:
Fig. 4 (a) shows a DC step-down chopper feeding a motor load. Such a
load is designated as RLE load (E signifies back emf of motor). The operation
can be divided into two modes. During mode I, the thyristor is conducting and
source is connected to load. The current flows from source to the load. During
mode II, the voltage and current are shown in Fig. 4 (b). During mode I the load
current increases from Imin to Imax. During mode II the load current decreases
from Imax to Imin. Depending on circuit conditions the load current can become
discontinuous as shown in Fig. 4 (b).
Let consider first the load current is continuous
Mode I:
Let the current during mode I be denoted by i. KVL equation is
di
v  Ri  L E …(5.4)
dt
Taking Laplace transform of Eqn.(5.4) and denoting the initial current (at t =0)
as Imin.
V E
 RI ( s )  L[ sI ( s )  I min ]  …(5.5)
s s
V E I min
I (s)   …(5.6)
Ls ( s  R ) (s  R )
L L
Taking inverse Laplace transform
Rt
V E 
i (1  e L )  I min .e  Rt / L …(5.7)
R
This mode exists from 0≤ t≤ Toff. At the end of this mode, i.e., t = Ton, the
current i =Imax.
Mode II:
This mode exists for Ton≤ t ≤ T
Or 0 ≤ t' ≤ (T- Ton), Where t' = t- Ton
KVL equation for this mode is
 di
0  Ri  L E …(5.8)
dt 
Under the initial condition that at t' = 0 (or t=Ton), Imax, the solution of Eqn.(5.8)
 Rt ' E  Rt '
is i  I max e L
_ (1  e L ) …(5.9)
R
This mode exists for 0 ≤ t' ≤ (T- Ton). At the end of this mode, i = Imin.
The current i as given by Eqns. (5.7 and 5.9) is shown in Fig. 5.4 (b). The above
analysis is valid for continuous current only.
The value of Imax and Imin can be found from Eqns. (5.7 and 5.9) as under. Form
Eqn.(5.7), the current i at t = Ton = T is Imax.
V E RT RT
I max  (1  e L
)  I min e L
…(5.10)
R

From Eqn.(5.9), the current at t' = T-Ton = (1-)T is Imin. Therefore,

E
I min  I max e (1 )TR / L 
R

1  e (1 )TR / L  …(5.11)

Substituting the value of Imin from Eqn. (5.11) into Eqn.(5.10) and simplifying,
we get

V 1  e TR / L  E
I max    …(5.12)
R  1  e TR / L  R

Substituting the value of Imax from Eqn. (5.12) into Eqn.(5.11) and simplifying,
we get
V  eTR / L  1 E
I min    …(5.13)
R  e TR / L  1  R

If thyristor conducts continuously Ton = T and  = 1. Then

V E
I max  I min  …(5.14)
R
Using Eqns. (5.12 and 5.13) we can find Imax and Imin for the given parameters.
The difference (Imax- Imin) is known as steady state ripple. From Eqns. (5.12 and
5.13)
V 1  e TR / L  e  RT / L  e  (1 ) RT / L  E
I max  I min    …(5.15)
R 1  e  RT / L  R
The condition for maximum ripple can be found from the equation
d ( I max  I min )
0 …(5.16)
d
Form Eqns. (5.15 and 5.16), we get
e RT / L  e  (1 ) RT / L  0
Or    (1   ) or   0.5

When =0.5, the maximum ripple

V 1  e 0.5 RT / L 
( I max  I min ) max   
R 1  e 0.5 RT / L 

V RT
or ( I max  I min ) max  tanh …(5.17)
R 4L
Since T=1/f we get
V R
( I max  I min ) max  tanh …(5.18)
R 4 fL

R R
If 4fL>>R, tanh  . Then
4 fL 4 fL

V
( I max  I min ) max  …(5.19)
4 fL

Eqn. (5.19) is valid if the current is continuous. The limit of continuous

condition can be found by equating Imin = 0. Thus
V  eRT / L  1 E
I min    0
R  e RT / L  1  R

 eRT / L  1 E
Or  RT / L  …(5.20)
e 1  V

L  E RT / L 
or   ln 1  e
RT  V
1    …(5.21)


If duty cycle is less than the value given by Eqn. (5.21), the current would
become discontinuous. As seen from Eqn. (5.21) the reasons for
discontinuous current can be:
1. High R/L ratio or low time constant L/R.
2. Low duty cycle.
3. High value of back emf E.
Discontinuous operation is not desirable and should be avoided. An L filter can
be added in the circuit to convert chopper dc to a steady dc with some ripple.
Fig. 4 (c) shows the chopper circuit with L filters.

Figure 4 Step down chopper with RLE load (a) circuit (b) On-OFF periods, waveforms of
voltage, and (c) circuit with filter.

6. CLASSIFICATION OF CHOPPERS
DC choppers are classified as per the direction of voltage and current in
five categories, i.e., class A chopper, class B chopper, class C chopper, class D
chopper and class E chopper. Their operating quadrants are shown in Fig. 5.5.
 Figure 5 Quadrants of operation of DC choppers.
1. Class A DC Chopper
The step down chopper described in sections 2, 3, 4 and 5 is class A
chopper. The load current IL can flow out of the source and into the load. Both
VL and IL are positive and chopper operates in first quadrant only. Figure 5 (a)
shows its quadrant of operation.
2. Class B Chopper
It is also a one quadrant chopper but operates in the second quadrant. The
load voltage is positive but the load current is negative. Thus the current flows
out of load and into the source. Figure 5 (b) shows the quadrant of its operation.
Figure 6 (a) shows the circuit of class B chopper. Thyristor is shown by
switch S. When thyristor is conducting S is closed. When thyristor is off, S is
open.
When switch S is closed, the battery emf E sends a current through the
inductance and the voltage VL is zero. KVL equation in this mode is
di L
Ri L  L E0 …(5.22)
dt
Let the current at t = 0 be denoted by Imin. Solution of Eqn. (5.22) with current
equal to Imin at t = 0 is
E
i L  I min e  Rt / L  (1  e  Rt / L ) …(5.23)
R
This mode exists for 0 ≤ t≤ Ton.
Ton can also be written as T where  is the duty cycle.
When switch S is open, energy stored in inductance is returned to supply
through diode D. The current decreases during this mode. If time during this
mode is written as t', KVL equation for this mode is
di L
V L  Ri L  E …(5.24)
dt 

Let current at t' = 0 (or t= T) be denoted by Imax. Solution of Eqn. (5.24) is
V E
i L  I maz e  Rt / L  (1  e  Rt  / L ) …(5.25)
R

This mode exists for_0≤t’≤(T-Ton) or for T ≤t ≤ T

Fig.ure 6 (b) shows the waveforms of VL and IL.

Figure 6 Class B DC chopper (a) circuit (b) voltage and current waveforms.
3. Class C DC Chopper
Fig. 7 shows the circuit of class C chopper. It uses two thyristors shown
by switches S1 and S2 and two diodes D1, D2. It is also known as two quadrant
chopper. The load voltage is always positive. The current can be either positive
or negative. It is a combination of class A and B choppers. S1 and D2 work as
class A chopper while S2 and D1 work as class B chopper. When S1 or D2 are on,
the load current is positive. On the other hand when S2 or D1 are on, load current
is negative. Power can flow both from source to load and from load to source. It
is used in operation and regenerative braking of dc motors. When motor is
driving the load, power flows from source to motor. During regenerative
braking, motor operates as generator and feeds power into the source. It should
be ensured that both thyristors S1 and S2 should not be turned on together
because this would cause a short circuit across the source.
4. Class D Chopper
Figure 8 shows a class D chopper. The load current is always positive but the
load voltage can ha positive or negative. Thus it can operate in first or fourth
quadrant [Figure 5 (d)]. When both S1 and S2 are on, load voltage is positive. If
S1 and S2 are off but D1 , D2 conduct, load voltage is negative. In both cases the
direction of IL is the same. When Ton, is more than Toff, load voltage is positive.
When Ton is less than Toff, load voltage is negative. Since VL can be positive or
negative, power can flow in both directions, i.e., from source to load or from
load to source.
5. Class E DC Chopper
A class E chopper can operate in all the four quadrants [Figure 5 (e)].
Both VL and IL can be positive or negative. Figure 9 (a) shows the circuit. Two
class C choppers when combined give a class E chopper.
The operation in the four quadrants is as under:
Quadrant I:
For this operation S4 is on, S2 and S3 are off and S1 is operated. When
both S1, S4 conduct, iL flows from source to load. When S1 is off, iL freewheels
through S4 and D2. Thus both VL and iL are positive and we get first quadrant
operation.
Quadrant II:
In this operation S2 is operated while S1 , S3 and S4 are off. When S2 is
on, negative current flows through L, S2, D4, E. Inductance L stores energy
during this current flow. When S2 is off, current is fed back to source through D2
and D4. For this feedback of energy, E  L(di L / dt ) should be more than V.
Quadrant III:
For this operation S1 and S4 are off, S2 is on and S3 is operated. When S3
is on, the load is connected to the source through S2, S3 and both vL and iL are
negative. When S3 is turned off, the negative current freewheels through S2 and
D4.
Quadrant IV:
S1, S2, S3 are off and S4 is operated. The polarity of emf E has to be
reversed for this operation. When S4 is on, positive current flows through E, S4,
D2, L. Energy is stored in inductance L. When S4 is turned off, current is fed
back to source through D3 and D2. The load current is positive but load voltage
is negative giving operation in fourth quadrant. The components which conduct
are shown in Figure 9 (b).

Figure 7 Class C DC chopper Figure 8 Class D DC Chopper.

Figure 9 Class E DC chopper (a) circuit (b) conducting components.

7. COMMUTATION METHODS FOR CHOPPERS

A chopper is a dc-dc converter. Line commutation is not possible. It
requires some method of forced commutation. The commutation circuit is the
most important part of a chopper circuit.
7.1. Auxiliary Commutation:
In this method an auxiliary thyristor is turned on to commutate the main
thyristor. It is also known as voltage commutation because the voltage across a
capacitor is applied across a thyristor to reverse bias it. It is also known as
classical chopper.
Figure 10 shows the circuit. Th1 is the main thyristor. FD is freewheeling
diode. Auxiliary thyristor ThA, L, C and diode D1 form the circuit for
commutation. The working can he described in 3 modes. It is assumed that
capacitor C is charged to supply voltage with the polarity as shown at the
beginning.

Figure 10 Auxiliary commutation circuit for chopper.

Mode I:
Main thyristor Th1 is turned on by a gate pulse. Capacitor starts
discharging through Th1, D1 and L. The capacitor current is given by
Vc
ic  sin( o t ) ...(5.26)
o L

Where  o  1 / LC
The peak value of capacitor current Icp is
C
I cp  Vo L  V …(5.27)
L

At any time t, the capacitor voltage Vc is

vc  Vc cos( o t ) ...(5.28)
After some time t  t r   LC , the capacitor voltage is reversed to -Vc. Figure 11
(a) shows this mode. It is seen that load is being supplied by the source during
this mode.
Mode II:
The auxiliary thyristor ThA is turned on. The capacitor voltage Vc acts as
reverse bias for Th1 and turns it off. C discharges through the load from voltage
-Vc to zero. The discharging time or circuit turn off time toff is
VC C
t off  …(5.29)
Im

where Im is the peak load current.

The time toff must be more than the turn off time of thyristor. Since toff,
depends on load current, the commutation circuit has to be designed for the
worst conditions, i.e., minimum Vc and maximum Im.
After discharging, the capacitor recharges again to supply voltage. The
recharging time td is
VC
td  ...(5.30)
Im

The total commutation time tc is the sum of toff and td.

t c  t off  t d ...(5.31)
This mode ends when C is charged to V with upper plate positive. Fig.
5.11 (b) shows this mode.
Mode III:
At the end of mode II, C is charged to voltage V with upper plate positive
and the capacitor current has decayed to zero. Since the capacitor current is also
flowing through ThA, the current of ThA has decayed to zero and ThA stops
conducting. Actually the capacitor is slightly overcharged due to the effect of
source inductance. Freewheeling diode FD is new forward biased and starts
conducting. The load current freewheels through FD. This mode is shown in
Figure 11 (c). This mode ends at t = T when Th1 is turned on again to start the
next cycle.
This commutation circuit is very simple. However, it has some
disadvantages. These are as under:
(a) The main thyristor has to carry the load current as well as the
 commutation current, thus increasing its peak rating.
(b) The charging and discharging time of capacitor depend on the load
current. At low values of load current, high frequency operation is not
possible.
(c) The circuit cannot be tested without connecting the load.

Figure 11. Modes of operation of auxiliary commutated chopper of Figure 10

2. Load Commutation:
Figure 12 shows the circuit of load commutated chopper. This circuit has
four thyristors Th1-Th4, commutating capacitor C and freewheeling diode. Prior
to the start of commutation cycle let the capacitor C be charged to voltage -V
with plate A negative. The operation can be described in the following two
modes:
Mode I:
At t= 0, thyristors Th1, Th2 are turned on by gate pulses. The load current
flows from battery to load through Th1, C, Th2. The load voltage at the
beginning of this mode becomes V-(-V) =2V. During this mode capacitor C is
charged from voltage -Vat t= 0 to voltage Vat t= t1. At time t1, the current
through Th1, Th2 becomes zero and they go to forward blocking mode. Figure
13(a) shows this mode.
Mode II:
At the end of mode I, thyristors Thl and Th2 have gone to forward
blocking mode. Then freewheeling diode FD starts conducting and load current
is transferred from Th1, Th2 to FD. Thus the load current freewheels through FD
from t1 to T. At the end of this mode C is charged to V because the capacitor has
retained the charge it received during mode I. Figure 13 (b) shows this mode.
Mode III:
At t = T, the thyristors Th3, Th4 are turned on by gate pulses, the capacitor
voltage acts as reverse bias for Th1, Th2. Since Th1, Th2 are already in reverse
blocking mode, they are turned off by this reverse bias. The load current now
flows through Th4, capacitor C and Th3. During this mode capacitor voltage
changes from V (with upper plate positive) to -V (i.e., lower plate positive).
When capacitor has been charged to voltage -V this mode ends at time t =T+ t1.

Figure 12 Load commutation chopper.

Figure 13. Modes of operation of load commutated chopper of Figure 12.

Mode IV:
The load current is transferred from Th3, Th4 to freewheeling diode. The
load current freewheels through FD. This mode ends at t=2T.
The above sequence of events is repeated in the next two cycles.
It is seen that one cycle of operation (i.e., time 0 to T) is by virtue of Th1,
Th2 and the second cycle (time T to 2T) due to Th3, Th4. In each of these two
cycles, t1 is the on time of thyristors and (T- t1) is the off time. During each
interval t1, load voltage decays from 2V to zero. During each time (T - t1),
freewheeling diode FD conducts and load voltage is zero.

Figure 14 Waveforms of load current, load voltage, capacitor voltage, capacitor current and
freewheeling diode.
Example 1:
In the class A chopper of Figure 4 (a), V=110V, L=1 mH, R=0.25,
E=11V, T=2500s, Ton=1000 s,
a) Calculate the average output current and average output voltage.
b) Calculate the maximum and minimum values of instantaneous output
current Imax, Imin.
c) Sketch to scale the time variations of IG1, output voltage, output current,
diode current, supply current and VAK1.
Solution:
a) First determine whether the current is continuous or not. From Eqn. 5.21
L  E RT / L 
  ln 1  e
RT  V

1  


' =0.1332
but the actual value of duty cycle is  = Ton/T=1000/2500= 0.4.
Since this is greater than ', the load current is continuous.
TON
1 Ton
Vo   Vdt  V  V  0.4 * 110  44V
T 0
T

b) Form Eqns. (5.12 and 5.13)

Imax = 165A
Imin = 44.9A
c) Time variation of the variables are shown in Figure 16
Example 2:
Repeat example 4 when V=110V, L=0.2mH, R=0.25, E=40V, T=2500s,
Ton=1250s.
a) Let first determine weather the current is continuous or not. Eqn. 5.21
L  E RT / L 
  ln 1  e
RT  V

1  


'=0.7
but the actual value of duty cycle is =Ton/T=1250/2500 = 0.5
Since the value of actual value of duty cycle is less than ', the current
is discontinuous
T
1  on 
T T
1
Vo   vo dt    Vdt   Edt 
T 0 T  0 tx 
Ton T  tx T  tx
 V E  V  E
T T T
Let first determine the time tx. From equation 5.8. At t = tx or t' = tx-Ton. the
current i = 0. and substitution of these end condition 5.8 yields:
L  RTon / L  V  E
tx 
R
e 1
E

1  e  RTon / L  
 

= 1.94*10-3 s.
Vo = 0.5*110+((2.5-1.94)10-3*40)/(2.5*10-3)
= 64V.
b) Since the current is discontinuous, Imin= 0 A.
From Eqn. 5.10
V E RT RT
I max  (1  e L
)  I min e L
=221A
R
c) The time variations of variables are shown in Figure 17.
Figure 16 Waveform of Example 1.
Figure 7 Waveform of Example 2.