International Islamic University Islamabad

Faculty of Engineering & Technology

Department of Electrical Engineering

POWER ELECTRONICS LAB (EE421L)

Experiment No. 1: Introduction to MATLAB/Simulink for Power Converters

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Registration No.: ……………………………………..

Date of Experiment: …………………………………

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Experiment No. 1: Introduction to MATLAB/Simulink for Power Converters Page 1

Objective:
 To understand the fundamentals of power electronics.
 To learn the basic types of power converters covered in power electronics.
 To design and analyze different types of power converters in MATLAB/Simulink.
Equipment Required:
 PC/Laptop with installed MATLAB R2014a or advanced version
Theory:
Introduction to Power Electronics:
Power Electronics deals with the application of solid-state electronics for the control
and conversion of electrical power. Power electronics is based primarily on the switching of the
power semiconductor devices. A static power converter is an electrical circuit, which can
control the transfer of energy between a source (generator) and a receiver as shown in Figure
1.1. Since, a power converter appears between a source and a load, any energy used within the
converter is lost to the overall system.

Figure 1.1
The efficiency of a converter should be excellent. The components constituting a converter are:
 Capacitors, inductors and transformers with minimum losses,
 Power semiconductor devices operating as switches.
With the development of power semiconductor technology, the power-handling
capabilities and the switching speed of the power devices have improved tremendously. The
power conversion techniques require the switching ON and OFF of power semiconductor
devices. Low-level electronic circuits, which normally consist of integrated circuits and
discrete components, generate the required gating signals for the power devices. The design of
power converter consumes time with a significant cost. Performance is generally determined
after testing converters at nominal operating points. Thus, simulation can substantially reduce
development cost.
The development of specific software (MATLAB/Simulink etc.) dedicated for the
simulations of power electronic systems allows designing and analyzing the converter behavior

Experiment No. 1: Introduction to MATLAB/Simulink for Power Converters Page 2

accurately. Simulink is a graphical extension to MATLAB for representing mathematical
functions and systems in the form of block diagrams, and simulate the operation of these
systems. There are five types of power electronic circuits, each having different purposes.
i. Rectifiers - convert fixed AC to variable DC.
ii. Choppers - convert fixed DC to variable DC.
iii. Inverters - convert DC to AC having variable amplitude and variable frequency.
iv. AC Voltage Controllers - convert fixed AC to variable AC at same input frequency.
v. Cycloconverters - convert fixed AC to AC with variable frequency.
Following power devices are normally used to design the above-mentioned power converters.
i. Diode [Uncontrolled switch]
ii. Thyristor [Partially controlled switch]
iii. Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) [Fully controlled switch]
iv. Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field-effect Transistor (MOSFET) [Fully controlled switch]
v. Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) [Fully controlled switch]
The symbols of these power devices are given in Figure 1.2

Figure 1.2

Introduction to MATLAB/Simulink for Power Electronic Systems:

Modeling & Simulation softwares hold great value for power system designers.
Engineers have to use these softwares all the time to analyze and test their designed before
actual implementation. Softwares are used for various analyses like cost-benefit analyses,
feasibility analysis, protection coordination etc before deploying the system. Electrical
Engineers use industry standard softwares to test their proposed designs. For high performance
computations and estimations, MATLAB/Simulink can be used. Simulink provides GUI
(Graphical User Interface) based modeling environment, for modeling, simulating and
analyzing multi-domain dynamic systems. For power engineers, important toolbox in Simulink
is Simscape. Simscape toolbox contains physical modeling toolboxes that can be used for

Experiment No. 1: Introduction to MATLAB/Simulink for Power Converters Page 3

 Mechatronics, Robotics, System Design & Simulation, Mathematical Modeling, Control
System and Power Systems. Simscape can be classified into two libraries given below:
i. Foundation Libraries
ii. Utilities Library
1. Foundation Libraries:
Simscape Foundation libraries contain a comprehensive set of basic elements and
building blocks such as:
 Mechanical building blocks for representing one-dimensional translational and rotational
motion.
 Electrical building blocks for representing electrical components and circuits.
 Magnetic building blocks that represent electromagnetic components.
 Hydraulic building blocks that model fundamental hydraulic effects and can be combined
to create more complex hydraulic components.
 Thermal building blocks that model fundamental thermal effects.
 Thermal liquid building blocks that model fundamental thermodynamic effects in liquids.
 Two-phase fluid building blocks that model fundamental thermodynamic effects in systems
where the working agent is part liquid and part vapor.
 Physical signals block library that lets you perform math operations on physical signals,
and graphically enter equations inside the physical network.
 In Simscape Foundation library, two different libraries (SimElectronics,
SimPowerSystems) are available in which different electronic components, power devices
and systems are available.
 SimElectronics library provides component libraries for modeling and simulating
electronic systems. It includes models of semiconductor, motor, drive, sensor, and actuator
components. You can connect SimElectronics blocks directly to Simscape blocks.
 SimPowerSystems library provides component libraries for modeling and simulating
electrical power systems. It includes models of three-phase machines, electric drives,
flexible AC transmission systems (FACTS) and wind power generators etc. These models
can be used for the generation, transmission, distribution and consumption of electrical
power. Harmonic analysis, load flow analysis, calculation of total harmonic distortion
(THD) and other key electrical power system analyses can be automated.
2. Utilities Library:
In addition to Foundation libraries, there is also a Simscape Utilities library, which
contains utility blocks, such as:

Experiment No. 1: Introduction to MATLAB/Simulink for Power Converters Page 4

 Solver configuration block, which contains parameters relevant to numerical algorithms
for Simscape simulations. Each Simscape diagram (or each topologically distinct physical
network in a diagram) must contain a Solver configuration block.
 Simulink-PS converter block and PS-Simulink converter block, to connect Simscape
and Simulink blocks. Use the Simulink-PS converter block to connect Simulink outports to
physical signal inports. Use the PS-Simulink converter block to connect physical signal
outports to Simulink inports.
You can combine all these blocks in your Simscape diagrams to model physical
systems. You can also use the basic Simulink blocks in your diagrams, such as sources or
scopes.

Simulations in MATLAB/Simulink
Lab Task No. 1
a. Using MATLAB/Simulink, construct the circuit of half-wave rectifier having Resistive
load as shown in Figure 1.3.

Figure 1.3

b. Go to “Simulation” tab, then click on “Model Configuration Parameters”. Select the

“Solver” node. Now set the different model configuration parameters as instructed in
Figure 1.4.

Experiment No. 1: Introduction to MATLAB/Simulink for Power Converters Page 5

 Figure 1.4

c. Simulate the circuit by having a click on “Run” button. Now double click on the “Scope” to
see the desired output voltage and current. Expected output voltages and currents are given
in Figure 1.5.

Input
Voltage

Output
Voltage

Output
Current

Figure 1.5

Experiment No. 1: Introduction to MATLAB/Simulink for Power Converters Page 6

 Lab Task No. 2
b. Using MATLAB/Simulink, construct the circuit of half-wave rectifier having Inductive
load as shown in Figure 1.6.

Figure 1.6

c. Go to “Simulation” tab, then click on “Model Configuration Parameters”. Select the

“Solver” node and set the desired parameters as instructed.
d. Simulate the circuit by having a click on “Run” button. Now double click on the “Scope” to
see the desired output voltage and current. Expected output voltages and currents are given
in Figure 1.7.

Input
Voltage

Output
Voltage

Output
Current

Figure 1.7

Experiment No. 1: Introduction to MATLAB/Simulink for Power Converters Page 7

 Lab Task No. 3
a. Using MATLAB/Simulink, construct the circuit of half-wave rectifier having Inductive
load and a Freewheeling diode at the output as shown in Figure 1.8.

Figure 1.8

b. Go to “Simulation” tab, then click on “Model Configuration Parameters”. Select the

“Solver” node and set the desired parameters as instructed.
c. Simulate the circuit by having a click on “Run” button. Now double click on the “Scope” to
see the desired output voltage and current. Expected output voltages and currents are given
in Figure 1.9.

Input
Voltage

Output
Voltage

Output
Current

Figure 1.9

Experiment No. 1: Introduction to MATLAB/Simulink for Power Converters Page 8

 Assignment
 Complete both the tasks (Lab Task + Home Task). Home tasks are given below (Figure
1.10, 1.11 & 1.12).
 Print out the snapshots of all circuit diagrams, input voltage, output voltage and output
current.
 Submit the printed snapshots along with lab handouts to the lab instructor.
Home Task No. 1

Figure 1.10

Home Task No. 2

Figure 1.11

Experiment No. 1: Introduction to MATLAB/Simulink for Power Converters Page 9

 Home Task No. 3

Figure 1.12

Experiment No. 1: Introduction to MATLAB/Simulink for Power Converters Page 10