Federal Urdu University of Arts,

Sciences & Technology

(Project)
“Buck Converter (12V to 5V)”

Groups Members 1. Atif Hussain

2. Junaid Farooq
3. Hanzala Nouman

Subject Power Electronics

Submitted To Sir Rizwan Gilani
Extract :
In this post we are going to learn how to make a simple DC to DC buck
converter circuit using IC 555 and N-channel MOSFET. The proposed buck
converter circuit can operate from 6V to 15 VDC and can deliver 5VDC at 1
ampere.

We will see :
• What is a buck converter?
• Difference between buck converter and linear voltage regulator.
• How a buck converter works?
• Applications of buck converter.
• Circuit diagram of buck converter.
• How to operate the proposed buck converter?

Buck converter :
Buck converter is a DC to DC step-down voltage converter whose output
voltage is always lower than its input while its output current is more than its
input. Ideally its input and output power is same and it is a category of switch
mode power supply or SMPS which converts voltage from one level to another
level very efficiently than linear regulator counter parts. In a buck converter,
the applied fixed dc input is reduced to a specific dc output voltage i.e. output
voltage of the buck converter is always less than the input voltage. So, the
Buck converter is also called the step-down converter or step-up chopper.
The efficient power conversion in bulk converter extends battery life and
reduces the heat produced. So, it is mostly preferred for the production of
smaller gadgets. It can be used in lots of cool applications. It is widely used in
SMPS (switched-mode power supply) where the output dc voltage required is
less than the input dc voltage.
There are various semiconductor devices like power MOSFET, power BJT, IGBT,
and GTO that are used as a switch in buck converter circuits. Thyristors are not
used generally for dc-dc converters because another external communication
circuit is required when using a thyristor. Whereas power MOSFET or IGBT can
be turned off by maintaining zero potential between the gate to the source
terminal of power MOSFET, or the gate to the collector terminal of IGBT.
In general a buck converter consists of two semiconductors components: a fast
switching diode and a transistor and two energy storage components: an
inductor and a capacitor and most importantly a high frequency signal source
whose duty cycle can be varied (PWM controlled).
Circuit diagram of a buck converter is given below:

Difference between buck converter and linear voltage

regulator :
Buck converters and linear voltage regulators (LVR) have a same purpose i.e.
stepping down the input voltage and there are several reasons why both
technologies exist in modern electronics, one of the reasons is because one is
better than the other in one or more circumstances.

The below given table gives us a brief insight about their pros and cons using which you can
decide when to and when not to use a buck or a linear voltage regulator.
Parameters Buck Converter Voltage Regulator

High _ Buck converter’s Low to medium – LVR

output power is ideally the
Efficiency same as input and
practically less power is
lost as heat.
purposefully dissipates its
excess energy as heat to
regulate its output. Their
input and output power is
not same. Not best for
battery powered
applications.

Power Handling
It can handle / regulate
few milli-watts to several
1000s of watts of power
efficiently.
LVR are primarily used
for handling low power
applications ranging from
few milli-watts to few 10s
of watts of power.

Complexity
Buck converters are Linear regulators are
generally complex in simpler in construction.
construction.

Size
Buck converter’s size is Liner regulators are
generally bigger than LVR smaller in size in general
and can get bigger if compare to switching
higher power output is power supplies.
required.

Output Ripple /
Electromagnetic Interference
Buck converter’s output is Very minimal
noisy compare to LVR electromagnetic
and generates noisy interferences, best suitable
electromagnetic for RF applications and
interferences. Ripple at the ripple at its output are
output can get bad if not minimal.
designed properly.

Input voltage range

Very wide input voltage Limited by its heat
rage. dissipation capacity /
lower than buck converter

Cost
Higher than LVR. Lower than switching
 power supplies.

How a buck converter works :

The above schematic is a generalized buck converter design, it consists of a transistor

(practically it will be a MOSFET), a flywheel consisting of a schottky diode whose reverse
recovery time is very small / can operate at high frequencies, an inductor with a ferrite core
and an electrolytic capacitor.
A high frequency PWM controlled signal is required to make the above circuit functional; the
input frequency at the base/gate of the transistor/MOSFET is in the range of tens of KHz to
hundreds of KHz
By controlling the duty cycle of the high frequency signal, we can control its output voltage.
Higher the duty cycle higher the output voltage and vice-versa.
Also, higher the frequency smaller the physical size and values of the capacitor and inductor
can be achieved. Utilizing SMD components are best for switching power supplies than
through hole (THT) components because SMD components have less parasitic properties
which leads to better efficiency, but in this project we will be only using THT components
for better soldering convenience.

The working of a buck converter is better understood using two cases:

• The transistor is ON :
✓ When the transistor is ON the current from input supply passes through the
inductor, through the load and finally to the ground of the supply.
✓ Since the inductor doesn’t allow sudden changes in the current, the voltage
across the load increases slowly (in micro-seconds time frame). The slow rise in
voltage is due to the current across inductor is converted into magnetic field
around it instead of supplying the current to the load.
✓ Once the slow rising voltage reaches our desire load voltage we will turn
OFF the transistor. If we keep the transistor ON longer, the inductor will build
its maximum magnetic field around it after which there will be no opposition in
the current and output voltage will be equal to input source voltage which we
don’t want to happen, but we need a lower voltage across the load than the
source voltage.
✓ To do this as mentioned earlier we need turn off the transistor before the
inductor could build its peak magnetic field around it. Meanwhile the diode is
reverse biased and does not allow any current to pass through the diode.
✓ When the transistor/MOSFET is turned ON the equivalent circuit will be as
shown:

• The transistor is OFF :

✓ Now the transistor is OFF and no current is passing through the inductor and
the inductor can NO longer support the magnetic field around it, this leads to
the collapse of magnetic field on itself.

✓ Now the inductor will act as a DC generator in the above shown polarity. If
you take a closer look it is in opposite polarity to what was before (when
transistor was ON).
✓ The –Ve supply potential across at the cathode terminal of the diode makes
it forward biased and it reaches –Ve terminal of the load.
✓ Any fluctuations in the DC supply across the load are smoothed out by a
capacitor while turning ON and OFF the transistor and also during when the
inductor is building its magnetic field and discharging.
✓ The transistor will be turned ON again before the capacitor loses any
significant charge to maintain a steady voltage across the load.
✓ When we turn off the transistor the equivalent circuit is shown below:

Applications of buck converter :

Buck converter is basically used for conversion of high dc voltage to low
dc voltage. It is mostly used in the following applications:
• It is used in battery power systems such as battery chargers for mobile
phones, laptops, and power banks
• It is used in self-regulating power systems such as SMPS
• It is used point of load converters for PCs and motherboards
• It is used in solar chargers
• It is used in adaptive control applications
• It is used in power audio amplifier applications
Examples: Some of the DC-to-DC Step Down Buck Converter Module
available in market are XL4015, LM2595, XL6009 etc.

Circuit of Buck Converter :

We are going to make a simple alteration to the general buck converter design
which will reduce designing complexity and improve efficiency greatly
Circuit description :

The oscillator IC 555

The circuit consists of commonly available components; the heart of the circuit
is an evergreen IC 555 which is configured as astable multivibrator which
generates around 30 KHz frequency with the help of passive and active
components connected to it.
As mentioned earlier we need to control the duty cycle of the frequency using
which we can control the voltage at the buck converter’s output. Controlling /
able adjust the duty cycle of an oscillator is called PWM control.

Fast switching diodes

The PWM control is achieved by connecting two fast switching diodes
(1N4148) anti-parallel to pin #7 of IC 555.
Capacitors
A 470pF capacitor is connected across pin #2 and GND, 470pF capacitor values
are marked as 470 as shown below. Don’t omit the 0.1uF (104) capacitor
connected at pin #5 they help in stabilizing the output and provide immunity
against electrical noises.

N-channel MOSFET
An N-channel MOSFET (IRFZ44N) is used as an amplifier which amplifies the
faint signal from IC 555 and its gate terminal is directly connected to pin #3 of
IC 555. The MOSFET switches the flywheel circuit
The Flywheel circuit

The flywheel circuit utilizes a schottky diode such as 1N5819 / 1N5822 which
are designed for working at high frequencies. In the prototype we have used a
general purpose rectifier diode 1N4007 because we ran out of schottky diodes
but it worked just fine. When you make this circuit you should preferably use a
schottky diode with at least 1A current capacity.

An inductor is connected between the diode and an electrolytic capacitor. The

inductor is the key reason why the buck converter is so efficient; we have
utilized a 100uH inductor and the value doesn’t have to be precise, slight
variation in the value may not affect the output.
How to operate

You must follow the instruction in the mentioned sequence:

1) Connect the load at the output and a multimeter in VDC mode parallel
the load.
2) Keep the potentiometer at its minimum position initially.
3) Power the buck converter now (6V to 12VDC).
4) Gently rotate the potentiometer to increase voltage. Stop when your
desire load voltage is attained and you are done.
5) The load should be connected at the output first before you power the
buck converter ON.
This is because there is no feedback system in this buck converter design and
without any load the 1000uF capacitor will be charged equal to input voltage
and if you connect a load now it has to bear the higher voltage for few
milliseconds before the voltage drops to previously set value.
This circuit is best suitable for fix loads meaning the power consumed by the
load stays the same as long as it is powered ON.