A STUDY OF A DUAL ACTIVE BRIDGE FOR

BIDIRECTIONAL DC/DC CONVERSION FOR

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS

A SEMINAR REPORT
Submitted by

VISHNU AJITH

M220424EE

In partial fulfilment for the award of the Degree of

MASTER OF TECHNOLOGY

in

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

(POWER ELECTRONICS)

Under the guidance of

Dr. MUKTI BARAI

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY CALICUT

NIT CAMPUS PO, CALICUT, 673601

KERALA, INDIA

DECEMBER 2022
 DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

CALICUT

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Seminar report entitled ”A STUDY OF

A DUAL ACTIVE BRIDGE FOR BIDIRECTIONAL

DC/DC CONVERSION FOR VARIOUS APPLICATIONS”
is a bonafide record of the seminar presentation done by VISHNU AJITH

(Roll no : M220424EE) of 1st semester M.Tech under our guidance towards the

partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of M.Tech Degree in Electrical

and Electronics Engineering (Power Electronics) from National Institute of

Technology Calicut during the year 2022.

Dr. Preetha.P Dr. Mukti Barai

Associate Professor & Head of Department Associate Professor
Dept. of Electrical Engineering Dept. of Electrical Engineering
National Institute of Technology National Institute of Technology
Calicut Calicut

2
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I have put considerable efforts in developing this seminar report. However, it

would not have been possible without the support and help from many people. I

would like to extend my sincere thanks to everyone of them. I would like to thank

National Institute of Technology Calicut for providing me with the environment

and infrastructure required for presenting my seminar. I would like to take this

opportunity to thank Dr. Preetha.P, Head of the Department, Department

of Electrical Engineering for her support. I wish to express sincere gratitude

to my guide, Dr. Mukti Barai, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical

Engineering, for her valuable guidance and support.

VISHNU AJITH

M220424EE

NIT CALICUT

3
 Abstract

A single phase Dual Active Bridge (DAB) DC to DC converter is used as a bidi-

rectional interface for variety of applications particularly EV applications[1].Eight

semiconductor devices, a transformer of high frequency, an energy transfer

inductor, and dc-link capacitors make up this system. With a controlled rectifier,

it functions effectively as a full-bridge converter. Soft switching commutations,

a reduction in the number of devices and great efficiency are only a few benefits

of the DAB topology. Stacking converters can achieve high power throughput

and a two way mode of operation thanks to DAB’s modularity and symmetrical

construction.

4
 Contents

1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

1.2 Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.3 Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2 DUAL ACTIVE BRIDGE:

AN OVERVIEW 3

2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2.2 Why DAB is getting popular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2.3 Role of auxiliary inductor (Lk ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2.4 Analogy of DAB with Power Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2.5 Analysis of the Dual Active Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3 DUAL ACTIVE BRIDGE:

SWITCHING SEQUENCE 8

3.1 Interval 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3.2 Interval 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3.3 Interval 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.4 Interval 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

4 DUAL ACTIVE BRIDGE:ZERO VOLTAGE SWITCHING(ZVS) 14

4.1 ZVS transition in Secondary side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

4.2 ZVS transition in Primary side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

5
5 CONCLUSION 17

5.1 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

6
 List of Figures

2.1 DAB Converter Topology[2] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2.2 Power transfer between voltage buses[11] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2.3 High Frequency Equivalent of DAB[4] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2.4 DAB Waveforms[7] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3.1 Interval 1: Negative Inductor Current[11] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

3.2 Interval 1: Positive Inductor Current[11] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

3.3 Interval 2[11] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.4 Interval 3: Positive Inductor Current[11] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3.5 Interval 3: Negative Inductor Current[11] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3.6 Interval 4[11] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

3.7 Transformer Primary and Secondary Voltages, Gate Signals, and

Inductor current[11] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

4.1 ZVS transition in Secondary side-capacitor[11] . . . . . . . . . . . 15

4.2 ZVS transition in Primary side-capacitor[11] . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

4.3 ZVS transition in Primary side-diode[11] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

7
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

The Combined Charging System, which regulates electric car charging standards,

is continually evolving and is researching on quicker battery charging rates, which

often take less than 30 minutes at a charging station to fully charge an electric

vehicle [1].DC charging stations uses Level 3 chargers, which deals with powers

of range 120 to 240 kW[6] . Both AC to DC and DC to DC power conversion

stages are present in these freestanding DC charging stations. To increase power

levels and enable speedy charging, a number of power conversion modules are

piled one over the other inside a charging station.. Without passing via an

internal AC/DC converter, the high-power DC current delivered to an electric

vehicle’s battery from a DC fast-charging station is more potent. has a direct

connection to the battery. The vast majority of modern autos are only capable

of 50 kW[6]. For newer automobiles, more powerful charging will be feasible. DC

charging solutions are being developed to enable long-range EV batteries with

quick charging stations up to 250 kW or more as EVs become more powerful and

their batteries grow in size[10].

1
1.2 Motivation

The dV/dt capability of conventional switching devices, or more properly, the

speed at which they can switch high voltages, is limited. Due to the device

spending longer time in the switching transition, the delayed ramping process

increases switching loss[3]. The amount of dead time needed in the control

system to prevent shoot-through and shorts also increases as a result of the

longer changeover times. In more recent switching semiconductor technologies,

such as SiC and GaN devices with great electron mobility, the answer has been

found. This reference design demonstrates the potential advantages of TI’s SiC

gate driver technology in terms of efficiency and power density by combining SiC

MOSFETs with it. The investigation considered the four main topologies listed

below.

• Resonant converter for LLC

• Full, phase-shifted bridge

• Dual-active, single-phase bridge

• CLLC DAB mode

The DAB was selected based on this study because it is simple to operate in

both directions, has a modular construction, is competitively efficient, and has

higher power density values than other competing topologies.

1.3 Objective

To carry out a comprehensive analysis of the operation of DAB (DAB) for various

on-board charging (OBC) applications for electric vehicles with vehicle-to-grid

connectivity (V2G)[10].

2
 CHAPTER 2

DUAL ACTIVE BRIDGE:

AN OVERVIEW

2.1 Introduction

A two way, controlled dc to dc converter with great power capability is the DAB. 8

semiconductor components, a transformer of high frequency, a inductor for energy

transfer, and dc-link capacitors make up this system. It functions essentially as

a controlled full-bridge converter[2]. This converter exhibits symmetry and can

flow electricity in both directions because its primary and secondary bridges are

similar, making it ideal for isolated converter applications.

Figure 2.1: DAB Converter Topology[2]

The converter topology is displayed as previously. The dc-link voltages

are Vin and Vout, the transformer’s leakage inductance is Lk, along with any

additional external energy transfer inductance that may be required, and the

3
controlled semiconductor switches are S1 through S8. IGBTs with snubber

capacitors and diodes in anti parallel have traditionally been used to build S1

to S8 switching cells in order to generate zero voltage switching (ZVS) using the

snubber capacitor and energy transfer inductance resonance and to direct current

commutation on switching occurrences. Instead of these additional circuits,

MOSFETs have an inherent body-diode and drain-to-source capacitance. Due

to their high voltage and temperature ratings as well as their low turn-on energy,

high power MOSFETs made of broad band-gap semiconductors like SiC are

therefore preferred.

2.2 Why DAB is getting popular

• Breaking of ground loops

• Floating output and level shifting

• Using an HF transformer, provide complete dielectric isolation (no electric

contact) between the input and output circuits[7].

• Positive or negative outputs from the plus or minus rails can be provided by

isolated DC-DC converters.

• Input voltage transients are not passed on to the output.

• Weightless

• Higher efficiency

• High reliability

• Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS)

2.3 Role of auxiliary inductor (Lk )

The auxiliary inductor plays a major role:

• Facilitates the transfer of two way energy

• Lesser di/dt across the switching devices[5]

4
• Aids soft switching which leads to the reduction in the switching losses.

2.4 Analogy of DAB with Power Systems

The flow of power between two buses in a system and the power transfer between

the two bridges in a DAB are similar[11]. Consider two voltage sources connected

by a line reactance as shown in Fig 2.2 :

Figure 2.2: Power transfer between voltage buses[11]

Clearly,the voltage source on the right is behind the voltage source on the left.

Thus, the power is transferred from the left to the right which is given by:

V1 V2 sinΦ
P = (2.1)
ωL

Similar power transfer occurs in a DAB, where the switching activity of

MOSFETs produces two square waves of high-frequency in the main and

secondary sides of the transformer[4]. These square waves of high frequency

are out of phase with one another.

By inverting the phase shift between the two bridges, it is simple to reverse

the direction in which power is transferred from the leading bridge to the lagging

bridge. Consequently, it is possible to get two way power transfer with ease in a

DAB.

5
2.5 Analysis of the Dual Active Bridge

Two totem-poled switching devices make up each bridge, which are powered

by complementary gate pulses[11]. The switching frequency of the converter is

the frequency of these gate pulses (fs). The isolation transformer’s magnetizing

inductance becomes insignificant at high switching frequencies (used in the

transformer design for this project), and it can be described exclusively by its

leakage inductance.

Figure 2.3: High Frequency Equivalent of DAB[4]

Both of the dc input voltages are inverted by the two full bridges before being

applied as the square waves Vprimary and Vsecondary to the isolation transformer’s

terminals.

By shifting the phase of the pulses of one bridge with respect to the other as

shown in Figure 2.4 by an angle δ, power flow in the DAB can be controlled.

Phase shift modulation (PSM) is a type of control that switches power between

the two dc buses so that the power to the trailing bridge is fed to the leading

bridge.

The leaking inductance’s stored energy is directed by the voltage difference

made by the square waves that are being applied to it as shown in Figure 2.4.

Power transfer to the secondary bridge from the primary bridge is instantiated by

6
shifting the secondary bridge pulses by +, taking into account the control pulses

for switches S1 S4 of the primary bridge and S5 S8 of the secondary bridge[6].

Similar to this, power is given to the major bridge when the secondary bridge is

moved backwards, making it the leading bridge[7].

Figure 2.4: DAB Waveforms[7]

7
 CHAPTER 3

DUAL ACTIVE BRIDGE:

SWITCHING SEQUENCE

The primary and secondary bridges are run in a single-phase, DAB configuration

concurrently. All switches runs at a 50% duty ratio. Each bridge’s output is a

square wave as a result of the simultaneous activation and deactivation of the

diagonal switches. The converter’s switching pattern is well explained.

Based on the waveform of inductor current and the phase difference allying the

voltages at the transformer’s primary and secondary, the switching sequence is

split into four segments. Figure 3.7 shows the waveforms for both the voltage

and the current.Since the current waveform is both negative and positive during

interval one, the pattern in Figures 3.1 and 3.2 applies. Switches Q1 and Q4 in

the primary side and Q6 and Q7 in the secondary side each conduct current at

this time.

Figure 3.1: Interval 1: Negative Inductor Current[11]

8
 Figure 3.2: Interval 1: Positive Inductor Current[11]

3.1 Interval 1

In this time frame, Vp is the voltage in primary, and Vs is the voltage in the

secondary. The slope of the current during this time is determined by Equation

3.1, and the difference of the voltages is across the inductor:

di V1 + V2
= (3.1)
dt L

3.2 Interval 2

The inductor current turns positive at interval two. Positive voltages are present

across the primary and secondary windings of the transformer, designated as V1

and V2 , respectively. Equation 3.2 controls the slope of the increasing current

during the period where a difference of two voltages emerges across the leaking

inductor.
di V1 − V2
= (3.2)
dt L

Switches Q1 and Q4 remain on throughout this time, but switches Q5 and Q8 turn

on to conduct since the voltage across the secondary is now V2 and the inductor

current is positive. Between the turning on of Q5 and Q8 and the turning off of Q6

and Q7 , there is a small dead time interval. This event of zero voltage switching

9
(ZVS), which takes place during this pause, is described in more depth in the

section that follows. The second interval’s commutation sequence is displayed in

Figure 3.3

Figure 3.3: Interval 2[11]

3.3 Interval 3

As seen in Figure 3.7, at interval three, the current begins ramping down from

peak positive value to a negative value. The voltage in the primary is -V1

throughout, while the voltage across the secondary is V2. The difference i.e,

(-V1-V2), is visible across the inductor. As a result, as illustrated in Equation

3.3, the current ramps down with a negative slope.

di −V1 − V2
= (3.3)
dt L

Switches Q5 and Q8 are activated at this time, but because the voltage in the

primary is V1, switches Q2 and Q3 also activate to conduct current. Figures 3.4

and 3.5 respectively depict the conduction for the inductor current, IL > 0 and

IL < 0 correspondingly.

10
 Figure 3.4: Interval 3: Positive Inductor Current[11]

Figure 3.5: Interval 3: Negative Inductor Current[11]

3.4 Interval 4

Throughout interval four, the inductor current stays negative. Currently, the

voltage across the secondary is -V2, whereas the voltage across the primary is -V1.

These voltages differ by (-V1+V2), and the inductor will exhibit this difference.

As a result, the current ramps down with a negative slope, as shown in Equation

3.4.
di −V1 + V2
= (3.4)
dt L

Switches Q2 and Q3 remain on during this time, but because the voltage across

the secondary is now -V2 , switches Q6 and Q7 come on to conduct current as seen

in Figure 3.6.

The switching pulses on the primary and secondary sides are shown in Figure 3.7.

11
 Figure 3.6: Interval 4[11]

The phase difference among the PWM pulses on the primary and secondary sides

is represented by the variable. The transformer’s primary and secondary winding

voltages are denoted by the letters Vp and Vs respectively. The transformer

current is IL .

12
Figure 3.7: Transformer Primary and Secondary Voltages, Gate Signals, and
Inductor current[11]

13
 CHAPTER 4

DUAL ACTIVE BRIDGE:ZERO VOLTAGE

SWITCHING(ZVS)

The inductor-stored energy drains the MOSFETs’ output capacitances during the

transition from interval one to interval two, holding them almost equivalent to

zero voltage before they switch on. [11]ZVS describes this phenomena, when the

voltage in the MOSFET is almost zero upon turn-on (ZVS). This is a important

benefit of this scheme since it results in ZVS of all the switches on the lagging

bridge and some switches on the leading bridge because of the lagging current

in one of the bridges. The amount of inductive energy (EL = 12 LI 2 ) that may

be used to charge and discharge the MOSFETs’ output capacitances (EC =

1
2
CV 2 )determines this.

4.1 ZVS transition in Secondary side

The primary side Q1 and Q4 are impacted by the change from interval one to

interval two, whereas the secondary side Q6 and Q7 turn off and Q5 and Q8

turn on. The secondary or load voltage is fully blocked by Q5 and Q8 when

Q6 and Q7 are turned on at first since there is no voltage applied across them.

During dead time, when Q5 ,Q6 ,Q7 ,Q8 switches are off, the inductor-stored energy

generates current that discharges the capacitor between MOSFETs Q5 and Q8

to zero voltage and charges the capacitor between MOSFETs Q6 and Q7 to full

load voltage. The above mentioned is shown in Figure 4.1.

14
 Figure 4.1: ZVS transition in Secondary side-capacitor[11]

The process by which zero voltage switches across the main switches when

interval 2 changes to interval 3 is described in the next section. The load side

switches Q5 and Q8 continue to operate when interval 2 transitions to interval

3, while the primary side switches Q1 and Q4 turn off and Q2 and Q3 turn on.

There is no voltage applied between Q1 and Q4 when they first begin to conduct,

and Q2 and Q3 totally block the secondary voltage.

4.2 ZVS transition in Primary side

During dead time, the inductor’s stored energy permits current to flow even while

all of the major switches are off. As a result, the capacitor across MOSFETs Q1

and Q4 is charged to the full main voltage shown, while the capacitor across

MOSFETs Q2 and Q3 is discharged to zero as seen in Figure 4.2.

15
 Figure 4.2: ZVS transition in Primary side-capacitor[11]

After the capacitors have been charged and discharged, current must continue

to flow.As seen in Figure 4.3, when a current flows through D2 and D3, the voltage

between the Q2 and Q3 is clamped to zero.The subsequent time, MOSFETs Q2

and Q3 are turned on at zero voltage, completely eliminating turn-on losses. The

arrow close to the diode indicates that it is conducting and that the MOSFET is

off.

Figure 4.3: ZVS transition in Primary side-diode[11]

16
 CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

5.1 Conclusion

The converter exhibits less losses and excellent output regulation and is sufficient

to implement the optimized transformer for the purpose of comparison. The

DAB converter is one of the most enterprising isolated DC-DC converter used for

several kW to tens of kW. With SiC devices, DAB can go up to 5o-100 kW or

higher. An IGBT version of the DAB is also possible. It can be considered for

EV and grid connected systems[4].

17
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19