An Improved ZCT-PWM DCDC

Converter for
High-Power and Frequency
Applications
Presented by Awais Ahmad

zero-current-transition PWM
converters
This family of converters implements zero-current
turn-off for power transistor(s) without
increasing voltage/current stresses and operates
at a fixed frequency.
zero-voltage transition (ZVT)zero-current
transition (ZCT) quasi-resonant buck converter,
which ensures zero crossings at any time required
for soft switching (SS) and provides ZVT turn-on
and ZCT turn-off together for the main switch of
active snubber cell in buck converter

Hard and Soft Switching

Hard Switching

. Hard Switching occurs when there is an overlap between

voltage and current when switching the transistor on and off.
. This overlap causes energy loss which can be minimized by
increasing the di/dt and dv/dt.
. However, fast changing di/dt or dv/dt causes EMI to be
generated. Therefore the di/dt and dv/dt should be optimized
to avoid EMI issues.

 Soft Switching

Soft switching is a possible way of reducing losses in power electronic switches.

The expression "soft switching" actually refers to the operation of power
electronic switches as zero voltage switches(ZVS) or zero current switches (ZCS).

Soft Switching brings

to zero (current
or voltage) before the
off. This has benefits
in terms of losses.
. The smooth resonan
also minimize EMI.
. Common topologies
and LLC are soft

Implementation

Improved ZCT-PWM buck converter with IGBT.

Both the main switch S1 and the auxiliary
switch S2 consist of an IGBT

Operation Stages
Seven stages occur within one switching cycle
in the steady state operation of the proposed
converter. The equivalent circuit schemes of
these operation stages are shown in further
slides

Stage 1
When t1< t <t2
At the beginning of this stage, the main
transistor T1 is in the off state. The main diode
Df is in the on state and conducts the load
current Io

Stage 2
When t1< t <t2
At t = t1, a resonance between Lr and Cr starts
via the path LrT1D2-Cr under constant
current Io .
Also, the initial current of Lr is Io . Here, the
diode D2 is turned on under near ZCS through
Lr . For this resonance,

Stage 3
When t2< t <t3
This stage is the on state of the known PWM
converter. For this stage,

Stage 4
When t3< t <t4
At t = t3 , a control signal is applied to the gate
of the auxiliary transistor T2. It is turned on
with near ZCS due to Lr .
For this resonance, the equations

Stage 5
When t4< t <t5
Immediately after the time t = t4, the diode D1
is turned on with near ZCS and the resonance
that started before continues to resonate
through T2 and D1. Thus, the diode D1
conducts the excess of the resonant current
from the load current Io.
For this case, the equations,

Stage 6
When t5< t <t6
During this stage, the capacitor Cr is charged
from VCr5 to Vi with constant current Io At , the
voltage vCr across Cr reaches Vi and the load
current Io is commutated from T2 to Df with
soft switching, and this stage is finished.
For this stage, the equations

Stage 7
When t6< t <t7 = t0
This stage is the off state of the known PWM
converter. For this stage

waveforms concerning the operation

stages in the converter.

Design procedure
The following design procedure considering is
mainly based on the soft switching turn off
requirements of the main switch with the
maximum load current.
1. Resonant inductor Lr and resonant capacitor
Cr are selected to allow the peak value of the
resonant current to be approximately twice
the maximum load current.

Lr and Cr are selected to allow one half resonant

cycle to be approximately twice the fall time of
the main transistor.
the sum of the transient intervals, and the
minimum and maximum time durations of the
turn on signal of the main transistor can be
defined, respectively, as follows:

 The sum of the transient periods is permitted

to be equal to at most 20% of the switching
cycle as given, for possible maximum
switching frequency
for the minimum and maximum values of the
duty ratio of the converter

EXPERIMENT
Theoretical analysis is verified with a
prototype of a 5-kW and 50-kHz IGBT-PWM
buck converter.

Experimental circuit of a 5-kW and 50-kHz IGBT-PWM buck converter.

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
A prototype of a 5-kW and 50-kHz IGBT-PWM
buck converter given in previous Figure has
been realized to verify the predicted operation
principles and analysis of the improved ZCTPWM buck converter.

CONCLUSION
an improved active resonant snubber cell that
overcomes most of the drawbacks of the normal ZCTPWM dcdc converter is proposed. It is particularly
suitable for an IGBT-PWM converter at high power and
high frequency levels. Also, the proposed snubber cell
has a simple structure, low cost, and ease of control.
The converter with the proposed snubber cell can
operate successfully with soft switching under lightload conditions and at considerably high frequencies.
The predicted operation principles and theoretical
analysis of this converter have been exactly verified
with a prototype of a 5-kW and 50-kHz IGBT-PWM
buck converter.

The End