You are on page 1of 7

Small-Signal Model of a 5kW High-Output Voltage Capacitive-Loaded Series-Parallel

Resonant DC-DC Converter


Fabiana da Silveira Cavalcante and Johann W. Kolar
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich
Power Electronic Systems Laboratory
ETH Zentrum / ETL I14, Physikstrasse 3
CH-8092 Zurich / SWITZERLAND
cavalcante@lem.ee.ethz.ch kolar@lem.ee.ethz.ch

Abstract This paper presents an accurate method, based on first This paper develops a small-signal model for the series-parallel
harmonic analysis, to derive the small-signal model of the series-parallel resonant DC-DC converter with capacitive output filter in order to
resonant DC-DC converter with capacitive output filter for high-voltage make the controller design for this type of converter easier. The
applications. The model provides a fast and reliable way to obtain the converter power circuit is initially described and an analytical
desired transfer functions of the system for each operating point. For this
reason, the small-signal model simplifies the controller design task for
description of the transient and steady-state behavior is given
resonant converters by removing the need of complex mathematical based on the generalized averaging method [2]. Furthermore, the
analysis and saves the time required for measurements when using trial small-signal model of the converter is determined and the
and error design method. The small-signal model has been verified magnitude and phase plots of the transfer function of the control
through simulation and experimental measurements. variable to the output voltage are shown. Results from simulations
of a 5kW converter with output voltage in the range from 23kV to
I. INTRODUCTION 62.5kV and operating at 250 kHz at full load and 500 kHz at low
load, are given. The simulation results fully verify the theoretical
Series-parallel resonant converters are frequently employed for
considerations. Finally, the accuracy of the small-signal model is
the realization of high output voltage DC-DC converters since they
verified by a laboratory prototype.
can integrate the non-idealities of the high-voltage transformer.
However, the design of resonant converters is involved due to the
II. CIRCUIT DESCRIPTION
large number of operating states occurring within a pulse period
[1]. Specifically, the controller design task is involved because the The topology of the 5kW series-parallel resonant full-bridge
small-signal transfer function is extremely dependent on the DC-DC converter with impressed output voltage, operating above
operating point of the converter. There are a large number of resonance, is shown in Fig. 1. The (parasitic) capacitors C1, C3
representative publications on modeling and control of resonant serve for zero-voltage switching of power transistors S1 and S3, the
converters where small-signal models for the series, parallel and resonant inductor Ls is formed by the transformer stray inductance
inductive loaded series-parallel resonant converters are proposed in combination with an auxiliary inductor connected in series. The
[2,4,5,6]. However the small-signal model of the capacitive loaded parallel resonant capacitor Cp is formed by the parasitic
series-parallel resonant converter is still missing from the literature capacitance of the high-voltage transformer T1 secondary winding.
and for this reason many controller designs are performed by trial The converter output power is controlled by varying the duty-cycle
and error [7]. The trial and error procedure is not convenient and the operating frequency is automatically adjusted to ensure the
because the small-signal model varies significantly with load commutation of one bridge leg occurs at zero current. This bridge
changes and the load is normally an unknown parameter. leg is realized with IGBTs and additional diodes, D2, and D4. The
Therefore, the setting of the controller parameters can take a long second bridge leg commutates at zero voltage, therefore power
time until a robust set of parameters are found. MOSFETs are employed and the free-wheeling diodes D1, D3 are
the intrinsic diodes of the MOSFETs.
Do1 Io
T1

S1 S2 Ch1
D1 D2
C1 Cs Ls

Vin A i Ls Ch2
Cp Do2
B
Ro Vo
S3 S4 D4
D3 C3 Do3
Ch3

1:n

Do4 Ch4

Fig. 1: Structure of the power circuit of a series-parallel resonant DC/DC converter with impressed output voltage; Cp denotes the equivalent capacitance of the
secondary winding referred to the primary.
S1 S2
D1 D2
Cs Ls IT Io
Vin A
I Ls Do1
VCs Cp VCp Co1'
B

Ro V
o
S3 S4 D4 Co2'
D3
Do2

Fig. 2: Simplified circuit of the converter with the output components referred to the transformer primary side.

In order to simplify the analysis it is assumed that: all the It is important to point out that (2) corresponds to the exact
components are ideal and have no losses; the voltage, Vin, supplied derivative of the kth coefficient only in the case that s is constant.
by the input pre-regulator is constant and has no ripple; the When the frequency is not constant, (2) is only a good
magnetizing inductance of the transformer is not considered in the approximation if s is a slowly varying variable [2].
analysis; capacitors C1,C3, are too small so they are not included in The generalized averaging method is applied to the series-
the analysis; the load is modeled as a pure resistance and all the parallel resonant converter shown on Fig. 2. Using the notation
output quantities are referred to the transformer primary side. From given in the figure and choosing Co1 = Co2 = Co, the differential
these assumptions the simplified model of the converter can be equations that describe the circuit can be written as:
represented by the circuit of the Fig. 2. di (t )
The converter system is designed with following parameters, Ls Ls = vCs (t ) vCp (t ) + v AB (t ) (3)
dt
which is representative of the experimental system:
dv (t )
Cs Cs = iLs (t ) (4)
Vin = 325V Vo = 23kV62.5kV dt
Io = 0200mA Po = 05kW dv (t ) 2 vo ' (t )
Co ' o ' = abs (iT ) (5)
n = 15 fs = 250kHz.500kHz dt Ro '
Cs = 30nF Cp = 12nF
The state vector is given by x(t ) = [i Ls (t ) vCs (t ) vo ' (t )] . At
T
Ls = 24.3H Co1, Co2 = 0.5F
this point, it is important to notice why the voltage in the parallel
The equivalent output voltage, output current and output capacitor vcp is not used as a state variable even though Cp is an
resistance, referred to the primary side of transformer, are energy storing element. In fact the vcp waveform is not
respectively: Vo = Vo /2n, Io = Io 2n and Ro = Ro/4n2 where n is differentiable and its dynamic behavior is completely defined by
the transformer turns ratio. the energy stored in Ls and in both output capacitors [3].
Fig. 3 shows the main waveforms of the simplified circuit of
III. THEORETICAL ANALYSIS Fig. 2 for a typical operating point. These waveforms are
predominantly sinusoidal so it is assumed that the resonant current
A. Nonlinear Model of the Series-Parallel Resonant iLs and the voltage in the series capacitor vCs are well approximated
Converter by their first time-varying harmonic i.e. with the fundamental term
State space averaging has been demonstrated to be an effective of the Fourier series. The output voltage vo is a DC voltage with
method for analysis and control design in PWM switching power slow dynamical behavior so it is assumed that it can be
converters. However the method cannot be applied to a wide range approximated with sufficient accuracy with the DC coefficient of
of power circuits that includes the resonant type converters. The the complex Fourier series. The nonlinear model for the dynamics
basic limitation in resonant converters is that these circuits have of the local harmonics, assuming that the switching frequency
state variables with a predominantly oscillatory behavior. The varies slowly from one switching period to the next, is given by
generalized averaging method overcomes the limitations of the d I Ls
state-space averaging method because it can describe arbitrary
types of waveforms [2]. The method is based on the fact that the dt
1
= js I Ls 1 +
1
Ls
{ VCs 1 VCp
1
+ VAB 1 } (6)

waveform x() can be approximated in the interval (t-T, t] with a d VCs 1


Fourier series representation of the form
1
= js VCs 1 + I Ls 1
(7)
dt Cs
x(t T + s ) = x k (t )e jk s ( t T + s ) (1) d Vo ' 1 2 Vo ' 0
k 0
= abs (iT )1 (8)
where the sum is over all integers k, s=2/T, s (0, T ], and xk(t) dt Co ' Ro '
are complex Fourier coefficients. where
The time derivative of the kth coefficient is computed to be
Vin
d
x k (t ) =
d
x (t ) jk s x k (t ). (2)
VAB = [sin( D) + j (cos( D) 1)] (9)
1

dt dt k
sC p Vo '
= cos 1 0
1 (10) dx1 x x V
2 I Ls = s x2 3 5 + in sin( D) (18)
1 dt Ls Ls Ls
2 I Ls dx2 x x V
= s x1 4 6 + in [ cos( D) 1] (19)
abs (iT )1 = 1
[1 cos() ] (11) dt Ls Ls Ls

dx3 x
= s x4 + 1 (20)
dt Cs
Vin
vAB dx4 x
t4 t5 t7 t8 = s x3 + 2 (21)
0
t0 t1 t2 t
3 t6 t9 t10 t dt Cs
-Vin
dx7 2 x1 + x2
2 2
2 x7
[1 cos()]
Ls iLs
= (22)
dt Co ' Ro ' Co '
0
t
The switching frequency s and duty cycle D are defined as
Ls iT
the control inputs u1 and u2, respectively. The output voltage, the
amplitude of the resonant current and the amplitude of the voltage
0
in the series-capacitor are defined as the outputs y1, y2 and y3,
{
t

vCp respectively.
Vo
4n
0 u1 = s (23)
t
^
VCs
vCs u2 = D (24)
0 y1 = x7 (25)
t
vo y2 = 2 x + x
2
1
2
2 (26)
Vo'

0 y3 = 2 x + x
2
3
2
4 (27)
t

Fig. 3: Time behavior of the characteristic voltages and currents of a series- Output Voltage
parallel resonant converter within a pulse period (t0t10). 800

The new state variables are: ILs1, VCs1 and Vo0. They are 600
complex Fourier coefficients that can be written as a fifth order
state space model with real variables: ILs1 = x1 + jx2, VCs1 = x3 +
jx4 and Vo0 = x7. The voltage on the parallel capacitor can be also 400

written as a function of real variables: VCp1= x5 + jx6 [3].


Eq. (10) and (11) can be rewritten as:
200

sC p x7
= cos 1 1 (12)
2 x2 + x2
1 2 0
0 50 100 150
Time[ms]
2 x + x2 2
(a)
abs (iT )1 = 1 2
[1 cos()] (13) Resonant Inductor Current
40

As already stated, the voltage on the parallel capacitor is not


considered as a state variable, so one needs to express this voltage
20
as a function of the state variables. x5 and x6 are expressed as a
function of the existing state variables x1 and x2.
1
[ x1 + x2 ]
0
x5 = (14)
sC p
1
x6 = [ x2 x1 ] (15)
-20
sC p
where -40
1 0 50 100 150
= + sin(2) (16) Time[ms]
2 (b)
= sin 2 () (17) Fig. 4: Comparison of the amplitude of the model variables with the
The new state vector is given by x = [ x1 x2 x3 x4 x7 ]
T
and simulated waveforms: (a) output voltage Vo (100V/div); (b) resonant
current iLs (10A/div).
the model with real variables is
Based on the generalized averaging model, digital simulations
using MATLAB/SIMULINK are performed. The parameters used x = Ax + B u
(41)
for the simulation are: Vo = 767V, Po = 4.6kW, D = 0.752, fs = y = C x + D u
253kHz and Ro = 128. The simulation compares the magnitude G
of the complex coefficients obtained with the averaging method where A, B, C and D are matrices that describe the system, x is the
G JG
with the amplitude of the waveforms obtained simulating the state vector, u is the input vector, y is the output vector and
switching circuit. The results for the resonant current and the means the small changes of the respective parameter.
equivalent output voltage referred to the primary side of the It is important to point out that steady state solution is
transformer are shown in Fig. 4. The results show that the dependent on the operating point of the system (desired output
correspondence between the waveforms obtained with the model voltage and load). Thus, there is one steady state solution for each
and with the simulated circuit is excellent. Therefore the large operating point of the system. This makes the analytical
signal model based on generalized averaging method is a good linearization of the system complex. The complete set of equations
starting point to derive the small-signal model of the converter. is presented in the Appendix of this paper. However, if one is
interested in a specific operation point then the numerical solutions
B. Small- Signal Model of the Series-Parallel Resonant are easily computed with software such as MATLAB. Therefore
Converter this procedure can be used to calculate transfer functions for
In order to find the small-signal model for the series-parallel desired operating points in a fast and reliable way.
resonant converter with capacitive output filter the first step is to With the linear system formed by the matrices A, B, C, D one
obtain a steady state solution for the system. This can be done is in position to obtain the six transfer functions that relate the
setting the derivatives of Eq. (18)-(22) equal to zero. Furthermore control input u1 (switching frequency) or u2 (duty cycle, D) to the
the steady-state value of the angle is taken from [1]. The outputs y1 (output voltage), y2 (amplitude of the resonant current)
equations that represent the steady-state solution are given by or y3, (amplitude of the voltage in the series capacitor). The
transfer functions that relate the inputs u1, u2 with the output y1, are
2
ss = 2 tan 1 (28) particularly interesting because the main control purpose is to
sC p R o ' adjust the output voltage to any desired reference value for all kind
1 of load changes. The switching frequency of the converter is
ss = ss + sin(2 ss ) (29) automatically adjusted to ensure zero-current switching of one
2
bridge leg where the output power is controlled by duty cycle
ss = sin 2 (ss ) (30) variation. Therefore, the transfer function that is essential for the
Cp controller design is the transfer function that relates duty cycle
= (31) with output voltage G(s) = Vo / D = y1 / u2.
Cs
sss C p Vin 90
K= (32) 23kV/4.6kW
46kV/5kW
ss 80 62.5kV/5kW
62.5kV/500W
70 46kV/2.5kW

ss
M= (33) 60
Magnitude (dB)

ss + sss 2 Ls C p 50

40
x2ss
x1ss = + K sin( D) (34) 30

M 20

K M 2 sin( D)
10

x2ss = + [ cos( D) 1] (35) 0


(1 + M 2 ) M -10

x2ss 360

x3ss = (36)
sss Cs 270

x1ss
180
Phase (deg)

x4ss = (37)
sss Cs
90

0
1
x5ss = x1 ss + x2ss ss (38)
sss C p ss -90

-180
1
x6ss = x2 ss x1ss ss
1 2 3 4 5 6
(39) 10 10 10 10 10 10

sss C p ss Frequency (Hz)

Fig. 5: Bode plots of G(s) for different operating points of the system.
Ro ' x1ss 2 + x2ss 2
x7 ss = [1 cos(ss )] (40)
IV. SIMULATION RESULTS

After obtaining the steady-state solution, the model can be Fig. 5 presented the Bode magnitude and phase plots of the
linearized around the steady state in order to obtain the small- output voltage for small changes in duty cycle. They represent the
signal transfer functions from any desired input to any desired transfer function G(s) for different load conditions from full power
output. After the linearization one obtains a linearized model of to very low power. The five different output voltage / output power
the type given by Eq. (41). operating points are: 23kV/4.6kW, 46kV/5kW, 62.5kV/5kW,
62.5kV/0.5kW and 46kV/2.5kW. These points are arbitrarily
chosen just in order to show how the transfer function changes occurs. This represents the step response when the reference
within the operating range of the converter. voltage (referred to the primary side of the transformer) is held
One can see that the DC gain of the transfer function G(s) constant at 767V and the output power is reduced from 4.6kW to
changes significantly with the load. The phase plot shows that for 2.3kW.
some load conditions the transfer function has two non minimum From the results shown in Fig. 6, one can conclude that the
phase zeros, which indicates that the system is difficult to control. linearized model agrees well with the dynamics of the simulated
This characteristic is evident comparing phase transitions for the converter. Therefore the calculation method is valid and is a very
same output voltage, 62.5kV, and different output power, 5kW and helpful tool for the control design.
500W. For 5kW the system is non minimum phase and for 500W
is minimum phase. Thus a very robust control technique is needed V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
in order to overcome this difficulty. The peaks in the magnitude
correspond to summation of the series resonant frequency fo and In order to verify if the results obtained theoretically and with
the switching frequency fs. digital simulations are reproducible in practice, a 5kW prototype is
built. Since the objective of the laboratory tests is only to verify
Output Voltage [V] the validity of the small-signal representation, one does not have to
900
construct the complete high-voltage converter. It is sufficient to
build the equivalent circuit shown in Fig. 2 with all quantities
850 referred to the primary side of the transformer. Thus, the prototype
is constructed without high-voltage transformer. The parasitic
800 elements (leakage inductance and stray capacitance), which are
necessary to build the resonant circuit, are replaced with external
750 elements. The photograph of the constructed prototype of the
equivalent system is shown in Fig. 7.
700

650

19.5 cm
600
500 700 900 1100 1300 1500 16 cm
Time[ms]
(a)
Output Voltage [V]
850

800

750

700
700 900 1100 1300 1500 1700 1900
Time[ms] Fig. 7: Photograph of the 5kW prototype of the series-parallel resonant
(b) converter with capacitive output filter.
Fig. 6: Comparison between step response of the linearized model and of
the circuit (a) with a step change in the value of reference voltage and (b) Fig. 8 shows the comparison between the results obtained with
with a step change in the value of the load resistance. Scale: output voltage simulation and from the laboratory tests without the high-voltage
Vo (50V/div). transformer. This represents the closed loop response of the system
In order to prove that the small-signal model well when a step change in the reference voltage occurs. At time of
approximates the converter, simulations using MATLAB were 0.1ms the reference voltage is changed from 410V to 750V. In the
undertaken for various load and reference output voltage steps. figure, one can see that the rise time, which is about 100s, is the
Fig. 6(a) shows a comparison between the simulated switching same for both simulated and experimental waveforms. The small
circuit with a constant load and the linearized model. It represents differences between both waveforms are due to approximations
the closed loop response to a step change in the reference voltage used in the development of the model and to the unmodeled non-
Voref from 700V to 800V using a PI controller with fixed idealities of the real circuit. In the practical implementation the
parameters. Fig. 6(b) shows a comparison between the simulated reference voltage passes through a first order proportional/lag
switching circuit and the linearized model when a load change element before it is compared with the measured voltage.
Therefore the measured output voltage is compared with a APPENDIX
reference voltage that has an exponential rise rather than a step
change. Since the controller is very fast, the controller sets the duty Matrix A is a 5x5 system matrix and it gives the relation
cycle immediately to the maximum value when a step occurs and between the derivative of states and the states.
the output voltage is, for a short time, higher than the reference
voltage. The controller then reduces the duty cycle to a minimum
value and this transient behavior is responsible for the plateau that a11 a12 a13 0 a15
a a25
occurs from time 0.2ms to 0.3ms in the experimental waveform 21 a22 0 a24
before the output voltage reaches its final value. Even considering A = a31 0 0 a34 0
this small difference between both waveforms, there is a good
agreement between the simulation results using the proposed 0 a42 a43 0 0
a a55
small-signal model and the experimental result. 51 a52 0 0
where
900
I1ss = x1ss 2 + x2ss 2 (A.1)
800
x7ss s C p
2
x7ss
G1 = (A.2)
700 4 Ls I1ss 2
Ls I1ss
x7ss x7 2 s C p
G2 = ss (A.3)
600 Ls I1 2 Ls I1ss 2
ss


500 x7ss 2 s C p tan ss
2 2
G3 = +
ss 2 Ls I1ss 4
400 s C p Ls I1ss tan
2

2
(A.4)

300
x7ss
tan ss +
1
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Time[ms] 2 Ls I1ss 2
3
ss
(a) tan
2
900
1 ss
G4 = s + (A.5)
800 s C p Ls s C p Ls
x1ss 2
700 a11 = G1 + G2 + x1ss x2ss G3 (A.6)
I1ss 2
600 x1 x2 1 2
a12 = ss 2 ss + tan ss G2 + x2ss G3 + G4 (A.7)
I1ss 2 2
500
1
a13 = (A.8)
400 Ls
x1ss x2ss I1ss 2
300 a15 = G2 G3 (A.9)
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 x7ss x7ss
Time[ms]
(b) x1 x2 1
Fig. 8: Closed-loop response of the output voltage for a step change in the a21 = ss 2 ss tan ss G2 x1ss 2 G3 G4 (A.10)
reference from 410V to 750V: (a) Simulation result using the proposed I1ss 2 2
model (b) Experimental result. Scale: output voltage Vo (100V/div), Time
a 22 = G1 + x2ss 2 G2 x1ss x2ss G3 (A.11)
(100s/div).
1
a 24 = (A.12)
VI. CONCLUSIONS Ls
This paper presents an accurate method, based on first harmonic x2ss x1ss I1ss 2
analysis, to derive the small-signal model of the series-parallel a25 = G2 + G3 (A.13)
x7ss x7ss
resonant DC-DC converter with capacitive output filter. The model
provides a fast and reliable way to obtain desired transfer functions 1
a31 = (A.14)
of the system for each operating point. For this reason, the small- Cs
signal model simplifies the controller design task for resonant
a34 = s (A.15)
converters by removing the need of complex mathematical
analysis and saves the time required for measurements in the trial 1
a 42 = (A.16)
and error design method. Cs
a 43 = s (A.17) 0 0 0 0 1
4 x1ss
C = c21 c22 0 0 0
a51 = (A.18)
Co ' I1ss 0 0 c33 c34 0
4 x2ss where
a52 = (A.19)
C o ' I1ss
V1ss = x3ss 2 + x4ss 2 (A.30)
1 s C p 2
=
a55
Co' +R (A.20) 2 x1ss
o' c21 = (A.31)
I1ss

B is the input matrix and it relates the derivative of the states 2 x2ss
c22 = (A.32)
with the system inputs. The two inputs, D and s are used resulting I1ss
in a 5x2 matrix for B. 2 x3ss
c33 = (A.33)
b11 b12
V1ss
2 x4ss
b21 b22 c34 = (A.34)
B = b31 0 V1ss

b41 0 Finally, matrix D is called the direct transmission matrix and it
b represents the elements that transmit an input directly to the output
51 0
of the system. For our case D is a 3x2 zero matrix.
where
x7ss 2 C p REFERENCES
H1 = (A.21)
4 Ls I1ss 2
[1] F.S. Cavalcante and J.W. Kolar, Design of a 5kW High Output
1 ss 2
H2 = 1 + Voltage Series-Parallel Resonant DC-DC Converter, in Proceedings
2s C p Ls 2s C p Ls of the 34th IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference, Acapulco,
2s C p Ls tan ss
2 Mexico, 2003, vol. 4, pp. 1807 - 1814.
[2] S.R. Sanders, J.M. Noworolski, X.Z. Liu, et al. Generalized
Averaging Method for Power Conversion Circuits, IEEE
x7ss 2 C p tan ss
2 + x7 ss Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 251-259, April

4 Ls I1ss 2 1991.
2 s Ls I1ss tan ss [3] J.A. Martn-Ramos, J. Diaz, A.M. Perna, et al. Large-Signal
2 Modeling of the PRC-LCC Resonant Topology with a Capacitor as
(A.22) Output Filter, in Proceedings of the 17th Annual IEEE Applied
b11 = x1ss H 1 + x2ss H 2 (A.23) Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, Dallas, TX, 2002, vol.
2, pp. 1120 - 1126.
b21 = x2ss H 1 x1ss H 2 (A.24) [4] V. Vorprian, Approximate Small-Signal Analysis of the Series and
b31 = x4 ss (A.25) the Parallel Resonant Converters, IEEE Transactions on Power
Electronics, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 15-24, January 1989.
b41 = x3ss (A.26) [5] E.X. Yang, B. Choi, F.C. Lee, et al. Dynamic Analysis and Control
x7ss C p Design of LCC Resonant Converter, in Proceedings of the 23rd
b51 = (A.27) Power Electronics Specialists Conference, Toledo, Spain, 1992, vol.
Co ' 1, pp. 362 369.
Vin [6] A.M. Stankovic, D.J. Perreault, K. Sato, et al. Analysis and
b12 = cos( D) (A.28) Experimentation with Dissipative Nonlinear Controllers for Series
Ls Resonant DC/DC Converters, in Proceedings of the 28th Power
Vin Electronics Specialists Conference, St. Louis, MI, 1997, vol. 1, pp.
b22 = sin( D) (A.29) 679 685.
Ls [7] G. Garcia Soto, J. Gaysse, G.W. Baptiste, Variable Sampling Time
Serial-Resonant Current Converter Control for a High-Voltage X-ray
The matrix that relates the states with the output is the C Tube Application, in Proceedings of the 10th European Power
matrix. There are three outputs and five states thus C is a 3x5 Quality Conference, Nuremberg, Germany, 2004, pp. 972 - 977.
matrix.

You might also like