Lab1: Pspice Simulation of Buck Converter

Note: This lab and lab2: Pspice Simulation of Boost Converter will take place in EH1141
Objective:
This lab will help you design a buck converter step by step, and learn how to use OrCAD to do
simulations of circuits. This lab, together with the next one Pspice Simulation of Boost
Converter, will also help you to prepare necessary calculations and simulations for the coming
project of real circuit design.
1. Pre-lab
1) Design a buck converter:
Given the parameter as below:
Input Voltage:
Output Voltage:
Inductor current ripple:

80VDC-120VDC
50VDC,
Output Power:
Output Voltage ripple:
5% ,

100W
5%

Switching Frequency: 10KHz

Please calculate the values of Duty Ratio D, Load R, Inductor L, and the Capacitor
C.
2) Sketch the waveforms of the PWM control, the according Inductor current and Capacitor
voltage.(need not calculate exact value)
3) How would you realize the PWM control? If we want to make it a close loop, how would you
realize it? (optional)
2.
1) OrCAD introduction

1-1

OrCAD is a very valuable tool, and in this quarter we will use packages called Capture and Pspice
A/D. In addition to offering schematic tools, Capture has tools for circuit simulation, circuit board
layout, and programmable logic. Although we will not use them in this class, capabilities for
analog and mixed analog/digital circuits are also available. (The graph above can be a little
different with what we have in the Lab C because it is from a full version but not a student edition.)
2) Getting started
To use Capture, use the start menu, choose Programs > Orcad Family Release 9.2 Lite Edition
> Capture CIS Lite Edition.
The first time you use Capture, you will need to create a new project. From the top menu, select
File New > Project. Give the project a name (such as Buck), and select Analog or mixed A/D.
Choose the right folder to put your project files. Check OK and then select Create a blank project.
Click OK again and you should now see a window labeled Schematic1:Page1. The
blank schematic will have a border and title block. (You will have to scroll to the lower right to
see the title block.) Put your personalized information in the title block by double-clicking on the
placeholders i.e. <Title> and entering your text in the resulting window.
3) Entering a Schematic
Click in the schematic window and note that besides the top bar being highlighted, the menu
options in the parent window Orcad Capture also change. Click in each of the windows and
notice how the menu choices change.
Capture has active bubble help, so if you hold the pointer over something for a second or two, you
will see a bubble which tells you the meaning of the tool to which you are pointing. This can be a
quick way to determine what functions are available in a new toolbar.
Create your design on paper before you sit down at the computer! It will save your from the
confusion of trying to learn the software and create a design at the same time.
4Getting Parts
Since you have already developed your design (you wouldnt logon without it, right?), it is time to
create the corresponding schematic.
Note: Always keep the snap-to-grid feature turned on. Placing parts with it turned off can
result in serious problems with wiring connections later on. As a warning, the snap-to-grid
button in the top toolbar turns red when off .
Click the Parts button on the right-hand toolbar. Alternatively, select Place > Part form the Place menu.
(The Place menu will be absent from the menu bar if the schematic window isnt highlighted.)
You will then see the Place Part window. Select the library that contains the part you want, in
this case OPAMP

1-2

In the lower left window, there is a list of the libraries that you are using. You must add the
necessary library into the list and highlight it before you can get parts from it. However, you can
highlight all the libraries in the list as shown above. We always need the libraries ANALOG,
ANALOG_P, BREAKOUT and SOURCE, and Design_Cache will be added by
default. To add a library, Select the Add Library button and find it.
After choosing the part, click OK and the part will attach to the cursor. You can place it on the
schematic by clicking the left mouse button. A second part is now ready to be placed. End the
placement by clicking the right mouse button and selecting End Mode. (Note the other options
available to you in this menu.)
Follow the same steps to place other components on your drawing.
The Select button changes the cursor to an arrow. With the Select button pushed, you
can click-and-drag a part to move it around on the drawing. If you click on the body of
the part (the logic symbol), the entire part is selected and the various labels move with the body. If
you click on just a label, you can move it independently of the other segments of the part.
5Changing attributes:
Double-click on the body instead of the reference designator, you will get a spreadsheet of all the
attributes. We can change all the available values in this spreadsheet. However, since Capture will
show the typical values for the component just beside it. (Such as: the resistance of the resistor, and
the voltage of a DC source). We can simply double click on that value and change it.

1-3

We are going to use the component Vpulse from the SOURCE library.
To set the values of Vpulse, note that the parameters on the source have
the following meanings:
V

V1 is the off voltage

V2 is the on voltage
The simulation begins with the source in the OFF state. TD is the
time delay in seconds before the pulse turns on.
TR and TF are the rise and fall times of the step function.
PW is the pulse width (how long the source stays on after TD has
passed.)
PER is the period. Enter 0 for a one-shot pulse, or a non-zero period
for the pulse to be periodic.

* Symbols for some common components are list as appendix.

1-4

6Wiring Parts Together

Once you have placed the components, you need to connect them as appropriate for
your design. You do this using the wiring tool, in the right toolbar in the schematic.
(SHIFT-W can also be used to activate the wiring tool.)
Once the wiring tool is selected, left-click on one of the package pins to start the wire. You may be
able to just click a second time on the pin at the other end of the wire, but often you will want to
put bends in the wire to make the layout easier to read. Click once for each bend. To stop using the
wire tool, right-click and select End Wire, or click the Select button. If you have inserted any
turns, each section of the wire will be treated as a separate line segment. To remove a line segment,
left-click to select it and use the Cut command (CTRL-X) or the DELETE key to remove it.
Use caution when adding or moving wires. Capture is very unforgiving and will break wires and/or
add extraneous connections if you place a wire so it touches junctions. The good news is that it will
warn you before doing so by marking the changes with red dots. If you left-click with the wire
making unwanted connections, it can take some effort to clean up the mess. With patience and
practice youll get the hang of it.
7Saving and Printing
Save your work frequently by selecting File > Save from the menu bar, or clicking the Save
button in the upper toolbar (the floppy disk icon). To print your schematic, select File > Print or
use the Print button from the upper toolbar (the printer icon). The default page size is A (8.5 x
11). For larger schematics, you may wish to change to size B (11 x 17). To change the page
size, select Options > Schematic Page Properties from the menu.
8Create a new simulation profile
Choose PSPICE > New Simulation Profile.

The Simulation Setting dialog window will then pop out.

1-5

Change the Run to time value to be reasonable. (relate to the switching frequency/period time)
and click OK.
Note that you can have multiple profiles for a given project. This allows you to analyze a circuit in
different ways without having to change settings back and forth.
9) Place Marker
From left, these are probes for Voltage, Voltage Difference, Current and Power. Note that the
Current Probe must be connected to a pin but not the wire in order to work.
10) Run!
Finally, you can run the simulation by either push F11click on the blue Play Icon, or choose
Pspice > Run from the menu. A new window will then pop up and later you can see the
waveforms. Pspice will automatically choose different colors for different waveforms, colors of
the probes on the schematic will also change accordingly.

3. Lab Request
1. Design the buck converter using the parameter in the pre-lab. Do simulations for Input
Voltage = 100V Switching Frequency = 10KHz and print out the waveform of Driver
signal, Inductor Current and Capacitor Voltage. Also print out the schematics you use.
2. Do simulation for Input Voltage = 100V + 20Vsin628t(frequency is 100Hz), Switching

1-6

Frequency = 10KHz, print out the schematics, waveform of Driver signal, waveform of the
switch, Inductor Current and Capacitor Voltage. Describe the waveform and the course of it.
3. For the question (2) simulation, use a close loop to cancel the vibration. Change the Gain to
see how would it affect the waveforms. Print out the schematics, waveform of Driver signal,
waveform of the switch, Inductor Current and Capacitor Voltage.

Appendix:
1. Symbols of some common components
Resistor

Inductor

Capacitor

DC Voltage supply

VDC

Sinusoidal Voltage supply

VSIN

Ground

Switch

OpAmp

OPAMP

Gain

GAIN

Integrator

INTEG

Sum

SUM

Difference

DIFF

2. A sample schematic for a close loop buck converter:

1-7