THE HONG KONG

POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY_________________________________________________ ___

Department of Electrical Engineering

TUTORIAL OF NON-ISOLATED DC/DC CONVERTERS IN CONTINUOUS MODE

(1) A Buck converter is driven by a constant input voltage 30V. The switching frequency is 10kHz,
the L and C of the converter are 1mH and 10μF. Sketch a circuit diagram of the buck converter
and the waveform of the current of C. Calculate the output ripple voltage when duty ratio of gate
signal of the transistor is 0.5. The converter is operating in continuous mode.

1
Ts  , C  10F , L  1mH , D  0.5 vT iT vL iL
10k
 1  T  1  1  I  T  L
Vo    s  I C _ pos( avg )    L  s  T
iC
 C  2  C  2  2  2  +

+
Vin D vD C R Vo
Vo  DVin  (0.5)(30)  15 V -
V 1  D Ts
iD
(15)(0.5)
I L  o   0.75 A
L (10k )(1m) vgs
The output ripple voltage can be derived by the
capacitance equation as: DTs (1-D)Ts
0 t
dv iC
C o  iC ΔIL/2
dt 0 t
 1  T  1  1  I  T  -ΔIL/2
Hence, Vo    s  I C _ pos( avg )    L  s 
 C  2  C  2  2  2 
1  1  0.75  1 
Vo       0.9375V
10  2  2  20k 

Or from the output ripple voltage equation directly as:

V (1  D)Ts DVin (1  D)Ts
2 2
Vo  o 
8LC 8LC
(0.5)(30)(1  0.5)
Vo   0.9375V
8(1m)(10  )(10k ) 2

EE4211 Advanced Power Electronics Page 1

 THE HONG KONG
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY_________________________________________________ ___
Department of Electrical Engineering

(2) Evaluate the values of the duty ratio, D, of the gate vT iT vD iD

signal, L, C and R of a Buck/Boost converter,
shown in Fig. 2, operating in continuous mode D
such that the specification is: + T L vL
Vin - C R Vo
Vo = 12V, Vin = 5V, Io = 10A, ΔVo = 0.5V,

+
iL iC
ΔIL = 0.5A, fs = 100kHz
Fig. 2
ANS:

D 12

1 D 5
The duty ratio of the gate signal is:
12
D or 0.7059
17

The change of current of L in on-state is:

V DT
I L  in s
L
The inductance of the inductor is:
(5)(12)
L  70.059 H
(17)(100k )(0.5)

The load resistance is:

V
R  o  1.2
Io

The capacitance of the converter can be calculated from:

V
C o  Io
DTs
I DT (10)(12)
C o s   141.176F
Vo (17)(100k )(0.5)

EE4211 Advanced Power Electronics Page 2

 THE HONG KONG
POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY_________________________________________________ ___
Department of Electrical Engineering

(3) A Ćuk converter operates at 50kHz switching frequency. The On-state time of the transistor is
12μs. The input voltage is 100V. The load resistance varies between 50-500Ω. Sketch a circuit
diagram of a Ćuk converter. Considering the converter operating in continuous mode, calculate
the voltage ratings of all the circuit components.

Switching period is:

1 vL1 vC1 vL2
Ts   20s iL1 iL2
50k L1 +
iC1 L2
Duty ratio of the gate signal is: C1 iC
T 12 +
T vT D vD
D o   0.6 Vin - C2 R Vo

+
Ts 20
iT iD
Hence the voltage conversion ratio is:
Vo D
  1.5
Vin 1  D
and the output voltage is:
Vo  (1.5)Vin  150V

The voltage rating of the transistor is:

VT _ max  Vin  Vo  250V

The voltage rating of the diode is:

VD _ max  Vin  Vo  250V

The voltage rating of C1 is:

VC1_ max  Vin  Vo  250V

The voltage rating of C2 is:

VC 2 _ max  Vo  150V

The voltage ratings of L1 and L2 are:

L1_ max  Vo  150V
L2 _ max  Vo  150V

EE4211 Advanced Power Electronics Page 3

 Classical switched-mode DC-DC converters
Exercises:

1. A Buck converter is driven by a constant input voltage 30V. The switching frequency
is 10kHz, the L and C of the converter are 1mH and 10μF. Calculate the output ripple
voltage when duty ratio of the transistor is 0.5.

Hence, sketch the a graph of ripple voltage as D varies between 0.1 to 0.9. You may
assume the converter is operated in continuous inductor conduction mode.

Soln:
2
Vo (1  D) 2  fc 
  
Vo 2  fs 
1 1
Vo=VinD=30*0.5V=15V, f C    1.59 kHz, D=0.5, fs=10k
2 LC 2 1m *10
Vo (1  0.5) 2  1.59 
2
  
15 2  10 
Vo =0.936V
For Vin is constant,
2 2
(1  D) 2  fc  (1  D) D 2  fc 
Vo    Vo    Vin
 f   f 
2  s 2  s

1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
ΔVo

0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
D
The maximum occurs at D=0.5 which gives VO=0.936V

2. The parameters of a Buck converter are:

Vs=48V, Vo=10V, L=0.5mH, C=10μF, fs=20kHz
Calculate the load resistor R for discontinuous mode operation.

Soln:
K  (1  D)
2L V
 (1  o )
RT s Vin
2 * 0 .5 m 10
 (1  )
R *10 48
R>126.3
1
 Classical switched-mode DC-DC converters

3. Calculate the minimum value for K such that a Boost converter is always operated in
continuous inductor conduction mode.

Soln:
For continuous mode:
K  (1  D) 2 D
d
dt
(1  D) 2 D  2 D(1  D)(1)  (1  D) 2  0
1
D
3
Therefore the minimum K=
1 1 4
(1  D) 2 D  (1  ) 2  =0.148
3 3 27

4. A Boost converter has an L=10μH, input voltage = 30V, output voltage = 60V and
switching frequency fs = 100kHz. Calculate the value for minimum load current such
that the converter is always operated in continuous inductor conduction mode for all
conditions..

Soln:
Following from (3), minimum K=0.148
2L 2 *10
K 
RTS R *10
R>13.5
Minimum load current = Vo/R=60/13.5A=4.44A

5. Derive the condition for discontinuous inductor conduction mode for Boost converter
in term of k and D. (Note that to derive using voltage conversion ratios for the
continuous and discontinuous mode can only give the boundary condition)

Soln:
Discontinuous mode happens when half of the inductor ripple current is less than its
current
i L
 I in
2
I V i L
but O  in  1  D and  I in
I in VO 2

(Vo  Vin )(1  D)TS Vo 1


2L R 1 D
(Vo  Vin )(1  D) TS
2
2L

Vo RTS
Vin 2L
(1  )(1  D ) 2 TS  K
V0 RTS
(1  D) 2 D  K

2
 Classical switched-mode DC-DC converters

6. Design a Buck/Boost converter such that the specification is:

Vo=12V, Vin=5V, Io=10A, ΔVo=0.5V, ΔiL=0.5, f=100kHz

Soln:

Vo D

Vin 1  D
Vo 12
Vin
D  5  0.706
Vo 12
1 1
Vin 5
The ripple current of the inductor is:
Vin DT s
i L 
L
5 * 0.706 *10
0.5 
L
L=70.6 μH
V o 12
R   1. 2
I o 10
The ripple voltage of the capacitor or output is:
Vo DTs

Vo RC
0.5 0.706 *10

12 1. 2 * C
C=141.2 μF

7. A Buck/Boost converter is operated in the following condition/parameter:

Vin=48V, Vo=24V, fs=100kHz, L=10μH, C is large
(i) How much is the load resistance dropped to for discontinuous inductor conduction
mode to happen. (ii) Derive the expression of the ratio of output voltage ripple when
discontinuous mode happens to when load current is large Hence calculate the ratio.

Soln:
(i)
D V 24
 o   0 .5
1  D Vin 48
Vo
Vin 0.5
D   0.333
Vo 1  0.5
1
Vin
For discontinuous mode:
K  (1  D) 2  (1  0.333) 2  0.445
2L
 K  0.445
RT
2 *10
 0.445
R *10

R>4.5
Therefore it happens when the resistance drops to 4.5

3
 Classical switched-mode DC-DC converters
(ii)
During continuous or at the boundary mode:
IO
iL 
1 D
During the discontinuous mode or the at the boundary mode:
T (i  I o ) 2
Vo  s L
2Ci L
During the boundary mode, the inductor current is:
2I o
i L  2i L 
1 D
and the output ripple voltage can be expressed as:
2I o
(1  D)Ts (  I o ) 2 I T (1  D) 2
Vo  1 D 
o S
2I o 4C
2C
1 D
The output ripple voltage under continuous inductor conduction mode and the load
current is large is:
Vo DTs

Vo RC
DT s I DT
Vo  Vo  o S
RC C
The ratio of output voltage ripple when discontinuous mode happens to and when load
current is large :
I o TS (1  D) 2
4C (1  D) 2
R dis con   =1.33
I o DTS 4D
C

4
ELEC9711 Advanced Power Electronics

School of EE & T, UNSW

Tutorial 1 - Ideal DC-DC converter

Operation in CCM

1. Design a DC-DC Buck converter to produce an output voltage of 18V across a 15 Ω load.
The input DC supply is at 42V. The output voltage ripple must not exceed 0.5% and the
given load resistance is for the minimum load. The switching frequency for the converter
is 40 kHz. Find the required inductor L and capacitor C values. Find also the peak
voltage ratings of each device and the RMS currents in the inductor and capacitor.

id

L iL io
Vd +
+ vL −
voi R
D C vo Vo
−
(Load)

Figure 1.

2. Consider the Buck-Boost converter of Figure 2.

iT

T D
iD
Vd iL −
C Vo R
L
id + Io

Figure 2. A Buck-Boost DC-DC converter

(a) Find the dependence of the output voltage Vo and inductor current IL on the duty
cycle D, input voltage Vd, and load resistance R. You may assume that the inductor
current ripple and the capacitor voltage ripple are small.

(b) Plot these dependencies over the duty cycle 0 D 1.

(c) For Vd = 30V, Vo = -20V, R = 4Ω, fs = 40 kHz,

Tutorial 1  1 F. Rahman/Aug 2009  

ELEC9711 Advanced Power Electronics

(i) Find D and IL.

(ii) Calculate the value of inductance L that will make the peak inductor current
ripple (∆iL) equal to 10% of the average inductor current.

(iii) Find the value of C that will limit the output voltage ripple ∆Vo to 0.1V.

(d) Calculate and sketch the switch current iT for the L found in (c) and also for a
decreased value L such that ∆iL is 50% of IL.

3. In a certain application, an unregulated DC input voltage varies between 18V and 36V. It
is desired to supply a regulated voltage of 28V at 2A maximum. The SEPIC converter of
Figure 2 may be suitable for this application.

id L1 i L1 C1 D iD

+ vL1 − + Io
+ vc1 −
−
+
vL2 R
Vd T L2 C Vo
vo (Load)
+
iL2 − −

Figure 3

(a) Derive expressions for the DC components of each capacitor voltage and inductor
current as functions of D, the input voltage Vd and load resistance R.

(b) The output voltage Vo is maintained constant by automatic adjustment of the duty
cycle D. Over what range will the duty cycle D vary? Over what range will the input
inductor DC current vary?

(c) Derive expressions for the each inductor current ripple and capacitor voltage ripple.
Express these as functions of values of Ts, L1, L2, C1, C2, D and R.

(d) Sketch the waveforms of the switch voltage and current and find their peak values.

Tutorial 1  2 F. Rahman/Aug 2009  

ELEC9711 Advanced Power Electronics

4. A Cuk converter has the following parameters:

Vd = 12 V, D = 0.6, L1 = 2 mH, L2 = 1 mH, C1 = C = 25 mF, fs = 25 kHz, R = 12 Ω.

id L1 iL1 C1 L2 iL2

− vL2 + −
+ vL1 − + vc1 −
−
vo C R
Vd T D Vo
(Load)
+
Io
+

Figure 4. A Cuk converter

(i) Assuming continuous conduction, calculate the output voltage, Vo. [Vo = 18 V]

(ii) Calculate the average, maximum and minimum currents in L1 and L2.

[IL1 = 2.24 A, iL1max = 2.312 A, iL1min = 2.168 A;

IL2 = 1.5 A, iL2max = 1.62 A, iL2min = 1.38 A]

(iii) Calculate the ΔVo in the output voltage. [ΔVo = 48 mV]

5. In order to reduce the switching harmonics and EMI problem associated with the input
current of a Buck converter, an input filter consisting of input inductor L1 and capacitor
C1 are added as shown in figure 5.

iL1 L1 iT L2 iL2 io

+ vL −
Vd C1 D C2 vo Vo R
(Load)

Figure 5

Assume that ripple in inductor currents and capacitor voltages are negligible.

(a) Sketch the transistor current

Tutorial 1  3 F. Rahman/Aug 2009  

ELEC9711 Advanced Power Electronics

(b) Derive expressions for the DC components of the capacitor voltages and inductor
currents.

(c) Derive expressions for peak ripple magnitudes of the input filter current and the
capacitor voltage.

(d) For Vd = 48V, Vo = 36V, fs = 100kHz and R = 6Ω, find values for L1 and C1 so that
∆VC1 and ∆iL1 are no more than 0.7V and 0.020A, respectively.

Operation in DCM

6. Consider the Buck-Boost converter of Figure 2.

(a) Derive the expression for the Kcrit and sketch the range of K and D for which the
converter operates with DCM.

(b) Derive the expression for Vo/Vd when operation is in DCM.

(c) Plot Vo/Vd for a few values of K and for 0 D  1 when the converter operates with
DCM.

(d) What value will Vo have at no load?

7. The input voltage of a Buck converter varies in the range of 35V to 70V. The out voltage
is maintained constant at 28V by automatic adjustment of duty cycle D by closed loop
action. The load power may vary in the range of 10W to 1000W. The converter has L =
22µH, C = 470µF and fs = 75kHz.

(a) Find the range Vd and load for which the converter operates with DCM.

(b) Find the maximum and minimum values of duty cycle D with which the converter
operates.

Tutorial 1  4 F. Rahman/Aug 2009  

ELEC9711 Advanced Power Electronics

8. The Boost converter of figure below operates with the following conditions:

id iL D iD
Io
+ vL − ic +
Vd T C Vo R

18V Vd 36V; 5W Po 100W; Vo = 48V; fs = 150 KHz

The duty cycle D of the converter is adjusted automatically for constant Vo.

The converter must operate with DCM at all times. To ensure this, L is so chosen that K is no
greater than 75% of Kcrit for all operating points. The inductor current ripple must be
minimized and the output capacitor voltage ripple must be no more than 1V.

Find the following:

(a) The inductor value L

(b) The capacitor value C

(c) The worst-case peak inductor current

(d) The maximum and minimum values of duty cycle D.

(e) The values of D, K and Kcrit at the following operating points:

(i) Vd = 18V and Po = 5W

(ii) Vd = 36V and Po = 5W

(iii) Vd = 18V and Po = 100W.

(iv) Vd = 36V and Po = 100W.

Tutorial 1  5 F. Rahman/Aug 2009  

 PLT207 – POWER ELECTRONICS Semester 2 2017/2018

TUTORIAL – INVERTERS

Square-Wave Inverter
Question 1
A square-wave inverter has an RL load with R = 15 Ω and L = 10 mH. The inverter output frequency is 400
Hz. (a) Determine the value of the dc source required to establish a load current that has a fundamental
frequency component of 8 A rms. (b) Determine the THD of the load current.

Ans:
a) Z1  29.3 
V1  I1Z1  331 V .
4V V
V1  dc  Vdc  1  260 V .
 4
4Vdc Vn In
Z n  R 2   2 400 L  ;
2
b)Vn  ; In  ; I n ,rms 
n Zn 2
n Vn Zn In,rms
1 331 29.3 8.0
3 110 77 1.02
5 66 127 0.37
1.022  0.372
THDI   0.136  13.6%
8.0

Amplitude and Harmonic Control

Question 2
For the full-bridge inverter, the dc source is 125 V, the load is a series RL connection with R = 10 Ω and L =
20 mH, and the switching frequency is 60 Hz. (a) Use the switching scheme of Fig. 8-5 and determine the
value of α to produce an output with an amplitude of 90 V at the fundamental frequency. (b) Determine the
THD of the load current.

Ans:
 4V 
a)V1   dc  cos  
  
 V   90 
  cos 1  1   cos 1    55.6
 4Vdc   4 125  
 4V  V I
Vn   dc  cos  n  ; Z n  R  jn0 L ; I n  n ; I n ,rms  n
 n  Z n 2
n |Vn| Zn In,rms
1 90 12.5 5.08
3 51.6 24.7 1.5
5 4.43 39 0.08
1.52  0.082
THDI   0.29  29%
5.08

1
 PLT207 – POWER ELECTRONICS Semester 2 2017/2018

Question 3
An inverter that produces the type of output shown in Fig. 8-5a is used to supply an RL series load with R =
10 Ω and L = 35 mH. The dc input voltage is 200 V and the output frequency is 60 Hz. (a) Determine the
rms value of the fundamental frequency of the load current when α = 0. (b) If the output fundamental
frequency is lowered to 30 Hz, determine the value of α required to keep the rms current at the fundamental
frequency at the same value of part (a).

Ans:
4Vdc
a )V1   255 V .

Z1  16.6 
V
I1  1  15.3 A.
Z1
15.3
I1,rms   10.9 A.
2
b) At 30 Hz ,
Z1  12.0 
V1  I1Z1  184 V .
 4V   V 
V1   dc  cos      cos 1  1   43.7
    4Vdc 

2
 PLT207 – POWER ELECTRONICS Semester 2 2017/2018

PWM Inverters
Question 4
The dc source supplying an inverter with a bipolar PWM output is 96 V. The load is an RL series
combination with R = 32 Ω and L = 24 mH. The output has a fundamental frequency of 60 Hz. (a) Specify
the amplitude modulation ratio to provide a 54-V rms fundamental frequency output. (b) If the frequency
modulation ratio is 17, determine the total harmonic distortion of the load current.

Ans:
V1  V1,rms 2  76.8 V .
V
ma  1  0.8
Vdc
Z n  R  jn0 L  32  jn9.05

From Table 8-3,

n Vn/Vdc Vn Zn In=Vn/Zn
1 0.8 76.8 33.3 2.30
mf 17 0.82 78.7 157 0.50
mf - 2 15 0.22 21.1 139 0.151
mf + 2 19 0.22 21.1 175 0.121
2 2 2
 0.50   0.151   0.121 
     
 2   2   2 
THD   0.23  23%
2.30
2