QUASI-RESONANT CUK CONVERTER: DESIGN AND STATIC CHARACTERISTICS

Josk Antenor Pomilio

Faculty of Electrical Engineering - University of Campinas C. P. 6101 13081-970 Campinas - SP Brazil Fax.: +55.192.391395 Phone: +55.192.397631 E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT
The quasi-resonant operation mode of the Cuk converter is characterized by discontinuities in the current of output diode and in the voltage of the intermediate capacitor. Therefore all the commutations are soft, allowing the increase of the switching fiequency maintaining an acceptable efficiency and increasing the power density. The inductors can be selected so as to have continuous input or output current, resulting in diferent converter behavior. This paper presents a methodology to calculate the values of the inductors and capacitor to ensure the correct operation. The converter is PWM controlled. Simulated and experimental results are reported.

II. CIRCUIT OPERATION FOR CONTINUOUS OUTPUT CURRENT

Let us consider the topology shown in figure 1. Suppose ideal switches and constant input and output voltages. Additionally consider that the circuit operates in the DCM. In this situation, during the transistor cif state the current i; reverses and becomes equal to the output current (assumed constant), turning off the diode. Obviously the average capacitor voltage is equal to @+Vo). li

/vc

io

I. INTRODUCTION
The increase of the power density in switched mode power supplies asks for higher switchmg frequency, allowing the reduction of the size of filtering elements. In order to maintain the overall efficiency in acceptable values some kind of soft-switching technique must be used. The Cuk converter has a well-known capacity of softly turning-on the power transistor when operating in the Discontinuous Conduction Mode - DCM [l]. The zerovoltage switching (ZVS) takes place if the transfer capacitor (C) voltage goes down to zero (during the transistor conduction), discharged by the output current, io. Associating both characteristics one gets a fully softswitched converter [ 2 ] . Additionally PWM control is possible [3]. The inconveniences of t h s operation mode are the high voltage and current stresses that the components have to withstand, typical of the discontinuous operation mode. Therefore the application field is practically reduced to low voltage input and when high switching frequency is mandatory. As an example of application there is the telephonic system, where different voltage sources must be obtained from the 48V supply. The use of a high-frequency transformer allows a higher output voltage, suitable for link extension and remote supplying. However, high voltage stresses are produced on the secondary side.

Fig. 1. Cuk converter. The characteristic intervals of operation vary with the duty-cycle. Figure 2 shows two sets of waveforms for dfferent duty-cycles.

t- S=50%

'

7 -

1 1

S=25o/d

-command

-io

-'

1 j -VC

Pig. 2. Simulated capacitor voltage arid input and output currents.

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When the transistor is turned off the capacitor begins to be charged by the input current, being discharged by io when ii reverses its direction. When vc reaches E, the diode D, starts to conduct and the input current flows through it. When v, falls to V,, D conducts and the output current flows through it. For difTerent duty-cycles the waveforms change sigtllficantly. A 25% duty-cycle produces a new resonant interval that initially takes the place of the linear variation of ii . When the current becomes positive D, blocks and v, starts to increase again, until the transistor is turned-on. Specially for low duty-cycle, the capacitor average voltage is strongly influenced by the resonances of the circuit, affecting its controllability.For this reason this mode of operation will not be addressed in thw paper.

c) Interval t2 - T The input current charges the capacitor. If the current falls to zero, the capacitor voltage will remain constant. If it reverses, the capacitor will reduce its voltage. So Li must be determined in order to maintain ii positive. d) Interval tl - t4 After tl the output current decays linearly. At t3 it changes its direction and at t4 it equals the input current, turning-off (ZCS) the output diode. e) Interval t4 - T Both currents are equal. At T the transistor is turned-on (ZCS).

IV. STATIC CHARACTERISTICS

Ill. CIRCUIT OPERATION FOR CONTINUOUS INPUT CURlRENT

Let us consider the following quantities: Ii: Input current (supposed constant) T: switching period, 6: transistor duty-cycle, ai:input resonant frequency, coo: output resonant frequency, Zi: input impedance, Zo: output impedance.

In this mode of operation the capacitor is charged whenever the transistor is off. The output voltage is actually controlled by the duty-cycle. Figure 3 shows the waveforms.

-1op O
I

a,=-----

liL0.C

Fig. 3. Simulated capacitor voltage and input and output currents. The following time intervals can be identified: a) Interval to - t l Currents ii and io are equal. Capacitor voltage is maximum (vc=Vm). At to the transistor is turned-on, subject to zero current (ZCS). Input current rises linearly while the output one varies resonantly. The capacitor voltage decreases and reaches zero at t 1.
b) Interval t l - t2 At t l the diode D conducts (ZVS). The output current decays linearly. At t2 the duty-cycle finishes, opening the transistor under zero-voltage.
t2 = 6 . T 2 tl (for voltage discontinuity)
(7)

Eq. (7) defines the condition to get zero voltage turn-off to the transistor.

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It can be shown that the output peak current is:

(8)

V. DESIGN PROCEDURE
Let us define the input parameters needed for the design:

L O t4 = tl + --(Iq V O

+ Ii) < T

(9)

Eq. (9) defines the condition to current discontinuity. The average output current can be determined by integrating i,(t) in a switching period: I, = -

E: input voltage, V,: output voltage, Po: maximum output power, 6,: duty-cycle @ Poand Vo Itma: transistor repetitive peak current, Vtm,: maximum transistor voltage.
The duty-cycle at which it is expected to have Po and V, must be selected in order to protect the transistor.

Z,

vm-v, a(1-a) -0, - T

--.sin[cos-'(a)] Ii 0, .T

6,1Sm,

=I--

2.E

V, max

Approximate analytical expressions can be obtained if the previous equations are simplified considering that Vm>>Voand &,>>I;:
-

In order to guarantee DCM operation even for the S , from eqs. (12) and (14), it is possible to determine CO-. h m eq. (13) it 1s possible to find Z-. using eqs. (2) and (4), C and Lo are determined.
a , & = + 7~

I,

=-2-T-V,
7T

v:.c

2.T
TI

V m V,.T

(18)

(11)
1

t4w--2.0, I,

a.0,

<T There is a minimum duty-cycle defined by eq. (20). m i is determined in order to guarantee continuous input current. Its maximum value is the solution of eq. (21). Li is obtained from eq. (1).
6 =-

=-Vm
ZO

(13)

As l a (<<1, for any V , tl is practically constant. Considering additionally that t l < q ( 1-S), the maximum capacitor voltage is also approximated by:

tl T

'~

2*0,.T

From eqs. (11) and (14) the converter Operates as power Source for a fixed du@Wcle. From the power balance, considering 100% efficiency:

'Onstant

p =I..E=-=-V, 0 1 R,

V i - C - I:-T.(1-S)2 2.T 2.c

(15)

From eq. (15 ) , the output voltage is: (16)

Figure 4 shows the static characteristic of the converter, considering the parameters presented and used in the experimental prototype. In this case it presents a stepdown behavior. Nevertheless this action depends on the circuit parameters, as shown by eqs. (14) and (16), being possible also stepup operation. The same figure displays experimental measures. The
lower value is due the circuit losses that reduce the output

2-T

voltage. Figure 5 displays the normalized capacitor peak voltage. The stress is evident.
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VOiE

magnet cores (even though it was used high-frequency material: IP-12) and to the components conduction.

VII. CONCLUSIONS
The quasi-resonant operation mode of the Cuk converter allows full soft-commutation. Therefore high switching frequency can be used allowing high power density. The high voltage stress limits the applications to low input voltages. The converter presents a stepdown characteristic and is PWM controlled although working in the quasi-resonant mode. The zero current transistor tum-on is not the best solution for MOSFET because it does not eliminates the losses caused by the parasitic capacitance.

0.1
0

0.2

0.3
6

0.4

0.5

0.6

Measured values

Fig. 4. Normalized static characteristic.

Vm/E
I I I I

0.1

0.2

0.3
6

0.4

0.5

0.6

Fig. 5. Normalized capacitor peak voltage.

VI. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

The prototype uses the same parameters employed in the simulation: E=50 V V0=15 V P0=50 W 6,,=50% Li= 600 pH Lo= 5 pH C= 13.8 nF
T=5 ps (200kHz)

Fig. 6. Current in the inductors (5A/div), transistor voltage (1OOV/div), and capacitor current (5A/div) Time base: lps/div.

VIII. REFERENCES
[l]S. Cuk and R. D. Middlebrook: "A general unified approach to modeling switching dc-to-dc converters in discontinuous conduction mode". Proc. of IEEE PESC,

Figure 6 shows the currents through the inductors and through the capacitor. The transistor voltage is also displayed. It is evident the ZV turn-off and the operation in the discontinuous mode. The measured efficiency was 80% at nominal power. Therefore the rated output power was obtained at a wider duty-cycle (60%). The losses can be mainly attributed to the

1977, pp. 36-57.

[2] D. Maksimovic and S. Cuk: "Aunified analysis of PWM converters in discontinuous modes". IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, vol. 6, no. 3 , July 1991, pp. 476-490.

[3] D. Maksimovic and S. Cuk: "Constant-frequency control of quasi-resonant converters". IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, vol. 6, no. 1, Jan. 1991, pp. 141-150.
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