A REVIEW OF SOFT-SWITCHING TECHNIQUES

IN HIGH PERFORMANCE DC POWER SUPPLIES

Robert L. Steigerwald

GE Corporate R&D
Schenectady, NY 12301
(518)387-5076

Abstract
A review ojsome ojthe more practical sof- switching techniques in dc-dc converters is given with a view towards actual andpotential application
areas. A briejreview of zero-voltage switching (ZVS) and zero--Currentswitching (ZCS) isfollowed by a discussion of various so@-switched circuit
topological categories, their advantages and disadvantages and their areas ofapplication. Application ojthese so@-switching techniques to high
power jactor supplies, distributed power systems and both low-voltage and high-voltage power supplies will be reviewed. A design comparison
of several approaches is given for a 100-kW dc-dc converter.

INTRODUCTION

While there have been many papers in recent years describing

“soft-switching” circuit topologies, there has been little discus-
sionofwhere thevarioustopologiescouldbeapplied.Alsocom-
parisons of various topologies for a given application are rarely
discussed. A review of some of the more practical soft-switch-
ing techniques in dc-dc converters will be given with a view to-
wards actual and potential application areas. A brief review of
zero-voltage switching (ZVS) and zero-current switching
(ZCS) will be followed by adiscussion and comparison of vari-
ous circuit topological categories which take advantage of soft
switching. Load resonant converters (usually frequency con-
trolled) will be compared with “transition resonant”converters
(usually PWM controlled) as to their advantages and disadvan-
tages and their areas of application. The emphasis in this paper
v d F d dvldt

is on higher power converters requiring bridge type circuits.

Also, it is assumed that electrical isolation between source and
load (i.e., a transformer) is needed. Application of these soft-
switching techniques to high power factor supplies, distributed
power systems and both low and high-voltage power supplies
will be reviewed.
-
SOFT SWITCHING ZCS AND ZVS
Fig. 1 illustrates typical power device waveforms resulting from
zerc-current switching (ZCS) operation. While a power FET is
shown inFig. 1 ,thediscussion isalsovalidforIGBTsandGTOs.
An inductive element is in series with the device so that at tum
on, the drain (or collector for IGBT or anode for GTO) voltage,
vd, falls to near zero before current rises in the device. Because
of this there is little tum-on switching loss due to load current.
Note, however, that energy stored on the drain-source capaci-
tance is lost in the device. This capacitance may be the devices
own parasitic drain-source capacitance or it may be an external
snubber capacitance wh,ich is typically discharged through a re-
sistor (not shown). This internal (parasitic) device capacitance
loss is significant in converters using power FETs as frequencies
approach and exceed 1 MHz but is usually negligible at typical
operating frequencies of power GTOs and IGBTs. However, in
these higher power devices, snubber losses become an issue. At
tum off in ZCS circuits, the drain-source voltage is reduced to
zero and reversed (flows in the inverse parallel diode) by exter-
oh bff
Fig. 1 Zero-current switching
nal circuitmeans(suchasthereversa1ofcurrentinaresonantcir-
cuit) as seen in Fig. 1. During the current reversal, the device is
gated off so that when voltage is reapplied the device is in the off
state. Thus, ideally there is no tum-off loss in the device. In
practical implementations, however, the rate of reapplication of
voltage (dv/dt) must be limited to prevent retriggering (GTOs)
or latch-up (IGBTs), and reduce EMI. In addition, the time dur-
ing which the current is in the inverse parallel diode must be suf-
ficient toallow much of the device storedcharges(for bipolarde-
vices) to recombine. Otherwise, substantial device current will
be present during the reapplication of voltage resulting in high
energy loss during tum off. It will be noted that all thyristor
forced commutated circuits popular during the 1960’s and
1970’s(beforetheintroductionofgatecontrolleddevices)areof
the ZCS type [1,2].
Zerc-voltage switching (ZVS) is illustrated in Fig. 2. This type
of switching requires power devices withgate turn off capability.
As illustrated in Fig. 2 low-loss tum off is achieved due to aca-
pacitance connected directly across the device. (This is in con-
trast to ZCS whereby low-loss tum on is achieved with an induc-
tor in series with the device.) The capacitance may be the
parasitic drain source capacitanceof apower MOSFEToradis-

0-7803-3026-9195 $4.00 0 1995 IEEE 1


i age to zero before the gates are driven on. For example, when
C
I I
on Off
Fig. 2 Zero-voltage switching
Crete capacitance (which is the normal case for bipolar type de-
vices such as IGBTs and GTOs). The drain source capacitance
is not discharged through the device at tum on -rather at tum
on the drain-source voltage is reduced to zero through extemal
circuit means (such as the reversal of voltage in a resonant cir-
cuit) as current, ic,reverses and eventually flows through the in-
verse parallel diode. The device is gated on during the diode
conduction time. As theextemalcircuit forces acurrentreversal
(positive ic) the device picks up the current in the fonvarddirec-
tion. Thus very low tum on loss is incurred.
Note that in ZVS, the capacitive energy is not lost but is retumed
to the circuit through resonant action while in the ZCS case the
energy stored in the capacitance is lost. Thus ZVS circuits are
normally the topologies of choice for very high switching fre-
quencies when FETs are used (>I MHz). Either ZCS or ZVS
techniques canbe appliedforhigherpowerapplicationsat lower
switching frequencies. The choice will depend on switchingfre-
quency, size requirements, switching losses (type of switching
device used), and control complexity. Normally, ZVS ap-
proaches are simpler to control than ZCS approaches in dc-dc
converters. However, recent work [3] has suggested that ZCS
techniques result in lower switching losses for IGBT devices
due to the growth in tum off switching loss as temperature in-
creases. This is due to the growth in the current tum-off “tail”
that substantially increases at elevated temperature.
It is noted that most conventional PWMdc-dc converters can be
converted to a ZVS mode of operation with few additional com-
ponents as shown in the simpleexample below. Whilethis paper
will address higher power circuits requiring bridge circuits, the
simple example given below serves to illustrate ZVS operation
and shows that a known single ended topology can be converted
to soft switching operation.
QQ v
SIMPLE ZVS FLYBACK CONVERTER
Conventional switching cells (e.g., buck, boost, flyback, etc.)
can be operated in the zerevoltage switching mode if the nor-
mally large transformer magnetizing inductance (orenergy stor-
age inductor) is reduced in value to allow current reversal each
cycle. In this manner, zero-voltage switching is achieved in a
simple circuit arrangement with, if desired, “built in” synchro-
2
nous rectification. As an example of this operation, consider the
flyback circuit arrangement shown in Figure 3. Figure 3 gives
ideal waveforms to illustrate operation. In the ZVS mode, ener-
gy that is stored in the FET output capacitance (measured from
drain to source) when the device is off is not dissipated within the
device when it is tumed on, but rather resonated back to the dc
supply as energy stored in the primary and secondary magnetiz-
ing inductance resonate with these capacitances to ring the volt-
Q1 tums off, the “undotted” ends of the transformer windings
change to a positive value. This has the effect of reducing Q2’s
drain voltage to zero before it tums on. After Q2’s current, i,,,,
is driven to zero as the L ~ E releases
C its energy, 4 2 can remain
on so that the current momentarily reverses in Q2 (i.e., positive
drain current). Now 4 2 can tum off and the energy stored in the
core (in LSEC)causes the “dotted”ends of the transformer to be-
come positive driving Q1 ’s drain to zero before Q1 ’s gate tums
on. Thus QI is tumedon at zero voltage. In this manner, tuming
off one E T , causes the other FET to be ZVSed. Note that Q2
is tumed on when QI tums off so that the secondary current
flows in the FET Q2’s channel in the reverse direction. With
proper selection of this secondary FET, the voltage drop across
it (in the reverse direction) can be significantly less than that
which would occur in a Schottky rectifier -this synchronous
rectification leads to a significantly higher converter efficiency
for low output voltage converters (e.g. 5 volts and less). To
achieve ZVS operation, someenergy is circulated back and forth
between primary and secondary in order to ring the FETcapaci-
tances to zero. Thisnecessarily results in somewhatmorecurrent
in the switches than would be present in a conventional flyback
circuit. Hence, to achieve ZVS, some additional current is pres-
ent in the FETs. This is the classic trade-off for soft-switched
circuits. Switching losses are improved at the expense of con-
duction losses.
Most single ended circuits can be converted to ZVS operation in
-
the samemannerasdescribedabove. These lower power circuits
1
i . isec
Ein 2 Eout
1 C0”t
“T
fin
”0 -- Eout
time 3
Fig. 3 ZVS flyback converter
are leading candidates for portableequipment and for low power
point of load distributed applications. + Ein

CIRCUIT TOPOLOGIES

Fivesoft switched topologies that are felttohavepractical indus-

trial applications are selected for discussion. It is noted that the
discussion in this paper is limited to bridge type circuits and
therefore is addressing higherpowerconverters (typically sever-
al hundred watts to several kW for converters using FETs and
from several kW to hundreds of kW for converters using IGBTs
and GTOs). Fig. 4 Hard switched PWM converter
Hard-s w itched P W M
sults in soft switching). The “transition resonance” occurs only
A hard switchedPWM converter (Fig. 4)serves as a baseline for during the switching intervals (rather than continuously as in
comparison purposes. The hard-switched PWM controls out- load resonance converters discussed below) and therefore the
put voltage by tuming on diagonal pairs of switches to establish additional circulating current associated with soft switching can
the “on time”and tums offall switches toestablish the“offtime.” be minimized. During the “off time” of the PWM either two up-
In this manner, a PWM voltage occurs at the output of the rectifi- perortwolowerswitchesareon-thisprovidesapathforcurrent
er and is filtered by the output L-C filter. Note that during the to circulate during this time. Because of this circulation there is
off time no current is flowing in the primary side switches or the additional conduction loss in the switches and transformer pri-
transformer primary. For this reason and because the transform- mary. The transformer is somewhat larger in KVA rating than
er is not designed to store energy (it performs a simple voltage that of the hard switched circuit but the transformer is smaller in
transformation)this baselinecircuit hasthe smallesttransformer practice due to the higher switching frequency possible.
(in terms of KVA rating) of any of the approaches. However,
Under heavy loadconditions, the energy storedin the transform-
since the soft switchedcircuitscanoperate athigherfrequencies,
er leakage inductance stores sufficient energy to maintain ZVS.
their transformers can in fact be smaller even though their trans-
At light loads, however, littleenergy is in the leakage inductance.
former KVA ratings are higher. It is also the simplest to control
For this case, energy must be stored in the transformer magnetiz-
and has a simple transfer function, especially if current-mode
ing inductance to maintain ZVS. Thus the transformer is de-
control is used. Current-mode control (with the current sensed
signed to circulate some magnetizing current to maintain ZVS
on the transformer primary) also solves the potential problem of
at light load. At intermediate loads, both the leakageandmagne-
“flux wa1k”associatedwith unbalancedtransformerprimaryex-
tizing inductance supply energy. A good discussion of these
citation.
tradeoffs is given in [ 5 ] . An alternative is to supply additional
The hard switchedPWM converter has relatively high switching circulating current from an auxiliary circuit connected to each
device stresses, high switching turn-on and tum-off losses and pole [6].
relatively high diode switching losses. Note that when diagonal
Because the circuit uses the transformer leakage inductance as a
switches are tumed on, the output rectifier diodes are hard
circuit element, the transformer primary and secondary wind-
switched and due to reverse recovery, a high switching voltage
ings do not need to be extremely tightly coupled for low to me-
transient is present. To limit this transient, snubbers are needed
dium output power levels. This allows the primary and second-
across the output rectifiers (not shown). Typically, snubbers are
ary windings to be separated for good voltage isolation (and low
also used across the primary side switching devices (especially
capacitance for reduced common-mode EMI) between primary
at higher power) to dampen ringing which occurs during switch-
and secondary. It is noted that the output diodes of this circuit
ing. Snubbers in both places are almost always needed to meet
are still hard switched-just as forthe conventionalPWMcircuit.
EM1requirements. Ofcourse, due to the hard switching, switch-
Therefore, voltage clamping [ 5 ] ,snubbering, or some active ap-
ingfrequency is limited(typical1yto 100-200KHzforFETsand
proach [7] is needed to limit the output rectifier voltage over-
2 KHz to 20 KHz for IGBTs and GTOs).
shoot and ringing. The phase shifted bridge i s simple to control
Phase-shifred resonant bridge (simplePWM) andcurrentmode controlcan beeffectively used.
The phase-shifted resonant bridge topology, as seen in Fig. 5 is
as simple as the conventional PWM circuit but, due to the circuit + Ein
operation and a properly designed transformer, soft-switching
is achieved[4,5]. In contrast to the hard switched circuit, voltage
is controlled by phase shifting one converter leg relative to the
other converter leg to form a pwm-type output signal from the
rectifier. By proper design of the transformer leakage and mag-

-
netizing inductance the proper amount of energy is stored each
cycle such that when a power switch turns off, this inductive en-
ergy is interchanged with the snubbercapacitorsacrosseachde-
vice to “soft-switch” the converter pole. In essence, the snubber
capacitors resonate with the transformerleakage inductanceand
Fig. 5 Phase-shifted resonant bridge
magnetizing inductance when each device turns off (which re-

3
The circuit is also usually run at a constant frequency which has
some EM1 filtering advantages.
The phase shifted bridge topology is suitablefor general purpose
dc-dc converter applications including off line power supplies,
“up-front”converters fordistributed powersystems, dc-dc con-
verters forradar, spacecraft, and similar applications where rela-
tively high power, high density and low weight is needed. Also,
because it is not necessary to couple the primary and secondary
windings tightly (the leakage inductance is used to obtain ZVS)
the topology is suitable for applications requiring relatively high
voltage isolation between primary and secondary and for ap-
plications with moderately high output voltage.
Dual Active BridPe
The dual active bridge (DAB) converter was originally devel-
oped to demonstrate a high power (50 kW), high voltage (2000
Vdc), high power density (0.2 kg/kW) dc-to-dc converter [8].
The circuit operation will bedescribed around the configuration
shown in Fig. 6. It consists of two voltage-sourced active
bridges, one operating in the inversion mode and the other in the
rectification mode, interfaced through a high-frequency isola-
tion transformer. Each bridge is controlled to generate a high-
frequency resonant-transition square wave voltage at its trans-
former terminals (+Vin,*Vout)in a similar manner as described
above for the phase-shifted resonant bridge. By incorporating
a controlled amount of leakage inductance into the transformer,
the two square waves can be appropriately phase-shifted to con-
trol the amount of power flow from one dc source to the other.
Active bridges on either side of the transformer allows bidirec-
tional power transfer. Power is delivered from the bridge gener-
ating the leading square wave. Maximum power transfer is
achieved at a phase-shift of 90’. High efficiency is obtained
since all the devices operate under ZVS conditions overmuch of
the load range. The circuit can achieve both step-up or step-
down voltage conversion depending upon the control phase-
shift and the load. As seen, the control is very simple requiring
a fixed frequency phase-shifting strategy. As the load lightens
+ Ein
- ~
---
k - I I-I
Fig. 6 Dual active bridge
the operating regime over which the circuit maintains ZVS nar-
rows. At lighter loads additional inductive energy is needed to
complete the resonant transition from rail to rail. This can be
achieved by one of several techniques - ( I ) By increasing the
magnetizing current (reducing the magnetizing inductance of
the transformer). This also leads to increased conduction losses.
( 2 ) By switching in a resonant inductor at lighter loads as done
in the ARCPconverter as discussed below. (3) By incorporating
free-wheeling states at the input converter, increasing control
complexity. (4)By increasing the switching frequency propor-
tionately as the load increases, thereby increasing the circulating
current. Operation at light loads and widely varying input and
4
output voltage ranges (e.g., 2: 1) can present practical problems
in maintaining ZVS operation. Also, the transformer KVA rat-
ing is somewhat higherthan the phase shiftedresonantbridgefor
the same dc-dc application.
Due to the ability to transfer power in either direction, the topol-
ogy is suitable for battery charging and discharging in a single
converter. This feature is useful for interfacing solar arrays, bat-
teries and power busses in spacecraft applications and can be
used in some configurations of U P S units. Also, the DAB is at-
tractive for applications requiring an output power pulse with a
fast leading and falling edge (such as radar). To create the fast
failing edgeenergycan be extracted form the output filtercapaci-
tor for quickdischarge by transferring power from theoutput fil-
ter capacitor back to the input source.
Auxilian, Resonant Commutated BridPe
The Auxiliary Resonant CommutatedPole (ARCP)[9, IO] com-
bines the features of a conventional hard-switching PWM con-
verter with theresonant transition switching of the phase-shifted
bridge topology. At light load conditions, a pair of zero current
switching auxiliary devices is used to commutate the resonant
phase legs from rail torail. At full load, the auxiliary devices are
not triggered (avoiding high conduction losses) and the convert-
erresonantcapacitorscommutate against the leakage inductance
of the transformer. Hence, with the ARCP it is possible to oper-
ate the converter similar to the phase-shifted bridge converter
without the need to select a transformer that has sufficient low
magnetizing inductance. This eliminates the high circulating
currents of the phase-shifted bridge that otherwise add to con-
duction losses. The auxiliary devices are switching against half
the input bus voltage keeping the turn-on losses low. However,
for20 kHz higherpowerapplicationsafast zerocurrent tum-off
thyristor type device (having little reverse recovery time) is
needed. Gate assisted turn-off thyristors (GATOs), GTOs and
MOS controlled thyristors (MCT) devices are the only viable
solutions to date to implement the ARCP auxiliary switch with
a single device. Alternately, aMOS orIGBTdevice with a series
diode can be used.
The ARCP bridge topology has a KVA rating equal to that of the
hard-switched bridge and since it can run at higher frequency
due to soft switching has the smallest transformer~ of any of the
topologies discussed in this paper. It has the lowest main device
stressesofany ofthe topologiesandissimple tocontrol. Straight
forward voltage-mode or current-mode PWM control can be
used. To achieve this, however, the additional hardware of the
auxiliary circuitry is needed. In addition, to run at high frequen-
cy (>20 kHz) an auxiliary device that cancany relatively narrow
pulses and have fast tum off properties is needed. The best de-
vice touseis inquestionatthepresenttime. Theoutputrectifiers
+ Ein
I
Fig. 7 Auxiliary resonant commutated bridge
in this topology are still hard switched and thus require snubbers.
It is felt that this topology is suitable for higher power (>50 KW)
applications operating from higher voltages where relatively
small, light weight transformers are needed.
Serieslaarallel Resonant Converter
Unlike the above topologies, the series/parallel resonant con-
verter (Fig. 8) is a load resonant converter in which the resonant
-
elements are continuously in resonance during the entire switch-
ing cycle. This converter is a representative example of a larger
+ Ein
Fig. 8 Series-parallel resonant
class of load resonant convertersemploying 2 and 3 resonant ele-
ments[ 1 1,121 and can be run in either the ZVS or ZCS mode.
When operated above the tank resonant frequency, the current
entering the resonant tank from the switching bridge lags the
bridge voltage. Under these conditions aswitch is always cany-
ing current when it tums off and there is always zero voltage
across a switch when it tums on so that ZVS operation results
[ 131. Control is usually by frequency control - the output volt-
age is essentially the rectified output across the parallel resonant
capacitor and it is controlled by moving up and down the “skirt”
of a resonant curve by varying frequency. In addition, phase-
shift control can also be employed. At frequenciesclosetoreso-
nance, ZVS operation will be lost with relatively little phase
shifting. The amount of phase shifting that can be tolerated in-
creases as the frequency is raised above resonance. Therefore,
many controls use frequency control up to some maximum fre-
quency whereupon phase-shift control is used. In this manner
the frequency range can be limited (typically 1 . 4 1) while ZVS
control can be maintained over a relatively large load and input
voltage range. If frequency control only is used, a frequency
range of 1.6: 1 to 2: 1 is usually used (depending on load range
and input voltage range). Note that this particular converter can
operate at no load while still maintaining ZVS operation because
considerable current is circulated in the resonant elements at no
load (typically 0.5 of the current that flows during full load op-
eration). Because of this, efficiency at part load and‘lighterload
is usually somewhat smaller than that near full load. Again,
phase shifting can be used to reduce the resonant circuit driving
voltage at light load and therefore reduce circulating current. If
the parallel resonantcapacitor,Cp,ison thesecondary sideofthe
transformer (as shown in Fig. 8) then the diodes are also soft
switched. In fact, diode capacitance can be thought of as part of
the parallel resonant capacitance. Because of this, the load reso-
nant circuits can be run at higher switching frequencies in gener-
al than the transition resonant circuits.
Load-resonant converters can easily be operated in the ZCS
mode by operating below resonance. However, device di/dt in-
ductors and high speed diodes are needed as well as snubber
diodes.
5
Part or all of the series resonant inductor, L,can be the leakage
inductance of the transformer. Since the resonant inductor value
typically required is much higher than normal transformer leak-
age inductances, the spacing between transformer primary and
secondary windings can be relatively large. Since this is usually
required for very high voltage transformers, load resonant con-
verters are usually used in high-voltage applications such as X-
ray generators and electrostatic precipitators. For those applica-
tions it is difficult or impossible to employ a PWM type of
converter (suchasaphase-shiftedbridge)due totheoutputvolt-
age lost during the reversal of current in the large leakage induc-
tance of a high-voltage transformer. Load resonant converters
operating in the ZVS mode are also candidates for very high fre-
quency (1 to 10 MHz) converters for high density point of load
dc-dc converters for distributed power systems. Since at light
loads, the resonant circuits with aparallel load element can “ring
up” to high voltages, a natural boosting action at lighter loads is
inherent. Forthisreason, thecircuit isusefulasahighpowerfac-
tor supply [ 141for the front end of a distributed power system -
near the zero crossings of the input ac line where the load is light,
high boosting is naturally achieved.
SAMPLE COMPARISON AT 100 KW
A concretecomparison ofthediscussedapproaches is illustrated
with a sample design of a 100 KW dc-dc converter [ 151assum-
ing ZVS operation for all the switching circuits. The converters
were designed to convert 700 Vdc (&5%) to 155 Vdc. Table 1
gives acomparisonofthe topologies. The switching frequencies
were selected based on switching losses estimated using data
sheet values for a 14OO-V, 400-A IGBT for hard switching and
adjusting them for soft switching assuming all the tum off ener-
gy was lost in the current “tail.”
Converter loss calculations for the same sampledesigns are giv-
en in Table 2. Table 2 presents the DAB loss estimates under full
load conditions at minimum input voltage (665 Vdc). More-
over, for these calculations, the DAB was designed to operate
under ZVS conditions for a restricted load range of 40 - 100%
with practically no magnetizing current. At lighter loads addi-
tional inductiveenergy is needed tocompletetheresonant transi-
tion from rail to rail. This can be achieved by one of the several
techniques discussed above.
SUMMARY
Several soft-switched topologies were reviewed andcompared.
The topologies selected for discussion are those thought to be the
most useful at the present time for higher power applications
(power and voltage levels requiring bridge circuits). A brief re-
view of zero-voltage switching (ZVS) and zero current switch-
ing (ZCS) was given. Load resonant converters (usually fre-
quency controlled) were compared with “transition resonant”
converters (usually PWM controlled) as to their advantages and
disadvantages and their areas of application. The phase shifted
bridge with ZVS switching appears to be a workhorse approach
for general dc-dc converter applications requiring small size
(high switching frequency)andhighefficiency (soft switching).
For more specialized dc-dc applications the other soft-switch-
ing approaches are attractive. Load resonant converters are at-
tractive for high voltage applications which require relatively
large transformer leakage inductances to achieve isolation (the
leakage inductance can be part of the normally rather large reso-
nant inductor). Load resonant converters are also suitable for
 Table 1. Topology Comparisons for 1OO-kW Sample Designs

Output Rectifier Stresses I high I moderate I high I lowest I IGBTlow

Ripple Current in CO
~~ low low low low I -
hieh
Transformer Wt. (lbs) 50 32 28 29 44
Output Inductor Wt. (Ibs) 43 24 24 15 0
Resonant Inductor Wt. (lbs) 0 0 0 28 0
Total Magnetics Wt. (lbs) 93 56 52 12 44
Rel. Magnetics Weight 1 0.59 0.55 0.76 0.46

Table 2. Converter Loss Calculations at 1OO-kW Output

LOSS (WAITS)
DEVICE PHASE SER/ ARCP DABe
SHIFTED PAR.
BRIDGE RESONANT

lGBTs 1072 loo0 900 786

conduction 824 587’’ 472C 739
switching
TRANSFORMER cop- 150 150 150 150
per core 148 148 148 148
I I I I
RESONANT INDUC- 1875 (Q=200) 20
TOR

OUTPUT IGBTs

copper core

-
GATE DRJLOGIC
MlSC.
10
250
I50
10
250
I50
IO
250
250
20
250 .
-
*Csn 0.3 uF
Ksn 0.15 uF,switching losses increase with lighter
(higher frequency)
I cCsn-0.2uF
TOTAL LOSSES 4239 6055 3965 4537
, Jlosses incurred only at lightly loaded conditions
EFFICIENCY 95.9% 94.3% 96.2% 95.7%
~
CRestricted load range 40 - 100 %, Cp- 0.3uF, CS = 2

very high frequency (> 1 MHz) lower power converters employ-
ing FETs. The dual active bridge is suitable for applications re-
quiring bidirectional power flow such as battery chargersldis-
chargers (used for example in spacecraft power systems or U P S
applications). Auxiliarycircuits (such as the ARCP)can be add-
ed to the baseline circuits to extend the operating load range over
which soft switchingcanbe maintained. This technique isespe-
ciall y useful for higher power applications (e.g., >50 KW) where
excessive circulating current in prohibitive.
While most of the discussion has centered around ZVS opera-
tion, recent work reported in the literature has suggested that for
devices suchasIGBTsZCS operationmay result in lowerlosses.
This is due to the increase in losses at elevated temperature due
to increased anode current “tailing.” Load-resonant converters
can easily be operated in theZCS mode by operating below reso-
nance. However, device dildt inductors and high speed diodes
are needed as well as snubber diodes. Device characteristics,
ease of control, transient response, and constant vs. variable fre-

6
quency operation are a few of the considerations to be made in
selecting ZVS vs. ZCS. Because soft switching can in general
be achieved with the addition of relatively few components, it
8.
will be employed more pervasively in new higher power dc-dc
converter designs.
REFERENCES
employing an active switch,” IEEE Applied Power
Electronics Conf.,pp. 158-163, 1991.
M.H. Kheraluwala, R. Gascoigne, D.M. Divan, E. Bau-
mann, “Performance characterization of a high power
dual active bridge d c - t d c converter,” IEEE Trans.
Ind. Applications, Nov/Dec 1992, Vol. 28, NO. 6, pp.
1294-1 301.

1. B.D. Bedford andR.G. Hoft, Principlesoflnverter Cir-
cuits, John Wiley & Sons, NY, 1964.
2. SCRManual,4thEdition,F.W. Gutzwiller,Editor,Gen-
era1 Electric Co. 1967.
3. N.H. Kutkut, D.M. Divan, D.W. Novotny, R. Marion,
“Design considerations and topology selection fora 120
kW IGBT converter for EV fast charging,” IEEE Power
Electronics Specialists Con$, 1995, pp. 238-244
4. R.A. Fisher, K.D.T.Ngo, and M.H. Kuo, “A 500 kHz,
250-W dc-dc converter with multiple outputs con-
trolled by phase-shifted PWM and magnetic amplifi-
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