1

ENEL371S2
Power Electronics 1
Lecture 3 Buck Converter
Continuous Conduction
Department of ECE
University of Canterbury
2012
Single-Switch
Switching Cell
Read Chapter 7, Mohan etc.
CONCEPT
Single Switch Conversion
Any semiconductor p-n junction power
switch device (e.g. Diode, Thyristor, MOSFET,
IGBT etc.) is one way switch, i.e. current can
flow in one direction. It cant feed energy back
to power supply (as shown in Energy Recovery).
Diode IGBT
To charge and discharge the
energy storage devices
(inductor, capacitor) by
switching, a controllable power
switch needs a diode to
provide freewheeling path
General
Controllable
Switch
Single Switch Configuration
BOOST
Diode One-way Freewheeling channel
for current
Inductor Energy Storage or Filtering
Switch Power Switching Regulation
Switch+Diode = 1 Pole 2 Throw Switch
The Same 3 Components but Different Combinations
BUCK
Conversion Conversion
BUCK-BOOST
Conversion
One-Pole-Two-Throw Switch
1P2D Switch
Buck Converter
Buck-Boost Converter
Discontinuous Input Source Current
Boost Converter
Continuous Input Source Current
i
L
Input
Charging
Current
Output
Discharging
Current
Source
Output
1
2
Input
Charging
Current
Output
Discharging
Current
i
L
Source
Output
1P2D Switch
1 2
+
+
Basic Switching Cells
P-cell N-cell
A switching cell is a tri-port device which
consists of a power switch and a diode
Connect to
voltage source
or capacitor
Connect to
current source
or inductor
Basic switching cells are bricks for building the house of
high frequency ( single/multi-switch )switching converters.
Steady State
Read Chapter 7, Mohan etc.
CONCEPT
Power Processing - Revisit
Power electronic conversion actually is to manipulate the
energy in energy storage devices by switching the power
switches to control the power flow.
A power converters is mainly constituted by Power
Switches and Energy Storage Devices (inductors,
capacitors, transformers).
Switching strategy PWM constant switching frequency
variable duty ratio switching method
Steady-State Inductor
For an energy storage inductor in DC-DC
converters, steady state means that energy rise
is equal to energy fall in the inductor over one
switching period.
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
0
2
0
0
( 0
1
2
1
( ) 0 )
L L
T L
L
L L
L
L
L L
L
T
i t T i t
E
v t dt
i t
E Li
di
L v
v t d
i
t
T
t
t
d
L
+ =

=


`

=

=
`

)
A =
=
+ =
} }
RULES
Average voltage per
switching period = 0
Steady-State Capacitor
For an energy storage capacitor in DC-DC
converters, steady state means that energy rise
is equal to energy fall in the capacitor over one
switching period.
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
0
2
0
0
( 0
1
2
1
( ) 0 )
C C
C T
C
C C
C
C
C C
C
T
v t T v t
E
i t dt
v t
E Cv
dv
C i
i t d
v
t
T
t
t
d
C
+ =

=


`

=

=
`

)
A =
=
+ =
} }
RULES
Average current per
switching period = 0
Steady-State Conversion
Control input to the switch (i.e. duty ratio)
keeps constant
Input voltage constant
Voltage increase and voltage decrease in
output voltage over one switching period
are equal
For a steady-state PWM DC-DC
converter, steady state switching
means that
Continuous and Discontinuous
Conduction
Read Chapter 7, Mohan etc.
CONCEPT
Continuous and Discontinuous
i
L
t
i
L(min)
i
L(max)
i
L(min)
Continuous Conduction
i
L
t
Average
Value
i
L(min)
i
L(max)
i
L(min)
Current Conduction State
of Inductor (Energy
Storage Device) in
switching cell play an
important role in DC-DC
converter circuit analysis
DC-DC Converters
PWM Conversion
Voltage Regulator
Read Chapter 7, Mohan etc.
CONCEPT
PWM Conversion for DC Motor
With addition low pass filter, PWM voltage v
o
can be used
to drive DC motor directly (if coil inductance is large
enough), DC motor coils act as low pass filter to get low-
ripple (constant) dc current in coils. Here DC-DC
converters is not voltage regulator.
DC-DC Voltage Regulator
A DC-DC voltage regulator is designed to
automatically maintain a constant DC voltage level:
output a low-ripple (constant) DC voltage to load
s
o
Constant DC
Voltage
2nd Order LC filter
PWM
Voltage
DC-DC Buck Converter (Voltage Regulator)
DC-DC voltage
regulators will
investigated in
this course.
Buck Converters
(Voltage Regulator)
Continuous Conduction Mode (CCM)
Read Chapter 7, Mohan etc.
Basic Requirements
Three things we need to calculate
1. Output/Input voltage ratio
2. Inductor current ripple
3. Load (Capacitor) voltage ripple
Things we need to know
1. Draw the inductor current waveform
2. Draw the inductor voltage waveform
3. Draw three circuit states (ON/OFF/IDLE)
For the steady-state analysis of all single-
switch DC-DC voltage regulators
Technique
Specifications for
Voltage Regulators
Assumptions
To simplify the analysis, for steady-state buck
voltage regulator, it is reasonable to assume
1. v
C
is reasonably ripple free (~1% ripple) and i
R
is
ripple-free too
2. Since average capacitor current i
c
is zero, average
values of inductor current i
L
and resistor current i
R
are equal
C o R
v v i R = =
Buck Converter (Regulators)
1. Step-down Ratio
Output voltage is less
than the input voltage
2. Inductor Current Ripple
3. Capacitor (Output) Voltage Ripple
:
on on
s on off
duty ratio
t t
k
T t t

= =
+
Circuit States in CCM
v
d
-
+
v
o
R C
L
v
C
i
L
v
L
i
L
Switch OFF, Diode ON
charging
discharging
Inductor voltage
Inductor current
Step-Down Voltage Ratio
( ) ( )
( ) ( )( )
0
0
( ) 0
) 0
1
(
0
s s
s
kT T
d o o
kT
d
T
o s o
L
o
o d
d
s
v v dt v t dt
v v kT v k T
o
v t
v
v kv k
v
r
dt
+ =
+ =
= =
=
} }
}
0
( ) 0
s
T
L
v t dt =
}
In Steady State, for the inductor L
RULES Inductor voltage
L
L
di
v L
dt
=
Switch
ON
Switch
OFF
Switch
ON
Switch
OFF
Inductor current
Inductor Current Ripple
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
1
Charge :
1
Discharg : 1
s
s
s
L L L L
kT
d o
L d o s
o
T
o
L o s
k
s
T
L
I i i
v v
i v v dt kT
L L
v
i v dt k T
L
i t T i t
L
+
+

+ = A = A = A

A = =

A = =
}
}
( ) ( )
L s L
i t T i t + =
In Steady State, for the inductor L
RULES
Inductor voltage
Switch
ON
Switch
OFF
charging discharging
L
L
di
v L
dt
=
L
I A
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
1 1
1 1
d d
L s
s
o o
s
s
o d
v v
I k k T k k
L f L
v v
k T k
L
v k
L
v
f
A = =
=
=
=

Inductor current
1
s
s
f
T
=
Inductor Current Ripple
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
1 1
1 1
d d
L s
s
o o
s
s
v v
I k k T k k
L f L
v v
k T k
L f L
A = =
= =
( ) ( )
( )
( )
1
1 1
1
L
o R R L
o R
L
s
L s
s
L
s
v i R and i I
v i R
I k k
f L f
R k
I
I f
L
R
f L L
I
k

A
= =
A = =
= =
Absolute value
Relative value
Obviously, to increase switching frequency and
inductor value, the inductor current ripple can be
reduced; low duty ratio and light load will increase
inductor current ripple.
Class Quiz
25
L
L
L
L
IL
max min
2?
L
L L
I I I
I I
A
= >=
Capacitor Voltage Ripple
( )
1 1
2
1
2 2
1
8
C
C C
C
S
C
L
L
S
Q
T I
dv
i C v
Q
v
C C
i dt
C
f
t C
I
C
d
A
( A A
| | | |
A = =
|
= = =
A
| (
\ .\ .

=
}
( )
( )
( ) ( )
2
2 2
1
8
1 1
8
1
8
d
C
s
o C
s
d
L o
s
s
d
v
v k k
v
I k k and v k
f LC
v v
k k
f LC
v
f LC
f L
A =
=
A =
=

=
: 1/
s s
switching frequency f T =
Inductor voltage
Inductor current
capacitor voltage
C o
v v =
Capacitor Voltage Ripple
( ) ( )
( )
2
2
2
2
1
2
1 1
8 8
C c
C s
d C
C
s s
v v
v k k k
f LC f
v f
v f
LC
k
t
A = =
| |
A
=
|
\ .

1
LC filter cutoff frequency :
2
c
f
LC t
=
( )
( ) ( )
2
2
2
2
1
8
1 1
2 8
d
C
s
C c
C
s s
v
v k k
f LC
v f
k k v
f f LC
t
A =
| |
= =
|
\ .
Absolute value Relative value
Obviously, to increase switching frequency can
significantly reduce the capacitor voltage ripple;
high duty ratio and narrow LC bandwidth will
reduce capacitor voltage ripple too.
Lecture 3 - Summary
Concepts single-switch switching
cells, steady-state, continuous and
discontinuous conduction, voltage
regulator
Buck Voltage Regulator step-
down ratio; inductor current ripple,
capacitor/output voltage ripple
Homework #3
Download homework #3 questions for
Lecture 3 from
Learn/ENEL371/Term3/Lecture3
30
Contact Information:
Dr. Keliang Zhou
Office: Electrical A512
Email: keliang.zhou@canterbury.ac.nz
Phone: 3642240 Ext.6240