Double-Ended Active-Clamp Forward Converter With Low DC Offset Current of Transformer

Abstract

The double-ended (DE) active-clamp forward (ACF) converter is one of the attractive dc-dc converters for the power supply of digital devices due to a simple structure and zero voltage switching (ZVS) capability of primary switches. However, due to a dc offset current of transformer, the size and core loss of transformer are increased. In this paper, a new DE-ACF converter having an additional switch and a diode is proposed to achieve a low dc offset current of transformer by charging a clamp capacitor additionally during a turn-off interval between main switches. Thus, the transformer size can be reduced in the proposed converter. Furthermore, since the output inductor current ripple is reduced, the primary and secondary conduction losses can be decreased under medium and heavy loads. As a result, the proposed converter can have higher efficiency than conventional DE-ACF converter. The validity of the proposed converter is confirmed by experimental results from a prototype with 400 V nominal input voltage and 400 W (12 V/33.33 A) output.