Inductor Technique Research Articles

Design and Analysis of a Novel Bidirectional DC‐DC Converter With Ultra‐Conversion Ratio and Reduced Current Stress

ABSTRACTConventional nonisolated bidirectional DC‐DC converters are limited because of their low conversion voltage ratio. To overcome the limitation, this paper proposed a new bidirectional DC‐DC converter to introduce the novel regenerative configuration merged with the switched inductor technique for high voltage conversion applications. This design enables extreme DC‐voltage conversion with a minimal number of semiconductors and passive components. As a result, the converter's cost is reduced, and it can attain a high voltage gain with less duty ratio. In general, ultra‐gain converters suffer from high current stress across the input and output side switches in the step‐up and step‐down modes. To reduce high current stress, an active network configuration is imposed in the proposed converter. This paper describes the operating principle, steady‐state analysis of the voltage gain, and presents the performance matrices of the proposed converter. Furthermore, a comparative analysis is made with conventional and recent literature converters. Finally, a 350‐V, 500‐W, and 20‐kHz experimental prototype has been fabricated to validate the operation and corroborate the theoretical waveforms with experimental results.

A high step-up soft-single switched converter with three coupling inductors

ABSTRACT This paper presents a new high voltage gain converter, which bases on the incorporation of the voltage multiplier cell and the switched coupled inductor technique, having low voltage stress on the switch, which is far from the output voltage. The presented topology is well suited for high step-up applications. By integrating coupled inductors and voltage multiplier cell techniques, a high step-up voltage gain is achieved. All of the semiconductor devices are switched under soft switching conditions, which reduces the switching losses significantly. The switch turns on at ZCS and turns off at ZVS. All diodes have soft-switching features and their reverse recovery problem is obviated due to the leakage inductance. The operation principles and theoretical analysis of proposed converter are presented in details. At the end, the experimental results have been taken from a laboratory prototype rated at 100 W, input voltage of 24 V, output voltage of 300 V, and switching frequency of 100 kHz.

High step up DC–DC converter with low conduction losses and reduced switching losses

AbstractThis article presents a novel high step up converter based on the active switch inductor (ASL) technique for renewable energy source applications. The coupled inductor technique provides an opportunity to increase the gain. The proposed converter exploited the leakage inductors to provide zero current switching (ZCS) turn‐on for both switches. Therefore, there is no need for an auxiliary circuit, which simplifies the structure. Also, all diodes turn off under ZCS, which eliminates the reverse recovery problem and results in reduced switching losses. The energy of the leakage inductor is recycled, and the voltage spike on the switches is limited. In addition, all semiconductor voltage stresses are clamped below the output voltage. Hence, components with lower on‐resistance can be utilized to reduce conduction loss. Because of the reduction in power loss, the efficiency rises to 97.2% at 250 W output power. It also benefits from the current sharing of the interleaved structure. The operating principles, design considerations, and comparison to other topologies are discussed. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed converter, a prototype converter with 250 W of output power, 50 V of input voltage, 500 V of output voltage, and 100 kHz of switching frequency is implemented.

Hybrid Technique for Vibration Control using Synchronized Switch Damping on Inductor Modal Approach and Shape Memory Alloy Integration

Vibration control is a critical aspect of various engineering applications, including automotive and aerospace systems. This research paper presents a novel approach to enhance the performance of the Synchronized Switch Damping on Inductor (SSDI) technique by incorporating Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs). SSDI has proven effective in managing energy dissipation during electronic switching transitions, mitigating voltage spikes and reducing electromagnetic interference. However, the method consumes a substantial amount of energy. In this study, we propose a hybrid approach that combines the benefits of SSDI with the unique properties of SMAs to achieve improved vibration control. The integration of SMAs introduces a semi-passive element to the system, exploiting the inherent properties of these alloys to undergo reversible shape changes in response to external stimuli. By strategically placing SMAs within the vibration-prone components of the system, we aim to harness the mechanical forces generated during shape recovery to counteract and dampen vibrations. This innovative approach aims to capitalize on the efficient energy conversion capabilities of SMAs, thus minimizing the additional energy consumption associated with traditional semi-passive methods. The research involves theoretical modeling and simulation studies to assess the effectiveness of the proposed technique. Preliminary results demonstrate a significant reduction in vibration amplitudes and enhanced damping capabilities, validating the potential of the integrated SSDI-SMA system. The findings of this study not only contribute to advancements in vibration control methodologies but also provide insights into the broader applications of SMA-enhanced semi-passive techniques in improving the overall performance and efficiency of systems.

A low-power mm-wave reduced-noise active balun with low-phase and low-gain error using common-gate shorting and DeQ inductor technique

This paper presents a low-power low-phase (gain) error (PE/GE) mm-wave active balun, using a common-source common-source (CS-CS) pair and cascode transistors with common-gate-shorting and deQ inductor (CGS-deQ) technique for error compensation. An inductor-capacitance-inductor T-network reduces (increases) the noise figure (gain) by about 3-dB (1.5-dB). Using a 180-nm CMOS technology with 1.8-V supply voltage, the balun achieves an area of 0.348 mm2, including the pads. The electromagnetic (EM) post-layout simulations show a maximum single-ended voltage gain of 18.23-dB, an IIP3 (IIP2) of −3.53-dBm (88.66-dBm) at the center frequency of 35-GHz, a PE (GE) under 1° (0.16-dB), and a noise figure between 5.9–6.9-dB over a 3-dB bandwidth from 33 to 37-GHz, with 6.9-mW power consumption. The proposed balun is compared to conventional common-gate common-source and CS-CS structure with/without CGS-deQ inductor technique for phase/gain error correction. Additionally, it is shown that this technique is insensitive to process-voltage-temperature (PVT) variations. The balun can also provide accurate differential signals for low RF frequencies.

A Nonisolated Single-Switch Coupled Inductor-Based DC-DC Converter with High Voltage Gain for Renewable Power Generation Systems

This article proposed a new structure of nonisolated high step-up DC-DC converter based on a three-winding coupled inductor and voltage multiplier cells (VMCs) for renewable energy systems applications such as PV power generation. Continuous input current with low ripple, common ground between output and input ports, low voltage stress across semiconductors, low number of components, high voltage gain, and high efficiency are the main advantages of the proposed converter. In order to further increase the output voltage, the windings of the coupled inductor are combined with VMC. The combination of coupled inductor and VMC technique leads to a high voltage gain with low duty cycle, and therefore the conduction loss of power switch is reduced. Additionally, the diodes’ reverse recovery currents are reduced which improve the presented topology’s efficiency. On the other hand, the used VMCs clamp the voltage, and the peak voltages across power switch are decreased. The operational modes, steady-state, and efficiency analysis are discussed. Also, to demonstrate the performance of the recommended converter, an experimental prototype with 580 W output power and 400 V output voltage with the switching frequency of 25 kHz is built and the experimental results are presented. Also, another 1 kW, 400 V with the switching frequency of 50 kHz has been implemented and tested.

New PWM Soft Single Switched Step-Up Coupled Inductor Converter with Improved Efficiency

This article presents a new high-step-up converter based on the combination of the diode-coupled inductor technique and a Zeta-Flyback converter. This technique helps to achieve high-step-up gain, also provides soft-switching condition. The switch turns on at zero-current switching (ZCS) and extremely near zero-voltage switching (ZVS) and turns off at ZVS. The diodes are turned off at ZCS, so the reverse recovery problem is alleviated. Experimental results were obtained as a 100 W to validate the converter’s performance, and the concepts are presented in the article. At the end of article, a family of nonisolated and isolated converters based on the studied converter is proposed. The proposed converters, which are based on the CUK family converters, benefiting from the intrinsic magnetizing isolation property.

A Fully Autonomous SSHIC Interface Circuit With Configurable Multi-Step Bias-Flip for Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting

This brief presents a piezoelectric energy harvesting interface circuit with a multi-step bias-flip strategy to boost the energy extraction capability. The optimized parallel synchronized switch on inductor and capacitor (SSHIC) technique is adopted. Except for the external inductor and capacitors, the proposed interface circuit is designed for fully integrated control without any external adjustment during the bias-flip process. Moreover, the steps for bias-flip can be configured flexibly, and the circuit can work even without an inductor. The interface circuit has been designed and implemented with 0.18- <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\mu }\text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> CMOS technology. With the 5-step bias-flip SSHIC topology and a 1-mH inductor, the simulated whole current dissipation is 106 nA, the measured maximum flipping efficiency is 90.3%, and the measured maximum power efficiency improvement is 642% compared to the ideal full bridge rectifier (FBR).

A new interleaved high step‐up soft switching converter with simple auxiliary circuit and reduced voltage stress

This paper proposes a soft-switching high step-up DC/DC interleaved boost converter. The converter uses an interleaved structure to decrease input current ripple. The coupled inductor technique achieves high voltage gain without needing the extremely increased duty cycle. The applied auxiliary circuit provides zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) condition for both main switches with a minimum number of elements. In addition, all the diodes turn off with zero-current-switching (ZCS), alleviating the reverse recovery problem. Moreover, all power switches and diodes have low voltage stress. The voltage stress of the auxiliary switch is low, resulting in low Coss losses of the auxiliary switch. The other properties of the proposed converters are continuous-low-ripple input current, no need for the floating gate drive, and small size. The theoretical analysis is validated by a 250-W prototype with 40-V input to 400-V output voltage with a 100-kHz.switching frequency.

Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting at Circuit Resonance with Active Inductor (CRAI)

Background: Most of the proposed interface circuits use bulky inductors to enhance the key performance parameter i.e., power transfer efficiency. This sets constraints on the design of power conditioning circuitry for constrained IoT applications. Objective: To replace the bulky physical inductor with area optimized components suitable for integrated circuit realization with reduced silicon footprint for constrained applications like Internet-of-Things (IoT). Method: This paper presents the implementation of Circuit Resonance with Active Inductor (CRAI) technique based interface circuit design to deliver the maximum power generated from the Piezoelectric Energy (PEH) source to the load. Results: Compared to the conventional FWBR technique, the proposed CRAI technique improves ≈2X power delivered to the load. Conclusion: The proposed work presents an inductor-less interface circuit for PEH. An active inductor (gyrator) is used to induce ‘IP’ rejection at the PEH circuit resonant frequency to enhance the performance parameters. Since the proposed technique is based on active inductor, it can be easily fabricated in small integrated circuit (IC) packages, allowing integration with state-of-the-art constrained IoT applications. CRAI technique based on the rejection of ‘IP’ at the resonance using active inductor is first reported here. The proposed concept is non-adiabatic, but it could be used for constrained self-powered autonomous IoT applications and it could be of importance in guiding the design of new interface circuits for PEH.

Implementation of radial basis function network-based maximum power point tracking for a PV-fed high step-up converter

This research offers a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm for photovoltaic (PV) systems based on neural networks (NNs) and a rapid step-up converter configuration. An improved variable step size-radial basis function network (RBFN) in the NN algorithm is accomplished in the proposed system to track the maximum power point (MPP) with high convergence speed and obtain maximum power with reduced oscillations. Under various irradiance and temperature conditions, the performance of the recommended algorithm was compared to that of particle swarm optimization (PSO), modified perturb and observe (P&amp;amp;O) MPPT technique, artificial neural network (ANN), and multilayer perceptron feed-forward (MPF) NN-based MPPT method. In this system, a new interleaved non-isolated large step-up converter with the coupled inductor technique is suggested to compensate for the discord in PV devices to enable a continuous and independent power flow. The proposed PV-fed converter system is validated under partial shading conditions (PSCs) and uniform solar PV, and the results are experimentally verified with the use of a programmable direct current (DC) source. The obtained results indicate that the proposed converter produces output with high gain, continuous input current, low voltage stress on switches, minimal ripple, high power density, and extensive input and output operations. Finally, a prototype has been implemented to verify the functionality of the presented converter in continuous conduction mode operation with an input voltage range of 20 V and an output voltage of 200 V.

Analysis and implementation of an interleaved high step‐up converter with reduced voltage stress an interleaved high step‐up DC‐DC converter with ZVS

AbstractA new symmetrical structure of the interleaved converter type is proposed in this paper to obtain high voltage gain. The proposed converter delivers a very high voltage ratio using the coupled inductor technique and switched capacitor, and all this happens at a moderate duty cycle. Furthermore, the MOSFETs have low voltage stresses. Therefore, MOSFETs with low conductivity resistance can be used to reduce the conduction losses. The input current has a small ripple because the input side uses the interleaved operation. Furthermore, zero‐current‐switching (ZCS) is obtained for MOSFETs, and the problem of reverse‐recovery for diodes is confined. Moreover, the passive clamp circuit recycles the energy of the leakage inductances which avoids high voltage spikes across the switches. Performance of the proposed converter along with the small‐signal analysis is discussed in detail. Finally, a laboratory prototype is developed with 30 V input and 400 V output to verify the proposed converter.

Performance Evaluation of a Dual-Input Hybrid Step-Up DC–DC Converter

Nonisolated dc–dc converterswith multi-inputfeatures are very popular in the area of hybrid energy integration since they are compact and cost efficient compared to the isolated topologies. A dual-input hybrid step-up dc–dc converter (DIHDC) with a compact structure is introduced in this article. DIHDC operates based on the switched inductor technique. DIHDC has two inductors with equal values that are parallelly energized in the initial working modes (i.e., switch <sc xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">on</small> condition) and dissipates the stored energy in series in the final working mode (switch <sc xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">off</small> condition). Also, the proposed converter can be extended up to multiple inputs with slight modifications in the structure. Simple and compact structure, relatively higher efficiency, and good voltage conversion ratio are the potential merits of the new converter. Analysis of DIHDC in steady-state condition is explained elaborately and the simulation results are presented. Detailed dynamic analysis of the converter has been performed based on the small signal model of the converter and the necessary transfer functions are derived. A laboratory scale converter model is developed to confirm the efficient operation of DIHDC in realistic environments.

Self-Powered Dual-Inductor MI-PSSHI-VDR Interface Circuit for Multi-PZTs Energy Harvesting

Vibration energy harvesting using multiple piezoelectric transducers (multi-PZTs) can increase its output power and environmental adaptability. At present, there are still few research articles on multi-input interface circuits for multi-PZTs, especially those using the parallel synchronized switching harvesting on inductor (PSSHI) technique. Therefore, this article presents a self-powered dual-inductor MI-PSSHI voltage doubler rectifier (VDR) interface circuit. It can process multi-PZT voltages with arbitrary phases input. The measurements demonstrate that the prototyped MI-PSSHI-VDR circuit can extract a peak power of 1.93 mW from four PZTs under an excitation of 1.5 g and 77.5 Hz. The energy integration efficiency and energy extraction efficiency of the prototyped circuit are 93.2% and 75.1%. Compared with a multi-input full-bridge rectifier, the proposed circuit can achieve 3.22× power improvement and 3.58× voltage improvement, which grasps a good balance between the indices of peak output power and load voltage range. Additionally, the MI-PSSHI-VDR circuit is easy to implement and shows a good scalability, which can be an alternative solution for multi-PZTs energy harvesting.

A method for void fraction measurement of bubble/slug flow in small channels based on contactless impedance detection.

The flow parameter measurement of the gas-liquid two-phase flow in small channels is very crucial and challenging in both academia and industry. Conventional techniques based on radiations, optics, acoustics, or electrics most lose their superiorities in the scenario with small channels due to the spatial limitation and the online and contactless measurement requirements. In addition, the conductive characteristic of the two-phase flow is equivalent to an impedance rather than a resistance due to the existence of multi-phases. The equivalent impedance information of the two-phase flow, especially the imaginary part, is promising to provide more flowing details but has seldom been detected or analyzed. In this paper, a method for the void fraction measurement of bubble/slug flow in small channels is proposed. The method implements void fraction measurement in a contactless way, based on the acquisition of the total impedance information of the gas-liquid two-phase flow. First, a new contactless impedance detection sensor is designed, based on the simulated inductor technique and the analogphase sensitive demodulation technique, to obtain the complete equivalent impedance information of the two-phase fluid. Then, based on the flow pattern identification result, the void fraction measurement model is developed, which is a fusion of the relationships between the void fraction and the real part/the imaginary part of the equivalent impedance information, respectively. Experimental results on prototypes with different inner diameters (2.48, 3.64, and 4.52mm, respectively) validate the effectiveness of the proposed void fraction method. The maximum void fraction measurement biases are within 5.0%.

High Gain DC-DC Converter Integrating Dickson Charge Pump with Coupled Inductor Technique

In this paper, a novel high voltage gain DC-DC converter based on coupled inductor and voltage multiplier technique is proposed. The benefits of the proposed converter are ultra-high voltage gain, low voltage stress across the power switch and very low input current ripple by employing a low current ripple structure (LCR) at the input side. A low on state resistance (RDS(on)) of the power switch can be employed since the voltage stress is a maximum of 25% of the output voltage and the conduction losses of the switch is also reduced. Design of a 1.9kW, 48V at the low voltage side and 430V at the high voltage side is done and verified by simulation. Simulation results show an efficiency of over 93% when operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM).

Self-powered semi-passive vibration damping system based on the self-sensing approach

Semi-passive vibration control with the Synchronized Switching Damping on Inductor (SSDI) technique has attracted significant attention in recent years. However, the damping performance of the SSDI technique will be decreased by the lag in detection of switching time. In order to detect switching time without lag, the paper proposes a self-powered semi-passive vibration damping system based on self-sensing approach. In the proposed technique, the switching control signal is obtained by properly processing the voltage of one piezoelectric element which is also used for vibration damping at the same time. Compared with other self-powered SSDI techniques, the proposed approach can detect switching time without lag, while keeping simplicity of implementation with a small number of piezoelectric elements. The proposed technique is also experimentally implemented by a self-powered circuit in the paper. The theoretical analysis, the experimental validation and the drawback of the proposed technique are discussed in the paper.

A 0.3–5 GHz, low‐power, area‐efficient, high dynamic range variable gain low‐noise amplifier based on tunable active floating inductor technique

AbstractAn area‐efficient low‐noise amplifier with extensive voltage gain variation in the frequency range of 0.3 to 5 GHz is proposed. The designed amplifier comprises of two stages of inverter cells, where by utilizing a resistance shunt feedback, the first stage makes the appropriate voltage gain and input impedance matching, and the second stage increases the bandwidth of the circuit utilizing an active floating inductor. Self‐forward‐body‐bias structure is employed in the presented work for reducing power consumption and improving the overall circuit performance. High voltage gain, low power consumption, wide frequency range of operation, lack of physical inductor, and consequently small occupied active area are among the most important features of the proposed circuit. The presented amplifier has been designed and simulated in standard 90‐nm and 0.18‐μm technologies with 0.9‐ and 1.2‐V supply voltages, respectively, in which important specifications are reported for 90‐nm complementary metal–oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process in details. Power consumption of the designed amplifier is 8.8 mW in 90‐nm technology with a flat variable voltage gain of −22 to 21.2 dB. The circuit consumes silicon area of 122 × 112 μm2, and in the high‐gain mode, the simulated S11 parameter is less than −10 dB, noise figure is almost 3.2 dB, and the IIP3 is equal to −4 dBm.

Selecting nonlinear piezoelectricity for fully autonomous self-sensing synchronized switch damping on inductor technique

Recently, the importance of nonlinear piezoelectricity in smart piezoelectric devices has been receiving attention. Considering two sophisticated models of nonlinear piezoelectricity, we proposed a systematic methodology to select a model that is suitable for a piezoelectric smart attenuation device employing a fully autonomous self-sensing synchronized switch damping on inductor (SSDI) circuit. We derived the electromechanical equation based on the two models by considering a practical structure where the piezoelectric materials are attached using an adhesive and cover the structure partially. Then, the nonlinear parameters were determined using harmonic balance method (HBM) and nonlinear data fitting. We selected a suitable model by comparing the numerical analysis and experimental results of three datasets for the open, short, and SSDI circuits. It is difficult to distinguish the two models clearly from the frequency response peak values of the displacement or piezoelectric voltage. However, the difference between the two models was observed in the backbone curve properties of the peak frequency and the shape of frequency response curves, particularly for the short circuit. The methodology established in this work allows us to systematically select a suitable model of nonlinear piezoelectricity for a smart attenuation device.

Self-Powered SSDCI Array Interface for Multiple Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters

To merge the gap between the low-power output of piezoelectric energy harvesters (PEHs) and the high-power demand of sensors of Internet of Things, researchers recently start to explore PEHs arrays. However, few circuits have been developed to manage the multiple ac inputs from PEHs arrays. This article presents a self-powered PEH array interface circuit based on the synchronized switching and discharging to a storage capacitor through an inductor (SSDCI) technique. The array interface can output a maximum total power greater than the sum of each individual peak power, and achieve a high efficiency when multiple PEHs connect to the SSDCI array circuit. Simulation and experiment are performed to demonstrate the advantages of the SSDCI array interface. The tested results show that the designed SSDCI array circuit achieves an efficiency of 82.3% with three input sources, and allows a gain up to 300% in terms of maximal output power compared to the full-bridge rectifier. In addition, only the peak detection is utilized for the switching control; therefore, the SSDCI array circuit is realized more easily and with fewer components compared to the existing synchronous electric charge extraction array interfaces.