Weinberg Converter Research Articles

Optimization of switching losses of the Weinberg converter

DC-DC converters are widely used in hybrid power supply systems. A buffer source of electrical energy (most often a battery bank) and its charging and discharging devices are integral parts of such systems. In systems where the battery bank voltage is less than the DC-bus voltage and galvanic isolation is not required, the Weinberg converter is widely used as a discharge device, for example, in spacecraft power supply systems. The current trend in the development of hybrid power supply systems is to increase the power density of the system. Increasing the operating frequency is the simplest and most effective way to increase the power density of converter. A differential characteristic of this converter is the zero-current switching (ZCS) of transistors, which occurs due to the influence of the leakage inductance of coupled-inductors and the leakage inductance of the transformer. The paper presents an analysis of the influence of leakage inductances on the operation of the converter and a method of determining a level of turn on switching losses of transistors, which allows to ensure the necessary level of efficiency of the converter. The results of simulation modeling of the converter confirm the effectiveness of this method.

Practical Battery Discharge Regulator with Weinberg Topology

BDR (battery discharge regulator) required to keep battery voltage within acceptable limits and improve life of the battery. A converters with greater reliability, high power density, tolerance to any fault, are needed for BDR in space craft power supply. Weinberg converter topology is suitable meet this specification. This topology can be treated as a modified push-pull converter topology with coupled inductor. Use of coupled inductor makes output current of converter is continuous, which reduces the output filter capacitors requirement. In this, working of converter and its main features are explained and also practically implemented the converter and its results are analyzed.

Practical Battery Discharge Regulator with Weinberg Topology

A BDR (battery discharge regulator) required to keep battery voltage within acceptable limits and improve life of the battery. A converters with greater reliability, high power density, tolerance to any fault, are needed for BDR in space craft power supply. Weinberg converter topology is suitable meet this specification. This topology can be treated as a modified push-pull converter topology with coupled inductor. Use of coupled inductor makes output current of converter is continuous, which reduces the output filter capacitors requirement. In this, working of converter and its main features are explained and also practically implemented the converter and its results are analyzed.

Modeling and Analysis of an Avionic Battery Discharge Regulator

The avionic battery discharge regulator (BDR) plays an important role in a power-conditioning unit. With its merits of high efficiency, stable transfer function, and continuous input and output currents, the non-isolated Weinberg converter (NIWC) is suitable for avionic BDR. An improved peak current control strategy is proposed to achieve high current-sharing accuracy. Current and voltage regulators are designed based on a small signal model of a three-module NIWC system. The system with the designed regulators operates stably under any condition and achieves excellent transient response and current-sharing accuracy.

Three-Phase Weinberg Isolated DC–DC Converter: Analysis, Design, and Experimentation

This paper presents the three-phase version of the isolated dc-dc Weinberg converter. The main characteristics of the proposed converter are as follows: small volume, low weight, reduced number of components, buck operation for a duty cycle of less than 1/3, and input and output current ripple cancellation for a duty cycle of 1/3 or 2/3. Typical applications include telecommunication, electric vehicles, renewable energy conversion systems, and batteries. This paper gives theoretical analysis, design example, and experimental data on a 735-W 120-Vdc-input 75-Vdc-output 42-kHz switching frequency laboratory prototype. The prototype performance shows good agreement with the theoretical predictions.

Design of an All-SiC Parallel DC/DC Weinberg Converter Unit Using RF Control

We demonstrate the feasibility of RF communication-based wireless load-sharing control of a spatially distributed two-module parallel dc/dc (Weinberg) converter unit (DDCU), each operating at a high switching frequency (0.25 MHz) and delivering an output power of 500 W. From control standpoint, we demonstrate the feasibility of wireless control scheme using a digital signal processing-field-programmable gate array (DSP-FPGA based) control-communication interface. Further, using a composite Lyapunov function methodology, we determine (in the presence of delay owing to channel disruption) the reachability of the DDCU under startup condition, and also investigate the effect of delay on orbital stability and performance. With regard to the hard-switched DDCU, we outline some practical design aspects of the high-frequency all-SiC Weinberg converter power stage and subsequently demonstrate experimentally that the DDCU achieves high efficiency in spite of operating at high frequency and high temperature, and exhibits satisfactory steady-state and transient performances despite channel separation of up to 30 ft.