See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/271199598

Design and Analysis of Zero Current Switching Based DC to DC Buck Converter

Article · January 2014

CITATION READS

1 9,815

4 authors, including:

M V Sudarsan Sai Babu Ch

16 PUBLICATIONS 24 CITATIONS
Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada
180 PUBLICATIONS 1,142 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE
SEE PROFILE

Suresh Lakhimsetty
Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology
30 PUBLICATIONS 252 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Sai Babu Ch on 22 January 2015.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 J. Automation & Systems Engineering 8-2 (2014): 108-121

Regular paper

Design and Analysis of Zero Current Switching

Based DC to DC Buck Converter
M.V.Sudarsan *, Dr.Ch.Sai Babu1, Dr.S.Satyanarayana2,L.Suresh3

To make the converter size compact, it is to be operated at higher switching frequencies in

order of Kilo’s and Mega hertz’s. The operation of the converter at these higher switching
frequencies carrying the entire load current during turn on and turn off instants of the switch,
increases the switching losses and is subjected to large amounts of di/dt and voltage stresses.
Thus the design and analysis of a high efficient Zero Current Switching (ZCS) based DC to DC
buck converter is presented in this paper. The converter uses the ZCS technique with the
concept of resonant switch, which is a combination of semiconductor device and LC network,
and makes the Switch to turn on and turn off at zero current instant. This reduces the
switching losses and improves the life time of the switch. The simulation results in
MATLAB/SIMULINK shows the performance of the ZCS based DC to DC Buck converter
superior to the normal Buck converter.

Keywords: Resonant switch, Buck converter, Zero Current Switching

1. Introduction
To accommodate the ever increasing requirements for smaller size, lighter weight,
and higher efficiency power supplies, switched mode power conversion
technologies have evolved from basic pulse width modulated (PWM)
converters to resonant converters, quasi – resonant converters (QRCs), multi
resonant converters (MRCs), and most recently to soft switching pwm converters.
Due to circuit parasitic elements and hard switching condition, o p e r a t i o n o f
PWM converter involves high switching losses, switching stress, and switching
noises. These are the major factors that restrict any converters t o operate at a
higher frequency for size/weight reduction and performance improvement. The
switching losses are mainly caused by abrupt discharging of the energy stored in
the parasitic capacitance of the semi conductor devices. The proposed ZCS
converter turns on and off at zero current values, so that switching losses can be
eliminated. The concept incorporates resonant tanks in the converters to create
oscillatory (usually sinusoidal) voltage and/or current waveforms so that zero
voltage switching (ZVS) or zero current switching conditions can be created for
the power switches and the converters are known as soft switched converters[2]. The
reduction of switching loss and the continual improvement of power switches
allow the switching frequency of the resonant converters to reach hundreds of
kilo-Hertz (typically 100 kHz to 600 kHz). Consequently, magnetic size can be
reduced and the power density of the converters increased.
Soft-switched converters have switching waveforms similar to those of
conventional PWM converters except that the rising and falling edges of
the waveforms are ‘smoothed’ with no transient spikes. Resonance is allowed
to occur just before and during the turn-on and turn-off processes respectively, so as
Corresponding author: M.V.Sudarsan, Associate Professor in EEE, Vignan’s Lara Institute of Technology and
Science, Vadlamudi, India, E-mail:[email protected]
1
Professor in EEE, Director-Academics and Planning, JNTUK, Kakinada,India., [email protected]
2
Professor in EEE, Principal, VRS&YRN college of Engineering and Technology, Chirala, India
3
Assistant Professor in EEE, K.L.University, Vijayawada, India, [email protected]

Copyright © JASE 2014 on-line : jase.esrgroups.org

 M.V.Sudarsan et al.: Design and Analysis of Zero Current Switching Based DC to DC Buck Converter

to create ZVS and ZCS conditions. Soft-switching converters also provide an

effective solution to suppress EMI and have been applied to DC-DC, AC-DC
and DC-AC converters.

2. Buck Converter
2.1 operation of Buck Converter
In a Buck Converter, the average output voltage V0 is less than input voltage Vs
hence the name “Buck”. The circuit diagram of a buck converter using MOSFET as a
switch (S) is shown in Fig.2.1. The circuit operation can be divided into two modes[1].
The operation of Mode1 is with switch in ON state. The input current flows through
the filter inductor (L), filter Capacitor (C), and load resistor (R) as shown in Fig.2.2.

Fig.2.1Buck Converter

The operation of Mode 2 is with switch (S) in OFF state. The diode (D) acts as a
freewheeling diode and conducts due to the energy stored in the inductor in ON state,
and inductor current continuous to flow through L, C, load and diode D as shown in the
Fig.2.3. The inductor current falls until switch is on again in the next cycle. Fig.2.4
shows the output voltage model waveform of the buck converter representing the on
period Ton and off period Toff with a total time period T, also the average output voltage
(V0) over the period (T) will be less than the input voltage (Vs).

is =IL L
IL
ic i0 = Ia ic i0 = Ia

V s (Volts )

Fig.2.2 Mode 1 Fig.2.3 Mode 2

109
 J. Automation & Systems Engineering 8-2 (2014): 108-121

V 0(Volts)

T off

Ton

Fig.2.4 model waveform

2.2 ZC Resonant Switch

In a ZC resonant switch, an inductor Lr is connected in series with a power

switch S in order to achieve zero-current-switching (ZCS). The resonant switch is
said to operate in half-wave mode, when the switch is allowed to resonate in
the positive half cycle only. If a diode is connected in anti-parallel with the
unidirectional switch, the switch current can flow in both directions. In this case, the
resonant switch can operate in full-wave mode. At turn-on, the switch current will
rise slowly from zero. It will then oscillate, because of the resonance between Lr
a n d Cr. Finally, the switch can be commutated at the next zero current duration.
The objective of this type of switch is to shape the switch current waveform during
conduction time in order to create a zero-current condition for the switch to turn off.
Thus, the switches of ZCS resonant converters turn ON and OFF at zero current. The
resonant circuit that consists of switch S, inductor Lr, and capacitor Cr is shown in
Fig.2.5. The inductor Lr is connected in series with power switch S to achieve ZCS.
It is classified into two types – (a) L type and (b) M type [5],[6]. In both the types, the
inductor Lr limits the di/dt of the switch current and Lr, Cr constitutes a series
resonant circuit.

Fig.2.5 ZC Resonant switch.

2.3 Advantages of ZCS over Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS)

ZVS and ZCS are the two conventionally employed soft switching methods. These
techniques lead to zero voltage or zero current during switching transition,
significantly decrease the switching losses and increase the reliability for the

110
 M.V.Sudarsan et al.: Design and Analysis of Zero Current Switching Based DC to DC Buck Converter

converters. The ZVS technique eliminates capacitive turn-on losses, and

decreases the turn-off switching losses by slowing down the voltage rise,
thereby lowering the overlap between the switch voltage and the switch current.
However, a large external resonant capacitor is needed to lower the turn-off
switching loss effectively for ZVS. Conversely, ZCS eliminates the voltage and
current overlap by forcing the switch current to zero before the switch voltage
rises, making it more effective than ZVS in reducing switching losses, especially
for slow switching power devices. Traditional ZCS converters operate with
constant on-time control, while the traditional ZVS converters operate with
constant off-time control. For high efficiency power conversion, the ZCS
topologies are most frequently adopted.

2.4 Operation of ZCS based Buck Converter

Fig 2.6 shows the circuit diagram of ZCS based Buck Converter. The circuit
consists of MOSFET switch S, inductor Lr, and capacitance Cr. Inductor Lr is
connected in series with the power switch S and Capacitor Cr is connected in parallel
with diode D to achieve Zero Current Switching. The inductor Lr limits the di/dt of
switch current and Lr and Cr constitute a series resonance circuit[7].

Lr L

iL
C
Cr V0 (Volts)
Vs (Volts)

Fig.2.6 ZCS Based Buck converter

Initially both, the capacitor voltage across C r and inductor current through Lr are
assumed to be zero and the load current I0 freewheels through diode D. Converter
operation can be divided into following modes and are explained with the model
wave forms of ZCS converter shown in Fig.2.7.

2.4.1 Modes of operation

The ZCS based Buck converter operates in four modes for one switching cycle[4].
Fig.2.7 shows the current through the switch and voltage across the resonant capacitor.
The following assumptions are made without loss of generality.
1. All the semiconductor devices used are taken as ideal and operates without any time
delay during switching.
2. During the turn-on condition, there is no forward voltage drop and no leakage
current under turn-off situation of the switch.
3. The internal resistance is zero for the inductor and capacitor used in the resonant
circuit.
4. The filter inductance L and filter capacitance C are much larger than the resonant
inductor Lr and resonant capacitor Cr respectively.
5. The filtering circuit formed by the filter inductance L, and the filter capacitance C
and the load can be viewed as a constant current I0, since the cut-off frequency of

111
 J. Automation & Systems Engineering 8-2 (2014): 108-121

the current low-pass filter is far lower than the resonant angular frequency caused
by the resonant inductor Lr and resonant capacitor Cr and the simplified circuit is
shown in Fig.2.8 (a).

iL

I0

Vcr

2V s
Vs

t0 t 1 t2 t3 t4
Td 4
Td 1
Td 2 Td 3

Fig.2.7 Model waveforms of ZCS converter

Mode 1 (t0 - t1):

In Mode 1 the switch is turned on at time instant t0. The equivalent circuit of the
converter in Mode 1 is shown in Fig.2.8 (a)

L
Lr
r

IO
VS
Cr IO
VS

(a) Mode 1 (b) Mode 2

C I0
Vs

(c) Mode 3 (d) Mode 4

Fig.2.8 Modes of operation of ZCS converter

112
 M.V.Sudarsan et al.: Design and Analysis of Zero Current Switching Based DC to DC Buck Converter

Before S in conduction, diode D is carrying the output current of I0 with capacitor

voltage VC1 clamped at zero. At time t0, Switch S is turned on, so that current passing
through switch S and Lr rises linearly up to t1 i.e during time interval Td1, as shown
in Fig 2.7. Beyond this time t1, the diode turns off and the voltage clamp across Cr is
removed.
Mode 2 (t1 - t2):
Fig.2.8 (b) shows the equivalent circuit of the converter in Mode 2. After t1, diode D
is off and iL is greater than I0. The difference current iL- I0 will pass through the Cr. At
time t1′, the switch current iL peaks and Vcr = Vs. At time t1′′, the switch current drops
from its peak value to I0 and the capacitor voltage reaches to 2Vs. At time t2 the switch
current eventually drops to zero and cannot reverse through the switch. Thus, the switch
is commutated naturally and the gate/drive from the switch should be removed at this
point.
Mode 3 (t2 - t3):
Fig.2.8 (c) shows the equivalent circuit of the converter in Mode 3. Beyond the
time t2 with the switch off, the capacitor Cr discharges into the output load and the
capacitor voltage drops linearly to zero at time t3.
Mode 4 (t3 - t4):
Fig.2.8 (d) shows the equivalent circuit of the converter in Mode 4. From the time
instants t3 t o t4 l oa d current freewheels through diode D. At t4, a gai n th e s wit ch
t urns on, a n d the next switching cycle starts at this point.

2.5 Steady State Analysis of ZCS Buck Converter

Before analysing the operation modes of the converter circuit, the circuit parameters are
defined as follows

Resonant inductor Lr in Henry

Resonant capacitor Cr in Farad

Switching period Ts in sec.
Lr

Characteristic impedance Zn in ohm Z n =
Cr
1

Resonant angular frequency ω0 in rad/sec ω 0 =
Lr C r
ω0

Resonant frequency fr in Hertz f r =
2π
The switching cycle is divided in to four stages given the initial conditions of each
stage, the state equations [3] of the equivalent circuit models are as follows:

Stage 1: (t0 – t1)

The voltage across the resonant inductor during the period Td1 (iL less than I0) is given by
 di 
Vs = VLr = Lr  L  ----(1)
 dt 

113
 J. Automation & Systems Engineering 8-2 (2014): 108-121

and the current iL(t) from Eq.(1) is given by

V
iL (t ) = s
t
L r

Initially IL(0) = 0, IL(Td1)=I0 where Td1=t1-t0 , thus

LI 0 and T = LI 0 ----(2)
Vs = d1
Td 1 Vs

Stage 2 : (t1 – t2)

During this period two currents iL and I0 were present and the difference of the
currents (iL-I0) will flow through the capacitor Cr and is given by

 dV 
C r  cr  = iL (t ) − I 0 ----(3)
 dt 
 di 
Lr  L  = Vs − Vcr (t ) ----(4)
 dt 
By applying Laplace transform

 1 
 
2
V L C  
 1  
I (s ) =  s * L C  r r + 
 L r r 
s2  L C  
 r   r r  
 

Applying Inverse Laplace transform the current through the capacitor Cr and voltage
across the capacitor Cr is

Vs
i (t ) = * sin ω t ----(5)
Zn
1
Cr ∫
Vcr = i(t )dt
Voltage across capacitor

Vcr = (− )Vs cos ωt + k ----(6)

At t = 0, k = Vs and Vcr (t) is given as

Vcr (t ) = Vs (1 − cos ωt )
Now considering the Eq.(3)

d [Vs (1 − cos ωt )]
Cr = i(t ) − I 0
dt
Where

114
 M.V.Sudarsan et al.: Design and Analysis of Zero Current Switching Based DC to DC Buck Converter

Vs
i (t ) = * sin ω t + I 0 ----(7)
Zn

Let us consider where Td2 = t2 - t1

then,
θ
Td 2 = ----(8)
ω
At Td2, i (t ) = 0 and Eq.(7) becomes
Vs
* sin θ + I 0 = 0
Zn
 − I0Zn  3π
θ = sin −1   and θ varies from π < θ <
 Vs  2
Stage 3: (t2 – t3)

During this period (Td3=t3-t2), the voltage across the resonating capacitor discharges to
zero and the current is given by
dVcr
− I 0 = icr = Cr
dt
Now,
− I0
Vcr (t ) = (t − t 2 ) + Vcr (t 2 ) ----(9)
Cr
−I
Vcr = 0 (t − t 2 ) + Vs {1 − cos[ω 0 (t 2 − t1 )]} ----(10)
Cr
This voltage across the resonant capacitor decreases to zero at time t3, namely,
I0
(t3 − t 2 ) = 1 − cos[ω 0 (t 2 − t1 )] ----(11a)
Vs C r

(t3 − t 2 ) = C rVs {1 − cos[ω 0 (t 2 − t1 )]} ----(11b)

I0
The time interval during stage3 can be computed from Eq.(11b)
C rV s
Td 3 = t 3 − t 2 == {1 − cos[ω 0 (t 2 − t1 )]} ----(12)
I0
Stage 4 (t3-t4)

I0 remains constant and voltage across the capacitor becomes zero. The duration of this
period is Td 4 = t 4 − t 3
Also, Td 4 = Ts − Td 1 − Td 2 − Td 3 ----(13)
Where Ts= period of switching cycle.

2.6 Design of ZCS Buck Converter

115
 J. Automation & Systems Engineering 8-2 (2014): 108-121

The buck converter with the Zero Current Switching scheme is designed in this section
with the formulae described in the steady state analysis of the converter in each stage. The
circuit parameters of the ZCS Buck converter are listed in Table I. Here the buck converter
reduces the input dc voltage of 20 volts to 14 volts with an improved performance.

1 Input DC Voltage (Vs) 20Volts

2 Resonant inductor (Lr) 2.62µ Henry
3 Resonant capacitor (Cr) 0.52µ Farad
4 Switching frequency(fs) 105KHz
5 Resonant frequency (fr) 147KHz
6 Output DC Voltage (V0) 14 Volts
7 Output DC Current (I0) 7 Amperes
8 Filter inductor (L) 150 µ Henry
9 Filter Capacitor (C) 330 µ Farad
10 Duty ratio (fs/fr ) 0.71

Table I Circuit parameters of ZCS based Buck converter

3. Simulation results

The performance of the buck converter and ZSC based buck converter are
analysed in MATLAB/SIMULINK environment.Fig.3.1 shows the Simulink model
of the buck converter with input voltage as 20 Volts and an output bucked voltage
of 14 Volts.

Fig.3.1Simulink model of Buck converter

Fig.3.2 shows the simulink model of the ZCS based buck converter with input
voltage as 20 Volts and an output bucked voltage of 14 Volts with the resonant inductor
and resonant capacitor values of of 2.62µH and 0.52µF respectively.

116
 M.V.Sudarsan et al.: Design and Analysis of Zero Current Switching Based DC to DC Buck Converter

Fig.3.2 Simulink model of ZCS based Buck converter

Fig.3.3 (a) shows the obtained simulated waveform for the supply current of the
buck con vert er and the converter draws an average DC current of 4.57 Amperes
from the supply. The supply current is in the form of the p u l s e s synchronized with
the gate pulses.

(a) (b)

Fig.3.3 Supply Current of buck and ZCS based Buck converters.

Fig.3.3 (b) shows the obtained simulated waveform for the supply current of the ZCS
b a s e d b u c k converter and the c o n v e r t e r draws an average DC current of 5.57
Amperes from the supply. The supply current is in the form of the pulses synchronized
with the gate pulses and also the magnitude of the current becomes zero during the turn on
and turn off of the switch instants thus making it as Zero Current Switching.
Fig.3.4 (a) shows the average DC output voltage response of the buck converter and the
converter delivers an average DC voltage of 13.6 Volts to the load. The output voltage
settles to its steady state value of 13.6 volts at 0.0208 seconds with considerable
oscillations

117
 J. Automation & Systems Engineering 8-2 (2014): 108-121

(a) (b)

Fig.3.4 Average output voltage responses of buck and ZCS based Buck converters

Fig.3.4 (b) shows the a v e r age DC output voltage response of the ZCS based buck
converter and the converter delivers an average DC voltage of 13.8 Volts to the load.
The output voltage settles to its steady state value of 13.8Volts at 0.0305 Seconds, with
negligible oscillations.
Fig.3.5 (a) shows the a v e r a g e DC output current response of the b u c k c o n v e r t e r
and the converter delivers an average DC current of 6.8 Amperes to the load..The
output current response settles to its steady state value of 6.8 Amps at 0.013 Seconds

(a) (b)

Fig.3.5 Average output current responses of buck and ZCS based Buck converters

Fig.3.5 (b) shows the average DC output current response of the ZCS based buck
converter and the converter delivers an average DC current of 6.9 Amperes to the
load..The output current response settles to its steady state value of 6.9 Amps at 0.0158
Seconds
Fig.3.6 (a) shows the average p o w e r loss across the MOSFET switch during the
operation of the buck converter and the converter dissipates an average power loss of
34.52 Watts across the switch. This power loss comprises of both the switching losses
and conduction losses together.

118
 M.V.Sudarsan et al.: Design and Analysis of Zero Current Switching Based DC to DC Buck Converter

(a) (b)

Fig.3.6 Average power loss across the switch (MOSFET) of buck and ZCS based Buck
converters

Fig.3.6 (b) shows the average power loss across the MOSFET switch during the
operation of the ZCS based buck converter and the c o n v e r t e r dissipates an average
power loss of 28.52 Watts across the switch. This power loss comprises of a small
amount of the switching losses and major amount of conduction losses. Hence the
average power loss has been reduced by 17.38% because of ZCS scheme.

Fig.3.7 Power loss across the switch (MOSFET) of ZCS based buck converter

Fig.3.7 shows the switching power loss and conduction power loss across the
MOSFET switch synchronised with the gate pulses during the operation of the ZCS
based buck converter and the converter dissipates zero power loss at the instants T0
and T1 indicating that the switching losses in the converter as zero. The power losses
during the period T0 to T1 is considered as the conduction losses. Hence the total average
p o w e r loss has been reduced as it contains conduction losses only.
Fig.3.8 shows the current through the switch (MOSFET) in synchronization with the
gate pulses of the switch in an ZCS based converter. The converter is fully soft
switched i.e., at the turn on instant the current in the switch becomes zero as well as at
turn off instant also the current becomes zero due to the resonance nature of the

119
 J. Automation & Systems Engineering 8-2 (2014): 108-121

elements produced by resonant inductor Lr and resonant capacitor Cr in the converter.

Fig.3.8 switch (MOSFET) current and pulse of ZCS based buck converter

Fig.3.9 shows the voltage response across the resonant capacitor in ZCS buck converter.

Fig.3.9 Voltage response of the resonant capacitor in ZCS based buck converter
Table II shows the overall performance comparison of the buck and ZCS based
buck converters in terms of input voltage, output voltage, and power loss across the
switch, input power, output power and efficiency.

Converter Output Power loss Input Output Efficiency

S.No configuratio Voltage across the power Power
n switch
1. Buck converter 13.6 V 34.52 W 72.97 W 53.05 W 72.97 %

2. ZCS based Buck 13.8 V 28.72 W 118.2 W 108.8 W 92 %

converter

Table II. Performance comparison of buck converter and ZCS based Buck converter.

From the simulation results the performance of the ZCS buck converter is superior
to the buck converter operating at an higher frequency of 105KHz, due to the reduction
of the switching losses, there by the total average power loss in the switch by 17.38%.
hence the efficiency of the ZCS based converter has increased to 92% comparing with
the buck converter efficiency 72.97%, the switching losses are reduced by incorporating
the L-type ZCS resonant circuit having resonant inductor and resonant capacitor values of

120
 M.V.Sudarsan et al.: Design and Analysis of Zero Current Switching Based DC to DC Buck Converter

2.62µH and 0.52µF respectively which makes the switch (MOSFET) to turn on and
turn off at zero current instants.
4. Conclusion
As to reduce the size/volume of the DC-DC converter it is operated at higher range
(kilo-hertz) hertz frequencies. But the operation of the converter at these higher
frequencies increases the switching losses density turn-on and turn-off instants. Here in
this paper “Zero Current Switching (ZCS) based resonant switched DC-DC converter”,
has been analysed which incorporates a resonant switch which is a combination of
switching device and LC network, is operated at higher frequency of 105KHz at this
switching frequency losses are made zero by designing proper values of resonant
elements like resonant inductor, and resonant capacitor. With this soft switching of the
device in the converter, the average power loss across the switch has been reduced by
17.8% and the efficiency, performance of the converter has been increased

References

[1] Daniel W.Hart, Introduction to Power Electronics International Edition, Prentice-Hall

International, Inc, 1997.
[2] G.Hua and Fred C Lee, “Soft-switching techniques in PWM Converters.” IEEE Trans. Industrial
Electronics, vol. 42, no, 6, Dec.1995. pp. 595-603.
[3] Yu-Lung Ke and Ying-Chun Chuang, “Application of Buck Zero-Current-Switching Pulse-
Width-Modulated Converter in battery chargers.” Industrial & Commercial Power Systems
Technical Conference, 2007. ICPS 2007. IEEE/IAS. Pp. 1-8
[4] Naseem Zaidi and Aziz Ahmad, “Analysis, Design and control of Zero Current
Switching DC to DC buck converter” International Journal of Scientific and Research
Publications, vol 2, Issue 7, July 2012.
[5] K.H.Liu and F.C.LEE, "Reonant switches-A Unified Approach to improve performance of
switching convereters," IEEE INTELEC Conference record,1984. Pp 344-351.
[6] K . H Liu and R.Oruganti , and F.C. Lee , " resonant switches ---Topologies and characteristics ,"
1986 IEEE Power Electronics specialitsts Conference , 1986, pp.106-116.
[7] N. Mohan, T. Undeland, W. Robbins, Power Electronics Converters,Applications and Design,
ISBN 9814-12-692-6.

121

View publication stats