CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION
In many industrial applications, it is required to convert the fixed dc voltage dc source
into a variable voltage dc source. A dc-dc converter converts directly from dc to dc and is
simply known as dc converter. A converter can be as equivalent to an transformer with a
continuously variable turns ratio. Like a transformer, it can be used to step down or step up a
dc voltage source. Dc converter are widely used for traction control in electric automobiles
trolley cars, marine hoist forklift trucks and mine haulers. They provide smooth acceleration
control, high efficiency and fast dynamic response. DC converters can be used in regenerative
braking of dc motor to return energy back into the supply and this featurs result in energy
saving for transportation system with frequent tops. DC converters are used in dc voltage
regulators and also used in junction with an inductor, to generate a dc current source. Step-
down switching or buck converters are vital to modern electronics. They can convert a voltage
source (typically 8 V to 25 V) into a lower regulated voltage (typically 0.5 V to 5 V). Step
down converters transfer small packets of energy using a switch, a diode, an inductor and
several capacitors. Though considerably larger and noisier than their linear-regulator
counterparts, buck converters offer higher efficiency in most cases. As usually known, the
conventional buck converter is widely used in the industry. DC–DC converters have been
effectively controlled for many years using analog integrated circuit technology and linear
system design techniques.

1.1 Problems Statement

Analog control technology has been successfully employed in controlling the operation
of DC-DC converter. But analog technology has many disadvantages that limit the buck
converter operation. Digital technology has been considered to replace the analog technology.
This project will investigate the ability of digital control of the buck converter using
microcontroller to control the operation of the DC-DC converter.

1.2 Objective
To produce a reliable design circuit for buck converter operation.

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CHAPTER-2

LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter will cover topic on buck converter issues.

2.1 DC to DC conversion method

There are three techniques to convert DC voltage from higher value to lower value.
These techniques are:-
 Voltage divider
 Linear voltage regulator
 DC-DC converter (buck)

A comparison will be made on the efficiency of each method to do the DC

conversion. Consider an application that requires 100mA at 5V. The supply is +15V. With a
voltage divider circuit such as in Figure 1, the maximum load is 5V /100mA = 50Ω resistor.
For smaller load currents, the equivalent resistor will be larger. The design reaches 5V across
the load for the maximum load current requirement.

Figure 2.1 Voltage divider

Kirchhoff's voltage law (KVL) tell that there should be 15V – 5V = 10V across the
10Ω resistor and, therefore, we are drawing 1A from the 15V supply.

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2.2 linear voltage regulator

Figure 2 shows linear voltage regulator using LM317 chip. The LM317 works by
creating 1.25V across the 120 Ω resistor. So the current in 120 Ω resistor, I120 Ω = 1.25V
/120 Ω =10.4mA. With zero current leaving the bottom of the chip, this means that there is
10.4mA x 360 Ω = 3.75V across the bottom resistor, so that there is always 1.25V + 3.75V =
5V across the load.

Figure 2.2 linear voltage regulator

2.3 Buck Converter
A buck converter is a step-down DC to DC converter. For a DC–DC converter, input
and output voltages are both DC. It uses a power semiconductor device as a switch to turn on
and off the DC supply to the load. The switching action can be implemented by a BJT, a
MOSFET, or an IGBT. Figure 4 shows a simplified block diagram of a buck converter that
accepts a DC input and uses pulse-width modulation (PWM) of switching frequency to control
the switch. An external diode, together with external inductor and output capacitor, produces
the regulated dc output. Buck, or step down converters produce an average output voltage lower
than the input source voltage.

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Figure 2.3 Buck converter

2.3.1 Buck converter operation
The operation of a buck converter happens in two modes. The first mode is when
switch Q close, and the second one is when switch Q open. When switch Q closes, current
flows from the supply voltage Vi through the inductor and into the load, charging the
inductor by increasing its magnetic field and increasing Vo. Diode D will be on reverse bias,
thus blocking the path for current. An inductor reduces ripple in current passing through it
and the output voltage would contain less ripple content since the current through the load
resistor is the same as that of the inductor. At the same time, the current through the inductor
increases and the energy stored in the inductor increases. When Vo reaches the desired value,
switch Q is open and diode D is turned on. Figure 5 shows this mode.

Figure 2.4 Switch Q closed

When the switch Q opens, the inductor acts as a source and maintains the current
through the load resistor. During this period, the energy stored in the inductor decreases and its
current falls. Current continues to flow in the inductor through the diode D as the magnetic
field collapses and the inductor discharges. Before the inductor completely discharges, diode

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D is open and Q is closed and the cycle repeats. It is important that there is continuous
conduction through the load for this circuit. Figure 6 shows this mode.

Figure 2.5 switch Q open

2.4 Buck converter duty cycle
The ratio of output voltage, Vout to input voltage, Vin can be adjusted by varying the
duty cycle of switch Q. The longer Q is turned on, the greater Vout will be. The duty cycle of
Q is usually called the converter’s duty cycle. If the switches and the inductor are lossless, Vin
is converted to Vout with no loss of power and the conversion is 100% efficient. Figure 7 shows
variation of duty cycle. Duty cycle is always being presented in percentage value. A 60% duty
cycle means the power is on 60% of the time and off 40% of the time. While a 50% duty cycle
means the power is on 50% of the time and off 50% of the time.

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Figure 2.6 Duty cycle

2.5 CCM and DCM
The buck converter can operate in two different modes; continuous conduction mode
(CCM) and discontinuous conduction mode (DCM). The difference between the two is that in
CCM the current in the inductor does not fall to zero. A buck converter operates in continuous
mode if the current through the inductor never falls to zero during the commutation cycle. In
DCM, the current through the inductor falls to zero during part of the period. Practically,
converter can operated in either operation modes. Figure 8 shows CCM and DCM mode.

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Figure 2.7 (a) CCM (b) DCM

2.6 Buck converter analysis

The initial study of this circuit utilizes the following assumptions. Capacitor is large
enough that the output voltage ripple is small relative to its average value. Inductor is large
enough to ensure that the inductor current stays positive for the switching period. This is
referred to as continuous conduction mode or CCM. This ensures that when the switch is off,
the diode must be on. All components are initially assumed ideal. The circuit is in the steady
state, implying that all waveforms are in fact periodic, ensuring that they have the same value
at the beginning and end of a switching period. Two state of operation is considered. First,
switch Q turn on and D turn off. After steady state condition has been reached, switch Q will
turn off and D turn on. Figure 9 shows these two operations.

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Figure 2.8 Buck converter operation (a) Q turn on (b) Q turn off

By using kirchhoff’s  voltage law (KVL), the voltage across the inductor when switch Q is closed is:‐ 

2.0  

At the same time, the voltage   across the inductor is related to the change in current flowing 
through it which  is:‐ 

2.1  

Rearranging equation (2.0) will result in:‐ 

2.2  

so the amount of the inductor current is:‐ 

2.3  

The duty cycle of the buck converter is defined as:‐ 

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So the inductor current increase during the on state is given by:‐ 

Δ 2.4  

When switch Q open, the voltage across inductor is:‐ 

2.5  

Again from figure  Δ  

 
Figure Inductor current 

So the inductor current increase during the on state is given by:‐ 

Δ  

For steady state operation,ΔI on and Δ  must be equal. 

The inductor current would have a net increase or decrease from cycle to cycle which would not be a 
steady state condition. Thus, these two equations can be equated and solved for   to obtain the 
continuous conduction mode buck voltage conversion relationship. 

Δ Δ  

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And using 

1  

1  

The steady state equation for   is:‐ 

1  

This equation demonstrates the fact that output voltage   is defined with the duty cycle, D for the 
converter. For this explanation, the buck converter output voltage is lower than input voltage because 
D is a number between 0 and 1. To generalize   and  are neglected because they are small enough 
to ignore. Simplified output voltage can be calculated by:‐ 

 
In a steady state, inductor current is given by:‐ 

 
Since  0 in steady state condition we have:‐ 

 
Ohm’s law requires that:‐ 

so the average value of :

From figure 7 we can write:

∆
2.14

From equation 2.7 and 2.13 we can write :

1 2.15
2
Similarly from Figure 7 we can write
|∆ |
2

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Or

1
2
To guarantee an uninterrupted flow of (min) > 0. so we need:-

1 0 
2

1  
2
1
 
2

                (2.18) 

1
 

CONTROL METHOD OF BUCK CONVERTER

Shows the block diagram with some methods that can be used to control DC-DC converters
and the disturbances that have influence on the behavior of the converter and its stability. The
feedback signal may be the output voltage, the inductor current, or both. The feedback control
can be either analog or digital control. From these control methods PI, PID are linear control
methods and SMC, SMC PID are the non- linear control methods. Comparison between linear
and nonlinear control methods are given below.

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3.1 PI control method

A PI control action the actuating signal of proportional error signal and integral of error signal
therefore the actuating signal for integral control action is given by:-

Settling time of PI compensated buck converter circuit is 11 msec initial overshoot for output
voltage is 192 V . After settling time of 11 msec output voltage is at 48.12V.

Fig. of current waveform

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Fig. of voltage waveform

ADVANTAGE OF PI CONTROLLER:-
1. System accuracy is increased.
2. It eliminate the the offset.
DISADVANTAGE OF PI CONTROLLER:-
1. It is not suitable for rapid changes.
2. There is no improvement in transient response.
3. As order of the system increases stability of system decreases.

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CHAPTER-3
METHODOLOGY
This chapter will summarize on how the project is developed, from components
selection, software selection, PWM programming, circuit construction and simulation result.

3.1 Components selection

Basic components to build a simple buck converter are chosen. They are DC input
voltage source, controlled switch, diode, filter inductor, filter capacitor, and load resistance.
For the switching action, several components must be considered. These include the switch to
the load and the switching controller. For switch, we used IGBT as a switch.

3.1.1 DC voltage source

This is the main DC source for buck converter operation. For a buck converter, input
DC voltage source is higher than the output DC voltage. The buck converter will reduce or step
down the higher input voltage to lower output voltage.

3.1.2 Inductor

An inductor is a passive element designed to store energy in its magnetic field. An

inductor will resist the change in current flowing through it. The current through inductor
cannot change instantaneously. An ideal inductor does not dissipate energy. The energy stored
in it can be retrieved at a later time. The inductor takes power from the circuit when storing
energy and delivers power to the circuit when returning previously stored energy. A practical
non ideal inductor has a significant resistive component. This is due to the fact that the inductor
is made of a conducting material such as copper, which has some resistance. This resistance is
called the winding resistance, and it appears in series with the inductance of the inductor. The
presence of winding resistance makes it both an energy storage device and an energy
dissipation device. Since the winding resistance is usually very small, it is ignored in most
cases. The non ideal inductor also has a winding capacitance due to the capacitive coupling
between the conducting coils. Winding capacitance is very small and can be ignored in most
cases, except at high frequencies.

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3.1.3 Capacitor
A capacitor is a passive element designed to store energy in its electric field. The capacitor
resists an abrupt change in the voltage across it. The voltage on a capacitor cannot change
abruptly. The ideal capacitor does not dissipate energy. It takes power from the circuit when
storing energy in its field and returns previously stored energy when delivering power to the
circuit. A real, nonideal capacitor has a parallel-model leakage resistance. The leakage
resistance may be as high as 100 MQ and can be neglected for most practical applications.
3.1.4 Diode
Since the current in the inductor cannot change instantaneously, a path must exist for
the inductor current when the switch is off (open). This path is provided by the freewheeling
diode (or catch diode). The purpose of this diode is not to rectify, but to direct current flow in
the circuit and to ensure that there is always a path for the current to flow into the inductor. It
is also necessary that this diode should be able to turn off relatively fast. Thus the diode enables
the converter to convert stored energy in the inductor to the load.
3.1.5 Power transistors
Power transistors have controlled turn on and turn off characterstic. The transistors which are
used as switching elements, are operated in saturation region, resulting in a low on-stage
voltage drop. The switching speed of modern transistors is much higher than that of thyristors
and they are extensively employed in dc-dc and dc-ac converters, with inverse parallel
connected diodes to provide bidirectional current. The power transistors can be classified into
five categories:-
1. bipolar junction transistors (BJTs)
2. Metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs)
3. Static induction transistors ( SITs)
4. Insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs)
3.2 The advantages and disadvantages of buck converter
The main advantage of the buck converter is its simplicity and flexibility. The buck
converter is typically used in supplies from 10 to 250W. a disadvantage is that the voltage stress
across the primary switching element is 2 x the input voltage. This can be reduced by variation
on circuit whereby a 2nd switches on the other side of the buck converter.The one disadvantage
of the switching regulator is noise. Any time you move charge in descrete packets, you create
noise or ripple. But the noise can often be minimized using specific control techniques and
through careful component selection.

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3.3 Application of buck converter

There are so many applications are use in the industries. Here the list of application:-
1. Network card
2. Notebool computers
3. Digital cameras
4. Cellular phones
5. Mp3 players
6. Wireless notebook adapters and etc.
7. Telecom power supplies
8. Networking power supplies and etc.

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CONCLUSION

This project has provided a brief review of the present-day requirement of switching
converters. As the cost of such controllers decrease and the controller requirements of
switching converters become increasingly stringent; it is inevitable that digital controllers will
become an integral part of the switching converter industry. Although there still exist some
drawbacks to digital control, their unique capabilities such as efficiency optimization, auto
tuning, and nonlinear control will create a spot that cannot be filled by any analog controller.

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REFERENCE

 Y. Duan and H. Jin, “Digital controller design for switch mode power converters,” in
Proc. IEEE Appl. Power Electron. Conf. (APEC), 1999, pp. 967–973.
 T. W. Martin and S. S. Ang, “Digital control for switching converters,” in Proc. IEEE
Int. Symp. Ind. Electron., 1995, pp. 480–484.
 Design and simulation of digital PI controller for open loop and closed loop control of
Buck converter
 Recent development in digital control strategy for dc-dc switching power converter.
 Google search.

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