EE 411: POWER ELECTRONICS

Credit Hours: 3+1

Instructors /Course Coordinators Name:

Mr Tanveer Abbas

Textbook:
M. H. Rashid, Power Electronics Circuits, Devices and Applications, 3rd Edition
Prentice Hall, 2003.
References and other Supplemental Material:
1. N. T. Mohan, Undeland, and W. Robbins. Power Electronics, Converters,
Applications and Design, John Wiley, 3rd Edition, 2002.
2. R. W. Erickson, D. Maksimovic, Fundamentals of Power Electronics, 2 nd Ed.,
Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2004.
3. J. G. Kassakian, M. F. Schlecht, and G. C. Verghese, Principles of Power
Electronics, Addison-Wesley, 1st Edition, 1991.
4. P. T. Krein, Elements of Power Electronics, New York, NY, Oxford University
Press, 1st Edition, 1998.
Specific Course Information:
a. Brief Catalog Description:
Includes
i)
Study of characteristics of power semiconductor switches such as diodes,
transistors of different types, thyristor and its variants and static switches;
ii)
Design and implementation issues of power electronic circuits such as gate
drivers, isolations, blanking or dead time, half bridge drivers, parallel and
series combination of switches, switch stresses and protection;
iii)
Power conversion techniques: rectification, controlled rectification, DC-DC
conversion, Inversion from DC to AC and AC-AC conversion,
iv)
Case studies: inductor design, motor drives and switch mode power
supplies.
b. Pre-Requisite:
i)
EE 120 Electronic Devices and Circuits
ii)
EE 260 Complex Variables and Applications
c. Required Breadth Course
d. Specific Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs):
On successful completion of this course, the students must:
1) Understand the significance of power electronic circuits in different application
areas,
2) Understand characteristics of power semiconductor devices including diodes,
transistors and their variants, thyristor and its variants,
3) Understand importance of isolation and learn electrical isolation techniques,
4) Understand principles of basic power conversion techniques in steady state
such as rectification, inversion, DC-DC and AC-AC conversion,
5) Be able to analyze switching circuits for average, rms and peak values of
voltage and current, harmonic distortion and power conversion efficiency,
6) Be able to design power converters considering steady state analysis to the
extent of analysis of steady state voltage, current and power dissipation
requirements for power semiconductor switches,

7) Be able to design and implement a bridge circuit with specific requirements of

deadband and load current.
Course Learning Outcomes and their relation to the Program Learning
Outcomes
Program Learning
Outcomes

(i) Engineering
Knowledge
Problem Analysis
Design/Development
of Solutions
Investigation

(viii)

Degree
of
Relevan
ce
1=High,
2=Mediu
m,
3=Low
1

Comments on Relevance

1
1
1

Modern Tool Usage

The Engineer and

Society

Environment and
Sustainability
Ethics

Individual and Team

Work
Communication

Lab experiments and literature survey

assignments
Harmonic analysis using FFT tool of digital
oscilloscopes; simple and sinusoidal PWM
signal generation from function generator
with dead-band,
Software: LTSpice and MultiSim,
EM noise generated by electromagnetic
components implemented in the lab may
affect other electronic systems
same as above
Using lab equipment with responsibility, care
and according to the lab rules, reporting to
lab staff if something breaks, maintaining
the work-bench for others after experiments
Lab will be conducted in groups
Oral exam and lab work demonstrations, Lab
reports

Project Management
Lifelong Learning:

Lectures Breakdown
Lectu
res
No.

1
2

Topics Covered

Introduction to power electronics, its scope and applications and

hence its significance in different fields
Characteristics of an ideal switch and limitation of practical semi-

No. of
lectur
es on
this
topic
1
1

3-6

7-9

10-11
12-17

18-21

22-29

30-38

39-43

44-48

conductor switches
Characteristics of different types of semiconductor switches
including diodes, transistors and their variants, thyristor and its
variants and static switches
Gate/Base Drivers and isolation: pulse transformers, optocouplers, driving gates with isolated supplies, calculating
gate/base signal requirements, gate/base driver, blanking or
dead-time in half bridge drivers
H bridge design and control
Diode rectifiers: applications and performance measures,
analysis of voltage and current waveform in half, full and three
phase bridges, Effects of capacitive, inductive and capativeinductive filtering, continuous and discontinuous diode currents,
calculations of diode ratings: peak, rms, average current and
peak inverse voltage; power factor and transformer utilization
factor, Required transformer rating; 12 pulse three phase
rectifiers for lower harmonics; Design of a rectifier for given
specifications.
Controlled rectification using thyristors and applications: semi
and full converter, dual converter, Comparison of diode and
thyristor based rectifiers, why capacitive filters are not used in
the case of controlled rectification?
DC-DC converters: applications and performance measures;
Buck, Boost, Buck-Boost and Cuk converters; Continuous and
discontinuous conduction modes
Inverters: applications and performance measures, half bridge
and full bridge single phase inversion, Voltage control of
inverters: variable/controllable DC supply, PWM control;
Frequency control of inverter, PWM types for improved
performance, PWM generation circuits; 3 phase inversion
schemes, Design of inverters for a given ac load and
performance measures.
AC-AC controllers: Applications and performance measures,
Voltage control of the output: Distorted outputs with poor power
factor and increased harmonic distortion but easy to implement,
switching sinusoidal outputs with improved power factor and
harmonic distortion, PWM control; Frequency control of output,
cyclo-converters.
Case studies: Switch mode power supplies, DC motor driver, AC
motor driver, Inductor design, transient analysis of switch mode
circuits and transfer functions.

Class meets for 3 hours per week.

List of Lab Experiments:

2
6

1. Implementation of a MOSFET (N channel and P channel) switch and study the

effects of variation of Vgs (and design of gate driver)on rDS(on) and switching speed,
2. Implementation of an NMOS and PMOS based half Bridge
3. Implementation of half bridge using NMOS only: Evaluation of the improvements
compared to the previous implementation
4. Implementation of high frequency gate driver with totem-pole configueration
5. Design and implementation of inductor for power applications
6. Implementation of Buck Converter
7. Study thyristor as a rectifier
8. Study switching characteristics of a TRIAC
9. Design and implementation of a DC motor drive or PWM inverter

Schedule of Assessment Tasks for Students during the Semester

Assessment Task

Week due

Proportion
of Final
Assessment

Home Work

Occasionally

4%

Quiz

Alternate week

5%

2Sessional Exams

As per schedule announced

by the department

20+15=35%

Case Study/Design (a
written report and
presentation required)

15th week

6%

Final Exam

End of semester

50%

Assessm
ent
Course

Total

100

Lab
1

Lab performance
(completion of tasks),
comprehension and
discussion

Regular

40%

Written Reports

Regular

40%

Final Lab test and oral

examination

16th week

20%
Total

100