IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 24, NO.
2, FEBRUARY 2009
A Nonisolated Bidirectional ZVS-PWM Active Clamped DC–DC Converter
Pritam Das, Brian Laan, Seyed Ahmad Mousavi, and Gerry Moschopoulos, Member, IEEE
Abstract—Power electronic converter systems for applications
such as telecom, automotive, and space can have dc voltage buses
that are backed up with batteries or supercapacitors. These batter-
ies or supercapacitors are connected to the buses with bidirectional
dc–dc converters that allow them to be discharged or charged, de-
pending on the operating conditions. Bidirectional dc–dc convert-
ers may be isolated or nonisolated depending on the application. A
new soft-switched bidirectional dc–dc converter will be proposed
in this letter. The proposed converter can operate with soft switch-
ing, a continuous inductor current, fixed switching frequency, and
the switch stresses of a conventional pulsewidth modulation con-
verter regardless of the direction of power flow. These features
are due to a very simple auxiliary active clamp circuit that is op-
erational regardless of the direction of power flow. In the letter,
the operation of the converter will be discussed and its feasibil-
ity will be confirmed with experimental results obtained from a
prototype.
Index Terms—DC–DC power conversion, dc power systems, en-
ergy conversion, energy management, power conversion, power
electronics, switched-mode power supplies.
I. INTRODUCTION
OWER electronic converter systems for applications such
P as telecom, automotive, and space can have dc voltage
buses that are backed up with batteries or supercapacitors. These
batteries or supercapacitors are connected to the buses with
bidirectional dc–dc converters that allow them to be discharged
or charged, depending on the operating conditions. Bidirec-
tional dc–dc converters may be isolated [1]–[6] or nonisolated
[7]–[16], depending on the application.
Nonisolated bidirectional dc–dc converters, which will be
the main focus of the letter, are typically (but not always) based
on the boost/buck converter structure shown in Fig. 1. S1 op-
erates like a boost switch and S2 operates as a boost diode
when energy is transferred from the low-side source Vlo to
the high-side source Vhi , and S1 operates like a buck diode
and S2 like a boost diode when energy is transferred from Vhi
to Vlo .
It is not difficult to implement soft switching in isolated bidi-
rectional dc–dc converters as they tend to be based on conven-
tional half-bridge and full-bridge structures that can use induc-
tive energy stored in the main power transformer to discharge
the capacitance across the converter switches. It is more chal-
lenging to do so for nonisolated converters as there is no such
Manuscript received April 04, 2008; revised July 30, 2008. Current version
published February 6, 2009. This work was supported by the National Sciences
and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Canada. Recommended for pub-
lication by Associate Editor B. Tamyurek.
The authors are with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B9, Canada.
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPEL.2008.2006897
0885-8993/$25.00 © 2009 IEEE
553
Fig. 1. Standard boost/buck converter structure for bidirectional dc–dc power
conversion.
transformer. Previously proposed techniques to implement soft
switching in nonisolated bidirectional dc–dc converter can be
categorized as follows.
1) Converters such as the ones proposed in [8] and [9] and
based on the topology in Fig. 1 that are made to operate
with an inductor (Lin ) current that flows in both direc-
tions during each switching cycle. Both converter switches
are on (never simultaneously) sometime during each cy-
cle so that the energy stored in the inductor when one
switch is on is used to turn on the other switch with zero-
voltage switching (ZVS) after the switch is turned off.
The main drawback of this technique is that the induc-
tor current has a lot of ripple with a very high peak as it
must flow in both directions during each switching cycle.
This results in very high turn-off losses that take away
from the improvement in efficiency due to the ZVS turn-
on and additional filtering is needed to reduce voltage
ripple.
2) Another approach to implementing soft switching in a
nonisolated bidirectional dc–dc converter is to use quasi-
resonant or multiresonant techniques. Doing so, however,
results in the converter having high peak voltage and/or
current stresses, and forces the converter to be operated
with variable-switching-frequency control, which compli-
cates the design of the converter—especially the design of
the magnetic and filtering elements as the converter must
be able to operate under a wide range of switching frequen-
cies. In the case of a converter such as the one proposed
in [10], the converter can be made to operate with con-
stant switching frequency, but the switch stresses remain.
A fixed-frequency resonant-type bidirectional converter
was proposed in [11], but this converter was very costly
and sophisticated as it required two half-bridge converters
in series.
3) A third approach has been to use auxiliary circuits to assist
the switches to operate with soft switching as is done in
554
Fig. 2. Previously proposed bidirectional converters. (a) Converter proposed in [14]. (b) Converter proposed in [15].
Fig. 3. Proposed soft-switched nonisolated dc–dc PWM converter.
zero-voltage transition (ZVT) converters. This has been
done with converters such as the ones proposed in [12]–[
16]. Although this approach is an improvement over the
other two approaches, it can be costly and complex. This is
because a separate independent auxiliary circuit is needed
for each main power switch so that the converter must be
implemented with four active switches. Converters such
as the ones shown in Fig. 2 do have a single auxiliary
circuit, but require two auxiliary switches to make the
circuit bidirectional.
Due to the problems associated with each of these
approaches—high stresses, variable-frequency control, cost,
and complexity—nonisolated ZVS bidirectional dc–dc convert-
ers are not as widely used as they might be. In this letter, a new
soft-switched bidirectional dc–dc converter with a simple ac-
tive auxiliary circuit will be proposed. The proposed converter,
shown in Fig. 3, is very similar to the conventional converter
in Fig. 1 except that auxiliary switch Sa , capacitor Cr , and in-
ductors Lr 1 and Lr 2 have been added. These four components
make up a simple circuit that is based on well-established active
clamp technology [17]–[19] and that can be used to ensure that
the main power switches S1 and S2 operate with ZVS regardless
of whether the converter is operating in a boost or buck mode.
The proposed converter can operate with a continuous inductor
current, fixed switching frequency, and the switch stresses of
a conventional PWM converter regardless of the direction of
power flow.
In this letter, the converter’s operation will be discussed
and experimental results, obtained from a prototype, that
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 24, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2009
confirm the feasibility of the proposed converter will be
presented.
II. CONVERTER OPERATION
The modes of converter operation that the proposed converter
goes through when it is operating as a boost or buck converter are
given next along with equivalent circuit diagrams in Figs. 4 and
5. Typical converter waveforms for the boost mode of operation
are shown in Fig. 6. The current flowing through S2 is shown
as a negative current waveform. It should be noted that the
waveforms in Fig. 6 also describe the buck mode of operation as
the waveforms for both modes are identical—the waveforms for
S1 in the boost mode are the waveforms of S2 in the buck mode
and vice versa. Referring to Fig. 3, the inductor current IL r 1 is
positive if it enters the inductor through its positive terminal, the
currents through switches S1 and S2 are considered positive if
they flow into a switch through its drain, and the current through
Sa is considered positive if it flows through the switch source.
Any current flowing into the positive terminal of the capacitor
Cr is considered to be positive.
A. Boost Mode of Operation (Fig. 4)
Mode 0 (t < t0 ): Before time t = t0 , the converter operates
as a standard PWM boost converter with switch S1 on and the
current through Lin , IL i n IL i n , rising.
Mode 1 (t0 < t < t1 ): At t = t0 , switch S1 is turned off and
the rise in voltage across it is limited by Cs 1 . The current through
Lr 1 charges up Cs 1 and begins to flow through Cr . Also, during
this mode, input current begins to be diverted to Lr 2 and the
capacitance across S2 , Cs 2 , begins to be discharged.
Mode 2 (t1 < t < t2 ): This mode is a continuation of Mode 1
except that Cs 2 is completely discharged at t = t1 and current
flows through the antiparallel diode across S2 .
Mode 3 (t2 < t < t3 ): At t = t2 , current stops flowing
through the auxiliary active clamp circuit and the converter
operates as a standard PWM boost converter. The current
through Lin decreases during this mode as a negative voltage is
impressed across Lin .
Mode 4 (t3 < t < t4 ): Some time before switch S1 is to be
turned on, at t = t3 , switch Sa is turned on with zero-current
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 24, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2009 555

Fig. 4. Equivalent circuit diagrams for boost mode of operation. (a) Mode 0 (t < t0 ). (b) Mode 1 (t0 < 1 < t1 ). (c) Mode 2 (t1 < t < t2 ).
(d) Mode 3 (t2 < t < t3 ). (e) Mode 4 (t3 < t < t4 ). (f) Mode 5 (t4 < t < t5 ). (g) Mode 6 (t5 < t < t6 ). (h) Mode 7 (t6 < t < t7 ).

Fig. 5. Equivalent circuit diagrams for boost mode of operation. (a) Mode 0 (t < t0 ). (b) Mode 1 (t0 < 1 < t1 ). (c) Mode 2 (t1 < t < t2 ). (d) Mode 3
(t2 < t < t3 ). (e) Mode 4 (t3 < t < t4 ). (f) Mode 5 (t4 < t < t5 ). (g) Mode 6 (t5 < t < t6 ). (h) Mode 7 (t6 < t < t7 ).

switching (ZCS). Capacitor Cr begins to discharge through Lr 1

Lr 1 Lr 1 and Lr 2 , as IL i n continues to decrease.
Mode 5 (t4 < t < t5 ): At the beginning of this mode, switch
Sa is opened so that the current in the inductor Lr 1 starts flowing
through the output capacitor of switch S1 . The current through
S1 discharges the switch capacitor Cs 1 so that the voltage across
the switch drops to zero by the end of the mode.
Mode 6 (t5 < t < t6 ): At t = t5 , capacitor Cs 1 has been com-
pletely discharged and the antiparallel diode across S1 begins
to conduct. S1 can be turned on while this diode is conducting.
Mode 7 (t6 < t < t7 ): Some time after S1 has been turned
on, at t = t6 , the current through Lr 1 will begin to reverse
direction and the transfer of current from Lr 2 to S1 will begin.
This mode of operation will continue until current has been
completely transferred to S1 and the converter enters Mode 0 at
t = t7 .

B. Buck Mode of Operation (Fig. 5)

Mode 0 (t < t0 ): Before time t = t0 , the converter operates
as a standard PWM buck converter with switch S2 on and the
Fig. 6. Typical converter waveforms for boost mode operation. current through Lin , IL i n , rising.
556 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 24, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2009

Fig. 7. Experimental results. (a) Voltage and current waveforms for S2 with converter working in buck mode (V : 200 V/division, I: 1.25 A/division,
t: 2 µs/division). (b) Voltage and current waveforms for S1 with converter working in boost mode (V : 200 V/division, I: 5 A/divison, t: 2 µs/division).

Fig. 8. (a) Experimental gate voltages for switch S1 and switch S a in boost mode (V : 15 V/division and t: 2 µs/division). (b) Experimental gate voltages for
switch S 2 and switch S a in buck mode (V : 15 V/division and t: 2 µs/division)

operates as a standard PWM buck converter. The current through

Fig. 9. Experimental voltage and current waveforms of auxiliary switch S a
in buck mode (V : 100 V/division, I: 5 A/division, t: 0.5 µs/division).
Mode 1 (t0 < t < t1 ): At t = t0 , switch S2 is turned off and
the rise in voltage across it is limited by Cs 2 . The current through
Lr 2 charges up Cs 1 and begins to flow through Cr . Also, during
this mode, input current begins to be diverted to Lr 1 and the
capacitance across S1 , Cs 1 , begins to be discharged.
Mode 2 (t1 < t < t2 ): This mode is a continuation of mode
1 except that Cs 2 is completely charged at t = t1 . Some time
during this mode, Cs 1 may be completely discharged and/or
current may stop flowing through Cr .
Mode 3 (t2 < t < t3 ): At t = t2 , current stops flowing
through the auxiliary active clamp circuit and the converter
Lin decreases during this mode as the converter is in a freewheel-
ing mode of operation.
Mode 4 (t3 < t < t4 ): Some time before switch S1 is to be
turned on, at t = t3 , switch Sa is turned on with ZCS. Capacitor
Cr begins to discharge through Lr 1 and Lr 2 , as IL i n continues
to decrease.
Mode 5 (t4 < t < t5 ): Switch Sa is turned off at t = t4 . The
current in Lr 2 is used to discharge Cs 2 .
Mode 6 (t5 < t < t6): At t = t5 , capacitor Cs 2 has been com-
pletely discharged and the antiparallel diode across S2 begins
to conduct. S2 can be turned on while this diode is conducting.
Mode 7 (t6 < t < t7 ): Some time after S2 has been turned on,
at t = t6 , the current through Lr 2 will begin to reverse direction
and the transfer of current from Lr 1 to S2 will begin. This mode
of operation will continue until current has been completely
transferred to S2 and the converter enters Mode 0 at t = t7 .
III. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
An experimental prototype of the proposed converter was
built to confirm its feasibility. The converter was designed in a
manner similar to the converter proposed in [17], which is also
an active clamp converter but one that can only operate unidirec-
tionally. The converter was built to operate with a low-side volt-
age of Vlo = 100 V, a high-side voltage of Vhi = 400 V, maxi-
mum power of 500 W, and a switching frequency of 100 kHz.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 24, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2009
Fig. 10. Experimental efficiency graphs. (a) Efficiency of ZVS and hard-switched converter operating in boost mode. (b) Efficiency of ZVS and hard-switched
converter operating in buck mode.
The selection of the main power circuit inductor Lin and the
main power switches S1 , S2 was done as if the converter was
a regular PWM converter since the converter is a PWM con-
verter. For S1 and S2 , STP12NM50FP devices were used and a
700-µH inductor was used for Lin . The selection of the ac-
tive clamp components was done by considering the high- and
low-side voltages and the load range (which affects the current
flowing in the converter). It was determined that the ZVS oper-
ation range is not dependent on whether the converter operates
in the boost or buck mode of operation as the voltages and the
currents to be considered in the design of this range are the same.
This is true as long as Lr 1 and Lr 2 are also the same so that the
symmetry of the two modes is kept. If the converter is designed
to operate with ZVS for the boost mode, it can therefore operate
with ZVS for the buck mode.
In order to reduce the circulating current losses of the con-
verter under light-load conditions, it was decided to design the
ZVS range to be from 40% load to 100% load. With these guide-
lines, the active clamp components were selected in a manner
very similar to what is described in [17] as the proposed con-
verter working in the boost mode is almost identical to the boost
converter described in [17] with some very small differences.
The component values that were used are Lr 1 = Lr 2 = 12.5 µH
and Cr = 68 nF. An IRC634 device was used as the auxiliary
switch. The control strategy that was used for the switch Sa was
the same as the one used in [17]. The duty cycle of Sa was kept
fixed for all operating conditions.
Typical converter waveforms are shown in Fig. 7. Fig. 7(a)
shows the voltage and current waveforms of S2 when it is turning
on and the converter is operating in buck mode. Fig. 7(b) shows
similar waveforms of S1 when the converter is operating in the
boost mode. It can be seen that in both cases, the converter
switches can operate with a ZVS turn-on. The gating signals of
Sa with respect to the main active switch S1 or S2 are shown
in Fig. 8. It can be seen that the auxiliary active circuit is ON
for a short time and that Sa is off before S1 or S2 is turned on.
The turning on of Sa allows energy to be stored in the auxiliary
circuit inductors, which is then used to discharge the appropriate
switch capacitance. Fig. 9 shows typical Sa voltage and current
waveforms. It can be seen that the current in the auxiliary switch
557
has a positive and a negative hump. The negative hump of the au-
xiliary switch current signifies the discharging current of the
active clamp capacitor through the auxiliary switch, while the
positive hump shows the charging of the active clamp capacitor
in resonance with resonant inductors Lr 1 and Lr 2 . The turn-on
of the switch Sa is ZCS due to the presence of the resonant
inductors. Graphs of converter efficiency when the converter
is operating in boost and buck modes are shown in Fig. 10. It
can be seen that the efficiency curves of the ZVS and the hard-
switched converter diverge at heavier loads. This is because the
active clamp auxiliary circuit significantly improves converter
efficiency regardless of the direction of power flow as it reduces
the losses due to switching transitions, which still exist in the
hard-switched converter and become more dominant at heavier
loads.
IV. CONCLUSION
A new nonisolated ZVS bidirectional PWM converter was
presented in this letter. The outstanding features of the pro-
posed converter are that it can operate with continuous inductor
current, fixed switching frequency, and the switch stresses of
a conventional PWM converter regardless of the direction of
power flow. These features are due to a simple and inexpensive
auxiliary circuit that is based on well-established active clamp
technology. The feasibility of the proposed converter was con-
firmed with experimental results that showed the effectiveness
of the auxiliary circuit in improving efficiency.
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