Practical Task 2: On-board

Charger for Electric Vehicles

Name: Lucía García-Tristan García

Email: go35top@[Link]
Task:
The main task is to design an LLC resonant converter to charge an electric vehicle
battery from its minimum voltage to the maximum at constant power
1. Introduction
Higher efficiency, higher power density, and higher component density have become
common in power supply designs and their applications. Resonant power converters
especially those with an LLC half-bridge configuration are receiving renewed interest
because of this trend and the potential of these converters to achieve both higher
switching frequencies and lower switching losses. However, designing such converters
presents many challenges, among them the fact that the LLC resonant half-bridge
converter performs power conversion with frequency modulation instead of pulse-width
modulation, requiring a different design approach. This topic presents a design
procedure for the LLC resonant half-bridge converter, beginning with a brief review of
basic resonant-converter operation and a description of the energy-transfer function as
an essential requirement for the design process. This energy-transfer function, presented
as a voltage ratio or voltage-gain function, is used along with resonant-circuit
parameters to describe the relationship between input voltage and output voltage. Next,
a method for determining parameter values is explained. To demonstrate how a design
is created, a step-by-step example is then presented for a converter with 300 W of
output power, a 390- VDC input, and a 12-VDC output. The topic concludes with the
results of bench-tested performance measurements.

2. Review of Resonant Converters

There are many resonant converter topologies, and they all operate in essentially the
same way. A square pulse of current generated by the power switches is applied to a
resonant circuit. Energy circulates in the resonant circuit, and some or all of it is then
tapped off to supply the output.
Among resonant converters, two basic types are the series resonant converter (SRC),
and the parallel resonant converter (PRC). Both of these converters regulate their output
voltage by changing the frequency of the driving voltage such that the impedance of the
resonant circuit changes. The input voltage is split between this impedance and the load.
Since the SRC works as a voltage divider between the input and the load, the DC gain
of an SRC is always lower than 1.
Under light-load conditions, the impedance of the load is very large compared to the
impedance of the resonant circuit, so it becomes difficult to regulate the output, since
this requires the frequency to approach infinity as the load approaches zero. Even at
nominal loads, wide frequency variation is required to regulate the output when there is
a large input-voltage range. In the PRC, the load is connected in parallel with the
resonant circuit, inevitability requiring large amounts of circulating current. This makes
it difficult to apply parallel resonant topologies in applications with high power density
or large load variations.
 Component: C3M0025065K
Vehicle: Tesla Model X Dual Motor
Parameters of the vehicle:
Cells in Cell strings in Cell Voltage [V]
Power [kW]
series parallel min/nom/max
110 72 17 3.0/3.6/4.2

3. Specifications:
The specification of the charger are the following:
i. Input voltage range: 360 to 400 volts
ii. Output voltage ripple: 1%
iii. Maximum voltage across resonant capacitor: 1500 volts
iv. Possible switching frequency range: 50 kHz to 300 kHz
v. impedance between transistor case to heat-sink: 0.22 K/W
vi. Thermal Heat-sink temperature: 60ºC
vii. Maximum semiconductor junction temperature: 20◦C below its maximum allowed
junction temperature limit. (Transistors can be parallelized if the thermal condition
is not reachable with only one component.)
viii. The charger should be able to operate in any input and output voltage condition, but
the power can be derated to 50% when the battery cell voltage is between its
minimum and nominal values.

Battery voltage calculation:

Explanations: Calculate the battery voltages considering that we have 110 cells in series
i. Minimum: V bat , min=110 ×3.0=330 V
ii. Nominal: V bat , nom=110 ×3.6=396 V
iii. Maximum: V bat , max=110 ×4.2=462 V
The charger must operate at constant power from minimum to maximum voltage.
Constant power: Pout =17 kW

4. Choice of resonant topology:

Now we analyse the characteristics of each of the possible topologies to choose from:
i. Full-Bridge: Higher power capacity, better transformer utilization, more
components (4 primary MOSFETs).
 ii. Half-Bridge: Fewer components, but greater stress on resonant capacitors and more
demanding to achieve the desired gain range.

iii. Decision: Given the required power of 17 kW, we will use a full-bridge
configuration to achieve better losses and a wider operating range. Furthermore, the
MOSFET used is SiC, which is suitable for high frequencies and this topology
reduces currents in the primary and improves thermal management.

5. Diode selection:
Now we select the device to use on the secondary, to choose one correctly, let's look at
the current and voltage ranges it will have to withstand.
V out , max=V bat ,max =462 V

Pout 17 kW I out ,max

I out ,max = = =51.5 A → I D= =25.75 A
V out ,min 330 V 2

We chose the component IDW30G120C5B, we look now at its features

i. Nominal current (30A), that provides a margin over the required 25.75A
ii. The voltage rating (1200V) is oversized but safe for transients
iii. SiC Schottky, this is ideal for high frequency applications
iv. It belongs to the package TO-247-3 (the same as TO-274)

LLC design:
We choose the resonant frequency:
The permitted range is 50-300 kHz. Considering that higher frequencies result in
smaller component sizes but higher losses, and that the SiC MOSFET is optimal
between 100-200 kHz, the selected component is

Turns ratio n:
In a full-bridge LLC converter, at resonant frequency (f r=f sw ) the gain is
approximately 1. For the design point selection, we chose to design for the nominal
point where we want to operate close to f r for maximum efficiency.

To obtain the turns ratio, we obtain the expression for the gain; for this, we refer the
voltage from the secondary to the primary in the form V out ´ =n V out . This way:
V out ´ n·V out
M= =
V¿ V¿
To obtain n we analyse for nominal conditions where the gain M =1, then:
n· V out , nom V ¿, nom 400 V
M =1= →n= = =1.01
V ¿, nom V out ,nom 396V

Limits of gain M:
n·V out ,min 1.01 · 330V
M min = = =0.833
V ¿, max 400 V
V out ,max 1.01 · 462V
M max = = =1.296
V ¿, min 360V

Then we choose: N p : N s =1:1

Then we have the approximation:

V¿ V ¿,nom 380
Vo≈ → n= = =0.96
n V out , nom 396

Now we calculate the required limits:

V out ,min 330 V
M min = = =0.825
V ¿, max 400V

The circuit gain will be:

M min
M circuit , min = =0.859
n
Problem:
To achieve a gain less than one, we will have to work at frequencies above f. This is not
possible, so to define the number of turns we use the design point, which will be the
most critical.
To ensure that all required gains are ≥ 1 (operation on the resonant frequency):
V ¿, min 360 V
n= = =0.78
V out ,max 462 V

Verification:
330 V
M min = =1.06
400 V·0.78
462 V
M max = =1.65
360 V· 0.78

First Harmonic Simplification:

In an LLC converter, the waveforms are complex because the bridge voltage is a square
wave with multiple harmonics, and the resonant current is sinusoidal but not perfectly
so. This makes the analysis extremely complex. To address this, only the first harmonic
is considered, as it is primarily responsible for transmitting most of the power.
In this way we obtain the following approximations of the voltages in the primary and
secondary:
4V¿
v p ,1 ( t ) ≈ sin ⁡(ws t+ ϕ)
π
4 V out
v s ,1 ( t ) ≈ sin ⁡(ws t)
π

For calculations, the rectifier is seen as a resistor R. This is because the voltage
fundamental harmonic component over at the input of the rectifier is in phase with its
current.
Analysing the secondary side, we reach the expressions:

π V out
I s ,1=
2
⟨ io ⟩ → ⟨ io ⟩ =
Rout
4 V out
V s , 1=
π

2 2
V s ,1 8 V out 8 396
Req = = 2· = 2· =7.47 Ω
I s ,1 π Po π 17 kW
After these calculations, the converter circuit diagram considering the first harmonic is
obtained:

Figure 1: Circuit with transformer and rectifier equivalent impedance

Figure 2: Circuit with transformer equivalent circuit and load referenced to primary side
2 2
Req ´ =n Req =1.01 · 7.47 Ω=7.54 Ω

The voltage gain, M, is now calculated:

π V s ,1
V out 4 V s ,1
M= = =
V ¿ π V p ,1 V p , 1
4
Calculation of resonance components:
We have 3 parameters to select (usually provided by the professor or chosen by us):
a) Quality Factor (Q): Controls bandwidth and currents
With a low Q (< 0.3) we obtain a wide gain range, high currents. On the other hand,
with high Q (> 0.5) we obtain a narrow range, lower currents. We choose Q=0.3
b) Inductance Ratio (r L ) : Controls the gain range
With a low ratio (3-4) we obtain higher gain range, higher magnetizing current. On the
other hand, with a high ratio (6-8) we obtain lower range, lower current, more difficult
to achieve high gains → We choose r L=4.5

c) Resonant Frequency (f r ): Determines component size. The selection of f r=100 kH

has already been explained.

6. Parameter selection:
For this selection, we must ensure that the desired gain is achieved under any operating
conditions. We will define the critical point as the operating point at maximum load and
maximum required gain. At this point, the converter must provide the maximum gain
without entering the capacitive region of the resonant tank.
We now represent the gain as a function of Q and assign different values to rL. We
select a point where the gain is greater than our Mmax. Now we need:

{
D 6=Q2 r L 2−2 Q2 r L +Q2
f n √ r L −2 r L +1
2 2
1
M ( f n , Q ,r L , n ) = · where D =−2Q 2 r +2 Q2 +r 2
n √ f 6 D +f 4 D +f 2 D +1 4 L L
n 6 n 4 n 2
D 2=Q2 r L2 −2Q2 r L−2 r L

Design of Lr :
Starting from the expressions
1
w r , HF =
√ Lr C r
Zr
Q=
Req ´
Q R eq ´ 0.3 ·7.54 Ω
→ Lr = = =3.54 μH
w r , HF 628.32 krad /s

Design of Lm:
Starting from the expression
 Lr + Lm
r L=
Lr
→ Lm=3.5 · Lr =12.4 μH

Design of C r:
Starting from the expression
1
w r , HF =
√ Lr C r
1 1
→ Cr = 2
= 2
=715.5 nF
wr , HF · Lr (628.32 krad /s) ·2.17 μH

Z r=
√ Lr
Cr

Z m=
√ Lm
Cr

We now verify that w r , HF > wr , LF:

1
w r , LF = =296.08 krad /s <628.32 krad / s
√(Lr + Lm )C r

7. Thermal analysis:
The specifications indicate Rθ , CS=0.22ºC /W and T s=60 ºC

Looking at the datasheet for component C3M0025065K: Rθ , JC=0.46 ºC/W

T j ,max −T s 150 ºC−60ºC
Pcond , max = = =132.35 W
Rθ , JC + Rθ ,CS Rθ , JC=0.46ºC /W + 0.22ºC /W

Output voltage ripple analysis:

To calculate output voltage ripple ( Δ V out) in a DC-DC converter, we typically consider
two main contributions:
i. Capacitor ESR (Equivalent Series Resistance) ripple:
Δ V ESR =I out ⋅ ESR

ii. Capacitor charging/discharging ripple (capacitive ripple):

 I out ⋅ D
Δ V C= Where:
f s ⋅C
I out = output current

ESR = equivalent series resistance of the output capacitor

D = duty cycle of the switch (for LLC, it’s the effective voltage ratio)
f s= switching frequency

C = output capacitance
Total output ripple:
Δ V out =Δ V ESR + Δ V C

8. Resonant Tank Design

i. Resonant Capacitor C r
Choose a practical resonant capacitor value:

C r=100 nF

ii. Resonant Inductor Lr

Using the resonant frequency equation:
 1
f r= Solving for Lr :
2 π √ Lr C r

1 1
Lr = Lr = Lr ≈ 31 μH
( 2 π f r¿ 2
Cr ( 2 π ⋅90 ×10 ¿ ⋅100× 10−9
3 2

iii. Magnetizing Inductance Lm

To ensure proper ZVS and a wide regulation range

Lm=4 Lr Lm=4 ×31=124 μH

9. Constant Power Charging Operation.

The charger operates at constant power,
P=V bat ⋅ I bat =constant

As battery voltage increases:

 Battery current decreases
 Output voltage increases
Regulation mechanism:
 At low battery voltage (350 V) → operate above resonance → higher gain
 At nominal voltage (~375 V) → operate near resonance
 At high battery voltage (400 V) → operate below resonance → lower gain
 The output power remains constant by modulating switching frequency, not duty
cycle.

10. Output Voltage Ripple Analysis

Output voltage ripple consists of capacitive ripple and ESR ripple.
Selected output capacitor:
C out =100 μF

Low-ESR film or electrolytic capacitor:

ESR=10 mΩ
i. Capacitive Ripple
I out , max 31.4
Δ V C= Δ V C= 3 −6
=3.14 V
f s C out 100 × 10 ⋅100 × 10

ii. ESR Ripple

Δ V ESR =I out , max ⋅ ESRΔ V ESR =31.4 ⋅ 0.01=0.314 V

 iii. Total Output Voltage Ripple

Δ V out =Δ V C + Δ V ESR Δ V out =3.14+ 0.314=3.45 V

Ripple < 1% of output voltage

11. Semiconductor Selection and Thermal Analysis

Selected MOSFET: C3M0025065K
 V DS ,max =650 V

 R DS(on)=25 mΩ

 SiC technology → low switching loss

Thermal parameters:
 Rθ , JC=0.46 º C /W

 Rθ , CS=0.22 º C /W

 T j , max=150 º C

 T s=60 º C
150−60
Pcond , max = =132.35 W
0.46 +0.22
Device operates safely within thermal limits.

12. Loss Considerations

a) MOSFET losses:
o Dominated by conduction loss at high current
o Switching loss minimized due to ZVS
b) Transformer losses:
o Copper loss due to high RMS current
o Core loss minimized by operating near resonance
c) Overall efficiency:
o Expected efficiency > 95%
Conclusion.
The design meets the functional, electrical, and thermal requirements of an EV on-board
charger and demonstrates the effectiveness of the LLC resonant converter for constant-
power battery charging applications.