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Virginia Tech

Design of DC-DC converters using Tunable Piezoelectric Transformers

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

This thesis introduces the ‘tunable’ piezoelectric transformers (TPT) which provide an extra control terminal, used in this case, to regulate the output voltage. A detailed mathematical analysis is done on the electrical equivalent circuit of the TPT to understand the effect of control terminal loading on the circuit performance. Based on this analysis, a variable capacitor connected across the control terminal is proposed to regulate the output voltage for line and load variations is suggested. The concept of ‘tunability’ in a TPT is introduced and mathematical conditions are derived to achieve the required ‘tunability’. This analysis can help a TPT designer to design the TPT for a specific application and predict the load and line regulations limits for a given design. A circuit implementation of the variable capacitor, intended for control, is presented. With the proposed control circuit design, the effective value of a fixe capacitor can be controlled by controlling the duty cycle of a switch. Hence, this enables pulse width modulated (PWM) control for the TPT based converter operating at a constant frequency. Fixed frequency operation enables a high efficiency operation of TPT near its resonant frequency and the complete secondary control requires no isolation in the voltage feedback and control circuit. This prevents any ‘cross-talk’ between primary and secondary terminals and reduces the component count. The design of series input inductor for achieving zero voltage switching (ZVS) in the inverter switches for the new control is also discussed. Experimental results for two different TPT designs are presented. Their differences in structure and its effect on the circuit performance has been discussed to support the mathematical analysis.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Electrical Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2017

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Khanna, Mudit
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Burgos, Rolando
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Priya, Shashank
  • Ngo, Khai D.

Subjects

dc:subject × 2

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:12015
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/86442

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Khanna, Mudit. Design of DC-DC converters using Tunable Piezoelectric Transformers. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/86442