Chapter 1.

Introduction

Chapter 1

1.0 General

The control of DC-DC buck converters holds immense significance in the realm of

modern power electronics. These converters are widely employed for voltage regulation

and power conversion in numerous applications, spanning from portable electronic

devices to renewable energy systems. As the demand for efficient and reliable power

conversion continues to grow, so does the need for robust control strategies that can

effectively manage the intricacies and uncertainties inherent to DC-DC buck

converters.

Traditionally, control approaches such as Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID)

control and conventional sliding mode control have been applied to regulate these

converters. While these methods offer satisfactory performance under ideal conditions,

they tend to exhibit fragility when subjected to variations in system parameters and

external disturbances. This fragility can lead to instability, degraded performance, and

even system failure in practical applications.

In response to the fragility and sensitivity of conventional control strategies, there has

been a burgeoning interest in the development of non-fragile control techniques for

DC-DC buck converters. Non-fragile control aims to provide robustness against

uncertainties, parameter variations, and external disturbances, thereby ensuring stable

and high-performance operation under diverse operating conditions.

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Chapter 1. Introduction

1.1 Literature Review

The advances and availability of modern power semiconductor devices used in power

converters have made the switching converter a popular choice in power supplies. Since

the early 1970s a large number of DC-DC converter circuits have been thoroughly

analysed and designed [1]. Such a converter can increase or decrease the magnitude of

the DC voltage and/or invert its polarity. The Buck converter [2] which uses the switch

in series with the supply voltage is a topology that gives a lower voltage at the load. On

the contrary, in the topology known as the Boost converter [3], the positions of the

switch and inductor are interchanged which allows the converter to produce a greater

output DC voltage in magnitude than the input voltage. In the Buck-Boost converter [4],

the switch alternately connects the inductor across the power input and output voltages.

This converter inverts the polarity of the voltage, and can either increase or decrease the

voltage magnitude. The Ćuk converter [5], [6] contains inductors in series with the

converter input and output ports. The switch network alternately connects a capacitor to

the input and output inductors. The conversion ratio is identical to that of the Buck-Boost

converter. This type of converter not only inverts the voltage polarity but also has the

ability to increase or decrease the voltage magnitude. On the contrary, the single-ended

primary inductance converter (SEPIC) which can also either increase or decrease the

voltage magnitude, does not invert the polarity [7].

These converters are extensively used in electronic equipment such as computer power

supplies, battery chargers, medical, military and space application [1]. The DC-DC

converter can operate in both continuous conduction mode (CCM), which is the case

thoroughly discussed in this paper, and discontinuous conduction mode (DCM)

depending on the inductor current waveform. In CCM, the inductor current flows

continuously for the entire period, whereas in DCM, the inductor current reduces to zero

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Chapter 1. Introduction

and stays at zero for the rest of the period before it begins to rise again.The main

approach to model the PWM converters is the averaging method. There are two

averaging methods: the state-space averaging (SSA) method and the circuit. averaging

method. The state-space averaging method [8], [9], [10] requires considerable matrix

algebra manipulation and is sometimes tedious, especially when the converter circuit

contains a large number of elements or parasitic components. In all switching converters

the output voltage is a function of the input line voltage, duty cycle, and the load current

as well as the converter circuit element values, the scope is to achieve an output voltage

regulation with voltage mode control (VMC) approach in the presence of input voltage

and output load variations.

Many digital controllers using discrete models of converters have been developed in the

literature [11], [12]. In recent years, the reduction of noises measure and vibrations in the

different processes contributed extensively to research and has led to several

publications. Moreover, SMC has already been used significantly in industrial

applications [13], [14].

Recently, there have been some efforts to tackle the non-fragile controller design

problem [15], [16], [17]. In particular, [16] gave an overview of non-fragile controller

design for linear systems. [17] extended the robust fixed-structure guaranteed cost

controller synthesis framework to synthesize robust non-fragile controllers for

multiplicative controller gain variations and system parametric uncertainty, the

corresponding results for the case of additive controller gain variations are given in [18].

The problem of designing a robust resilient static output feedback controller for uncertain

systems is addressed in [19]. In [20], a non-fragile H-infinity controller design method

with respect to additive norm-bounded controller gain variations is given by using the

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Chapter 1. Introduction

Riccati inequality approach. A robust non-fragile Kalman "ltering problem for uncertain

linear systems with estimator gain uncertainty is addressed in [21].

1.2 Basic principles of SM control

The basic idea of SM control is to design first a sliding surface in state space and then the

second is to design a control law direct the system state trajectory starting from any

arbitrary initial state to reach the sliding surface in finite time, and finally it should come

to a point where the system equilibrium state exists that is in the origin point of the phase

plane. The existence, stability and hitting condition are the three factors for the stability

of sliding mode control. SM control principle is graphically represented in Figure 1.1,

where S=0 represent the sliding surface and x1 and x2 are the voltage error variable

voltage error dynamics respectively. The sliding line (when it is a two variable

SM control system in two-dimensional plane) divides the phase plane into two regions.

Each region is specified with a switching state and when the trajectory arrives at the

system equilibrium point, the system is considered as stable.

(a) (b)

Figure 1.1: Phase Plot for (a) ideal SM Control (b) actual SM control

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Chapter 1. Introduction

If the hysteresis band around the sliding line becomes zero, then system is said

to be operated with ideal SM control. But, from the practical point of view, this is

not possible

to achieve. Hence, the actual SM control operation that is when the hysteresis band is

not ideal having a finite switching frequency is shown in figure 1.1(b) [46].

1.3 Organization of Thesis

The contents of each chapter are organized as follows:

Chapter 1: The importance of switch mode dc-dc converter for various applications is

given. This chapter explains the various types of linear and nonlinear control

techniques. The problems associated with the control methods for dc-to-dc

converters are discussed. A literature survey in detail is done on the control

techniques available. The basic principle of SM control theory is described.

Chapter 2: In this chapter the modelling of dc-dc buck converter through linearization

and state space averaging technique is discussed in detail.

Chapter 3: This chapter describes a simple and brief study of control methods of dc-

dc buck converter. The design of convention PI controller using frequency response

method is discussed. The concept of SMC, the selection of sliding surface a converter

and the derivation of control law is discussed in detail. Further the methodology for

the design of non-fragile sliding mode controller for buck converter is discussed.

Chapter 4: Includes the discussion of simulation results.

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