RESONANT CONVERTERS PART I – FUNDAMENTALS

Resonant converters are converters that are implemented with some sort of resonant circuit in their topologies. Resonant converters have been a mainstay of modern power electronics since its inception and can be found in many applications, including telecom and server power supplies, electric vehicles, induction heating, lighting, space, and medical power supplies. This chapter focuses on the basic principles behind resonant power conversion for DC–DC converters. It presents and discusses the characteristics of the three fundamental DC–DC resonant converters – series‐resonant, parallel‐resonant, and series‐parallel resonant. The series‐resonant converter can be considered to be analogous to a buck‐type converter as the maximum output voltage can never exceed the input voltage. The parallel‐resonant converter can be considered to be analogous to a boost‐type converter as its output voltage can be greater than the input voltage.