Dead-Time Optimization and Magnetizing Current Design for a Current-Fed Dual Active Bridge DC–DC Converter to Secure Full Load Range ZVS in Wide Voltage Range

Current-fed dual active bridge (CF-DAB) converters are widely used because of the small input current ripple and high power density. This article proposes the dead-time optimization methods and the magnetizing current design for a CF-DAB converter under the pulsewidth plus phase shift (PPS) control to achieve full load range zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) in a wide voltage range. In the ZVS analysis, the influence of junction capacitance and dead time is considered, including the dead-time effect on leakage inductance current, which can effectively explain that the CF-DAB converter under PPS control is difficult to achieve ZVS at light load in practice. Based on the analysis, it is first revealed that the CF-DAB converter under PPS control is not sufficient to achieve ZVS only by adjusting the dead time. Based on the new ZVS model and analysis of the dead-time effect, the magnetizing inductance design and dead-time optimization without adding extra control degrees of freedom and auxiliary components are proposed to achieve the full load range ZVS and improve the overall efficiency of the converter in a wide voltage range. Besides, to obtain the low root-mean-square (rms) current, the design of dc inductance and leakage inductance is also investigated. Finally, a 1-kW prototype is built to verify the effectiveness of the proposed solution.