Half-Bridge-Active-Clamp Converter with High Step-down Capabilities for More Electric Aircraft Applications

A Half-bridge-active-clamp (HBAC) converter is used as an alternative to replace Dual active bridge (DAB) converter for 540V/28V on-board grid in more electric aircraft applications. The HBAC converter provides an opportunity to reduce the turn-ratio of the high frequency transformer compared to DAB converter with reduced current stress on the low voltage side benefit from a current-fed LV bridge. HBAC converter shows a much better performance both on efficiency and volume compared to conventional DAB converter. In addition, a Model Predictive Control (MPC) method for LV output current regulation is proposed based on HBAC converter with the aim of achieving fast dynamic performance.