Power Electronics Solution Provider

AC Sweeps On Everything*
*within reason

Albert Dunford, Powersim Inc.

July 21, 2020
About Powersim
Power electronics simulation, design, & prototyping

PSIM - Simulation DSIM - Simulation

General power Incredibly fast large
electronics system and converter
simulation

PE-Expert4 digital control

development system Control loop design
About PSIM
• First commercial release 25 years ago
• Developed specifically for power electronics
and motor drive applications Device/Circuit
Simulation
System/Control
Simulation

• Widely regarded for:

Matlab/
SPICE
• Simulation speed • Fast Simulink
• Easy to use
• Result accuracy • Affordable
• Expandable
• Robustness
PSIM Eco-System – AC sweeps are not an add-on
DESIGN SIMULATE IMPLEMENT
MCU Hardware

F28004x/2837x/2833x/
2803x/F2806x/F2802x
Loss Power Auto Code
Calculation Electronics Generation Target

Power Converter & Thermal SimCoder PE-Expert4

Control Loop Design
Renewable
Control Energy Motor Drives TI MCU
PIL
Digital Control Motor Drive

Design Suites Device ModCoupler ModelSim

• Motor Control Design Suite

• HEV Design Suite
MagCoupler/ HIL FPGA Hardware
SimCoupler
MagCoupler-RT
Typhoon HIL

Matlab/Simulink LTspice JMAG

Finite Element Analysis
What is an AC Sweep?

• The impedance of inductors and

capacitors are functions of frequency
• Controllers – PI, type 2, etc are also
functions of frequency
• Everything is a function of frequency!

An AC sweep will look to see what

happens at different frequencies. We
analyze the results wide bode plots
How Does PSIM Do A Sweep
• PSIM introduces a time domain small signal perturbation and then
observes how this influences the system
• Other tools (SPICE) do a FREQUENCY domain simulation

• For the analysis of switching converters we need to do time domain perturbations

and observations
• This how benchtop equipment like the Ridley Engineering analyzers work
(RidleyBox)
• Frequency domain analysis of switching power converters requires the use of average
models – almost impossible for anything but the most basic converters.
PSIM Sweep Options
• PSIM has several AC sweep options
• 4 Time domain sweep options (PSIM engine) – all PSIM versions
• LTspice module link options
• 2 Time domain sweep options (LTspice link module)
• 1 Frequency based sweep (LTspice link module)

• The PSIM AC sweep is meant for switching converter analysis, that is,
high Q LCL filters do not sweep well with time domain simulations.
These are easily analyzed with the frequency based sweeps.
 PSIM Sweep Elements
Red circled sweeps do individual time domain simulations
• AC sweep, AC sweep (1), AC sweep (2)
• AC sweep & AC sweep (2)
• Brute force the perturbation is injected and
steady is detected
• AC Sweep (2)
• Steady state must be known beforehand
frequencies are injected after
Green Circle
M-Sine sweep does multiple frequencies at
once
• Steady state time must be known,
frequencies are injected after steady
state has been reached.
Multi-Sine Sweep (m-sine)

• Injected frequencies must be harmonic

• Injected frequencies are inserted over one cycle of the longest
frequency – drastically reducing computation time
• Not all topologies respond well to this
• Too many test points drives a very small time step with Nyquist criteria
 AC Sweep & AC sweep (1)

Very similar parameters

and they work in a similar
way

AC Sweep allows for single target frequencies to be included AC sweep (1) does not allow single
• Single low frequency point frequency points
• Extra points for resonant peak • Perturbation amplitude can be better
• Start and End Amplitudes are linear(log) interpolation controlled across target frequency range
AC sweep (2)
• Does individual frequency
injection after steady state
• Allows for arbitrary test
frequency amplitude
• Runs the target frequency for a
user defined number of cycles
• Allows the perturbation
waveforms to be saved
Comparison
Name Timestep Draw backs Best use case Preference
sensitivity
M-sine Yes, too many target Not all topologies Simple converters – It can be very fast so I
frequencies will drive a respond properly to this buck, boost, etc. open will typically try it first.
small timestep and long sort of stimulus or close loop
simulation

AC sweep minimal Brute force injection - Complex converters My first choice for more
steady state must occur complex topologies
within 60 cycles or PSIM
will move to the next
frequency
AC sweep (1) Same as above Same as above Same as above I typically do not use
this. More flexibility
with perturbation
amplitude doesn’t
always help
AC sweep (2) Minimal If the converter takes a Close loop converters First choice for close
while to settle down loop. It is very fast and
after injection this can robust
be slow
Setup – DQ control MMC 4 unit cascaded
Add your perturbation source Add your AC probe
Phase Shift Full Bridge PCMC Active Secondary

Perturb peak current reference

Observe output voltage change
Analog vs Digital Sweeps – Easy!

• Add ZOH and 1/Z elements to include digital delay in your

plant
Loop Gain – Cross Frequency and Phase Margin
Loop Gain – Cross Frequency and Phase Margin
Common Problems
• Too many points
• 10 -15 per decade is plenty
• Too much drive amplitude
• forces the converter into an odd operation mode (DCM, etc)
• Not enough drive amplitude
• We need signal to noise
• Too high a frequency
• Converters attenuate at high frequency so very low signal
• The switching action introduces a sampling and frequency foldback (modulation vs carrier ratio)
• Simulating a non converter circuit like LCL filter with low damping
• Use LTspice, frequency domain sweep is better suited for this
• Time step is too coarse when using m-sine
• Converter does not hit steady state
Resources
PSIM & SmartCtrl tutorial videos – Lots here for sweep tips, control design etc.

Webinar archive – All past webinars are stored here

RidleyBox hardware analyzer – Control design and hardware frequency response

Follow us on LinkedIn – All webinars and important updates are announced here

30 day trial license – Full version of PSIM & DSIM