10th International Conference on Power Electronics-ECCE Asia
May 27 - 30, 2019 / BEXCO, Busan, Korea
Resonance Parameter of Variable Mode LLC
Converter for Auxiliary Converter
XiaoQiong He2, Yang Chen1, Chen Chen1, ZhiQin Zhao1, PengCheng Han1
1
School of Electrical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China
2
National Rail Transit Electrification and Automation Engineering Technology Research Center, Chengdu 610031, China
Abstract-- A precise modeling and resonant calculation
method are proposed for variable mode LLC resonant
converter. With normal operation of the converter, the
redundancy of components is reduced. By establishing
equivalent circuit model considering device characteristics,
DC gain function is deduced. The resonant parameters are
solved by simulated annealing algorithm. The DC gain
obtained by the general algorithm and the proposed
algorithm are compared. The stable operation of the
converter is realized by using the control strategy of digital
voltage controlled oscillator and intermittent modulation
strategy. The feasibility of this research is verified by
simulation and experiment.
Index Terms-- Large Power Occasions; LLC Resonant;
Simulated annealing; Digital Voltage Controlled Oscillation
I. INTRODUCTION
The auxiliary converter is the core part of the auxiliary
power supply system of the subway vehicle. It converts the
direct current imported from the DC traction network into
three-phase alternating current to provide electric energy
for the auxiliary electric equipment of the subway vehicle.
Therefore, the auxiliary converter plays an important role
in ensuring the stable operation of the subway vehicle and
ensuring passenger comfort and personal safety. The
topology of the auxiliary power supply system for subway
vehicles is shown in Fig. 1.
Network
Traction Traction
converter converter
Auxiliary
Battery
Three Phase
380V/50Hz
converter
Auxiliary power
supply system
Single Phase 220V/50Hz
DC110V
Fig. 1. Auxiliary Power Supply System.
The design difficulties of the subway auxiliary
converter and the main problems are as follows [1]-[2]: (1)
Wide input voltage range. (2) Size and weight restricted
greatly. (3) High power quality requirements.
The LLC resonant converter is a DC-DC converter
Open Subject of National Foundation of China (51477144, 51377004);
National Rail Transit Electrification and Automation Engineering Technology
Research Center(NEEC-2017-A01).
ⓒ2019 KIPE
structure with a wide input and output range. Due to its
relatively complex circuit, the resonator transmits energy
through fundamental wave. Thus, many experts have
researched on the converter model thoroughly. [3]-[4]
adopts the traditional fundamental approximation method
to construct the model of resonant converter, which has
been widely used in academic and engineering circles.
However, Traditional time average modeling and state
space modeling are only suitable for low power
applications. In reference [5], a generalized state space
averaging model is proposed to analyze the resonant
converter. In reference [6], the extended description
function method is applied to study the resonant converter.
Literature [7] Models LLC resonant converter with side
synchronous rectification. However, the above-mentioned
modeling methods are mainly suitable for small power
applications, but not ideal for high power applications.
Besides, LLC resonant converter has high voltage gain
when load is cut off, which lead to high output voltage,
slow dynamic response and control failure. To solve these
problems, a dual-frequency LLC resonant converter
analysis and design method is studied in reference [8],
which improves the dynamic response ability of the
converter. [9] adopts the mixed control mode of duty cycle
control and frequency control, which improves the range
of input and output voltage to a certain extent, but the
control algorithm is more complex.
Network
Compared with traditional modeling method, a novel
equivalent circuit model is proposed in this paper, which
is suitable for the large power situations. The
Traction Traction
converter converter corresponding DC gain function is derived and the
resonance parameters is calculated based on the simulated
Auxiliary
annealing algorithm. Using the control strategy of digital
Battery
converter VCO and light load Bang-Bang modulation, the stable
operation of LLC converter is realized. Finally, simulation
and experiment verified the proposed strategy.
II. CONFIGURATION
The topology of full bridge LLC resonant DC-DC
converter is shown in Fig.2.
Its circuit structure includes input DC power supply,
primary side inverting network, LLC resonator, medium
and high frequency transformer, secondary side rectifying
network and output load.
20
 S1 S3 S7 S5
Mode 3 [t2-t3]: When t=t2, resonant current is equal to
L1
A
MFT
C magnetizing inductance current. The secondary current is
Vin Vo
Cin Co decreased to zero, which prepares for zero current switch
B D (ZCS). At this time, Resonant inductor, resonant capacitor
C1
S2 S4 S8 S6
and magnetizing inductance participate in the resonance.
The primary side and secondary side is isolated.
Fig. 2. Topology of LLC Resonant Converter.
fr is defined as the first resonant frequency, fm as the
second resonant frequency and fs as the switching S1 S3 S7 S5
L1
frequency. According to the relationship between FR and Vin
A
MFT
C
Vo
fs, it can be known that the working mode of LLC resonant Cin Co

converter consists of three states. B

C1
D

1 1 S2 S4 S8 S6
fr = , fm = (1)
2π Lr Cr 2π ( Lr + Lm )Cr Fig. 6. Working Mode 4 (t3- t4).
When fs < fr, the circuit is in sub resonant state. When fs
Mode 4[t3-t4]: When t= t3, S1 and S4 is turned off.
= fr, the circuit is in critical resonant state. When fs > fr, the
Resonant current charge Cs1 and Cs4 to Vin, while charge
circuit is in an over resonant state. Because the main work
Cs2 and Cs3 to 0. Actually, the mode is the dead time of
of the circuit is at the junction of the first state and the
working mode.
second state, the sub-resonant state of the circuit is
Mode 5[t4-t5]: When t= t4, Cs1-Cs4 is fully charged and
analyzed in this paper.
discharged, resonant current flow through DS2 and DS3.
DS6 and DS7 are turned on and the energy transfer process
begins in the second half of the cycle. At t5, S2 and S3 are
S1 S3 S7 S5
A
L1 MFT
C
turned on with zero voltage switch.
Vin
Cin Co
Vo
The working principle Mode 5-8 is similar with Mode
B D 1-4 except for the direction of resonant current. Since the
C1
S2 S4 S8 S6
converter is a completely symmetrical topology, the
principle of Mode 6-8 will not be further elaborated.
Fig. 3. Working Mode 1 (t0-t1).

Mode 1 [t0-t1]: When t= t0, inductance current iL1 S1

continues through parasitic diodes, and resonant current
decreases gradually in the form of sine waveform. The Vab
voltage of S1 and S4 is clamped to 0, which prepares for
the zero voltage switch (ZVS) of primary switches. At the VC
time of t1, the resonant current is deceased to zero.
ILr
ILm
S1 S3 S7 S5
L1 MFT
A C
Vin
Cin Co
Vo Is
B D
C1 Id
S2 S4 S8 S6
t0 t1 t2 t3 t4 t5 t6 t7 t8 t9
Fig. 7. Working wave of LLC Resonant Converter
Fig. 4. Working Mode 2 (t1-t2).
As can be seen in Fig.7, LLC resonant works in sub
Mode 2 [t1-t2]: When t= t1, the S1 and S4 is turned on
resonant state. The primary side switches can receive ZVS
with ZVS. Resonant current increase and flow through S1,
while the secondary side switches can receive ZCS. The
S4 in the primary side and flow through the diode of S5,
critical state has the same situation as sub resonant state,
S8. At this time, resonant inductor and resonant capacitor
which can be widely used in industry applications.
participate in the resonance. Resonant current is equal to
magnetizing inductance current at t2.
III. ANALYSIS OF RESONANCE
In order to better analyze the operation characteristics
S1 S3 S7 S5 of LLC resonant converter, the input/output voltage gain
L1
Vin
A
MFT
C
Vo
of resonant converter is analyzed in this paper. Its
Cin Co definition is shown in Formula (2):
B D
V
S2 S4
C1
S8 S6
M nor = n o (2)
Vin
Fig. 5. Working Mode 3 (t2-t3).

21
 According to the foregoing, the working state of the Vac (t) 8
converter is related to the switching frequency, so the LLC Req = n 2
= n 2 2 Ro (5)
V AC (t) π
resonant converter should adopt frequency conversion
16 (6)
control. In addition, the converter has better switching Reqs = n 2 2 Rs
characteristics in sub-resonant and quasi-resonant states. π
In order to improve efficiency, the converter should be at According to the formula (4)-(6), transfer function H(s)
the junction of sub-resonant and quasi-resonant states. In can be expressed as:
this paper, the fundamental approximation method (FHA) H (s ) =
Vac1 ( s) 1
= ⋅
is used to analyze the system. It is considered that the VAC1 ( s) iLr
iac ⋅ Req (7)
fundamental wave is the main source of transmission
power, and the power transmitted by other waveforms −1 −1
[ Rs + sL1 + R1 + RLm / / sLm / /( Reqs + Req ) + Rc + ( sC1 ) + (sCs ) ]
besides the fundamental wave can be neglected. ( Reqs + Req ) −1
The equivalent circuit of the converter under FHA iac = iLr (8)
method is shown in Fig.8. It includes AC voltage source, RLm −1 + ( sLm ) −1 + ( Reqs + Req ) −1
resonant tank Lr, Lm, Cr and equivalent load Req. Simplify the formula (7), (8) and substitute them into
(7), separation of real and virtual parts:
L1 Req
 λ ( R + RLm )R + RLm Req' RLm Req' (1 + λ ' ) − λ 'Cs 
'
eq
'
sc1
 − 
A
AC Req
C V  λ RLm λ RLm fn2  (9)
Vg
B
o  ' 2 ' ' 
D (
+ j[ eq R + RLm )( Z 0 − 1) R R
eq sc1 1 
 f n − ] 
 RLm Z0 λ fn 
C1 2
Req
Fig. 8. Traditional Equivalent Circuit of LLC Converter M=
λ(Req + RLm)Rsc1 + RLmReq 1 RLmReq' (1+λ' ) −λ'Cs 1 2
' ' '

However, this equivalent topology can only be applied [ − ]

λRLm λ RLm fn2 (10)
to ideal resonant inductors, resonant capacitors and small ' 2 ' '
power transformers, ignoring the characteristics of (R + RLm)(Z −1)
eq 0RR 1 2 eq sc1
+[ fn − ]
inductance resistance and power switching devices. Such RLmZ0 λ fn
equivalence is still applicable in the case of low power, but
in the case of medium and high power, the gain calculated The DC voltage gain function can be defined as formula
by the converter will deviate. The equivalent circuit model (10). fn is the ratio of fs to fr. λ is the ratio of Lm to Lr. λ’ is
presented in this paper is shown in Fig. 9. the ratio of Cr to CS. Fig.10 illustrates the relationship
between DC gain M and three parameters.
L1 RL
Fig.10 visually describes the relationship between
Rs
Reqs parameters in the proposed model. From Fig.10(a), it can
be seen that the inductance coefficient is in the range of 3
AC RLm Lm to 10, and the DC gain is more suitable, which is beneficial
Req to the design of the controller. Similarly, when the quality
Cs
factor is about 20 in Fig.10(b), the DC gain has obvious
amplitude change and no maximum gain peak, which is
C1 RC
Fig. 9. Equivalent Circuit of Large Power LLC Converter beneficial to the stability of the system when the input and
output voltage fluctuate.
In Fig.9, Rs is defined as switch resistance plus DC Therefore, these two parameters are often used in
voltage internal resistance. Cs is parasitic capacitance of engineering, combining switching frequency, input and
primary switches. RL, RLm and RC are parasitic resistance output voltage, rated power and other parameters to form
of resonant tank. Reqs is parasitic resistance of secondary the traditional calculation method of resonance parameters.
switches. The parasitic capacitance of secondary switches For the other parameters in formula (10), the results
can be ignored because they are not resonant. obtained by engineering experience are often inaccurate.
4 1 The parameters redundancy of components in the system
V AC (t ) = 0 + Vg  sin( n 2π f s t ) (3) is large, and output voltage of light load is uncontrolled.
π n =1,3,5 n
For the multivariable non-linear model shown in
Formula (3) is input voltage of resonant tank. Due to the
equation (10), it is difficult to consider multiple variables
full bridge topology, output voltage can get similar result.
at the same time. This paper proposes a resonant parameter
4 1
Vac (t ) = 0 + Vo  sin( n 2π f s t ) (4) calculation strategy based on simulated annealing
π n =1,3,5 n algorithm. According to the constraints of different load,
In Fig.9, the equivalent resonance of output side can be the optimized voltage gain curve and resonant parameters
expressed as: are more accurate. The system runs stably under different
load, reduces the redundancy of components, and
improves the transmission performance.

22
 B. Cost function
Cost function is of great importance to calculation,
which can be defined by actual demand. Different loads
need different DC gain. In this paper, the cost function is
defined as formula (14).
M
f = (M − M ) ' 2
(14)

C. Small variable perturbation

Through the perturbation of any variable δ in the
solution space R, the new solution space and the result of
λ f
cost function are calculated.
(a)
δ ' = δ + d̂ (15)
Δf = f ' − f (16)
Compared with the original solution, the new solution
space is decided whether should be saved. The metropolis
M principle is used to screen the solution space, which is
defined as formula (17).
1 Δf < 0
P =  − Δf (17)
 e Δf > 0
T

f Ζ0 In formula (17), T is the annealing temperature under

(b)
one perturbation. It decreases gradually with the solution
process and decides the end of solution process. The
diagram of algorithm is illustrated in Fig.11.

INITIAL
M
R1,R2,…,R20,T M1,M2,…,M20 f1, f2,…, f20

δ =δ + d

λ Ζ0 R1,R2,…,R20 M1,M2,…,M20 f1, f2,…, f20

(c)
Fig. 10. Relationship between Resonant Parameter and DC Gain
metropolis fi=fi - fi
Y/N
IV. RESONANCE CALCULATION R1,R2,…,R20,T

A. Solution space
N Y
T < T0 {fn,λ,λ’,Z0,...} END
In formula (10), fr, λ, λ’, Z0 are main parameters of
solution space and other parameters are less important. The Fig. 11. Block Diagram of LLC Resonant Calculation Algorithm
solution space is expressed as formula (11).
The annealing process shown in Fig.11 and Fig.12.
R = { f r , λ , λ ' , Z 0 , Req , Req' , RLm , Rsc' 1 } (11)
After several cycle operations, when the parameter T in
The initial solution space can be calculated by Fig.11 is lowered to the lowest value, the system algorithm
traditional strategy, based on the formula (12)- (13) and terminates and the resonant parameters of LLC converter
Fig.10. are optimized.
1 − M min f n2max T
λ= (12)
M min f n2max − 1 3000

λ M 1 2 2500
Z0 = + max
(13)
M max λ M max 2
−1 2000

Mmin and Mmax are minimum DC gain and maximum DC 1500 Temperature Rise
gain respectively. fnmax is the maximum working frequency 1000
of LLC converter.
500 Algorithm End

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 n

Fig. 12. Algorithmic Optimization Process

23
 Fig.12 shows the variation of gain curve in the
optimization process, and the algorithm cycle is a process
of approaching the optimal solution continuously. VI. SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENT
A. Simulation
V. CONTROL STRATEGY
Based on the MATLAB/SMULINK, a simulation
According to Fig.10(a), the output voltage and model of on-board charger for high-speed train is built in
transmission power of LLC resonant converter is directly this paper. The related electrical parameters of CRH2 high-
related to the switch frequency. Thus, Pulse Frequency speed train charger are shown in Table 1.
Modulation (PFM) is adopted in this paper. The switch
TABLE I
frequency is controlled near the first resonant frequency fr ELECTRICAL PARAMETERS OF CHR CHARGER
while the duty cycle is fixed at 50%. Voltage Maximum Output
Input Voltage Output Voltage
Fluctuation Voltage
600V ±30V 110V 137.5V
uref KiTz/(z-1) Minimum Maximum Maximum Switch
Output Power
e Output Voltage Output Power Frequency
uo LPF Kp 87.5V 15KW 20KW 50KHZ

S1 According to proposed calculation algorithm, the

resonant parameters are shown in table 2.
COM

S4 0
0 TABLE Ⅱ
S2 not COMPARISON BETWEEN TWO ALGORITHM
uo Algorithm Parameter
S3
Lm Lr Cr f Rs
Fig. 13. Control and Modulation Strategy
Tradition 163mH 98uH 0.41uF 25kHz -
Algorithm Req Cs RLm R1 Rc
The control strategy is adopted by digital voltage - - - - -
controlled oscillator. Its output is a sinusoidal wave whose Lm Lr Cr f Rs
frequency varies with the input signal. The output wave Proposed 50.28mH 43.75uH 0.93uF 24.76Hz 0.17Ω
can be expressed as: Algorithm Req Cs RLm RL Rc
0.81Ω 8nF 533Ω 0.06Ω 0.13Ω
y (t ) = A cos  2π k p v ( t ) + 2π ki  u (τ )dτ + φ 
t
(19)
 0 
A is the signal amplitude while φ is the signal phase. A control modulation strategy based on digital VCO as
The frequency of output wave is controlled by PI controller. described in Chapter 3 is adopted. The simulation
The modulation mode is intermittent voltage waveform can be obtained as shown in Fig. 15-17.
M
modulation. As can be seen from Fig. 14, the converter has 1.45
different gain under different power, higher voltage gains 1.4
70% load

under light load and lower voltage gain under heavy load. 1.35 570V-137.5V Gain

Therefore, in this paper, intermittent voltage modulation 1.3

1.25 80% load
(Bang-Bang modulation) is used to reduce the DC gain 1.2
with a certain hysteresis width, which avoid overvoltage 1.15 90% load
breakdown. 1.1 570V-110V Gain
1.05
Vo 100% load
1
Vref 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 fn
600V-110V Working Point
Fig. 15. Waveform of DC gain function

VCO Fig. 15 shows the gain curve of the resonant parameters

calculated by the proposed algorithm. The smaller the load
of the converter, the greater the gain. Converter can meet
PFM
the maximum gain with load less than 70%. It can meet the
(a) rated gain with input fluctuates under full load conditions.
Vo_up
Uab
Vo 500
0
Vo_dn -500
iLr
40
VCO
0
-40
UCr
Burst 200
PFM 0
-200
(b) 0.0999 0.1 0.1001 0.1002 t
Load is Changed
Fig. 14. Frequency and Intermittent Modulation Fig. 16. Waveform of Resonant Current

24
 voltage Uab, secondary voltage Ucd, resonant current iLr and
Fig.17 shows the output voltage and current waveforms output voltage Uo. This Figure shows the Zero Voltage
in the closed loop. When t = 0.4s, the load is cut off and Conduction (ZVS) with Primary Power Devices.
the voltage gain increases. The controller moves from
normal mode to intermittent mode. VII. CONCLUSION
Uo In this paper, an equivalent circuit model based on high
100 Normal Mode Burst Mode Normal Mode
power LLC resonant converter is proposed. Considering
50 circuit characteristics, the corresponding DC gain function
0 is derived. On this basis, the simulated annealing algorithm
io is used to analyze and solve variables in the model. The
100% load
136.3 results of the traditional method and the proposed method
50% load
68.1 are compared and analyzed. Digital VCO and Bang-Bang
0% load
0 modulation are designed to realize the stable operation.
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 t
Fig. 17. Waveform of Output Voltage
REFERENCES
[1] Feng, Weiyi; Lee, Fred C."Optimal Trajectory Control of
B. Experiment
LLC Resonant Converters for Soft Start-Up" [J] IEEE
In order to further verify the theoretical analysis, the Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 1461-
LLC resonance experimental platform is built based on the 1468, MAR. 2014.
FPGA controller. The results are shown in Fig.18. [2] Hu Zhiyuan, Qiu Yajie, Wang Laili. "An Interleaved LLC
Resonant Converter Operating at Constant Switching
Uab Frequency" [J] IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics,
vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 2931-2943, JUN. 2014.
[3] Kang S W, Cho B H. Digitally implemented charge control
Ucd for LLC resonant converters[J]. IEEE Transactions on
Industrial Electronics, 2017, 64(8): 6159-6168.
[4] Wang H, Li Z. A PWM LLC type resonant converter
ir adapted to wide output range in PEV charging
applications[J]. IEEE Trans. Power Electron, 2018, 33(5):
3791-3801.
[5] Fang Z, Wang J, Duan S, et al. Rectifier Current Control for
Uo=30V an LLC Resonant Converter Based on a Simplified
Linearized Model[J]. Energies, 2018, 11(3): 579.
(a) [6] Yu Changbin. Research on LLC Resonant Half-Bridge DC-
DC Convertor[D]. Chongqing University, 2007.
Uab [7] Zhan Lina, Wang Chunfang, Ma Chao. Extended
Describing Function Method Modeling of LLC Resonant
Convertor[J], System Simulation Technology,
Ucd 2014,10(03):211-216.
[8] Li Ju. Hybrid Control Strategy of Full-Bridge LLC
Resonant Convertor[D]. Nanjing University of Aeronautics
ir and Astronautics,2011.
[9] Xie, Xiaogao; Zhang, Junming; Zhao, Chen. "Analysis and
optimization of LLC resonant converter with a novel over-
current protection circuit" [J] IEEE Transactions on Power
Uo=25V Electronics, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 435-443, MAR. 2007.
[10] Musavi, Fariborz; Craciun, Marian; Gautam, Deepak S. "An
(b) LLC Resonant DC-DC Converter for Wide Output Voltage
Range Battery Charging Applications" [J] IEEE
Uab TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, vol. 28,
no. 12, pp. 5437-5445, DEC. 2013.
[11] Beiranvand, Reza; Rashidian, Bizhan; Zolghadri,
Ucd Mohammad Reza. "A Design Procedure for Optimizing the
LLC Resonant Converter as a Wide Output Range Voltage
Source" [J] IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER
ir ELECTRONICS, vol. 27, no. 8, pp. 3749-3763, AUG. 2012.

Uo=20V

(c)
Fig. 18. Working Waveform of Resonant Current

Fig.18 shows the working waveform of primary side

25