DESIGN
ELECTRONICS FOR YOUMARCH 2004
CMYK
DESIGN
DINESH KUMAR
Design a high-frequency power transformer based on flyback topology
HIGH-FREQUENCY
POWER TRANSFORMERS
E
ssentially, switched-mode power
supplies, or SMPS, act as AC-to-DC
converters. These rectify the AC in-
put voltage (85V-265V AC) to convert it
into DC. Depending upon the design con-
siderations, these chop the rectified volt-
age (DC) at very high frequencies.
SMPS find use in computer power sup-
plies, TV sets, CD players, battery charg-
ers, adaptors, etc. Their major advantages
are ligher weight, smaller size, higher ef-
ficiency and lesser cost.
Let’s now consider the merits of SMPS
individually. Lighter weight and smaller
size are due to operation at a significantly
higher frequency range and use of smaller
inductive elements. Rapid switching of the
power transistor between saturation and
cut-off regions of its operation results in
very little energy dissipation and hence
reduced heat-sink requirements. Costs are
reduced owing to the absence of large
bulky power transformers, a huge reduc-
tion in volume and power dissipation,
smaller material requirements and smaller
semiconductor devices.
SMPS have a complex circuitry. Mak-
ing a traditional 12V DC power supply
providing 3A current for a stereo cassette
player is not a difficult job for electronic
hobbyists with some experience. But de-
signing an SMPS for the same application
is quite painstaking.
Power transformer is a crucial part of
SMPS. Other components are controllers
(PWM ICs), power switches, input/out-
put rectifier and bulk capacitors.
Topology selection
The circuit topology (Fig. 1) has a great
impact on the transformer design. Flyback
circuits are used primarily at power levels of
0 to 150 watts, forward convert-
ers at 50 to 500 watts, half-bridge
at 100 to 1000 watts, and full-
bridge usually over 500 watts.
Full-bridge and half-bridge to-
pologies with full-bridge second-
aries have the highest transformer
efficiency because the core and
the windings are fully utilised.
Let’s assume that you need
12V DC output at 2A of current
for your stereo cassette player
from 220V AC, 50 Hz. Since the
output power rating is
12V×2A=24W, the right topol-
ogy for this design is the flyback.
To fully understand a flyback
power supply design, it is useful
to review the theory of flyback
topology and the general aspects
of a switched-mode power sup-
ply such as continuous and dis-
continuous operation modes of
a high-switching frequency trans-
former design. The power-trans-
former design is the biggest stum-
bling block in developing
switched-mode power supplies.
In Fig. 1(a) when power
switch T1 is ‘on’ with the appli-
cation of ‘on’ pulse from the
control circuit (not shown in the
figure), the current flows through
the primary winding and energy
stores within the core. Note that
no current can flow through the
secondary because of opposite
dot polarity (and hence blocked
diode D1). When power switch
driving pulse from the control
circuit is removed (during ‘off’
time), the polarity reverses and
the current flows in the second-
ary winding. The current flows
in either the primary or second-
ary winding but never in both
Fig. 1: Various topologies including (a) flyback topology,
(b) forward topology, (c) half-bridge topolgy and (d) full-
bridge topology