Computational Model of the Dynamic Behavior of the

ZETA Converter in Discontinuous Conduction Mode

Renan c. Viero, Fernando B. dos Reis and Fernando S. dos Reis
Power Electronics Laboratory, Pontifcal Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul - PUCRS
90619-900 - Porto Alegre - RS - Brazil
fdosreis@pucrs.br
Abstract This paper presents a computational model
of the dynamic behavior of the ZETA converter working
in discontinuous conduction mode (DCM), as well as a
design example of the feedback control of this converter
using a PID controller. In turn, the PID controller is
tuned by a dedicated block of the MATLAB
TM
design
optimization library, thanks to the computational model
of the ZETA converter. In order to validate the new
computational model some simulations were performed
using the PSIM

simulation tool and, finally, a
prototype was built and tested. The obtained results
confirm that the new computational model of the
dynamic behavior of the ZETA converter in DCM is an
effective tool to represent accurately the converter
dynamic behavior and consequently, a helpful means to
design feedback controllers.
Keywords Dynamic Analysis, PID controller, Zeta
Converter.
l. INTRODUCTION
Nowadays the society is struggling increasingly to have
no longer the word energ associated with terms such as
pollution, creating new ecological forms of energy usage,
raising the efciency of the devices and improving the
technology already known in power generation systems to
reduce the emission of pollutants into the environment. The
growing number of laws related to environmental care,
mainly by encouraging the use and allocating more resources
to renewable energy sources and power quality, confrm this
fact [1]. Brazil is an example to the world, and ranks fourth
in world ranking of investment (% of GOP) in this area [2],
due to its predominantly hydroelectric energy matrix,
alongside with the production of ethanol fom sugarcane.
Meanwhile, the participation of other types of renewable
(such as solar and wind power) in the Brazilian energy
matrix still low compared to other countries.
Furthermore, the use of power factor correction (PFC)
regulators is necessary for AC-to-DC converters in order to
comply with the requirements of interational standards,
such as IEC 61000-3-2 and IEEE-519. PFC can reduce the
harmonics in the line curent, increase the efciency and
capacity of power systems, and reduce customer's utility bill.
[3].
The Zeta converter working in discontinuous conduction
mode (DCM) has many applications in the areas previously
978-1-4673-2421-2/12/$31.00 2012 IEEE 299
working in DCM. This fact makes the design of a closed
loop control for this converter an empirical and time
consuming task, held in circuit simulation sofware.
Trying to lighten this problem, this paper presents a PID
controller design criterion for Zeta converter based on the
proposed dynamic computational model. The PID tuning
optimization is performed in dedicated sofware for this
purpose. The computational job was reifed using a well
known tool, the Simulink

of the sofware MATLAB
TM
.
This approach promises to reduce substantially the time to
obtain the control law of the system.
The Section II of this paper presents the Zeta converter
working in DCM. The Section III briefy introduces the
computer simulation model used; Section IV explains how
the optimization was performed. The Section V presents the
results and fnally, Section VI concludes the paper.
II. ZETA CONVERTER WORKING IN DCM
The ZETA converter is a fourth-order structure, similar to
the SEPIC converter. Experimentally, it is known that when
this converter works in DCM, a small phase margin and high
DC gain of the system make the controller design of this
converter an arduous task. The converter topology is shown
in Fig. I.
1

1C 1LO
+

1_
Fig. 1 Zeta Converter Topology.
A. Stages o{Operation and Waveforms
In DCM this converter presents three stages of operation,
represented schematically in Fig. 2. The main ZETA
converter waveforms within a high fequency period are
shown in Fig. 3.
1O

T

T
(e)
Fig. 2 Stages of operation of the ZETA converter working in DCM.
(a) First, (b) Second and (c) Third stages of operation.
-i(t)
"'iD(t)
vr(t)
vLit)
Il

~
e m

~
"
Vg
tc
-
l t
-VO
' t '
L
t
t
vs(t)
.. . ...
t
t
vD(t) Vg+V
t
tc tD
t
T
Fig. 3 ZETA converter waveforms within a high frequency period.
The stages of operation of the steady state ZETA
converter will be analyzed fom the assumption that all
semiconductors are ideal. In the frst stage (0 ` t ` te), the
voltage 1_ is applied to inductors Lm and Lo and the inductors
are charged. In the second stage (te ` t ` te + td) the switch S
is turned off and the diode enters into conduction. Lm
transfers the energy stored in the previous step for the
coupling capacitor C, in a similar way Lo enables the
connection to the load, acting as a current source. This stage
is characterized by the decreasing of the current into the
diode (which is the smn of the currents hm and ir(J fom its
maximum value until zero. At this moment, the third stage (te
+ td ` t ` 7 starts. At this stage the switch S as well as the
diode remains tured off. The coupling capacitor current ic is
constant and equal to the output inductor curent iLa, which
has the opposite direction of the magnetizing inductor current
i
m, causing the voltage at the inductors to be equal zero.
B. Static Transfer Characteristic
The conduction time of the diode (tn) is constant when
there is no variation of the load R in DCM [5, 6]. So, the
instantaneous static gain g(t) of the ZETA converter in DCM
can be expressed by (1). This characteristic implies in a
1`... .-1.+.....1 *. 1.-+..-..1. + ... ... +... +
300
(1)
where
D-
1
(2)
d(t is the instantaneous duty cycle of the converter, f is
the switching fequency and R is the load resistance.
It is possible to conclude that the control-to-output
relationship of the converter is also linear, in the steady-state
analysis.
III. DYNAMIC COMPUTER SIMULATION MODEL
The dynamic model [7] is based on the techniques
described in [8]. Without more details, Fig. 4 presents the
model.
B
VD
UVd1
Fig. 4 Dynamic computational model used. This is a control-to
output AC model that contains the dynamic behavior of the ZETA
converter in DCM.
The gains and matrices of the model can now be
presented.
A = Al fo + A2 ( 1 -fo )
B B1 fo + B2 (1 -fo )
C
=
C1 fo + C 2 ( 1 -fo )
X
=
-A
-
1
B
U
U
=
V
g
(3)
X is the steady-state solution of the converter. The indexed
matrices are obtained bv analvzim the circuit of Fi. 2 in the
rLm 0
L
m
0 rLo +
rc
A =
L
o
1
1
0
C
0
1
C
o
rm
+
rc
0
L
m
0 ro
A =
L
a
2
1
.
0
C
0
C
o
1
L
m
0
0
B= B =

L
o
2
0
0 0
0
o
0
L
o
L
o
0 0
0
RC
a
0
L
m
0
L
o
0 0
0
RC
o
c c []
'
1 2
0
1
(4)
The resistances rrm and rro are the equivalent series
resistances (ESR) of the inductors, while rc is the ESR of the
coupling capacitor C.
The conversion ratio (fo) for the ZETA converter is
shown in (5).
D
(5)
where D is the duty cycle at the chosen quiescent operation
point.
The gains kc and k
s
are given by
k

2DJ
c (D+DJ)
2
k

1
s
V

D3
J
D(D+DJ)
2
L D
2
(
J
(D+DJ)
2
CD3 J
D(D+DJ)
2
D
2
J
(D+DJ)
2
(6)
1
(7)
301
IV. CONTROL OPTIMIZATION
Equipped with a dynamic simulation model, it is possible
to use sofware such as MATLAB
TM
as an aid in the control
design for this converter. The use of the model associated
with the MATLAB
TM
, allows adjustment of the PID
controller in a quick and simple way. This section presents
the optimization of a PID controller using the model
provided in Fig. 5.

K1
Signal ConsI|ainI
KJ
ZL1A
L.1/20 1D
K
Scope
Fig. 5 Simulink

optimization model.
The gains K I and K2 in Fig. 5 represent the voltage
divider at the output of the ZETA converter, which is
necessary to adjust the signal level to the limits of operation
of the control circuit. The gain K3 symbolize the effect of the
pulse width modulator (PWM) used in the converter.
The block Signal Constraint of the design optimization
library is responsible for carying out the optimization of the
PID parameters. In this block, restrictions are imposed on the
output signal of the system, as shown in Fig. 6. One can
select any system variable, specif its limits, and through an
algorithm, the program search for a set of variables values
that allow a response within the constraints imposed on the
output signal. In this case, the chosen parameters to be
optimized are the proportional, integral and derivative gains.
Kp, Ki and Kd respectively.
Importantly, any controller can be optimized through this
technique, not only PID controllers. A lead-lag compensator,
e.g., can be optimized with almost equal ease.
Table I show the restrictions imposed on the output signal
of the system.
Fig. 6 Signal Constraint block. The waveforms in the fgure are the
steps to optimize the system response. When the wave lies between
TABLE I
Desired Response
Parameter Value
Step Value 100
Step Time Os
Rise Time O.4ms
Settling Time O.Sms
% Overshoot 10%
% Rise 90%
% Settling 1%
% Undershoot 2%
V. RESULTS
The results of the optimization of the controller will now
be presented. MA TLAB

simulations were performed with
the component values shown in Table II.
TABLE II
Component Values
Component Defnition Valne
R Load Resistance 125n
/m
ESR of Magnetizing
on
Inductance
rLo ESR of Output Inductace on
rc
ESR of Coupling
0.14n
Capacitance
LI Magnetizing Inductance S5JlH
L" Output Inductance 22mH
C Coupling Capacitace 6S0nF
Co Output Capacitance S20nF
Vs
Input Voltage 34V
f
Switching Frequency 20kHz
D
Quiescent operation point
0.5
duty cycle
Me
Optimization Kp limits 0< Kp < 1
1 Optimization Ki limits O<Ki <0
1 Optimization Kd limits -1 < Kd < 1
The optimization process resulted in the parameters for
the PID controller shown in Table III.
Parameter
TABLE III
Optimized Parameters
Value
0.4905
3.9193.10
1
4.1351.10-
5
To validate the model and also the parameters of the PID
controller, a circuit was built in PSIM

sofware. The circuit
is presented in Fig. 7.
Fig. 8 presents the closed-loop step response of the
system, obtained using the designed PID controller. The
results were obtained using PSIM

and MA TLAB

sofware.
The comparison between the step response of the system
with the controller and the step response of the open-loop
system (with an equivalent DC gain) is presented in Fig. 9.
To verif the controller performance under another
reference signs, a square wave was used as reference. The
system response is displayed on Fig. 10.
302

Ld1 ..K
1. .1111d
Fig. 7 PSIM

simulation circuit.
!zd
!dd
dd
od
4d
zd
Fig. 8 Step response of the closed-loop system with PID controller.
Vrej 5u(t).
!2O
!OO
GO
cO
4O
2O
Fig. 9 Step response of the open-loop and closed-loop systems.
Vrf 5u(t), d(t) 0.49.
Fig. 10 Square Wave (200Hz) response of the PSIM

circuit.
A prototype was designed and tested. A picture of the
prototype is shown in Fig. I I. The converter open-loop step
response for a duty cycle d(t) 0.5 are presented in Fig. 12.
==
~
Fig. 1 1. The Zeta Prototype.
Fig. 12 Prototype step response for d(t)=O.S.
VI. CONCLUSIONS
This paper has presented a new computational model of
303
of the feedback control of the ZETA converter was
presented. Despite of the slight differences between the
obtained response of the system simulated in MA TLAB

and in PSIM

, it is clear that the proposed model allows the

PID tuning. The required simulation time for tuning the PID
controller in MATLAB

was low and it is important to
remark that the entire PID tuning process was very easy.
Furthermore, it was prove that the dynamic model used has
satisfactory accuracy for the fulfllment of the task.
This method can be used in various forms of optimization,
not restricted to tuning PID controllers. It can be applied to
any other type of controller that the control law has to be
satisfactory.
The presented method promises to be of great value to
those who have to work with a ZETA converter, operating in
DCM, since nowadays the SMPS designers have full access
to computational tools.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to thank the support of PUCRS
(Pontifcia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sui),
CAPES (Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de
Nfvel Superior) and F APERGS (Fundacao de Amparo a
Pesquisa do Rio Grande do Sui) which made possible this
research.
[1] U.S. Department of State/Bureau of Interational
Information Programs. Clean Energy Solutions. eJournal
USA: Economic Perspectives. vol. 11. n 2. 2006.
[2] The Pew Charitable Trusts. "Who's Winning the Clean
Energ Race?". March, 2010.
[3] H.Z.Azazi, E. E. EL-Kholy, S.A.Mahmoud and
S.S.Shokralla. "Review of Passive and Active Circuits
for Power Factor Corection in Single Phase, Low Power
AC-DC Converters". Proceedings of the 14th
Interational Middle East Power Systems Conference
(MEPCON' 10), Cairo University, Egypt, December 19-
21,2010, Paper ID 154 ..
[4] H. F. M. Lopez, C. Zollmann, R. C. Viero and F. S. dos
Reis. "Photovoltaic Panels Grid-Tied By a Zeta
Converter". Brazilian Power Electronics Conference, pp.
1-6. 2009.
[5] A. Peres, D. C. Martins and I. Barbi. "ZETA Converter
Applied in Power Factor Correction". IEEE Power
Electronics Specialists Conf., pp. 1152-1157. 1994.
[6] D. C. Martins, I. Barbi. "Eletr6nica de Potencia:
Conversores CC-CC Basicos nao Isolados". 3th ed.,
Author's Edition. Florianopolis, SC. 2008.
[7] R. C. Viero, H. F. M. Lopez, C. Zollmann and F. S. dos
Reis. "Dynamic computer simulation model for a ZETA
converter in DCM". XVIII Congresso Brasileiro de
Automatica. Bonito, MS. 2010.
[8] R. W. Erickson. "Fundamentals of Power Electronics".
Interational Thomson Publishing. 1997.