THE DESIGN OF DC TO DC CONVERTER SMPS

CAR POWER AMPLIFIER FOR SUBWOOFER

For building car power amplifier, we need symmetrical power supply (+, 0, -) by building DC-DC
converter. The converter system discussed below will be the SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supply) type
PWM (Pulse Width Modulation). This system will deliver stable output voltage, regardless of the input
voltage (usually the car electrical system will range in 9-15Vdc).
To explain the SMPS type PWM, first I will start with basics of SMPS.

Switch Mode Power Supply Basics

The vast majority of high-powered audio amplifiers use SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supplies) to generate
higher voltages from the available 12 (13.8) volts. An extensive theoretical explanation on how these things
work is beyond the scope of this article, but these are some fundamental ideas you should know about
switch mode power supplies (SMPS) for car amplifiers:

- The DC voltage at the battery has to be switched in some form to generate an AC waveform
suitable for a transformer. As you already now, a transformer basically converts the AC voltage in
its "primary" to a scaled version of it in its "secondary", the scale factor being the turns ratio of the
primary to the secondary. (Again, take this as an extreme simplification). A transformer doesn't
allow DC voltages to pass, and there is electrical (galvanic) isolation between both windings.

- The AC waveform is usually a square wave that is relatively easy and efficient to generate. The
frequencies usually fall between 25 kHz and 100 kHz or more, thus allowing smaller transformers
than the used in main appliances (its construction is also different; their cores are not laminated, but
made from ferrites or "iron powder"). The switching elements have to be capable of high currents
and must also be fast and have low switching losses. Usually, power MOSFETs or high speed
bipolar transistors are used.

- Once this waveform is stepped-up by the transformer, it has to be rectified again and filtered back
to DC, since that is what we want. For audio applications, we usually need a symmetrical supply,
+/- 40V, for example. The rectification is done with a diode bridge, as it would be using a
conventional transformer at 50 or 60 Hz. Note that for the frequencies we are talking about, fast or
ultra-fast diodes are needed.

- If we need a regulated power supply, some kind of feedback must be provided from the output
rails to a controller that can change some parameters of the AC waveform at the primary of the
transformer. This is normally accomplished with PWM (pulse width modulation). In our case we
will not use regulated power supply, the supply will depend of a secondary turns from ferrite
transformer.

- Always keep in mind that no energy is created given a (total) rails to battery voltages ratio, the
current drawn from the output will be (at least) be multiplied at the 12V input by the same ratio,
thus the total power stays the same (assuming 100% efficiency, and that is never the case). A
generic transformer "transforms" the voltage by a factor of Tr, current by a factor of 1/Tr, and
impedance at the secondary by a factor of 1/sqr(Tr), Tr being the turns ratio. Impedance is of little
importance in this context.

- A well built SMPS can reach 90% efficiency. So, if you expect to produce +/-40V at 5A (per rail)
supply then be prepared to draw more than 20A from the battery! Fortunately, when talking about
audio amps reproducing music, power requirements are always much lower than with pure sine
waves.

At this point, the reader should realize the magnitude of the currents involved in a high power SMPS for a
car amplifier, and that extreme caution should be taken especially when connecting "the creature" to the car
electrical system.
In this design, we use regulating PWM IC's, like TL494, TL594, SG3524, SG3525. These IC's will
compare the output of DC-DC converter with a reference voltage. If the output of DC-DC converter is
smaller than reference voltage, then the IC will enlarge the pulse width so the voltage will rise equally to
reach determined voltage. So as if the output of DC-DC converter is higher than the reference voltage, the
IC will narrow the pulse width so the output voltage will be lowered to the determined voltage.
Picture 6

Generally SMPS used in car audio amplifier is the push-pull system with switching frequency between 20100 KHz. In push pull system like in Picture 6, Q1 and Q2 gives alternating switched current pulses so the
transformer will be objected to maximum flux swing change without saturating the core.
The complete schematic of the SMPS is shown on Picture 7, below picture.

There are three main blocks described for this DC-DC Converter:

A - Switching MOSFETs
B - Rectification and filtering
C - Control circuitry

A-Switching MOSFETs
The selected switching topology is called a "push-pull" converter, because the transformer has a double
primary (or a "centre-tapped" one, if your prefer). The centre tap is permanently connected to the car
battery (via an LC filter to avoid creating peaks in the battery lines, which could affect other electronic
equipment in the car). The two ends of the primary are connected to a pair of paralleled MOSFETs each
that tie them to ground in each conduction cycle (Vgs of the corresponding MOSFET high).
These MOSFETs should be fast, able to withstand high currents (in excess of 30A each if possible) and
have the lowest possible Rds(on). The proposed IRFIZ48 (T7 and T8) can withstand 40Amp and has a
Rds(on) below 16 milliohm. This is important, because the lower this resistance is, the less power they are
going to dissipate when switching with a square waveform. Other alternatives are MTP60N06, or the more
popular BUZ11 and IRF540.

MOSFETs and Thermal Runaway

It has been claimed that MOSFETs are immune from thermal runaway, since they have a positive
temperature coefficient for their "on" resistance. While this may be partially true for a Class-AB power
amplifier, it is completely false for a switching supply.
For example, a push pull SMPS using one IRF540 MOSFET a side draws 30A at full load. If we check the
data sheet, we find that Rds(on) is 0.044 Ohm (44 milliohms) at 25 degrees C, then we know that it will
generate

P=I2 x R = 302 x 0.044 = 900 x 0.044 = 39 W peak (per transistor).

At 50 degrees (not uncommon in a car that has been in the sun for some time), Rds(on) will be about 1.25
times the value at 25 degrees (this is from the datasheet), or 0.055 ohms. Power dissipation will now be
49W, so the heatsink has to dispose of more heat. We can guarantee that the extra heat will cause the
heatsink temperature to rise further, which will increase Rds(on), and that will make the heatsink hotter,
and BANG

Ensuring that you use parallel devices and a good heatsink will reduce the likelihood of this dramatically.
Two MOSFETs sharing the load will dissipate 1/4 the power (each) of a single device, and have a lower
thermal resistance to the heatsink as well.
P=I2 x R = 152 x 0.044 = 225 x 0.044 = 9.9 W peak (per transistor) - 19.8 W for both

The power shown per transistor is the peak - actual (RMS) power (per device) is half that calculated. The
total power dissipated by both transistors (and sets of transistors in the case of paralleled devices) is the full
value shown, since when one device is "on", the other is "off" and vice versa.
Naturally, the maximum dissipation will only occur at maximum (continuous) amplifier power - the real
life requirements are usually somewhat less, however, it is essential that the design is capable of continuous
"worst case" dissipation to ensure an adequate safety margin.

I strongly recommend that you do the calculations yourself, and make sure that you understand the
implications.

B-Rectification and Filtering

If one looks to the secondary side of the SMPS, it resembles exactly the scheme of a typical mains PSU,
with one fundamental difference - the switching diodes have to be FAST or ULTRAFAST (D6 and D7), if
you use a standard diode bridge the system will simply blow up (and this can be very impressive, believe
me!) Although a diode bridge is represented, it can be made with discrete diodes as well. Use high current
(10 A minimum and a suitable voltage rating) diodes.
You may be surprised that the capacitors aren't too big. This is due to the high switching frequency. It is
important that they are good quality ones and must be rated for 105 degrees operation. Ripple current rating
and low ESR (equivalent series resistance) is very important for any switching supply. In my opinion,
3000uF per rail is enough.
Also I have added additional LC filter with fuses preventing over current, it can be seen on Picture 8.

C - Control Circuitry
In this design we will use PWM IC with TL494. Picture 9 shows the configuration of 16 pins on this IC. To
make is simpler, lets design a SMPS by explaining the function of each pin.

Picture 9

1. First we make the Remote Turn On circuit, which is connected from the car radio / CD player. The
circuit can be seen in Picture 7. This circuit will turn on the SMPS by giving 12Vdc to pin 12, pin 11 and
pin 8. Transistor T2 is used as switch for powering the TL494.
2. The SMPS switching frequency is determined 62,5Khz. For this, the clock inside IC TL494 is adjusted 2

x 62.5 KHz = 125 KHz. This clock is built up by pin 5(Ct) and pin 6(Rt). The approach can be done
with equation Fclk = 1 /(Rt x Ct). Here we use Ct = 1nF (C2) and Rt = 16Kohm (R7) like in Picture 7.
3. For output filter capacitor of 1500uF, we will need approximately 4x 1500uF or 6000uF in the SMPS's
input 12Vdc . The larger the value of this capacitor, more energy stored for the SMPS.
4. Output filter inductor Lo is determine by: Lo = 0,5 x Vout/ (I x F).
Example: with Vout = 2 x 37V = 74V, I = 8A and F = 50Khz, we will have Lo = 0,092mH or Lo =
0,046mH on each supply rail + and 37Vdc.
5. Pin 9 and pin 10 are output pins that will drive the primary winding switching mosfets. Inside IC TL494
both pins have already operated in mode push-pull. The circuit for driving power mosfets can be seen
in Picture 7.
7. Transformator (trafo) for SMPS is self would from ferrite toroidal core (like donuts) like in Picture 10 or
we can use ETD-type cores Picture 11.It is very important that for SMPS frequency above 20Khz, we
cannot use iron core transformator like we use in homes. The ferrite core transformator will have black
color like in the speaker magnets, but do not have magnetizing force. The basic of equation for switching
power supply with 12Vdc input is:
Picture 10

Picture 11

Picture 12

(1) Np = 1,37 x 105 / (F x Ae), where Np= primary number of turns, F = switching frequency, Ae = X x Y
= window area of ferrite in cm2. Look at Picture 12. To make it easy to wound the transformator, we will
have to choose the toroid core with minimal diameter of 2,5 cm and window area minimal of 0.75cm2.This
is necessary for the easiness of self handwound. Remember that in push-pull system there is 2 primary
windings.

(2) Ns/Np = Vo/8,8, where Ns = secondary number of turns, Vo = secondary output voltage

(3) Ap = 0,004 x Vo x Io, where Ap = window area of primary wire in mm2, Vo = output voltage, Io =
output current.

(4) As = 0,13 x Io, where As = window area of secondary wire in mm2.

Example (+/- 37volts, 8A): If we use toroidal ferrite core with window area of Ae = 1 cm2 , in my case I
also use ferrite core with window area of Ae = 1 cm2 , then from equation (1) we will have number of
primary turn Np = 1,37 x 105 / (50Khz x 1 cm2) = 2,74 turns. In practice, number of minimal primary turns
is 4 so the primary will cover the whole toroidal core. So we use 4 turns for T7 and 4 turns for T8.
From equation (2) we have that Ns/Np = 37/8.8 = 4,2. From here we can calculate that the number of
secondary windings is = Np x Np/Ns = 4 x 4,2 = 16,8 or 17 windings. Like the primary, in secondary we
use 2 x 17 turns, that is 17 turns for +37V > 0 and 17 turns for 0-> -37V, better calculate +/- 37volts than
+/-40volts because the SMPS is not regulated and the output voltage always is higher then calculation +/3%.
Equation (3) is used tp determine the number of primary winding wires. We have Ap = 0,004 x 74 x 8 =
2,36mm2. If we use a 1mm diameter magnet wire, we will have window area of 0,785mm2 so we will
need 3 wire magnets for each primary winding.
Equation (4) is used to determine the number of wire needed for secondary windings. We have As = 0,13 x
8 = 1mm2 So if we use wire magnet with diameter of 0,8mm(window area = 0, 5mm2), then we will need
2 wires with diameter 0,8mm for each secondary windings.

3. MISSCELLANEUS TIPS FOR MAKING CAR AMPLIFIER

Handwound the transformator core can be done as follow (Picture 14):

- First we wound the secondary winding of 4 wires of 0.8mm magnet wires at once with 17 numbers of
turn. The turn can be made in any direction as long as we consistent with the direction of the wound. If we
have finished wounding it, the toroidal core will look like Picture 14a. We named the wires with wire A, B,
C, and D. If we start the wound on top of the core, the end will be at the bottom of the core. Make sure
each wire edges with AVO meter. Connect start edge of wire A and B to point S1 and the end edge of wire
A and B to point G. The start edge of wire C and D is connected to point G and the end edge of wire C and
D is connected to point S2. Point G will be the secondary ground of the power amplifier and point S1 and
S2 will be connected to bridging ultra fast diode like Picture 14b.

- After we finished with secondary winding, we start to wound primary winding. Edges of primary wires
are placed diagonally to the edges of the secondary wires like in Picture 14c. Like winding the secondary
wires, we wound 6 wires of 1mm diameter at once. Name them wire A, B, C, D, E and F. Connect the start
edge of wire A, B, C to point P1 and the end edge of wire A, B, C to point P+. Connect the start point of
wire D,E,F to point P+ and the end edge of wire D, E, F to point P2 (Picture 14d)

Picture 13

If you have finished winding the primary and the secondary, the whole transformator will have the same
wire directions like in Picture 13. Connect point P+ to the +12VDC of the car battery, point P1 to the drain
of power mosfets T7 and point P2 to the drain of the power mosfets T8.
It is important to remember that all tracks in PCB layer that is connected to the power transformer has to
have sufficient width due to large current will be involved. Also it is better if we soldered those tracks to
have more current transfer see Picture 15.

After finishing winding the transformator, place all the rest of the component and finish assembly of the
SMPS. You can test it by connect it with 12VDC input from the battery. Don't forget to connect the remote
turn on with 12VDC. There should be output voltage of +37V, 0 and 37V without any large current draw
in the 12VDC line. Check for any mistakes, if the output voltage does not present or if the SMPS draws

large current from 12VDC input. Finished SMPS and audio amplifier are shown on Picture 16 and finished
whole system is shown on Picture 17.
Picture 16

Picture 17

Also I have provided bloc diagram of a full car amplifier for better understanding the principle of working
for this amplifier, Picture 18. From Picture 19 you can see the front and back of the car amplifier and how
it can be made.