Problem Set

EE206: ELECTRICAL MACHINES AND POWER ELECTRONICS

1) The thyristor in the switching circuit of figure Q1 is in the ON state. It’s holding current rating is 150
mA. An additional resistance R is introduced in the circuit by opening the switch labeled S across
this resistance. What is the lowest value of R that will cause the thyristor to turn OFF when S is
opened?
R

10W L
S

100 V

Figure Q1.
2) Figure Q2 shows a typical chopper circuit. The switching waveforms across the otherwise ideal
switch S are also shown in the figure. The diode exhibits reverse recovery phenomenon at each
switching cycle.
a. Determine the peak reverse recovery current. Also determine the excess charge recovered by
flow of reverse current until the reverse current peak is reached.
b. Determine the switching energy loss caused due to the reverse recovery phenomenon.

U
1

t (ms)
L IS VS
+ 400 V
U VS
S - t (ms)
65A
400 V IS
40A
40A 40A

t (ms)
0 1 1.625

Figure Q2.
3) The power converter has 6 IGBTs each dissipating 1000W. All of them are mounted on a common
heatsink as shown in figure Q3. The maximum allowable junction temperature for the device is
125°C. The ambient temperature is 30°C. The heatsink is at a temperature of 75°C. The devices may
be considered to be identical. The heatsink temperature may be considered constant.
a. Draw the equivalent circuit of the thermal model indicating the sources of heat, junction
temperatures, device thermal resistances, case temperature, heatsink thermal resistance and
the ambient temperature.
b. Evaluate the thermal resistance of the device (RTH(jc)) and thermal resistance of a heatsink
RTH(ca).

1
 S1 S2 S3 S3

S4 S5 S6 S6

Top View Side View

Figure Q3.
4) Along with the chopper circuit, figure Q4 also shows the current through the device when it is being
switched off. The circuit voltage is 600 V. The load current is constant at 60 A. An RCD snubber
circuit is used for smooth turn-off process. Assume the diodes to be ideal.
a. Sketch the capacitor current during and following turn-off. Mark all the salient features.
b. Sketch the voltage across the device during and following turn-off mark all the salient
features.
c. Evaluate the switching energy loss in the device during turn-off. (0 to 3 μs).
d. Evaluate the energy loss in the snubber circuit

DF 60A IS
60A

600 V IC
IS
20A

+ 0 t (ms)
0.5 mF 0 1 3
-

Figure Q4.
5) A power converter in figure Q5 shows a two power devices namely S1 and S2. These two switches
are switching complementary to each other. The source voltage is 48 V and the output voltage is -48
V. The inductor current is steady 5 A without any ripple.
a. On the V(x)-I(y) plane mark the operating point of the switches S1 and S2.
b. Also suggest suitable switches for S1 and S2 respectively and redraw the circuit in figure Q1
including these switches.
+ - - + V0
S1 S2

5A +
48V - 48V
-

Figure Q5.
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6) Real power switching devices takes finite time to switch on or off. During the switch-on time, the
device voltage is defined and during the switch-off time device current is defined. The second
quantity during switching (device current during turn-on and device voltage during turn-off) is
decided by the external circuit. Figure Q6 shows a simple chopper circuit consist all ideal
components except MOSFET. The load being inductive may be considered to be a constant current
branch for the purpose of analysis. The rise time tr and fall time tf for this MOSFET is 100 ns and
200 ns respectively.
c. Draw approximate waveform for VDS and ID during turn ON process and during turn OFF
process. Make suitable assumptions.
d. From (a), estimate turn ON energy loss EON and turn OFF energy loss EOFF.

DF 20 A

50 V
ID
+
S VDS
-

Figure Q6.

7) Figure Q7 shows an ON state model of a diode. Figure Q3 also shows a waveform of a current
flowing through the diode. The diode has Rth-jc of 1.25℃/W and Rth-ca of 1℃/W. The ambient
temperature is 35℃.
e. Evaluate a conduction power loss in diode.
f. Draw a thermal model of a diode.
g. Evaluate diode case temperature and a diode junction temperature.
A

IAK(A)
5 mW

100
1V
T/2 t
T

K
Figure Q7.

8) Figure Q8 shows a voltage wave form across the device when it is being switched on. The circuit
voltage is 100 V. The load current is constant at 25 A. The turn-on snubber is employed to provide
smooth turn-on of the device current during switch on as shown in figure Q4. The value of Ls is
2μH. Assume the diodes to be ideal. The switching frequency is 10 kHz.
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 h. Evaluate the time ‘tS’ which inductor current takes to reach to a load current 25 A.
i. Sketch inductor voltage during and following turn on. Mark all the salient features.
j. Sketch the device current IC during and following switch on. Mark all the salient features.
k. Evaluate the power dissipated by the resistor Rs in turn-on snubber circuit. (6 Marks)
Ls

VCE
Rs Ds DF 25A (V)

100
100 V IC
+
S VCE
-
0 1 t (mS)

Figure Q8.
9) Figure Q9 shows a switching device employed in a power converter. It consists of MOSFET in series
with a diode. The on state resistance of a MOSFET is 20 mΩ. The diode may be modeled as a drop
of 0.9 V in series with a dynamic resistance of 5 mΩ. The current IPT through the device is periodic
and also shown in figure Q1.
a. Evaluate the average current through the device.
b. Evaluate the rms current through the device.
c. Evaluate conduction loss in the MOSFET.
d. Evaluate conduction loss in the diode.
IPT
(A)

60
P T

2p/3 t
2p
Figure Q9.
10) Figure Q10 shows a BJT switch with RCD snubber. Figure Q10 also shows the voltage across the
BJT and the current through the BJT during the turn-off transient. The fall time of the switch tf is 0.2
μs and the switching frequency is 20 kHz.
a. Evaluate V1.
b. Evaluate Toff.
c. Evaluate the turn off power loss in the transistor in Watts.
d. Evaluate the power dissipation in Rf in Watts.

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 100 V

50 A Tf Toff
50 A
100 V

Q1

0.2 mF V1
t

Figure Q10.
11) Figure Q11 shows a MOSFET with capacitances Cgs, Cds and Cgd. Figre Q5 also shows current
and voltage waveforms at various points during turn on process.
a. Evaluate Cgs and Cgd .
b. Sketch VCgd during turn on process. Mark all the salient features. (4 Marks)
180 ns
VCGS 12 V
D
0V
- t
VCGD CGD VDS 240 V
+
I I1 Q1 CDS
G 0V
+
CGS 0.61 A t
VCGS I
- I2
0A 0A
S t
0.33 A
I1

0A 0A
t

Figure Q11.
12) For the circuit as shown in the figure Q12, obtain the overvoltage across the diode D during the
reverse recovery transient. Figure Q1 also shows diode reverse recovery current. Also note that,
t0=0 s, t1=0.5 μs, t2=0.75 μs and t3=1.25 μs.
5mH
Id (A)
Is
10
S

t1 t2 t3 t
100 V
t0
-
Vd D 10 A
+ -5
Id

Figure Q12.
13) Figure Q13 shows chopper circuit with turn-ON snubber. What is the maximum voltage that the
collector will have to withstand during the turn-OFF switching? Assume that diode DF and Ds are
ideal and switch current fall time is negligible.

5
 Ls

Is
4W Ds DF 30A

200 V

Figure Q13.
14) Figure Q14 shows an SCR, its schematic model, and two periodic operational waveforms. The first
operational waveform is half sinusoid with peak current of 100 A. The second operational waveform
is a pulse width modulated waveform with a peak of 100 A and duty ratio of 50%. The power
dissipation in the device is respectively 56.8 W and 100 W under the two operating conditions.
Evaluate model parameters Vi and Rd of the SCR.
I (A)

100
A K

T/2 T t

A K I (A)
Rd
Vi
100

T/2 T t

Figure Q14.
15) Figure Q15 shows half bridge IGBT module mounted on a heat sink. It consists of two IGBT
switches and two diodes. The module in a particular application dissipates 50 W power in each of the
diodes and 75 W in each of the IGBTs. The thermal resistances (junction to heat sink) are 0.15 °C/W
for each of the IGBTs and 0.3 °C/W for each of the diodes. The thermal resistance of the heat sink to
the ambient is 0.2 °C/W. The ambient is at 30 °C.
a. Draw the thermal equivalent circuit of the device and heat sink in the ambient and mark the
various thermal resistances.
b. Evaluate the heat sink temperature and the junction temperature of each of the devices.
HEAT SINK

Figure Q15.
16) Figure Q16 shows a power switching circuit. The switching circuit has a parasitic inductance Lx.
The switch has a zener diode with a breakdown voltage of 400 V connected across to limit the
overvoltage across the switch during the switching transient. Figure Q8 also shows switch current
Is(t), zener diode current Iz(t) and zener diode voltage v(t) during and after transients.
c. Sketch the inductor voltage vL(t) during and after transients.
d. Sketch the total current iT(t) during and after transients.
e. Sketch the diode current Id(t) during and after transients.
f. Evaluate the value of parasitic inductance Lx.
g. Evaluate the overvoltage that the switch has to bear during the switching transients if the
zener diode is not connected across it.
Mark the salient features on each of the waveform.
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 Is
40A

Lx

+ vL - IT 0 t
0 0.5 ms
40A Iz
DF
30A
Id
300 V 0 t
Iz
2 ms
Is + v

S 400V
v
300V
-

0 t

Figure Q16.

17) A power converter in figure Q17 shows a two power devices namely S1 and S2. These two switches
are switching complementary to each other. The source current and the output current are 10 A. The
capacitor voltage is 96 V without any ripple.
a. On the V(x)-I(y) plane, mark the operating point of the switches S1 and S2 with respect to the
polarities marked.
b. Also suggest suitable switches for S1 and S2 respectively and redraw the circuit in figure Q1
including these switches.
96 V

+ -

+ +
10 A S1 S2 10 A
- -

Figure Q17.
18) A MOSFET requires that its gate-source capacitance (5000 pF) is charged to +15 V from 0 V to turn
it ON. Find the energy require to turn ON the MOSFET. If this energy is supplied from a current
source of 50 mA, estimate the time required to complete this process.

19) Figure Q19 shows the voltage across and current through a switch during off/on transition. The
switch-on transition consists of two sub-intervals (rise time of 0.5 μs and a tail time of 2 μs).
c. Evaluate the power in the device as a function of time (P=f(t)) during (0<t<0.5μs).
d. Evaluate the peak power in the device during the time, 0<t<0.5μs.

7
 tr ttail
100 V

5A

20 V
0 t
0 0.5 ms 2.5 ms
Figure Q19.

20) Figure Q20 shows a voltage wave form across the device when it is being switched on. The circuit
voltage is 100 V. The load current is constant at 25 A. The turn-off snubber is employed to provide
smooth turn-off of the device current during switch on as shown in figure Q20. The value of Cs is
2μF. Assume the diodes to be ideal. The switching frequency is 10 kHz.
e. Evaluate the time ‘tS’ which capacitor voltage takes to reach to a 100 V.
f. Sketch the device voltage VCE during and following switch on. Mark all the salient features.

ICE
(A)
DF 25A
25
100 V ICE
Rs Ds
+
S VCE +
- - VC
0 1 t (mS)

Figure Q20.
21) Figure Q21 shows a heatsink on which two power devices (device 1 and device 2) are mounted.
Device 1 dissipates a power of 50 W and device 2 dissipates a power of 75 W. The junction
temperature of device 1 is measured as 107.5 and that of device 2 is measured as 125. The heat sink
temperature is measured as 87.5. The ambient temperature is 50.
g. Draw the thermal equivalent model of the device which include junction to case thermal
resistance of each of the devices (RthJ1C and RthJ2C) and case to ambient thermal resistance of
heatsink (RthCA).
h. Evaluate junction to case thermal resistance of each device (RthJ1C and RthJ2C) and case to
ambient thermal resistance (RthCA).

Device 1 Device 2

Figure Q21.
22) A power converter in figure Q22 shows a two power devices namely S1 and S2. These two switches
are switching complementary to each other.

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 a. On the V(x)-I(y) plane mark the operating point of the switches S1 and S2.
b. Also suggest suitable switches for S1 and S2 respectively and redraw the circuit in figure Q22
including these switches.
48 V S2

+
+
10 A S1 10 A 48 V
-

Figure Q22.
23) Figure Q23 shows a current waveform through a switch consists of MOSFET and Diode also shown
in figure. The ON state resistance of MOSFET is 5 mΩ and forward voltage drop of Diode is 0.5 V.
a. Sketch current through the MOSFET
b. Sketch current through the diode
c. Find power loss in the MOSFET
d. Find power loss in the diode
I (A)

100
I

T/2 T t
-50

Figure Q23.
24) The power converter has 4 IGBTs each dissipating equal power PJ. All of them are mounted on a
common heatsink as shown in figure Q24. The ambient temperature is 30°C. The heatsink is at a
temperature of 75°C. The devices may be considered to be identical. The thermal resistance of a
device (RTH(jc)) is 0.0667°C/W and heat sink thermal resistance RTH(ca) is 0.015 °C/W. The heatsink
temperature may be considered constant.
a. Draw the equivalent circuit of the thermal model indicating the sources of heat, junction
temperatures, device thermal resistances, case temperature, heatsink thermal resistance and
the ambient temperature.
b. Find the maximum power PJMAX allowed to be dissipated at the junction of each device such
that the junction temperature should not exceed 125°C.

9
 S1 S2 S2

S3 S4 S4

Top View Side View

Figure 24.
25) Figure Q25 shows a simple chopper circuit and its turn off transient current and voltage. Ls is the
parasitic inductance in the circuit.
a. Evaluate the parasitic inductance Ls.
b. Evaluate the turn off loss in the switch.
c. Carry out an energy balance during the switch-off interval by computing the energy drawn
from the source, energy stored in the parasitic inductor and the energy lost in the switch.
Ls IS
(A)
5
DF 5A
t (nS)
0 200
VS
200 V IS (V)
300
+ 200
S VS
- t (nS)

Figure 25.
26) Along with the chopper circuit, figure Q26 also shows the current through the device when it is being
switched off. The circuit voltage is 600 V. The load current is constant at 60 A. An RCD snubber
circuit is used for smooth turn-off process. Assume the diodes to be ideal.
a. Sketch the capacitor current IC during and following turn-off. Mark all the salient features.
b. Sketch the voltage across the device VS during and following turn-off mark all the salient
features.
c. Sketch the diode current ID during and following turn-off. Mark all the salient features.
d. Sketch the diode voltage VD during and following turn-off. Mark all the salient features.

10
 -
VD DF 60A IS
+ 60A
ID

600 V IC
IS Rs
+ 20A
VS
- + 0 t (ms)
0.066 VC 0 3
mF -

Figure Q26.

27) A power converter in figure Q27 shows a two power devices namely S 1 and S2. These two switches
are switching complementary to each other.
a. On the V(x)-I(y) plane mark the operating point of the switches S1 and S2. Note the polarity
assigned to switches.
b. Also suggest suitable switches for S1 and S2 respectively and redraw the circuit in figure Q27
including these switches.

S1 24 V 5A

-
+

- +
24 V 5 A S1 S2 24 V
-
+

Figure Q27.

28) Figure Q28 shows a voltage across and a current through a power switching device during ON and
OFF transition.
a. Sketch the ON switching transition on the V(x) –I (y) plane. Mark all the salient points like
transition time. Show the direction of transition.
b. Sketch the OFF switching transition on the V(x) –I (y) plane. Mark all the salient points like
transition time. Show the direction of transition.
c. Evaluate the switching loss during ON transition.
d. Evaluate the switching loss during OFF transition.

11
 VS Turn 300 V
(V) Turn OFF
200 ON 200 V

0 200 t (nS)
IS
(A)
10

0 200 0 t (nS)
200 300

Figure Q28.

29) The waveform in figure Q29 shows the voltage across a device when it is being switched on. The
circuit voltage is 100 V. The load current is constant at 60 A. The freewheeling diode ensures that
the load current has an alternate path when the switch is on. The RLD circuit provides smooth turn-
on of the device current during switch-on. The value of L is 5μH. Assume the diodes to be ideal.
a. Sketch the inductor voltage during and following turn on. Mark all the salient features.
b. Sketch the device current during and following switch on. Mark all the salient features.
L

VCE
Rs Ds DF 60A (V)

100
100 V IC
+
S VCE
-
0 1 t (mS)

Figure Q29.
30) Figure Q30 shows a current waveform through a capacitor. The Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR)
of capacitor is 1 Ω. The thermal resistance of the capacitor Rth is 0.5 °C/W.
a. Evaluate the negative peak current in the capacitor.
b. Evaluate the rms current in the capacitor.
c. Evaluate the losses in the ESR of the capacitor.
d. Evaluate the internal temperature rise in the capacitor.

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 I (A)

20 ESR=1W

I
2 ms 4ms
t
1 ms 5ms
-I

Figure Q30.
31) Figure Q31 shows a power switching circuit and the switch current i(t) during a switching transient.
The switch has a parasitic inductance of 10 μH as shown in the circuit. The switch has a zener with a
break-down voltage of 300 V connected across to limit the overvoltage across the switch during the
switching transient.
e. Sketch the transient Iz(t) and V(t) during and following the switching transient, and mark the
salient features.
f. Sketch IT (t) and ID (t) and mark all the salient features.

Iz 300V

+ V -
IT 10 mH Is
Is
20A
200 V 20A
DF

Id
0 t
0 1 ms

Figure Q31.

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