Zero-voltage-switching PWM hybrid full-bridge three-level converter with secondary-voltage clamping scheme

A hybrid full-bridge (H-FB) three-level (TL) converter can realize zero- voltage-switching for switches with the use of resonant inductance (including the leakage inductance of the transformer) and intrinsic capacitors of the switches. As it can operate in three-level and two-level (2L) modes, the secondary rectified voltage is. always close to the output voltage over the input-voltage range; thus, the output filter requirement is significantly less. Meanwhile, the voltage stress of the rectifier diodes can also be reduced. Therefore, the H-FB TL converter is very attractive for wide input-voltage-range applications. However, there is a serious voltage oscillation across the rectifier diodes caused by reverse recovery like the Buck-derived converters. In this paper, two clamping diodes are introduced to the H-FB TL converter to eliminate the voltage oscillation across the rectifier diodes. The arrangement of the positions of the resonant inductance and the transformer is discussed. The operation principle of the proposed converter is analyzed in details. A 1.2-kW prototype was built and tested in the laboratory to verify the operation of the proposed converter.