Abstract
Welding machines are high-capacity systems used in a low-frequency range using IGBT. As their system is similar to a large transformer, most welding machines suffer a great loss because of hard switching and vast leakage inductance. A voltage-balancing circuit is designed to overcome these shortcomings. This circuit can reduce the transformer size by making it into a high frequency and reducing the input voltage by half and by adopting a serial structure that connects two full-bridges in a series to use a MOSFET with a good property at high frequency. In addition, a Schottky diode is used in the primary rectifier to overcome the low efficiency of most welding machines. To use the Schottky diode with a reliably relatively low withstanding voltage, an active snubber is adopted to effectively limit the ringing voltage of the diode cut-off voltage.
