• The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.42-48
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• 2011

In this paper, a passive load-pull using a GaN HEMT (Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Transistor) bare-chip in X-band is presented. To obtain operation conditions that characteristic change by self-heating was minimized, pulsed drain bias voltage and pulsed-RF signal is employed. An accuracy impedance matching circuits considered parasitic components such as wire-bonding effect at the boundary of the drain is accomplished through the use of a electro-magnetic simulation and a circuit simulation. The microstrip line length-tunable matching circuit is employed to adjust the impedance. The measured maximum output power and drain efficiency of the pulsed load-pull are 42.46 dBm and 58.7%, respectively, across the 8.5-9.2 GHz band.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.2024-2034
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• 2016

This paper presents a DC-DC buck converter with a Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) that can compensates for power efficiency degradation over a wide input range. Its switching frequency is kept at 2 MHz and the delay difference between the High side driver and the Low side driver can be minimized with respect to Process, Voltage and Temperature (PVT) variations by adopting the PLL. The operation mode of the proposed DC-DC buck converter is automatically changed to Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) or PWM frequency modes according to the load condition (heavy load or light load) while supporting a maximum load current of up to 1.2 A. The PWM frequency mode is used to extend the CCM region under the light load condition for the PWM operation. As a result, high efficiency can be achieved under the light load condition by the PWM frequency mode and the delay compensation with the PLL. The proposed DC-DC buck converter is fabricated with a $0.18{\mu}m$ BCD process, and the die area is $3.96mm^2$. It is implemented to have over a 90 % efficiency at an output voltage of 5 V when the input range is between 8 V and 20 V. As a result, the variation in the power efficiency is less than 1 % and the maximum efficiency of the proposed DC-DC buck converter with the PLL is 95.4 %.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.275-286
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• 2014

This paper reports the influence of number of layers and length of GFRP sheets wrapped onto RCC beams for strengthening. Twelve beams of size $700mm{\times}150mm{\times}150mm$ were cast and tested. Two beams without GFRP and ten beams wrapped in different lay-up patterns with one and two layers of GFRP sheets was subjected to three point loading test and ultrasonic pulse velocity test. Initial crack load, ultimate failure load and types of failure have been observed and noted. Experimental results indicate a significant increase in initial and ultimate load carrying capacity of GFRP wrapped beams compared to unwrapped beams. The failed control specimen was retrofitted using U wrap scheme and tested under three point loading.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.30-39
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• 2014

This paper studies a new three-level pulse-width modulation (PWM) resonant converter for high input voltage and high load current applications. In order to use high frequency power MOSFETs for high input voltage applications, a three-level DC converter with two clamped diodes and a flying capacitor is adopted in the proposed circuit. For high load current applications, the secondary sides of the proposed converter are connected in parallel to reduce the size of the magnetic core and copper windings and to decrease the current rating of the rectifier diodes. In order to share the load current and reduce the switch counts, three resonant converters with the same active switches are adopted in the proposed circuit. Two transformers with a series connection in the primary side and a parallel connection in the secondary side are adopted in each converter to balance the secondary side currents. To overcome the drawback of a wide range of switching frequencies in conventional series resonant converters, the duty cycle control is adopted in the proposed circuit to achieve zero current switching (ZCS) turn-off for the rectifier diodes and zero voltage switching (ZVS) turn-on for the active switches. Finally, experimental results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed converter.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1245-1255
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• 2016

The single resonant inverter is widely employed in typical inductive power transfer (IPT) systems to generate a high-frequency current in the primary side. However, the power capacity of a single resonant inverter is limited by the constraints of power electronic devices and the relevant cost. Consequently, IPT systems fail to meet high-power application requirements, such as those in rail applications. Total harmonic distortion (THD) may also violate the standard electromagnetic interference requirements with phase shift control under light load conditions. A power regulation approach with selective harmonic elimination is proposed on the basis of a parallel multi-inverter to upgrade the power levels of IPT systems and suppress THD under light load conditions by changing the output voltage pulse width and phase shift angle among parallel multi-inverters. The validity of the proposed control approach is verified by using a 1,412.3 W prototype system, which achieves a maximum transfer efficiency of 90.602%. Output power levels can be dramatically improved with the same semiconductor capacity, and distortion can be effectively suppressed under various load conditions.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1429-1437
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• 2015

A new parallel hybrid soft switching converter with low circulating current losses during the freewheeling state and a low output current ripple is presented in this paper. Two circuit modules are connected in parallel using the interleaved pulse-width modulation scheme to provide more power to the output load and to reduce the output current ripple. Each circuit module includes a three-level converter and a half-bridge converter sharing the same lagging-leg switches. A resonant capacitor is adopted on the primary side of the three-level converter to reduce the circulating current to zero in the freewheeling state. Thus, the high circulating current loss in conventional three-level converters is alleviated. A half-bridge converter is adopted to extend the ZVS range. Therefore, the lagging-leg switches can be turned on under zero voltage switching from light load to full load conditions. The secondary windings of the two converters are connected in series so that the rectified voltage is positive instead of zero during the freewheeling interval. Hence, the output inductance of the three-level converter can be reduced. The circuit configuration, operation principles and circuit characteristics are presented in detail. Experiments based on a 1920W prototype are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed converter.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
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• v.51 no.12
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• pp.584-590
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• 2002

Crowbar system is usually applied to a pulsed power system in which a capacitor bank is discharged into a load. This provides a free wheeling path for the load current and prevents the capacitor from recharging due to a reverse voltage. Usually diodes have been used as a crowbar switch, but it is not a practical system because the cost of the diodes goes up enormously with increasing the system voltage and current. This paper presents a novel protection scheme of a charging and discharging system of a 300 kJ capacitor bank using a low-cost crowbar system which consists of a crowbar switch and resistors. Triggered vacuum switch(TVS) was used for a crowbar switch, and Rogowski coil was used to determine a trigger time of TVS. When this crowbar system is applied to our pulsed power system which consists of capacitor bank($123muF$), inductor() for forming a pulse, load resistor$(100 m\Omega)$, and a closing switch, instantaneous reversal voltage of capacitor bank could be limited less than 1.8 ㎸ until capacitor bank was charred to 17 ㎸.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.34-41
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• 2016

This study investigates transformer losses caused by current harmonics. Electrical transformers are designed to work under sinusoidal voltage and current waves at a rated frequency. Recently, various nonlinear loads, such as power electronic converters, are connected to a power system; these converters generate current harmonics. Current harmonics increase power loss in transformers, which results in several problems, including temperature increase of the transformer and insulation damage. These problems will eventually shorten the operational life of the transformer. In this study, different types of losses caused by current harmonics in three-phase transformers are studied under linear and nonlinear load conditions. Linear loads are simulated and experimented on using pure resistance load, whereas nonlinear loads are simulated and experimented on using a three-phase twelve-pulse thyristor full-bridge rectifier. The different types of losses in three-phase transformers are evaluated analytically through the experimental result and simulation in PSiM.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.1296-1308
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• 2014

This paper presents a new zero voltage switching (ZVS) converter for medium power and high input voltage applications. Three three-level pulse-width modulation (PWM) circuits with the same power switches are adopted to clamp the voltage stress of MOSFETs at $V_{in}/2$ and to achieve load current sharing. Thus, the current stresses and power ratings of transformers and power semiconductors at the secondary side are reduced. The resonant inductance and resonant capacitance are resonant at the transition interval such that active switches are turned on at ZVS within a wide range of input voltage and load condition. The series-connected transformers are adopted in each three-level circuit. Each transformer can work as an inductor to smooth the output current or a transformer to achieve the electric isolation and power transfer. Thus, no output inductor is needed at the secondary side. Three center-tapped rectifiers connected in parallel are used at the secondary side to achieve load current sharing. Compared with the conventional parallel three-level converters, the proposed converter has less switch counts. Finally, experiments based on a 1.44kW prototype are provided to verify the operation principle of proposed converter.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.201-210
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• 2018

This paper proposes a new start-up method for a load commutated inverter (LCI) in a large synchronous gas-turbine generator. The initial rotor position for start-up torque is detected by the proposed initial angle detector, which consists of an integrator and a phase-locked loop. The initial rotor position is accurately detected within 150ms, and the angle difference between the real position and the detected position is less than 1%. The LCI system operates in two modes (forced commutation mode and natural commutation mode) according to operating speed range. The proposed controllers include a forced commutation controller for the low-speed range, a PI speed controller and a PI current controller, where the forced commutation controller is connected to the current controller in parallel. The current controller is modeled by Matlab/Simulink, where a six-pulse delay of the thyristor and a processing delay are considered by using a zero-order hold. The performance of the proposed start-up method is evaluated in Matlab/Psim at standstill and at low speed. To verify the feasibility of the method, a 5kVA LCI system prototype is implemented, and the proposed initial angle detector and the system performance are confirmed by experimental results from standstill to 900rpm.