457
Dynamic Modeling of the Dual-Active Bridge
Topology for High-Power Applications
Georgios D. Demetriades, Hans-Peter Nee
*
ABB AB Corporate Research
721 78 Västerås-SWEDEN
email: georgios.demetriades@se.abb.com
*
Royal Institute of Technology-KTH
Electrical Machines and Power Electronics
Teknikringen 33- SE-100 44 Stockholm-SWEDEN
email: hansi@kth.se
Abstract—In the present paper the staedy-state and the
dynamic behavior of the Dual-Active Bridge topology have
been studied. The small-signal model of the converter has
been derived and theoretical and experimental results are
presented.
The Dual-Active Bridge is an attractive solution for high-
power applications where a bi-directional operation is
needed.
I. INTRODUCTION
The Dual-Active Bridge (DAB) topology which was
first presented by Kheraluwala et.al in [1], [2], and [3]
consists of two switch-mode active bridges, one operating
in the inversion mode and the other in the rectification
mode. The ac-terminals of the bridges are interconnected
by means of a high-frequency transformer, enabling
power flow in both directions as shown in Figure 1. Each
bridge can be controlled to generate a high-frequency
square-wave voltage at its transformer terminals
(
0
, V V
dc
± ± ). By incorporating a controlled amount of
leakage inductance into the transformer the two square
waves can be appropriately phase-shifted to control the
power flow from one dc-source to the other. A bi-
directional power transfer can be achieved. Power is
delivered from the bridge generating the leading square
wave. Maximum power transfer is achieved at a phase
shift of 90 degrees. In a wide load range all the devices are
operated at ZVS and therefore high efficiency is obtained.
The DAB can operate with bi-directional power flow in
both step-up and step-down operation
II. STEADY-STATE OPERATION AND ANALYSIS
The commutation sequence starts by assuming that the
inductor current is flowing in the negative direction i.e.
through the devices
+ A
D ,
3 s
D and
2 s
D as shown in Figure
1(a). While the current is flowing through diode
+ A
D the
voltage across the switch
+ A
T is zero. The transistor
+ A
T is
switched on at zero voltage and eventually the current
reverses and starts flowing through the transistor and
through the diodes
1 s
D and
4 s
D as illustrated in Figure
1(b) and Figure 1(c). At a certain instant the transistor
+ A
T
is turned off and the energy stored in the inductance is
transferred to the snubber capacitors by resonance. The
snubber capacitor, which is placed across
+ A
T , will take
over the current, and the transistor turn-off occurs under
ZVS conditions. Simultaneously, the snubber capacitor,
which is connected across the transistor
- A
T , will be
discharged and will eventually force the diode
- A
D to be
forward-biased. Therefore, the inductor current starts
flowing through the diode
- A
D and diodes
1 s
D and
4 s
D ,
as shown in Figure 1(d).
Similarly, the transistor
- A
T is turned on at ZVS as
shown in Figure 1(e) and Figure 1(f), and the
commutation sequence will be repeated as above.
dc V +
dc V -
+ A T
- A T
+ A
D
- A D
s
C
s
C
σ
L
F T Ideal /
1 s
T
2 s
T
1 s
D
2 s
D
3 s
T
4 s
T
3 s
D
4 s
D
C R
(a)
dc
V +
dc V -
+ A T
- A T
+ A
D
- A D
s C
s
C
σ
L
F T Ideal /
1 s
T
2 s
T
1 s
D
2 s
D
3 s
T
4 s
T
3 s
D
4 s
D
C R
(b)
dc
V +
dc
V -
+ A
T
- A
T
+ A
D
- A D
s
C
s
C
σ L
F T Ideal /
1 s
T
2 s
T
1 s
D
2 s
D
3 s
T
4 s
T
3 s
D
4 s
D
C R
(c)
dc V +
dc V -
+ A T
- A T
+ A
D
- A D
s C
s
C
σ
L
F T Ideal /
1 s
T
2 s
T
1 s
D
2 s
D
3 s
T
4 s
T
3 s
D
4 s
D
C
R
(d)
dc
V +
dc V -
+ A T
- A T
+ A
D
- A D
s C
s
C
σ
L
F T Ideal /
1 s
T
2 s
T
1 s
D
2 s
D
3 s
T
4 s
T
3 s
D
4 s
D
C
R
(e)
Figure 1:The equivalent circuits for each mode of operation
978-1-4244-1668-4/08/$25.00 ©2008 IEEE