World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology

International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering

Vol:10, No:8, 2016

A Cost-Effective Design and Analysis of Full Bridge

LLC Resonant Converter
Kaibalya Prasad Panda, Sreyasee Rout

 output DC voltage in resonant converter contains low

Abstract—LLC (Inductor-inductor-capacitor) resonant converter harmonics and thus the overall efficiency of the system is
has lots of advantages over other type of resonant converters which more. The PWM switching explained in literature [3]-[5]
include high efficiency, more reliable and have high power density. generate more harmonics whereas; LLC resonant converter
This paper presents the design and analysis of a full bridge LLC operates at zero voltage. So, THD becomes less.
resonant converter. In addition to the operational principle, the ZVS This paper presents the design of a simple and compact
and ZCS conditions are also explained with the DC characteristics.
prototype design of the LLC resonant converter which is
Simulation of the LLC resonant converter is performed in MATLAB/
Simulink and the practical prototype setup is analyzed in Proteus
described in following sub-sections: In Section II, the
presented converter topology is described with DC
Digital Open Science Index, Energy and Power Engineering Vol:10, No:8, 2016 waset.org/Publication/10005828

software. The result is verified through analysis and design of a low

cost, 200 watt prototype converter. characteristics. Further; in Section III, operational modes of
the converter and design parameters are clearly explained. In
Keywords—LLC, Proteus, Resonant converter ZCS, ZVS. Section IV, simulation and results are presented. The circuit is
designed using MATLAB/Simulink environment and also in
I. INTRODUCTION proteus software which shows a less THD output on the AC
side of the converter due to the considerable reduction of
R ENEWABLE energy generation plays a vital role in
power generation. To get high efficiency of these
systems, commonly DC-DC converters are coupled with the
higher order harmonics. Simulation results are verified by
experimental results. The experimental setup and its operation
are described in Section V.
DC storage system. Load resonant converters are extensively
used in many applications like LCD monitors, wind energy
II. FULL BRIDGE LLC RESONANT CONVERTER
conversion systems, power supply design surface etc. An LLC
resonant converter is one among such load resonant converter In this paper, a full bridge LLC resonant converter topology
with advantages of high efficiency, low noise, compact design, [6]-[8] is described. Fig. 1 shows presented full bridge LLC
and reliable system. LLC resonant converter overcomes resonant converter. Input DC voltage is converted to AC by
drawbacks associated with the PWM converters such as high the help of a full bridge rectifier circuit and energy is
switching loss, high electromagnetic interference (EMI) noise, transferred to the resonant tank circuit consisting of Lm, Lr,
design complications, etc. Two basic types of resonant Cr and load is connected in parallel with Lm.
converters are Series resonant converter and the Parallel
resonant converter. Both converters operate identically and
energy circulating in the resonant circuit is tapped which
supplies to the output.
In a series resonant converter (SRC), resonant component
inductors and capacitors are connected in series with the load
which is incapable of regulating the output under light loading
conditions. A wide range of frequency variation is also
required to regulate the output. In the parallel resonant
converter, components are arranged in parallel with the load
where the circuit inherently requires a high circulating current
which makes it difficult in large load variation applications.
To overcome limitations of the conventional resonant Fig. 1 A full bridge LLC resonant converter
converter, an advanced structure called as the LLC resonant
converter is designed [1], [2]. The DC characteristic of the converter is dependent on two
Series parallel resonant converters are commonly called as resonant frequencies which are given in (1) and (2):
LLC resonant converter which consists of two inductors and
one capacitor forming a resonant circuit. Voltage regulation 1
over wide ranges and zero voltage switching (ZVS) can be f1  (1)
2 Lr Cr
achieved over the entire load range in such converters. The

1
K. P. Panda and S. Rout are working as Asst. Professor in the Department f2  (2)
of Electrical Engineering, C. V. Raman College of Engineering, 2 ( Lm  Lr )Cr
Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India (e-mail: [email protected],
[email protected]).

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 10(8) 2016 1143
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering
Vol:10, No:8, 2016

Under light loading condition, peak of the characteristics moves close to f1.
moves close to f2 and under heavy loading condition, peak
Digital Open Science Index, Energy and Power Engineering Vol:10, No:8, 2016 waset.org/Publication/10005828

Fig. 2 DC characteristics of the presented converter

Under different loading condition, a DC characteristic injected from the voltage source to the load through the
shown in Fig. 2 is partitioned into different regions. Region 1 resonant tank circuit.
is the operating region of the proposed converter in which  Mode 5 (t5): In this mode, power from the voltage source
ZVS condition is naturally achieved. Region 2 is categorized is transferred to the load in resonant manner. At the end of
where the load condition between f1 and f2 decides the this mode, polarity of the magnetizing current changes
converter operation under ZVS and ZCS condition. This is which initiates the next half cycle in the same manner as
called as multi-resonant converter region. Converter is fully described in the above modes.
operated in ZCS mode in the overloaded region marked as Fig. 3 represents the output waveforms in different modes.
Region 3. Current through the resonant inductor Lr, Lm and voltage
MOSFETs are generally preferred for designing of the LLC across the resonant capacitor Cr is also shown in the same.
resonant converter; which allows high frequency operation
ensuring less switching loss. This can be achieved by choosing
proper values of Lm, Lr and Cr.

III. OPERATIONAL MODES OF THE PROPOSED CONVERTER

The mode of operation of the proposed full bridge LLC
resonant converter [9], [10] is divided into five different
modes which are as follows:
 Mode 1 (t1): During this mode, switches T2 & T3 are
switched on and then the power is fed from the input
voltage source to the load resistance. The primary side
inverter current decays gradually in resonant manner
through the diode D1 & D4 and secondary current flows
to the load.
 Mode 2 (t2): In this mode, only the magnetizing current
appears in the primary side and secondary side current
becomes zero at ZCS. Thus the diode D1 & D4 turns off.
 Mode 3 (t3): T1 & T4 are turned on during this mode and
T2 & T3 are turned off at ZVS. Current flows in the load Fig. 3 Output waveform of the proposed LLC resonant converter
circuit through the diode D2 & D3.
 Mode 4 (t4): During this mode, the primary side inverter The design parameters are calculated using the gain
current reverses its polarity and simultaneously secondary equation as described in some of the references, [11]-[13],
side current rises gradually from zero. ZCS turn on of taking harmonics approximation into consideration. The gain
diode D2 & D3 can be obtained in this mode and power is function is given by,

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 10(8) 2016 1144
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering
Vol:10, No:8, 2016

tdead = dead time of the driving circuit, CS = output capacitance

L1 f12 of the switches, Ro = effective load resistance.
GC  (3)
 
 f12  L1  1  1  j  f12  1 L1Qf1 
 IV. SIMULATION AND RESULT
The LLC resonant DC-DC converter is composed of the
f1  f s fr (4) bridge driver, the LLC resonant tank and the rectified DC
load. The LLC DC-DC resonant tank excited with an AC
L1  Lm Lr , Lm  tdead 16Cs f r1 (5) source. This LLC resonant tank is composed of series resonant
capacitor Cr, series resonant inductor Lr, parallel resonant
Lr inductor Lm and equivalent load resistor Req. The simulation
Q  Z r Rac  n2 Ro , Cr  2 f r1 Z r (6) uses MATLAB/SIMULINK software and for experimental
Cr
verification, proposed converter is moreover designed using
where, f1 = normalized frequency, L1 = Inductance ratio, Q = PROTEUS software. The simulation circuit is shown in Fig. 4.
Quality factor, n = turns ration of the transformer i.e. Np/Ns,
Digital Open Science Index, Energy and Power Engineering Vol:10, No:8, 2016 waset.org/Publication/10005828

Fig. 4 Simulation circuit for the proposed LLC converter

The internal subsystem contains single phase full bridge 2. IN4007 - Diodes
rectifier together with single phase full bridge inverter circuit 3. Capacitor
which is shown in Figs. 5 & 7 respectively. Output voltage 4. Resistor.
waveforms of the same are shown in Figs. 6 & 8 respectively. 5. LM7812 - IC
By changing the value of leakage inductance smooth output 6. IN4742A
can be obtained which is shown in Fig. 9. 7. IC555- Timer chip
8. IRF540- N-Channel MOSFET
V. PROTEUS DESIGN FOR PROPOSED CONVERTER 9. BC547
LLC tank circuit behaves like a selective tuned circuit, i.e. it 10. RV- Variable resistor
produces approximately a sine wave inverter output current 11. 1210-121k
and voltage waveform of switching frequency fs. The 12. ATMEGA8 microcontroller
proposed converter in closed-loop is simulated by PROTEUS
software. When the operating frequency is higher than the
frequency at the peak voltage gain of the LLC resonant tank
with different load conditions, MOSFET achieves a ZVS
condition in their turn-on transition.
In order to provide ZVS condition, there should be
inductive impedance; so that the resonant current will lag
behind supply voltage. The magnetizing inductor Lm should
be able to supply the required amount of inductive energy. The
value of Lm is selected such that the magnetizing current
should not be more than 20% of the resonant current [14].
Literature study shows; to reduce the conduction losses the
value of Lm should be high, but to have a successful ZVS its Fig. 5 Simulation of rectifier subsystem block
value should be as small as possible.
The following components are used in designing the
simulation circuit.
1. TRAN-2P2S - Transformer

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 10(8) 2016 1145
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering
Vol:10, No:8, 2016
Digital Open Science Index, Energy and Power Engineering Vol:10, No:8, 2016 waset.org/Publication/10005828

Fig. 6 Output of rectifier circuit

Fig. 7 Simulation of inverter subsystem block

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 10(8) 2016 1146
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering
Vol:10, No:8, 2016
Digital Open Science Index, Energy and Power Engineering Vol:10, No:8, 2016 waset.org/Publication/10005828

Fig. 8 Output of inverter circuit

Fig. 9 Output voltage waveform on loading condition obtained from simulation

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 10(8) 2016 1147
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering
Vol:10, No:8, 2016
Digital Open Science Index, Energy and Power Engineering Vol:10, No:8, 2016 waset.org/Publication/10005828

Fig. 10 Proposed circuit design using proteus

Fig. 11 Rectifier circuit design using proteus

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 10(8) 2016 1148
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering
Vol:10, No:8, 2016
Digital Open Science Index, Energy and Power Engineering Vol:10, No:8, 2016 waset.org/Publication/10005828

Fig. 12 Pulse generator circuit design using proteus

9. Step-up Transformer
10. Rectifier Circuit 
 

Fig. 13 Output obtained from proteus simulation

VI. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
A prototype of the proposed LLC resonant converter is
developed as shown in Figs. 14 & 15 with design values of the
components are calculated using (1)-(6). The quality factor is
also calculated which depends on the loading. Due to the easy Fig. 14 Experimental setup of proposed circuit
availability of input AC supply is used in designing the circuit.
It is then converted to DC by using rectifier circuit. AVR
programmer has been used for programming of ATmega8
microcontroller and ICs are used which can generate pulses
for the MOSFETs. Results obtained from the prototype are
shown in Figs. 16 & 17 respectively which illustrates the
proposed converter is well operating under soft switching as
well as under full loading conditions.
The following components are used in designing the
prototype of proposed converter.
1. Step-down transformer
2. Rectifier Circuit
3. IC7812
4. IC7805 Fig. 15 Experimental setup with its output
5. ATMEGA8 microcontroller
6. IR2110
7. IRF540N
8. Inductor

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 10(8) 2016 1149
 World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology
International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering
Vol:10, No:8, 2016

[6] F. Canales, P. Barbosa, and F. C. Lee, “A wide input voltage and load
output variations fixed-frequency ZVS DC/DC LLC resonant converter
for high-power applications”, in Proc. IEEE Appl. Power Electron.
Conf. (APEC), pp. 2306-2313, 2002.
[7] S. Y. Tseng, S.T. Peng, Y.J. Chuang, “Multi-switch Driving Circuit with
LLC Resonant Circuit for High Pulsed-Voltage Generator”, in Proc.
IEEE PEDS, pp.803-808, Dec. 2011.
[8] G. Ivensky, S. Bronshtein, A. Abramovitz, “Approximate Analysis of
Resonant LLC DC-DC Converter”, in IEEE Trans. Power Electron.,
vol.26, no.11, pp.3274-3284, Nov. 2011.
[9] H. Mizutani, T. Mishima, M. Nakaoka, “A Novel LLC Multi-Resonant
DC-DC Converter with an Anti-Resonant Circuit”, in Proc. IPEMC,
pp.1324-1335, Jun. 2012.
[10] B.C. Kim, K.B. Park, C.E. Kim, B.H. Lee, G.W. Moon, “LLC Resonant
Converter with Adaptive Link-Voltage Variation for a High-Power
Density Adapter”, in IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol.25, no.9,
pp.2248-2252, Sep. 2010.
[11] Hangseok Choi, “Design Considerations for an LLC Resonant
Converter”, in Fairchild Power Seminar Fairchild Semiconductor, 82-3,
Dodangdong, Wonmi-gu, Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea, 2007.
Fig. 16 Output voltage waveform at full load condition [12] Y. Gu, L. Hang, U. Chen, Z. Lu, Z. Qian, and J. Li, “A simple structure
of LLC resonant DC-DC converter for multi-output applications”, 20th
Digital Open Science Index, Energy and Power Engineering Vol:10, No:8, 2016 waset.org/Publication/10005828

Annual Meeting of Applied Power Electronics Conference, Vol 3, pp.

1485-1490, 2005.
[13] Bing Lu, Liu Wenduo, Yan Liang, Fred C. Lee and Jacobus D. Van
Wyk, “Optimal Design Methodology of LLC Resonant Converters”,
Proc. of APEC, pp: 533-538, 2006.
[14] Spiazzi, S. Buso, “Effect of a split transformer leakage inductance in the
LLC converter with integrated megnatics”, in Proc. of IEEE COBEP,
Brazilian, pp.135-140, 27-31 Oct. 2013.

K. P. Panda is presently working as Assistant Professor in Department of

Fig. 17 Output voltage during soft start condition Electrical Engineering, C. V. Raman College of engineering, Bhubaneswar,
Odisha, India. He received his M. Tech in Electrical Engineering with
specialization in Power Electronics and Drives from KIIT University,
VII. CONCLUSION Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India in the year 2013. His areas of research interest
In this paper, optimal design and analysis of full bridge are Power electronics and drives, Power electronics application to Power
system, particle swarm optimization, Genetic Algorithm and its applications.
LLC resonant converter is presented. Comparison, advantages
and drawbacks associated with various types of LLC resonant S. Rout is presently working as Assistant Professor in the Department of
converters are explained. ZCS and ZVS condition of rectifier Electrical Engineering, C. V. Raman College of engineering, Bhubaneswar,
Odisha, India. She received her M. Tech in Electrical Engineering with
and MOSFETs are analyzed from the DC characteristics of specialization in Power System Engineering from VSSUT, Burla, Odisha,
presented converter. Due to ZVS and ZCS switching of the India in the year 2013. Her areas of research interest are modeling of power
converter, the higher order harmonics are reduced. A full systems, stability and control of large scale systems, power electronics,
bridge LLC resonant converter is simulated using two particle swarm optimization and its applications.

different software environments. The results are verified with

the compact and efficient low cost 24V, 200 watt prototype
design which shows the efficiency of the proposed converter
exceeds more than 90% with full load condition due to
reduction in THD.

REFERENCES
[1] R. Beiranvand, B. Rashidian, M. R. Zolghadri, and S. M. H. Alavi,
“Using LLC resonant converter for designing wide-range voltage
source”, IEEE Trans. Industrial Electron., vol. 58, no. 5, pp. 1746-1756,
May 2011.
[2] F. Musavi, M. Craciun, D. S. Gautam, W. Eberle, and W. G. Dunford,
“An LLC resonant dc-dc converter for wide output voltage range battery
charging applications”, IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 28, no. 12,
pp. 5437-5445, Dec. 2013.
[3] R.L. Steigerwald, “A Comparison of Half Bridge Resonant Converter
Topologies”, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, pp. 174 – 182, 1988.
[4] H. Hu, X. Fang, Q. Zhang, Z. J. Shen, and I. Batarseh, “Optimal design
considerations for a modified LLC converter with wide input voltage
range capability suitable for PV applications”, in Proc. IEEE Energy
Conversion Congress and Expo (ECCE), pp. 3096-3103, 2011.
[5] B. Yang, F. C. Lee, A. J. Zhang, and G. Huang, “LLC resonant
converter for front end DC/DC conversion”, in Proc. IEEE Appl. Power
Electron. Conf. (APEC), pp. 1108-1112, 2002.

International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 10(8) 2016 1150