DEVELOPMENT OF A HIGH FREQUENCY AND HIGH-VOLTAGE PULSE

TRANSFORMER FOR A TWT HVPS

S. C. Kim

, S. H. Nam, H. M. Keon
#
, and D. S. Park
#

POSTECH PLS/PAL San-31,Hyoja-dong, Nam-ku, Pohang, Kyungbuk 790-784, Korea
#
LG Innotek Co., Ltd R&D Gr. 148-1, Mabuk-ri, Gusung-eup, Yongin-city, Kyunggi-do 449-910, Korea

This work supported by Dual Use Technology Center of ADD (Korea Agency for Defense Development).

E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract

A pulse transformer for a high frequency and high
voltage operation had been designed, fabricated, and
tested. The high frequency operation of the pulse
transformer increases power density. Therefore, it is
possible to reduce power supply volume. To produce high
voltage output, the transformer should have a high step-up
ratio. The step-up ratio is generally limited in pulse
transformers due to stray capacitance and leakage
inductance. The limit was overcome by winding multi-
secondary outputs. Switching frequency of the
transformer was 80 kHz. Input and output voltages of the
transformer were 265 VDC and 4.1 kV, respectively.
Normal operation power of the transformer was 1.7 kW.
Maximum volume of the transformer was 200 cm
3
. Pulse
transformers with various winding arrangements are
fabricated to check variations in electrical characteristics.
In this paper, design procedures and test results of the
high frequency and high voltage pulse transformer will be
presented. Results of various parameters, such as
transformer loss, temperature rise, leakage inductance,
distributed capacitance, will be discussed in detail.

I. INTRODUCTION

Several applications such as traveling wave tube (TWT)
amplifiers, lasers, and X-ray tubes need high voltage
power supply systems [1]. Magnetic component
technology has received considerable attention in recent
years since it is widely recognized that the ability to
manufacture small and efficient magnetic components is
the key to achieving high power density. It is the major
contributor in the size of any SMPS since it determines
about 25% of the overall volume and more than 30% of
the overall weight. Fundamental issues in the design of
any high-power, high frequency transformer are to
minimize the loss and the volume. Therefore design of the
transformer must be consider 1) selection of the smallest
standard core shape relevant to the throughput power,
frequency, and transformer operating temperature, and 2)
optimum flux density providing minimum transformer
loss, and 3) calculation of the optimum wire diameter of
the winding [2]. We designed a high voltage, high
frequency pulse transformer for TWT amplifier high
voltage power supply (HVPS). Required input voltage of
the TWT HVPS is 265 Vdc. The HVPS requires two
output for cathode and collector, and their voltages are
4.1 kV and 1.9 kV, respectively. Switching frequency of
the transformer is selected as 80 kHz. From the
fundamental parameters, turn-ratios of the transformer are
calculated as 15.4 and 7.2 for 4.1 kV and 1.9 kV
secondary outputs, respectively. In case of direct winding
of the transformer, turn-ratios are relatively large and thus
increase values of parasitic elements such as leakage
inductance and parasitic capacitance. Those parasitic
elements will induce unacceptably high self-resonance
current. We overcome such limit by adapting multi
secondary windings with suitable step-up ratios.

II. HIGH FREQUENCY AND HIGH
VOLTAGE PULSE TRANSFORMER

A. Electrical Parameters
We designed a high frequency and high voltage pulse
transformer for TWT HVPSs. Fundamental specifications
of the required transformer are 80 kHz switching
frequency, 265 Vdc primary input voltage, two secondary
outputs of 1.9 kV and 4.1 kV, normal operation average
power of 1.7 kW, and maximum allowable volume of 200
cm
3
. The minimum power density is thus 8.5 W/cm
3
.
From the fundamental parameters, turn-ratios of the
transformer are calculated as 15.4 and 7.2 for 4.1 kV and
1.9 kV secondary outputs, respectively. In case of direct
winding of the transformer that has one primary and one
secondary, turn-ratios are relatively large and thus
increase values of parasitic elements such as leakage
inductance and parasitic capacitance. We can not easily
control the stray capacitance and the leakage inductance.
Moreover, those parasitic elements can produce large
peak values of self-resonant current, and thus
unacceptably increase the operating temperature of the
transformer. Therefore, we separate the secondary
winding as four to reduce values of stray capacitance and
leakage inductance. This configuration is also beneficial
when we arrange the winding layers to reduce proximity
effects between windings and thus reduce the transformer
loss. Fig. 1 shows a connection scheme of the pulse
0-7803-7915-2/03/$17.00 2003IEEE. 1150
transformer with the load. As shown in Fig. 1, all
secondary windings are connected in series to finally
produce the required high voltage of 4.1 kV.
S1
1100 Vrms
640 mArms
y y y y
0.25 F
0.25 F
0.25 F
0.25 F
10 x 4
0.33 F 0.66 F
Calhod Calhod Calhod Calhod
( (( ( 4100 4100 4100 4100 Vdo Vdo Vdo Vdo) )) )
Coeolo Coeolo Coeolo Coeolo
( (( ( 1900 1900 1900 1900 Vdo Vdo Vdo Vdo) )) )
212 Vrms
(265 Vdc)
Fu Fu Fu Fu Bdqe Bdqe Bdqe Bdqe
80 kHz swlohhq 80 kHz swlohhq 80 kHz swlohhq 80 kHz swlohhq
(Phase Shll PVM) (Phase Shll PVM) (Phase Shll PVM) (Phase Shll PVM)
S2
1100 Vrms
640 mArms
S3
1166 Vrms
40 mArms
S4
1166 Vrms
40 mArms
S1
1100 Vrms
640 mArms
y y y y
0.25 F
0.25 F
0.25 F
0.25 F
10 x 4
0.33 F 0.66 F
Calhod Calhod Calhod Calhod
( (( ( 4100 4100 4100 4100 Vdo Vdo Vdo Vdo) )) )
Coeolo Coeolo Coeolo Coeolo
( (( ( 1900 1900 1900 1900 Vdo Vdo Vdo Vdo) )) )
212 Vrms
(265 Vdc)
Fu Fu Fu Fu Bdqe Bdqe Bdqe Bdqe
80 kHz swlohhq 80 kHz swlohhq 80 kHz swlohhq 80 kHz swlohhq
(Phase Shll PVM) (Phase Shll PVM) (Phase Shll PVM) (Phase Shll PVM)
S2
1100 Vrms
640 mArms
S3
1166 Vrms
40 mArms
S4
1166 Vrms
40 mArms

Figure 1. Pulse transformer connection diagram
Based on the fundamental parameters, input and output
requirements of the transformer are calculated and shown
in Table 1. For the calculation, a pulse duty of 0.64 and a
transformer efficiency of 90% are used.

Table 1. Parameters of the pulse transformer
Efficiency 90(%)
Duty 0.64
265 (Vdc)
Primary voltage
212 (Vrms)
1100 (Vrms)
S1
1375 (Vdc)
1100 (Vrms)
S2
1375 (Vdc)
1166 (Vrms)
S3
1458 (Vdc)
1166 (Vrms)
Secondary Voltage
S4
1458 (Vdc)
S1, S2 640 (mArms)
Secondary Current
S3, S4 40 (mArms)
In 1668 (Wrms)
Total power
Out 1501 (Wrms)
Total Pri. current 7.87 (Arms)
S1, S2 5.19
Turn rati
S3, S4 5.5

B. Core, Insulation and Wire
A core of the pulse transformer should be as small as
possible while fulfilling the required operating frequency,
power, and temperature. The maximum allowable
transformer volume is 200 cm
3
. We selected Magnetic
ferrite EC type core 47228-EC with R material. The core
has 50.5 cm
3
volume (V
e
) and the dimensions are shown
in Fig.2. Since the maximum transformer volume is 213.3
cm
3
, we could not use all core window area to fulfill the
required allowable volume of 200 cm
3
. To have the
required dielectric strength of 6 kV in the transformer,
kapton film H type (breakdown strength: 7 kV/mil) is
used as an insulation film. Layer-to-layer insulation
thickness between primary and secondary winding is
chosen 2 mil that gives more then 2.3 insulation safety
margin between windings. At wire design, the wire
current density of transformer is assumed as 500 Dcma
(circular mil/A). After considering skin depth, we used 35
AWG x 200 strand Litz wires as the primary wire. Two
types of Litz wires, which are 35 AWG x 50 strand and 35
AWG x 10 strand, are selected for the secondary windings
of high current outputs (S1 and S2), and low current
outputs (S3 and S4), respectively [3]. With the core,
insulation film, and wire, the transformer losses are
calculated for different flux densities [2]. Considering
available window area of the core, an optimal flux density
is obtained as 1400 G. At 1400 G, the total transformer
loss was about 5.66 W that included core (5.1 W) and
winding (0.56 W) losses. Table 2 summarizes the winding
parameters at 1400 G flux density.

Table 2. Optimal transformer winding
Operation Flux Density 1400 G
Primary 15 Turn, 2 Layer
S1 78 Turn, 9 Layer
S2 78 Turn, 9 Layer
S3 83 Turn, 7 Layer
Secondary

S4 83 Turn, 7 Layer

Figure 2. R-47228EC core (mm): A=72.4, B=27.9, C=19,
D=17, E=9.53, F=19, G=16.9, transformer volume = A x
2B x (F + 2G) = 213.3 cm
3
max.

C. Winding Design and Arrangement
We tried three different winding arrangements to find
an optimum operation condition. Those arrangements are
shown in figures 3, 4 and 5. Primary winding is winded
on whole length of the core bobbin while secondary
windings are separated by half length of the bobbin. The
followings explain the main differences of each type.
Type-I: Primary winding is arranged at the most
inner side of windings as shown in Fig. 3.
Type-II: Primary winding is arranged in the middle
of windings as shown in Fig. 4.
Type-III: Primary winding is arranged at the most
outer side of windings as shown in Fig. 5.

E
L
E
E
F
K
E
L
E
E
F
K
E
L
E
E
F
K
E
L
E
E
F
K
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
S
1
S
1
S
1
S
1
S
3
S
3
S
3
S
3
S
2
S
2
S
2
S
2
S
4
S
4
S
4
S
4
S
1
S
1
S
1
S
1
S
2
S
2
S
2
S
2
S
3
S
3
S
3
S
3
S
4
S
4
S
4
S
4
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
P
r
i
m
a
r
v

Figure 3. Type-I winding arrangement.

1151
E
L
E
E
F
K
E
L
E
E
F
K
E
L
E
E
F
K
E
L
E
E
F
K
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
S
1
S
1
S
1
S
1
S
3
S
3
S
3
S
3
S
2
S
2
S
2
S
2
S
4
S
4
S
4
S
4
S
1
S
1
S
1
S
1
S
3
S
3
S
3
S
3
S
4
S
4
S
4
S
4
S
2
S
2
S
2
S
2
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
P
r
i
m
a
r
v

Figure 4. Type-II winding arrangement.


E
L
E
E
F
K
E
L
E
E
F
K
E
L
E
E
F
K
E
L
E
E
F
K
S
2
S
2
S
2
S
2
S
4
S
4
S
4
S
4
S
1
S
1
S
1
S
1
S
3
S
3
S
3
S
3
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
P
r
i
m
a
r
v
S
2
S
2
S
2
S
2
S
1
S
1
S
1
S
1
S
4
S
4
S
4
S
4
S
3
S
3
S
3
S
3

Figure 5. Type-III winding arrangement

D. Parameter Measurement
Electrical parameters of the transformers with three
different winding arrangements are measured and the
results are listed in Table 3. Measured parameters are
quality factor (Q), leakage inductance (L
l
) at the primary
side, winding capacitance (C
w
), and self-resonant
frequency (f
r
). The resonant frequency of the transformer
is measured under secondary open state and at the
instance of maximum primary voltage with frequency
scan. This occurs at parallel resonance with primary
inductance (L
p
) and distributed capacitance (C
d
) at the
primary side. Therefore distributed capacitance can be
calculated from Eq. (1) [5].
[ ]
P r d
L f C =
2
) 2 ( 1 (1)
As shown in Table 3, Type-II winding arrangement has
the lowest leakage inductance of 2 H, and the highest
resonant frequency of 1.4 MHz. With increased self-
resonant frequency away from the switching frequency,
the effect of self- resonant current on the transformer
operation becomes minimum. Therefore, we can conclude
from the parameter measurement that the Type-II can be
considered the best arrangement among those three.

Table 3. Parameters measure for the difference winding
Winding arrangement Type-I Type-II Type-III
Quality factor, Q, @ 80 kHz > 10 > 45 > 44
Leakage inductance,
l
L
(H)
6.03 2 6.23
Winding cap.,
W
C
(pF)
116 237 120
Resonant freq.,
r
f
(MHz)
0.75 1.4 1
Primary inductance, L
p
(H) 7421 705 890
Distributed cap.,
d
C
(pF)
6 18.4 28.5

E. Output waveforms
To test the transformer operation performance, each
transformer was connected such as shown in Fig. 1, and
output waveforms of each secondary windings are
measured. The primary winding was excited from a full
bridge FET switching circuit. Switching frequency of the
transformer was 80 kHz. The waveforms in figures 7, 8,
and 9 are results for the transformers of Type-I, II, and III,
respectively. All waveforms shown in the figures are very
well reproducing the input 80 kHz switching signals.
However, we can see small resonant marks on flat-tops of
S3 and S4 outputs of Type-I and S1 and S2 outputs of
Type-III. We cannot find any such resonant marks for the
case of Type-II. This also confirms that the Type-II has
the highest resonant frequency and is optimal winding
arrangement among three different types.

III. SUMMARY

A high frequency and high voltage pulse transformer
for a TWT HVPS is designed, fabricated, and tested.
Fundamental specifications of the required transformer
are 80 kHz switching frequency, 265 Vdc primary input
voltage, two secondary outputs of 1.9 kV and 4.1 kV,
normal operation average power of 1.7 kW, and
maximum allowable volume of 200 cm
3
. The minimum
power density is thus 8.5 W/cm
3
. We separated a
secondary winding as four to reduce values of stray
capacitance and leakage inductance. Large parasitic
elements can produce large peak values of self-resonant
current, and thus unacceptably increase the operating
temperature of the transformer. Three different winding
arrangements were tested and found that the one with
primary winding, which is arranged in the middle of
windings, had the best performance.



(a) Output waveform of S1 and S2
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(b) Output waveform of S3 and S4
Figure 6. Output waveforms of Type-I transformer


(a) Output waveform of S1 and S2

(b) Output waveform of S3 and S4
Figure 7. Output waveforms of Type-II transformer



(a) Output waveform of S1 and S2

(b) Output waveform of S3 and S4
Figure 8. Output waveforms of Type-III transformer


IV. REFERENCES

[1] M.A Perez, C. Blanco, M. Rico, F.F. Linera, A New
Topology for High Voltage High Frequency
Transformers, Applied Power Electronics Conference
1995(APEC'95), pp554-559
[2] R. Petkov, Optimum Design of a High-Power High-
Frequency Transformer, IEEE Transactions on power
electronics, Vol. 11, No 1, Jan 1996, pp33-42
[3] Charles R. Sullivan, Optimal choice for number of
strands in a Litz-wire transformer winding, IEEE
Transactions on power electronics, Vol. 14, No 3, March
1999, pp283-291
[4] Charles S. Kerfoot, High Voltage High Frequency
Conversion Transformer, International Energy
Conversion Engineering Conference 1997, pp329-331
[5] PALPH E. TARTER., Solid-State Power Conversion
Handbook, A Wiley-Interscience Publication, 1993
[6] S. C. Kim, S. H. Nam, S. H. Kim, D. T. Kim, and S. H.
Jeong, High power density, high frequency, and high
voltage pulse transformer, IEEE Pulsed Power Plasma
Science conference, 2001. PPPS-2001, vol.1, pp 808-811
[7] S. C. Kim, S. H. Nam, etc, Field Analysis of the
TWT HVPS Transformer and HV Module, IEEE 25th
IPMC and 2002 High Voltage workshop, 506-509
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