Lossless active snubber for half-bridge output rectifiers

摘要

A bridge-type primary switching circuit (12) is represented by a pulsed voltage source (VSW). The primary switched waveform is transformed to secondary circuit (14) using a transformer (T1) with the required turns ratio N and a center-tapped secondary winding (16). Half-bridge rectifier (18) formed by diodes (DR1) and (DR2) rectifies the secondary waveform and feeds the waveform through a low-pass filter (LF) and (CF) to obtain the desired DC output voltage. The snubber circuit (20) is represented by switch-diode-capacitor combinations (SA-DS1-CS1) and (SB-DS2-CS2) across each rectifier (DR1) and (DR2). Capacitances (CS1) and (CS2) are selected large enough such that their voltages remain essentially constant during a switching cycle. The controlled switches (SA) and (SB) are turned ON with a specific delay after the primary voltage reaches a magnitude close to the input voltage in order to allow the rectifier diodes (DR1) and (DR2) to be commutated. It is crucial that the switches (SA) and (SB) be turned OFF before the primary voltage collapses to zero to avoid current spikes through the switches.