• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.181-190
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• 2007

This paper presents a novel circuit topology of a DC bus line series switch and parallel snubbing capacitor-assisted soft-switching PWM full-bridge inverter type DC-DC power converter with a high frequency planar transformer link, which is newly developed for high performance arc welding machines in industry. The proposed DC-DC power converter circuit is based upon a voltage source-fed H type full-bridge soft-switching PWM inverter with a high frequency transformer. This DC-DC power converter has a single power semiconductor switching device in series with an input DC low side rail and loss less snubbing capacitor in parallel with the inverter bridge legs. All the active power switches in the full-bridge arms and DC bus line can achieve ZCS turn-on and ZVS turn-off transition commutation. Consequently, the total switching power losses occurred at turn-off switching transition of these power semiconductor devices; IGBTs can be reduced even in higher switching frequency bands ranging from 20 kHz to 100 kHz. The switching frequency of this DC-DC power converter using IGBT power modules can be realized at 60 kHz. It is proved experimentally by power loss analysis that the more the switching frequency increases, the more the proposed DC-DC power converter can achieve a higher control response performance and size miniaturization. The practical and inherent effectiveness of the new DC-DC converter topology proposed here is actually confirmed for low voltage and large current DC-DC power supplies (32V, 300A) for TIG arc welding applications in industry.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.12-19
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• 2021

This paper presents a safety assessment method for FTA-based induction heating systems; the failures and causes of electrical fire are first analyzed for each part and module qualitatively, and methods to manage high probabilities of failure and electrical fire are considered, thereby improving the reliability of the induction heating system. The cumulative importance value (ACC) of the minimal cut set is drawn by setting failure as the top event, and STACK and SMPS are observed to account for about 70% of the induction heating system failures. Thus, intensively managing the basic events contained in the minimal cut set of failures for STACK and SMPS is expected to provide effective and stable operation of the induction heating system. When electrical fire is set as the top event, the STACK percentage is 90%. Accordingly, the current IGBT is changed to a FET to increase the applied voltage and prevent induction heating system failure, and a heat sink plane is installed to prevent FET heating caused by switching, thereby preventing an electrical fire. By classifying the parts and modules of the induction heating system in detail and by applying FTA based on actual failure rates and relevant data, more practical and reasonable results may be expected. Hence, continuous research must be conducted to ensure safety when using induction heating systems.