Modular Power Supply for Micro Resistance Welding

Abstract

The study is devoted to the important issue of enhancing the circuitry and characteristics of power supplies for micro resistance welding machines. The aim of the research is to provide high quality input current and to increase the energy efficiency of the output pulse generator by means of improving the circuit topologies of the power supply main blocks. In study, the principle of constructing the power supply for micro resistance welding, which provides high values of output welding current and high accuracy of welding pulse formation, makes it possible to reduce energy losses, and provides high quality of consumed input current, is represented. The multiphase topology of the charger with power factor correction based on SEPIC converters is suggested as the most efficient for charging the supercapacitor storage module. The multicell topology of the supercapacitor energy storage with voltage equalizing is presented. The parameters of the converter cells are evaluated. The calculations of energy efficiency of the power supply’s input and output converters based on suggested topologies are carried out and verified in MATLAB Simulink. The power factor value greater than 99 % is derived.

Keywords

• energy efficiency
• modular multilevel converters
• power supplies
• supercapacitors
• welding