Quasi-Resonant Converter for Electric Vehicle Charging Applications: Analysis, Design, and Markov Model Use for Reliability Estimation

Abstract

This article presents a quasi-resonant converter (QRC) with multiple sources. A QRC has many benefits, such as high gain, constant current, and nominal voltage stress on MOSFET, with an up to 49% duty cycle with fewer switches. These features of the converter make it suitable for electrical vehicle (EV) off-board charging, which requires significant voltage gain. As the switch operates under soft switching condition, the converter has reduced power loss, improved efficiency, and increased reliability. To reduce grid dependency, the suggested QRC is housed with a grid and PV at the input ports. The proposed converter is modeled using mathematical equations and examined using the MATLAB platform under different operating conditions. In this work, analysis of the steady state, along with components design, estimation of the voltage and current stresses, are addressed. Further, the reliability of the QRC based on the probability of components failure is carried out using the Markov model. The hardware results are observed to validate the design, operation, efficiency, and suitability of the proposed QRC for EV off-board charging applications. A 400-watt test rig is designed to assess the performance of QRC.

Keywords

• battery charging
• converter
• electric vehicle
• Markov model
• quasi resonant