Investigation of Chaotic Behavior in DC-DC Converters

DC-DC converters are widely used in regulated switched mode power supplies and in DC motor drive applications. There are several sources of unwanted nonlinearity in practical power converters. In addition, their operation is characterized by switching that gives birth to a variety of nonlinear dynamics. DC-DC buck and boost converters controlled by pulse-width modulation (PWM) have been simulated. The voltage waveforms and attractors obtained from the circuit simulation have been studied. With the onset of instability, the phenomenon of subharmonic oscillations, quasi-periodicity, bifurcations, and chaos have been observed. This paper is mainly motivated by potential contributions of chaos theory in the design, analysis and control of power converters, in particular and power electronics circuits, in general.

• Sajid Iqbal
• Masood Ahmed
• Suhail Aftab Qureshi

• Buck converter
• boost converter
• period- doubling
• chaos
• bifurcation
• strange attractor.

[1] Paul S Addison. Fractals and Chaos. An illustrated course. IOP
Publishing Limited. 1997.
[2] Robert C. Hilborn. Chaos and Nonlinear Dynamics. An Introduction for
Scientists and Engineers. Oxford University Press. 1994.
[3] D. C. Hamill, S. Banerjee and G. C. Verghese, "Chapter 1:
Introduction," in Nonlinear Phenomena in Power Electronics, edited by
S. Banerjee and G. C. Verghese, New York, IEEE Press, 2001.
[4] C. K. Tse. Complex Behavior of Switching Power Converters. CRC
Press. 2004.
[5] M. di Bernardo and C.K. Tse, "Chaos in Power Electronics: An
Overview," Chaos in Circuits and Systems, Edited by G. Chen and T.
Ueta, New York: World Scientific, Chapter 16, pp. 317-340, 2002.
[6] M. di Bernardo and C.K. Tse, "Complex Behavior in Switching Power
Converters," IEEE Proceedings. Vol 90, pp 768-781. May 2002.
[7] S. C. Wong, C. K. Tse and K. C. Tam, "Intermittent Chaotic Operation
in Switching Power Converters," International Journal of Bifurcation
and Chaos, Vol. 14, no. 8, pp. 1971-2978, August 2004.
[8] J.B. Deane and D.C. Hamill, "Analysis, Simulation and Experimental
Study of Chaos in the DC/DC Buck Converter", Power Electronics
Specialists Conference. pp. 491-498, San Antonio TX, 1990.
[9] Simon S. Ang, Power-Switching Converters, 1st edition. Marcel Dekker,
Inc., New York, 1995.