Effective December 2016 Switching regulator

Technical Note 10637 Supersedes March 2007 inductor selection

Switching regulator inductor selection

Basic Operation
In switching regulator applications the inductor is used as an energy
storage device, when the semiconductor switch is on the current
in the inductor ramps up and energy is stored. When the switch
turns off this energy is released into the load, the amount of energy
stored is calculated by the formula;

Energy = 1/2L x I2 (Joules)

L is the inductance in Henrys and I is the peak value of inductor cur-

rent. The amount by which the current changes during a switching
cycle is known as the ripple current and is calculated by the formula;
V1 = L x di/dt
V1 is the voltage across the inductor, di is the ripple current, and dt
is the duration that the voltage is applied. This shows that the value
of ripple current is dependent upon the value of inductance.
Choosing the correct value of inductance is important in order to
obtain acceptable inductor and output capacitor sizes and sufficient-
ly low output voltage ripple.
Buck Inductor Vout
I load 1 2
dI

I Inductor ESR

Overview
0
In switching regulator applications the inductor is used as
an energy storage device providing the ability for power and Figure 1. Simple switching regulator circuit operation
voltage conversion within a circuit. The basic converter topol-
ogies for switching regulator inductors are Buck (step-down),
Boost (step-up), Buck-Boost (step-down/up) Cuk (step-up/ Figure 1 shows the inductor current is made up of AC and DC com-
down) and SEPIC (Step-down/up). This technical note looks ponents. The AC component is high frequency and will flow through
at the basic operation of switching regulators and provides the output capacitor because it has a low HF impedance. A ripple
guidance on inductor selection for each of the converter voltage is produced by the capacitors equivalent series resistance
topologies. (ESR) that will appear at the output of the switching regulator. This
ripple voltage needs to be sufficiently low as not to effect the opera-
tion of the circuit the regulator is supplying, normally in the order of
10 mVpk-pk - 500 mVpk-pk.
Selecting the correct ripple current also impacts on the size of
inductor and output capacitor, the capacitor will need to have a suf-
ficiently high ripple current rating or it will overheat and dry out. To
achieve a good compromise between inductor and capacitor size
a ripple current value of 10% - 30% of maximum inductor current
should be chosen. The current in the inductor will be continuous for
output currents greater that 5% - 15% of full load.
Technical Note 10637 Switching regulator inductor selection

Effective December 2016 


Inductor selection for Buck converters Inductor selection for Boost converters
The following criteria needs to be defined or calculated to be able to The Boost converter uses the same procedure as the Buck con-
properly select a switching regulator inductor. verter with a modification of the formulas for duty cycle and inductor
• Maximum input voltage voltage change.

• Output voltage Diode

Boost Inductor
• Switching frequency
• Maximum ripple current
12V
Input Voltage Switch
• Duty cycle 5V
Output Output
Cap Voltage
Buck Inductor
Switch

Input Voltage 5V
12 V Freewheeling Output Output
Diode Cap Voltage Figure 3. B
 oost inductor cricuit

Figure 3 is a typical Boost converter circuit. The defined application

parameters for this example will be:
Figure 2. B
 uck inductor cricuit Switching frequency: 100 kHz
Figure 2 is a typical Buck converter circuit. The defined application Maximum Input voltage: 5.5 V
parameters for this example will be: Maximum ripple current: 100 mA.
Switching frequency: 250 kHz Output voltage: 12 V
Input voltage range: 12 V ±10%
Maximum ripple current: 220 mA. Step 1. Calculate the duty cycle: D = 1 – (Vi/Vo)
Output voltage: 5 V
D= duty cycle
Step 1. Calculate the duty cycle: D = Vo/Vi Vo= output voltage
D= duty cycle Vi= maximum input voltage
Vo= output voltage
Vi= maximum input voltage D= 5.5/12 = 0.542

D= 5/13.2 = 0.379 Step 2. Inductor voltage

V1 = Vi (Switch on)
Step 2. Calculate the voltage across the inductor V1= 5.5 V
V1 = Vi – Vo (Switch on)
V1= 13.2 – 5 = 8.2 V V1 = Vo - Vi (Switch off)
V1= 6.5 V
V1 = - Vo (Switch off)
V1= -5 V Step 3. Calculate the required inductance
L = V1 (Switch on) x dt/di
Step 3. Calculate the required inductance L = (5.5 x 0.542/100 x 103)/0.1 = 298 µH
L = V1 (Switch on) x dt/di
L = (8.2 x 0.379/250 x 103)/0.22 = 56.5 µH
The Boost converter inductor current does not continuously flow
to the load unlike that of the Buck converter. During the switch ‘on’
period the inductor current flows to ground and the load current is
supplied from the output capacitor. The output capacitor therefore
must have sufficient energy storage capability and ripple current rat-
ing in order to supply the load current during this period.

2 EATON www.eaton.com/electronics
Switching regulator inductor selection Technical Note 10637
 Effective December 2016


Inductor selection for Cuk converters

(including Buck-Boost & SEPIC)
The procedure shown is for the Cuk converter but it applies equally
well to the SEPIC and the single inductor Buck-Boost topologies. The
example will be calculating for two separate inductors of equal value.
-12V
Inductor 1 Coupling Inductor 2
Cap
Input 5-18V Output Output
Switch Cap Voltage
Diode

Figure 4. Cuk inductor cricuit

Figure 4 is a typical Cuk converter circuit.The defined application

parameters for this example will be:
Switching frequency: 200 kHz
Maximum Input voltage: 18 V
Maximum ripple current: 200 mA.
Output voltage: -12 V

Step 1. Calculate the duty cycle: D = Vo/(Vo + Vi)

D= duty cycle
Vo= output voltage
Vi= maximum input voltage

D= 12/(12 + 18) = 0.4

Step 2. Inductor voltage

V1 = Vi (Switch on)
V1= 18 V

V1 = Vo (Switch off)
V1= 12 V

Step 3. Calculate the required inductance

L = V1 (Switch on) x dt/di
L = (18 x 0.4/200 x 103)/0.2 = 180 µH

Both the SEPIC and Cuk topologies offer advantages over the single
inductor Buck-Boost design. Input current is continuous resulting
in lower peak values and drive circuit requirements are simple due
to switch location. The use of a coupled inductor for the SEPIC and
Cuk will also reduce the cost and board space penalties of the single
inductor option and the inductor inductance needed will be half that
of a single inductor design.

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Publication No. 10637 All other trademarks are property
December 2016 of their respective owners.