THE CHOPPER

BY : RUQAYA MUATAZ
CONTENT:
 What’s mean chopper
 Symbol of chopper
 Types of chopper
 Step-down choppers.
 - Principle Of Step-down Chopper
 Methods Of Control
 Pulse width modulation control or constant frequency
operation.
 Variable frequency control

 Step-down Chopper With R-L Load

Principle Of work
 Step-up choppers.
 Principle Of Step-up Chopper
WHAT’S MEAN CHOPPER?

  a chopper  is a device that converts fixed DC input to a variable

DC output voltage directly. Essentially, a chopper is an electronic 
switch that is used to interrupt one signal under the control of
another.
 In power electronics applications, since the switching element is
either fully on or fully off, its losses are low and the circuit can
provide high efficiency. However, the current supplied to the load
is discontinuous and may require smoothing or a high switching
frequency to avoid undesirable effects.
SYMBOL OF CHOPPER
TYPES OF CHOPPERS:

 Choppers are of Two Types:

 Step-down choppers.
 Step-up choppers.
 In step down chopper output voltage is less than
input voltage.
 In step up chopper output voltage is more than
input voltage
 PRINCIPLE OF STEP-DOWN CHOPPER
 A step-down chopper with resistive load.
 The thyristor in the circuit acts as a switch.

 When thyristor is ON, supply voltage appears across the load

 When thyristor is OFF, the voltage across the load will be zero.

 The element that use as a switch the drop voltage must be (0.5 – 2) V,
and that be neglect when make calculations.
 STEP-DOWN CHOPPERS.

Vdc  Average value of output or load voltage.

I dc  Average value of output or load current.
tON  Time interval for which SCR conducts.
tOFF  Time interval for which SCR is OFF.
T  tON  tOFF  Period of switching or chopping period.
1
f   Freq. of chopper switching or chopping freq.
T
 Average Output Voltage
 tON 
Vdc  V  
t  t
 ON OFF 
t 
Vdc  V  ON   V .d
 T 
t 
but  ON   d  duty cycle
 t 

But during tON , vo  V

Therefore RMS output voltage
tON
1
VO 
T 
0
V 2 dt

2
V tON
VO  tON  .V
T T
VO  d .V
OUTPUT POWER PO = VO IO
BUT IO =VO / R
SO OUTPUT POWER PO = VO 2 / R
PO = DVO 2 / R
 Effective Input Resistance Of chopper
 Ri = V / Idc
 Ri = R / d
 Where d is duty cycle can be varied form 0 to 1 by
changing the t1 or Frequency, and the Vo can be
change from 0 to voltage of input Vs by changing
duty cycle .
METHODS OF CONTROL

 The output dc voltage can be varied by the following

methods:

Pulse width modulation control or

constant frequency operation.

Variable frequency control

 1- PULSE WITH MODULATION
 tONis varied keeping chopping frequency ‘f’ & chopping period ‘T’
constant.
 Output voltage is varied by varying the ON time tON
 2- VARIABLE FREQUENCY CONTROL

 Chopping frequency ‘f’ is varied keeping either tON or tOFF constant.

 To obtain full output voltage range, frequency has to be varied over a
wide range.
 This method produces harmonics in the output and for large t
OFF load
current may become discontinuous
v 0

t O N t O F F
t
T
v 0

tO N tO F F

t
T
STEP-DOWN CHOPPER WITH R-L LOAD
PRINCIPLE OF WORK
 When chopper is ON,supply is connected across load.
 Current flows from supply to load.

 When chopper is OFF, load current continues to flow in the same

direction through FWD due to energy stored in inductor ‘L’.
 Load current can be continuous or discontinuous depending on
the values of ‘L’ and duty cycle ‘d’
 For a continuous current operation, load current varies between
two limits Imax and Imin
 When current becomes equal to Imax the chopper is turned-off and
it is turned-on when current reduces to Imin.
STEP-DOWN CHOPPER WITH R-L
LOAD
EXPRESSIONS FOR LOAD CURRENT IO FOR CONTINUOUS
CURRENT OPERATION WHEN CHOPPER IS ON (0  T  TON)
i0
+
R

V V 0
L

E
-

diO
V  iO R  L  E
dt
Taking Laplace Transform
V E
S
 RI O  S   L 
 S .I O  S   iO  0 
 
 
S
At t  0, initial current iO  0    I min
V  E I min
IO  S  
R
 R

LS  S   S
 L  L
Taking Inverse Laplace Transform

V E  t 
 R  R
  t
iO  t   1  e     I min e  
L L

R

 

This expression is valid for 0  t  tON ,
i.e., during the period chopper is ON.
At the instant the chopper is turned off,
load current is iO  tON   I max

When Chopper is OFF

When Chopper is OFF  0  t  tOFF 
diO
0  RiO  L E
dt
Talking Laplace transform
E
0  RI O  S   L  SI
 O  S   iO S
0 
  
Redefining time origin we have at t  0,
initial current iO  0    I max

I max E
 IO  S   
R  R
S LS  S  
L  L
Taking Inverse Laplace Transform

R
t E  
R
t 
iO  t   I max e L
 1  e
L

R  
The expression is valid for 0  t  tOFF ,
i.e., during the period chopper is OFF

At the instant the chopper is turned ON or at

the end of the off period, the load current is
iO  tOFF   I min
Substituting for I max in equation
 1 d  RT   1 d  RT 
 E 
I min  I max e L
 1  e L

R 
 

we get,
 dRT 
V e L
 1 E
I min  
R  RT  R

e
L
1 

 I max  I min  is known as the steady state ripple.
Therefore peak-to-peak ripple current
I  I max  I min
Average output voltage
Vdc  d .V
Average output current
I max  I min
I dc  approx  
2
Assuming load current varies linearly
from I min to I max instantaneous
load current is given by

iO  I min 
 I  .t
for 0  t  tON  dT 
dT
 I max  I min 
iO  I min  t
 dT 
RMS value of load current
dT
1
I O RMS    i dt
2
0
dT 0

 I max  I min  t  dt
2
1
dT

I O RMS  
dT 
0 
I
 min 
dT


 2  I max  I min  2 2 I min  I max  I min  t 
dT 2
1
I O RMS  
dT   I min  
 dT
 t 
 dT
 dt
0  

RMS value of output current

1
 2  I max  I min  
2 2
I O  RMS    I min   I min  I max  I min 

 3 

RMS chopper current
dT
1
I CH  i
2
0 dt
T 0

dT 2
1   I max  I min  
I CH 
T 
0
 I min  
  dT  t  dt
 
 1
 2  I max  I min  
2 2
I CH  d  I min   I min  I max  I min  
 3 
I CH  d I O  RMS 
Effective input resistance is
V
Ri 
IS

Where
I S  Average source current

I S  dI dc

V
 Ri 
dI dc
 PRINCIPLE OF STEP-UP CHOPPER
I L D
+
+ 

L
C O V
V A O
D
C hopper

Step-up chopper is used to obtain a load voltage higher than the input
voltage V.
The values of L and C are chosen depending upon the requirement of
output voltage and current.
When the chopper is ON, the inductor L is connected across the supply.
The inductor current ‘I’ rises and the inductor stores energy during the
ON time of the chopper, tON.
 When the chopper is off, the inductor
current I is forced to flow through the diode
D and load for a period, tOFF.
 The current tends to decrease resulting in
reversing the polarity of induced EMF in L.
 Therefore voltage across load is given by

dI
VO V  L i.e., VO  V
dt
A large capacitor ‘C’ connected across the
load, will provide a continuous output voltage .
 Diode D prevents any current flow from
capacitor to the source.
 Step up choppers are used for regenerative
braking of dc motors.
 step-_up voltage can be released by control on
duty cycle(d) when (d=0) then output voltage =
load voltage.
 When (d=1) the chopper will be containouse
contact, or (d=~1) the output voltage will be
great.
EXPRESSION FOR OUTPUT VOLTAGE
Assume the average inductor current to be
I during ON and OFF time of Chopper.
When Chopper is ON
Voltage across inductor L  V
Therefore energy stored in inductor
= V .I .tON
Where tON  ON period of chopper.
When Chopper is OFF
(energy is supplied by inductor to load)
Voltage across L  VO  V
Energy supplied by inductor L   VO  V  ItOFF
where tOFF  OFF period of Chopper.
Neglecting losses, energy stored in inductor
L = energy supplied by inductor L
 VItON   VO  V  ItOFF T  tON  tOFF
 
VO 

V tON  tOFF   1 
VO  V 
tOFF tON 
 1 
 T 
 T 
VO  V    1 
T  t  VO  V  
 ON   1  d 
Where tON
Where d   duty cyle
T = Chopping period or period T

of switching.
For variation of duty cycle ' d ' in the
range of 0  d  1 the output voltage VO
will vary in the range V  VO  
 PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS
 The thyristor requires a certain minimum time to
turn ON and turn OFF.
 Duty cycle d can be varied only between a min. &
max. value, limiting the min. and max. value of the
output voltage.
 Ripple in the load current depends inversely on the
chopping frequency, f.
 To reduce the load ripple current, frequency should
be as high as possible.
EX: A CHOPPER CIRCUIT IS OPERATING ON TRC AT A FREQUENCY
OF 2 KHZ ON A 460 V SUPPLY. IF THE LOAD VOLTAGE IS 350 VOLTS,
CALCULATE THE CONDUCTION PERIOD OF THE THYRISTOR IN
EACH CYCLE.

V  460 V, Vdc = 350 V, f = 2 kHz

1
Chopping period T 
f
1
T   0.5 m sec
2  10 3
t 
Output voltage Vdc   ON  V
 T 
Conduction period of thyristor
T  Vdc
tON 
V
0.5  10 3  350
tON 
460
tON  0.38 msec
 PROBLEM
 Input to the step up chopper is 200 V. The output required is
600 V. If the conducting time of thyristor is 200 sec.
Compute
Chopping frequency,
If the pulse width is halved for constant
frequency of operation, find the new
output voltage.
V  200 V , tON  200  s, Vdc  600V
 T 
Vdc  V  
 T  tON 
 T 
600  200  6 
 T  200  10 
Solving for T
T  300  s
Chopping frequency
1
f 
T
1
f  6
 3.33 KHz
300  10
Pulse width is halved
6
200  10
 tON   100  s
2
Frequency is constant
 f  3.33KHz
1
T   300  s
f
 T 
 Output voltage = V  
 T  tON 
 300 106 
 200  6 
  300 Volts
  300  100  10 
PROBLEM

 A dc chopper has a resistive load of 20 and

input voltage VS = 220V. When chopper is ON,
its voltage drop is 1.5 volts and chopping
frequency is 10 kHz. If the duty cycle is 80%,
determine the average output voltage and the
chopper on time.
VS  220V , R  20, f  10 kHz
tON
d  0.80
T
Vch = Voltage drop across chopper = 1.5 volts
Average output voltage
 tON 
Vdc     VS  Vch 
 T 
Vdc  0.80  220  1.5   174.8 Volts
Chopper ON time, tON  dT
1
Chopping period, T
f
1 3
T  0.110 secs  100 μsecs
10 10 3

Chopper ON time,
tON  dT
3
tON  0.80  0.110
3
tON  0.08  10  80 μsecs
PROBLEM

 Ina dc chopper, the average load current is

30 Amps, chopping frequency is 250 Hz,
supply voltage is 110 volts. Calculate the ON
and OFF periods of the chopper if the load
resistance is 2 ohms.
I dc  30 Amps, f  250 Hz , V  110 V , R  2
1 1 3
Chopping period, T    4 10  4 msecs
f 250
Vdc
I dc  & Vdc  dV
R
dV
 I dc 
R
I dc R 30  2
d   0.545
V 110
Chopper ON period,
3
tON  dT  0.545  4 10  2.18 msecs
Chopper OFF period,
tOFF  T  tON
3 3
tOFF  4 10  2.18 10
3
tOFF  1.82 10  1.82 msec
PROBLEM

 A dc chopper in figure has a resistive load of R = 10

and input voltage of V = 200 V. When chopper is ON, its
voltage drop is 2 V and the chopping frequency is 1 kHz.
If the duty cycle is 60%, determine
Average output voltage
RMS value of output voltage
Effective input resistance of chopper
Chopper efficiency.
 C hopper
i0
+

V R v0


V  200 V , R  10, Chopper voltage drop Vch  2V
d  0.60, f  1 kHz.
Average output voltage
Vdc  d  V  Vch 
Vdc  0.60  200  2  118.8 Volts
RMS value of output voltage
VO  d  V  Vch 
VO  0.6  200  2   153.37 Volts
Effective input resistance of chopper is
V V
Ri  
IS I dc
Vdc 118.8
I dc    11.88 Amps
R 10
V V 200
Ri     16.83
IS I dc 11.88
Output power is
 V  Vch 
dT 2 dT 2
1 v 1
PO 
T 
0
0

R
dt 
T 
0
R
dt
 d  V  Vch 
2

PO 
R
0.6  200  2
2

PO   2352.24 watts
10
Input power,
dT
1
Pi 
T  Vi
0
O dt

1
dT
V  V  Vch 
PO 
T 0 R
dt
 dV  V  Vch 
PO 
R
0.6  200  200  2
PO   2376 watts
10
Chopper efficiency,
PO
  100
Pi
2352.24
 100  99%
2376
PROBLEM

A chopper is supplying an inductive load

with a free-wheeling diode. The load
inductance is 5 H and resistance is 10..
The input voltage to the chopper is 200 volts
and the chopper is operating at a frequency
of 1000 Hz. If the ON/OFF time ratio is 2:3.
Calculate
Maximum and minimum values of load
current in one cycle of chopper operation.
Average load current
L  5 H , R  10, f  1000 Hz ,
V  200 V , tON : tOFF  2 : 3
Chopping period,
1 1
T   1 msecs
f 1000
tON 2

tOFF 3
2
tON  tOFF
3
T  tON  tOFF
2
T  tOFF  tOFF
3
5
T  tOFF
3
3
tOFF  T
5
3 3
T   1 10  0.6 msec
5
 tON  T  tOFF
tON   1  0.6  10  0.4 msec
3

Duty cycle,
3
tON 0.4 10
d  3
 0.4
T 1 10
Maximum value of load current is given by
 
dRT

V 1  e L  E
I max 
R  
RT  R
 1  e L 
Since there is no voltage source in
the load circuit, E = 0
 
dRT

V 1  e L

 I max 
R  
RT 
 1  e L

 
0.4101103 
200 1  e 5

I max   101103 
10 
 1  e 5 
 1  e 0.8103 
I max  20  2103

 1  e 
I max  8.0047A
Minimum value of load current with E = 0
is given by
 dRT

V  e  1
L
I min 
R  RT 
 e L
 1 
 0.4101103 
200  e 5
 1
I min   10110 3
  7.995 A
10
 e 5  1 
Average load current
I max  I min
I dc 
2
8.0047  7.995
I dc  8 A
2
PROBLEM
 A chopper feeding on RL load is shown in figure, with
V = 200 V, R = 5, L = 5 mH, f = 1 kHz, d = 0.5
and E = 0 V. Calculate
Maximum and minimum values of load
current.
Average value of load current.
RMS load current.
Effective input resistance as seen by
source.
RMS chopper current
V = 200 V, R = 5 , L = 5 mH,
f = 1kHz, d = 0.5, E = 0
Chopping period is
1 1 3
T   1 10 secs
f 1 10 3

C hopper
i0
+
R

v
FW D L
0

E

Maximum value of load current is given by
 
dRT

V 1  e L
 E
I max 
R  
RT  R
 1  e L

  
0.551103

200 1  e 510
3

I max   0
5  
3
5110

 1  e 5103 
 
1  e 
0.5
I max  40  1 
 24.9 A
 1 e 
Minimum value of load current is given by
 dRT 
V  e L  1 E
I min  
R L RT  R
 e  1 
 0.551103 
 1
3
200  e 510
I min   51103  0
5
 e 5103  1 
 
 e  1
0.5
I min  40  1   15.1 A
 e 1 
Average value of load current is
I1  I 2
I dc 
2
for linear variation of currents
24.9  15.1
 I dc   20 A
2
RMS load current is given by
1
 2  I max  I min  2  2
I O RMS    I min   I min  I max  I min  
 3 
 1
 2  24.9  15.1 2
 2
I O RMS   15.1   15.1 24.9  15.1 
 3 
1
 96.04  2
I O RMS    228.01   147.98  20.2 A
 3 
RMS chopper current is given by
I ch  d I O RMS   0.5  20.2  14.28 A
Effective input resistance is
V
Ri 
IS
I S = Average source current
I S  dI dc
I S  0.5  20  10 A
Therefore effective input resistance is
V 200
Ri    20
IS 10
 APPLICATION OF CHOPPER
1. Switched mode power supplies.
2. Speed controllers for DC motors
3. Class D electronic amplifiers
4. Battery-operated electric cars
5. Battery chargers
6. Medical diagnostic systems(EMG,MRI,CTscan,..)
7. Dental Unit Chair
8. Mobil, LCD, laptop
9. Servo motor
REFERENCE

 Presentation on theme: "DC Choppers 1 Prof. T.K.

Anantha Kumar, E&E Dept
 http://www.circuitstoday.com/choppers-an-introduction