The flyback converter

Figure 10 depicts the basic elements from the flyback converter. Again all control
circuitry is omitted, and the switching MOSFET is represented by an ideal switch.

Figure 10 Phase one, storing energy in the transformer.

For the moment we assume that at t=0 the buffer capacitor is charged to the nominal
output voltage Vout and that the current through the primary windings of the
transformer is zero. At t=0 the switch closes and a current will start to flow through
the primary winding. This will induce a voltage over the secondary winding with a
polarity as indicated (see previous section). Since the diode is reverse biased no
secondary current will flow, so basically the secondary winding is "not connected". In
other words at the primary side of the transformer we "just see an inductor". As a
result the primary current will start to increase lineary according to I=(12/L1)*t.
During the time the switch is closed the voltage induced over the secondary windings
will be n*12V. This means that the diode minimally has to block a reverse voltage of
n*12+Vout

Figure 11 Phase two, dumping the energy from the transformer into the buffer
capacitor.

At a certain moment the switch will open (Fig. 11). Lets call the current that was
flowing through the primary winding at the moment just before the switch was opened
Ipeak. The energy then stored at the moment of opening is 0.5*L1*(Ipeak*Ipeak). The
transformer wants to sustain the magnetic flux. Since the circuit at primary side is
open the only way the inductor can do this is by inducing a voltage at the secondary
side high enough (>Vout) to forward bias the diode. The initial value of the current
will be I2=Ipeak/n. During the time that the diode is forward biased, the voltage over
the secondary winding will equal Vout+0.8V. The 0.8V is the voltage drop over the
diode and can for a high output voltage like in a NIXIE converter be neglected. The
transformer will transform this voltage down to Vout/n. So the total voltage that the
switch has to block in open position is 12+(Vout/n).
Actually this is the big advantage of a flyback converter over a boost converter. In a
boost converter the switch (MOSFET) has to carry a large current during the on phase
and a high voltage during the off phase. In the flyback converter the voltage during
the off phase is transformed down to a value determined by the ratio in turns. This
means that a MOSFET with a much lower Ron can be used (see section on the
boostconverter). Similarly, in the boost converter the diode has to carry both the high
on current and a high reverse voltage. In the flyback converter the diode at the
secondary side only has to block a high voltage while the current is low (Ipeak/n).
This makes it possible to select a diode with smaller capacitances and hence higher
switching speed. All this results in reduced losses and an increased efficiency.

Figure 12 Phase three, energy dump completed discharge of drain-source capacitor

This continues until all energy stored in the transformer is dumped in the buffer
capacitor. At that moment I2 becomes zero (Fig. 12). At that moment the e.m.f
induced at the primary side (Vout/n) will vanish. However, the parasitic capacitance
of the switch (source-drain capacitance of the MOSFET) will be charged to
(Vout/n)+12 V. At the primary side now a series resonant tank is formed with a
charged capacitor (Fig. 12 right). This will cause a dampened oscillation.

Figure 13 Voltage over the switch during all three phases

Figure 13 schematically shows the drain-source voltage (the voltage over the switch)
during all the phases of the converter just described. During phase the switch is
closed. What we see is the voltage drop over the switch caused by the non-zero on
resistance. During this phase the current will increase linearly, so also the voltage
drop over Ron will increase linearly. At point b the switch opens. The secondary
current will start to flow and the output voltage wil appear down transformed over the
primary winding. The total blocking voltage over the switch will be 12+(Vout/n) (Fig
13c). At point d all the energy is dumped in the capacitor and the secondary current
drops to zero causing the induced e.m.f. at primary side to vanish. The charged drain-
source capacitor, now suddenly connected in series with the inductance of the primary
winding will result in a dampened oscillation (Fig. 12e). At point f the switch closes
again, and any remaining energy in the LC tank will be dissipated in the transistor.

Figure 14 Stray inductance.

This leaves just one small phenomenon to be explained. No transformer is ideal.
There will always be magnetic field lines generated by the primary windings which
are not (fully) enclosed by the secondary windings. This will cause a stray inductance
that can be modeled as a small inductor in series with the primary winding of the
transformer (Fig. 14). We have seen that all the energy that is stored in the
transformer is dumped in the buffer capacitor. This does not hold for the (small)
amount of energy stored in the stray inductance. So the sudden opening of the switch
will cause a sharp voltage peak, just as with any inductor which is suddenly
disconnected from a DC current. The small stray inductor in series with the source-
drain capacitance will cause a dampened high frequency oscillation (Fig. 15).

Figure 15 High frequency oscillations due to energy stored in the stray inductance.

If needed the switching transistor can be protected from the high voltage peak by an
RC snubber network or a zenerdiode which limits the maximum source-drain voltage.
Finally you can check for yourself the equation derived for the output voltage of the
boost converter also holds for the flyback converter. This is not really surprising, like
in the boost converter the flyback converter is based on the dumping of the energy
from an inductor or the primary winding of a tranformer in the load. The transformer
just serves to lower the voltage over the switch.
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A flyback converter high voltage supply for NIXIEs.
After all what has been said so far, the circuit diagram of the flyback converter will
hold no surprises (Fig.16). Literally the only difference with the boost converter is
that the inductor is replaced by a transformer, and that the transistor has been replaced
for a BUZ21. The BUZ21 has a much lower on resistance (Ron=0.085 ohm) as
compared to the BUZ41A (Ron=1.5 ohm) but also a lower drain-source breakdown
voltage (100V versus 500V).

Figure 16 Circuit diagram of the Flyback converter.

The difficult part of the circuit is the transformer. Well it is not exactly difficult, but
the problem is that you have to make it yourself. What makes things worse is that
finding a suitable ferrite core can some times be difficult since component vendors
often only have a few types on stock. The E-shape ferrite core that I use measures
20x20x5 mm (Fig. 16) I got them from Paul van de Broek who always helps me when
I need something special.

Figure 17 The ferrite core that I use (20x20x5 mm).

So what is the strategy for finding the number of turns you need on the ferrite core
that you have? Well first of all I always start with my inductor test-bench so that I can
compare what I have made with the reference 100 H inductor. If this is your first fly-
back converter it might be illustrative to first try the ferrite core without an airgap.
Mind everybody always says airgap, but what they actually mean is a spacer, often
made from plastic (cellotape). So start with say 10 or 20 windings without an airgap.
What you probably will see in the test-bench is a too high inductance (slower increase
of current as compared to the 100 H inductor). At the same time you will find the
ferrite saturating at a low current. It is now time to include the spacer. Attach a peace
of cello tape and cut the excess amount of tape with a razor blade so that only the
touching surfaces of the ferrite are covered with tape. If you try the inductor now you
will find a much lower inductance and a higher saturation current. Probably you will
need to add or remove some turns to get an inductance of 100 H (same slope). For
the primary winding I use 0.4 (or 0.5) mm diameter insulated copper wire. When you
have determined the proper number of primary turns, the secondary winding consists
of ten times that number of turns. For the secondary windings I use something like
0.1-0.15 mm diameter wire. I always include a layer of tape in between two layers of
secondary windings to prevent arcing. The transformers that I use have 22 primary
turns and 220 secondary turns.


Figure 18 Two examples of the Flyback converter built on a peace of breadboard.

Figure 19 shows the drain-source voltage of power MOSFET measured with a 1:10
reduction probe. The 1- on the left axis marks the 0 V input level. The image is not
very sharp due to some trigger jitter caused by a 50Hz ripple on the power supply.
Nevertheless, several features from Fig. 15 can be recognized. The repetition
frequency is 32 kHz and the maximum blocking voltage of the transistor is about 31 V
according to theory. The voltage over the transistor almost swings for two full periods
until the transistor switches on again. The high frequency oscillations due to the stray
inductance are there, but difficult to see on the photograph. The increasing voltage
drop over Ron during the on phase is clearly visible.

Figure 19 Drain-source voltage of power MOSFET measured with a 1:10 reduction
probe.

The total converter can easily be built in an area of less than 4x4 cm. To increase the
lifetime of my tubes I usually run them on as low as current as possible. Typically 1-
1.5 mA. This means that the converter has to generate for 6 digits about 6 to 7 watts.
The efficiency is ca. 80%. This is not spectacular but good enough for such a simple
circuit. If you decide to built one: have fun, be careful and good luck!