Efficiency Optimization of a Dual Active Bridge Converter with a Variable Inductor for Battery Charging Applications

Conrado G. Marques; João P. S. Cipriani; Leandro Roggia; Marina S. Perdigão; Jonas R. Tibola; Álysson R. Seidel

doi:10.18618/REP.e202622

Authors

Conrado G. Marques Federal University of Santa Maria https://orcid.org/0009-0006-8692-7406
João P. S. Cipriani Federal University of Santa Maria https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7775-8069
Leandro Roggia Industrial Technical School of Santa Maria https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3766-8357
Marina S. Perdigão Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3771-2306
Jonas R. Tibola Industrial Technical School of Santa Maria https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2734-9272
Álysson R. Seidel Industrial Technical School of Santa Maria https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0634-5790

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18618/REP.e202622

Keywords:

Circulating Energy, phase-shift, Variable Inductor, Efficiency, DAB

Abstract

This paper investigates the efficiency improvements achieved by using a Variable Inductor (VI) in a Dual Active Bridge (DAB) converter for battery charging applications. The introduction of the VI adds a degree of freedom to conventional Phase-Shift Modulation (PSM), which extends the soft-switching range under light-load conditions and reduces reactive power under high load conditions. However, an optimal combination of power transfer inductance (L_DAB) and phase-shift (PS) exists that yields maximum efficiency for each output power (P_o), and conversion ratio d. To validate this, a 600 W DAB converter prototype was experimentally developed. The efficiency results obtained from a sweep of L_DAB and PS were compared against those of a fixed-inductance DAB (FI-DAB). The experimental results demonstrate the superior performance of the proposed VI-DAB converter under both high and low load conditions.

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Author Biographies

Conrado G. Marques, Federal University of Santa Maria

was born in Rio Pardo, RS, Brazil, in 2000. He received the degree in industrial electronics technology and the M.S. degree in electrical engineering from the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), Santa Maria, Brazil, in 2023 and 2025, respectively. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering at the same university. From March 2025 to December 2025, he was a Substitute Professor with the Col´egio Técnico Industrial de Santa Maria (CTISM). His current research interests include electronic control systems and the development of DC–DC converters for battery charging applications.

João P. S. Cipriani, Federal University of Santa Maria

was born in Santa Maria, RS, Brazil, in 1998. He received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), Santa Maria, Brazil, in 2019, and the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from the same university in 2022. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering in a co-tutelle program between UFSM and the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg (OVGU), Magdeburg, Germany, supported by CAPES. From 2019 to 2020, he was a Research Intern with the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS, Dresden, Germany, where he worked on low-power hardware design and energy harvesting systems. His research interests include power electronic converters, control and optimization of energy conversion systems, real-time co-simulation of power system dynamics, and model predictive control applied to power electronic systems.

Leandro Roggia, Industrial Technical School of Santa Maria

was born in Santa Maria, Brazil, in 1985. He received the B.S.,M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil, in 2008, 2010, and 2013, respectively. From 2010 to 2013, he was a Professor with Federal Institute of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil. He is currently with the Federal University of Santa Maria, where he is a Professor with the Technical Industrial School of Santa Maria, and a Researcher with Power Electronics and Control Group since 2003, and Electrical and Computational Systems Research and Development Group since 2013. His research interests include power electronics, dc–dc converters, energy storage devices, converters for photovoltaic systems, LED drivers, and power factor correction.

Marina S. Perdigão, Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra

was born in Coimbra, Portugal, in 1978. She received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal, in 2004 and 2012, respectively. From 2006 to 2012, she conducted her Ph.D. work with the University of Coimbra in cooperation with the University of Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain. Since 2002, she has been with the Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra-Coimbra Institute of Engineering, Coimbra, Portugal, first as a Teaching Assistant and then as an Adjunct Professor, since 2012. She has been a Researcher with the Instituto de Telecomunicações, Coimbra, Portugal, since 2001. She has coauthored of more than 50 journal and conference publications, including more than 20 publications in highly referenced journals. Her research interests include high-frequency switching converters, resonant converters, dc–dc converters, power electronics for renewable energies, IPT, inductor modeling and computer simulation applications. Dr. Perdig˜ao was the recipient of the Best Paper Award of the 2009 IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics and the First Prize Paper, for her technical competence, by the Industrial Lighting and Display Committee of the IEEE Industry Applications Society. She collaborates as a Transactions Paper Reviewer. She is also a Reviewer for other journal publications

Jonas R. Tibola, Industrial Technical School of Santa Maria

was born in Tenente Portela, Brazil, 1988. He received the master’s and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM), Santa Maria, Brazil, in 2013 and 2017, respectively. He worked as a Lecturer with Federal Institute of Education, Venâncio Aires, Brazil, from 2015 to 2016. He is currently with UFSM, where he has been a Professor with Technical and Industrial School of Santa Maria (CTISM). He is also a Researcher with Computational Systems Research and Development Group (GSEC) and Power Electronic Research Group (GEPOC), UFSM. His research interests include modeling, control and instrumentation of pulsewidth modulation (PWM) inverters, PWM modulation strategies, and dc–dc converters.

Álysson R. Seidel, Industrial Technical School of Santa Maria

was born in S˜ao Pedro do Sul, Brazil, in 1975. He received the B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil, in 1999 and 2004, respectively. From 2004 to 2008, he was an Associate Professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, Brazil. He is currently with Federal University of Santa Maria, where he is a Professor with the Col´egio T´ecnico Industrial de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, Brazil, and a Researcher with the GEDRE/UFSM Intelligence in Lighting research group since 1997, and Electrical and Computational Systems Research and Development Group since 2010. His research interests include power electronics, dc–dc converters, energy storage devices, resonant converters, lighting systems, and self-oscillating systems.

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