Analysis of Load Current Ripple in a Five Level Buck Converter

Abstract

A buck converter, sometimes known as a step-down converter, is a kind of DC-to-DC converter that belongs to the DC chopper family. Buck converters are a sort of switching power electrical device that is typically used to provide an alternating DC output voltage that is less than the constant DC input voltage source. The primary focus in the field of electronic appliances is on the root cause of harmonic distortion in a Buck converter system, where interference from harmonic signals frequently appears at both the input and output terminals of the load side, affecting the efficiency and performance of the buck converter. This research paper focuses on the load current ripple content and the harmonic problem encountered by a five-level buck converter. The research consists of ten buck converters with varying levels and two different loads, R load and RLC load, and all of these converters were used to compare one to the other as one of the objectives of this research. After repeated calculations, trial and error, and conclusion of the study hypothesis, the research got intriguing findings where the buck converter ripple and harmonic content were minimized by raising the buck converter level.