Nonlinear Dynamics in Power Converter Systems
Summary
Power converters lie at the heart of modern electrical energy systems, enabling efficient transformation and regulation of voltage and current across applications ranging from renewable energy integration to electric-vehicle charging. The inherent switching operations in these converters render their behaviour intrinsically nonlinear, giving rise to phenomena such as bifurcations, subharmonic oscillations and deterministic chaos. These nonlinear effects can undermine stability, degrade performance and increase electromagnetic interference. Recent advances have focused on refined modelling techniques that capture fast and slow dynamics, including fractional-order and piecewise-smooth models, alongside control strategies that exploit digital signal processing, geometric control and real-time parameter estimation. By integrating insights from small-signal and large-signal analyses, researchers have developed methods to predict instability boundaries, suppress undesirable oscillations and expand the safe operating envelope. The study of nonlinear dynamics in power converters thus serves both fundamental interests in dynamical systems theory and practical imperatives for robust, high-performance energy conversion in a decarbonising world.
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Nonlinear Dynamics in Power Converter Systems publication trend
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Technical terms
Nonlinear dynamics: System behaviour where outputs are not proportional to inputs, often leading to bifurcations and chaos.
Bifurcation: A qualitative change in system stability or periodicity triggered by variation of a parameter.
Chaos: A deterministic yet aperiodic and sensitive dependence on initial conditions within a nonlinear system.
Fractional-order system: A dynamical system described by differential equations of non-integer order, offering additional modelling flexibility.
Memristor: A passive circuit element whose resistance depends on the history of charge and flux linkage.
Pulse-width modulation (PWM): A control technique that regulates output by varying the duty cycle of a switching waveform.
Discrete-time mapping: A mathematical representation of system states at successive switching instants, used for stability and bifurcation analysis.
References
- Estimation-Correction Modeling and Chaos Control of Fractional-Order Memristor Load Buck-Boost Converter. Complex System Modeling and Simulation (2024).
- A Tutorial and Review Discussion of Modulation, Control and Tuning of High-Performance DC-DC Converters Based on Small-Signal and Large-Signal Approaches. IEEE Open Journal of Power Electronics (2020).
- Mitigation of Complex Non-Linear Dynamic Effects in Multiple Output Cascaded DC-DC Converters. IEEE Access (2021).
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