A novel modeling of instability phenomena in PFC converter

Power factor correction (PFC) converters have become the norm in almost all electronic systems. Most high-frequency power factor correctors use resistor emulation to achieve a near-unity power factor and a small line current distortion. This technique requires forcing the input current with an average current mode control to flow the input voltage. Stability of this system is discussed by using the previous linear model. However, new instability phenomena are detected in the stable region expected by the prior linear model. Therefore, this paper is concerned with the detection of the unstable phenomena in a PFC circuit. Period doubting bifurcation and chaos instability are new instability phenomena in a PFC circuit. Lissajous curves are introduced to explain these unstable phenomena. The study reveals that the PFC converter losses its stability as a result of decreasing the load current.