Computer-Aided Design and Weight Estimation of High-Power High-Voltage Power Conditioners

Aspects of high-power high-voltage power conditioner design and weight estimation relevant to space subsystems are discussed. Weight has become an increasingly important parameter with the advent of larger and more sophisticated spacecraft, especially those for high-power communication. A computer program for estimating the weight of a high-power dc-to-dc power conditioner as functions of output power, operating frequency, input voltage range, maximum input voltage, and efficiency, respectively, is described, including computer-aided design of inductors and transformers. Curves of typical power conditioner weight as functions of the preceding parameters, derived from the power conditioner weight program, are presented.