Paralleled LCsCp resonant converters for spark erosion applications

In this paper, the analysis, design, and experimental results of the parallel connection of LC_sC_p resonant converters for a spark erosion power supply are presented. To increase the power of the spark erosion power supply, synchronous (same frequency and phase) and interleaved (same frequency and phase shift) parallel connection of N LC_SC_P resonant converters are proposed. In this way, the resulting power system is the parallel connection of the required modules operating in current mode. From the analysis of the proposal, the design of a power supply for spark erosion, consisting of two modules is presented. Three operation modes are defined: 1-module, 2-synchronous modules and 2-interleaved modules. The performance of the system has been verified in spark erosion operations. Results confirm that synchronous operation provides faster metal removal rate as the discharge energy has been increased, which is suitable for roughing operations, and the interleaved operation provides a reduction in the output current ripple and better surface finish, which is suitable for finishing operations.