Analysis and Design of Energy Regenerative Snubber for Transformer Isolated Converters

An energy regenerative passive snubber for transformer isolated converters is proposed. The snubber is implemented on the transformer's primary and secondary windings. The proposed snubber significantly reduces the voltage spike across the switch caused by the transformer's primary inductance upon switch turn-off and facilitates the fast ramping up of the transformer secondary current. In addition, the proposed snubber provides lossless zero voltage turn off and zero current turn on conditions for the power switch. Experimental example of a flyback converter has shown measured efficiency exceeding 90%. This paper describes the principle of operation and presents approximate theoretical analysis and design guidelines of the proposed snubber. Simulation and experimental results are also reported. The proposed energy regenerating snubber is best suited for flyback and SEPIC converters and can also be adapted to other transformer isolated topologies.