Fault Diagnosis in DC-DC Converters Using a Time-Domain Analysis of the Reference Current Error

DC-DC converters face an exponential growth in the context of the ever-increasing use of DC grids, namely at the home and business levels. In this domain, efficiency and reliability are of major concern. Solutions already available in the literature concerning fault-tolerant DC-DC converters do not consider the application of such converters in household environments and their constraints. To solve this problem, this work presents a simple, yet effective, way to detect power switches open-circuit faults in DC-DC converters that use a current control strategy. In opposition to the complex model-based approaches, this paper introduces an intuitive signal-based analysis for fault detection purposes. The proposed method was simulated in an interleaved DC-DC boost converter, and the obtained results demonstrate its effectiveness to detect multiple faults in the converter power switches, even under harsh operating conditions.