Multi-phase bidirectional DC to DC power converter circuits, systems and methods with transient stress control

A method of supplying electrical power between a first electrical bus operating at a first nominal voltage level and a second electrical bus operating at a second nominal voltage level using a multi-phase bi-directional DC/DC power converter said method comprising:

• coupling a plurality of H-configuration power converter phases together in electrical parallel;
• controlling current flowing through each of the plurality of H-configuration power converter phases to be approximately equal to current flowing through each other of the plurality of H-configuration power converter phases;
• disabling at least one of the plurality of H-configuration power converter phases;
• maintaining a remainder of the plurality of H-configuration power converter phases enabled;
• controlling current flowing through the remainder of the plurality of H-configuration power converter phases to be approximately equal to current flowing through each other of the remainder of the plurality of H-configuration power converter phases that are enabled;
• and
• re-enabling the at least one of the plurality of H-configuration power converter phases using the matched saturation limit values such that current through the at least one of the plurality of H-configuration power converter phases is limited to control a transient current stress.

A vehicle system comprising

• a first electrical system operating at a first voltage level and configured to provide electrical power to a first device;
• a second electrical system operating at a second voltage level and configured to provide electrical power to a second device;
• and
• a multi-phase bidirectional DC/DC power converter configured to receive the electrical power from one of the first electrical system and the second electrical system and providing electrical power to the other of the first electrical system and the second electrical system, said multi-phase bidirectional DC/DC power converter comprising:
• a plurality of single phase bidirectional DC/DC power converter circuits coupled in electrical parallel between the first electrical system and the second electrical system, said plurality of single phase DC/DC power converter circuits each configured to receive electrical power from one of said first electrical system and said second electrical system and provide electrical power to said other of said first electrical system and said second electrical system;
• and
• a converter controller comprising a compensator configured to generate a control signal based on a current command signal and an actual current signal, said converter controller configured to:
• control an operation of said plurality of single phase bidirectional DC/DC power converter circuits independently of each other;
• and
• disable at least one of said plurality of single phase bidirectional DC/DC power converter circuits to increase an efficiency of said multi-phase bi-directional DC/DC power converter;
• determine saturation limits values for said compensator based on the first nominal voltage level and the second nominal voltage levels;
• match the saturation limit values to current operating values when one or more of said plurality of single phase bidirectional DC/DC power converter circuits is disabled;
• and
• re-enable the one or more of said plurality of single phase bidirectional DC/DC power converter circuits using the matched saturation limit values such that current through the one or more of said plurality of single phase DC/DC power converter circuits is limited to control a transient current stress.