Abstract: A family of forward converter topologies for wide input voltage range applications has been investigated.By employing a RCD branch as a compensation demagnetizing voltage source,the duty cycle of the proposed forward converters can be greater than 0.5.Three switching cells,named as RCD forward positive cell,RCD forward negative cell and RCD forward composite cell,were proposed.All the switching cells are composed of active switch,RCD branch and transformer.Rules for generation RCD forward converters based on the proposed switching cells were presented.With the proposed switching cells and rules,families of symmetrical RCD forward converters and asymmetrical RCD forward converters have been derived with example topologies given.The analysis of one of the proposed topologies was presented and verified by an experimental prototype.