An Enhanced Dynamic Collector Voltage and Current Clamping Method for Semiconductor in Electric Vehicles

Abstract

The electric drive and the batteries are the two primary parts of an electric vehicle (EV). In order to increase the availability and dependability of the semiconductors used in traction converters, this research focuses on a new approach of semiconductor protection. The IGBT overshoot in voltage during a short circuit situation was successfully reduced by a newly created active voltage and current clamping circuit. This innovative method restricts IGBT’s collector-emitter voltage during the turn-off event. As soon as the collector-emitter voltage of the IGBT crosses a predetermined threshold, the IGBT is partially turned on. The IGBT is then kept operating linearly, minimizing the rate at which the collector current falls and, consequently, and the collector-emitter over voltage. Simultaneously, during the short circuit, the current is monitored by a high precision hall-effect sensor allegro make IC, which detects over current and provides a fault output within 1µs. As a result of the combination of current and voltage monitoring, the likelihood of the IGBT failure is reduced drastically.