Failure analysis on the premature delamination in the power module of the inverter for new energy vehicles

Abstract

For the inverter in the new energy vehicle, the existence of the power module provides it have the function of converting direct current (DC) in the battery pack into three-phase alternating current (AC) driving the motor. Therefore, the reliability of the power module is significant to ensure the stable operation of vehicles. In this paper, a failure case about premature delamination between the copper bridge and epoxy molding compound (EMC) in the power module during power cycling tests was reported. To find out the causes of premature delamination, a series of characterization methods including thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), ion chromatography (IC), three-dimensional stereo microscope (3D-SM), metallurgical microscope (MM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) were adopted. The analysis objects contained the EMC, circulating water, copper strips in different stages, copper bridges and decapped power modules, which were all covered in the manufacturing process of power modules. By comprehensive analysis, over-corrosion on the copper strip surface and overlapping skins on the copper bridge surface were determined as the root causes of premature delamination. Based on the conclusions, corresponding countermeasures were also proposed. This paper gives a kind of pre-analysis method to the possible failure of the components, so it is meaningful for how to effectively prevent the failure of the components during assembly process.