Modeling and Analysis on Overall Fatigue Failure Evolution of Press-Pack IGBT Device

Abstract

Press-pack insulated-gate bipolar transistor (PP-IGBT) device is used in high-power modular multilevel converter high-voltage direct current (MMC-HVDC) system due to the advantages of high reliability and short-circuit failure. Considering safeties and stable operations, it is necessary to model and analyze the fatigue failure evolution of PP-IGBT device that improves the reliability of MMC-HVDC system. This paper proposes a method to analyze from fretting wear failure to short-circuit failure in PP-IGBT device. First, a multiphysics coupling model of a single-chip 3.3-kV/50-A PP-IGBT device is presented to analyze the fretting wear failure, and the weak layer and the fatigue effect are obtained by power cycling simulation. Second, considering the Al-Si diffusion reaction mechanism on the interface of IGBT chip, the short-circuit failure is investigated by the finite-element method model of PP-IGBT device with Al-Si osmotic hole, and the changing trend of characteristic parameters is estimated during short-circuit failure process. Finally, the steady state, power cycling, and short-circuit tests are used to verify the multiphysics coupling model, fretting wear failure, and short-circuit failure. The experiment indicates that the fatigue failure evolution of PP-IGBT device occurs from fretting wear failure to short-circuit failure, and it suggests that the proposed method can be applied to optimize design and condition monitoring of PP-IGBT device.