Reliability Assessment of Conventional Isolated PWM DC-DC Converters

Hadi Tarzamni,Frede Blaabjerg,Farzad Tahami,Matti Lehtonen,Farhad Panahandeh Esmaeelnia,Payman Dehghanian,Mahmud Fotuhi-Firuzabad

doi:10.1109/access.2021.3067935

Abstract

This paper sets forth the reliability analysis of conventional isolated pulse width modulation DC-DC (IDC-DC) converters. The IDC-DC converters are categorized into isolated single-switch DC-DC (ISSDC-DC) or multiple-switch DC-DC (IMSDC-DC) converters. The proposed framework encompasses analyzing the impacts of duty cycle, input voltage, output power, transformer turns ratio, components characteristics and time duration on the overall reliability performance of the IDC-DC converters. The suggested reliability assessment is centered on Markov models characterized by taking into consideration all open and short circuit faults on the components in both continuous and discontinuous conduction modes. We further investigate the self-embedded fault tolerant capability of the IMSDC-DC converters under open circuit fault scenarios on the switches, diodes and blocking capacitors, where we offer new reliability analytics. Along with extensive analyses and comparisons, several experimental results are provided to verify the self-embedded fault tolerant capability of IMSDC-DC converters.

Highlights

Reliability assessment of power electronic converters, if approached meticulously and verified experimentally, can provide insightful information for the system planers and operators
We provide a comprehensive analysis of the isolated conventional pulse width modulation DC-DC (IDC-DC) converters primarily from a reliability perspective, where the research has been focused on specific component parameters and characteristics
We here evaluate the impacts of different effective operating factors such as duty cycle (D), input voltage (Vi), output power (Po), transformer turns ratio (n) and component characteristics besides time durations (t) on the overall reliability performance of the isolated pulse width modulation DC-DC (IDC-DC) converters

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Reliability assessment of power electronic converters, if approached meticulously and verified experimentally, can provide insightful information for the system planers and operators. With the ability to continue operation in both half and full nominal power modes following a failure in either stage, the two-stage interleaved boost converter with half power operation is attributed to have the highest reliability performance, while realized at the cost of additional number of components compared to a single-stage configuration. We here evaluate the impacts of different effective operating factors such as duty cycle (D), input voltage (Vi), output power (Po), transformer turns ratio (n) and component characteristics besides time durations (t) on the overall reliability performance of the IDC-DC converters. If the S1 switch in Fig. 3(b) faces an OC fault, the HB converter can still continue its operation in a derated power condition similar to the flyback converter. Considering the operation principles of these converters against different faults, the corresponding Markov models are illustrated, where the ISSDC-DC, FB, HB and PP converters are characterized with two, four, five and four operating states, respectively. Based on the aforementioned operational principles, the Markov models, design procedure, and components characteristics, the reliability evaluations are classified as:

RELIABILITY ANALYSIS

CONCLUSION