Abstract
Power rectifiers from electrical traction systems, but not only, can be irreversibly damaged if the temperature of the semiconductor junction reaches high values to determine thermal runaway and melting. The paper proposes a mathematical model to calculate the junction and the case temperature in power diodes used in bridge rectifiers, which supplies an inductive-resistive load. The new thermal model may be used to investigate the thermal behavior of the power diodes in steady-state regime for various values of the tightening torque, direct current through the diode, airflow speed and load parameters (resistance and inductance). The obtained computed values were compared with 3D thermal simulation results and experimental tests. The calculated values are aligned with the simulation results and experimental data.
Highlights
A great challenge for power electronic systems is to remove the heat from the power devices in an efficient and cost-effective manner
The available thermal models have their boundaries to correctly estimate the thermal behavior in the IGBTs: The usually used thermal models based on one-dimensional RC node have limits to estimate the temperature variation inside devices
The aim of this paper is to investigate the thermal behavior of the power diodes from a rectifier bridge used in electrical traction during steady-state conditions
Summary
A great challenge for power electronic systems is to remove the heat from the power devices in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Due to the needs of high power density and to the miniaturization of power converters, the components have to operate next to their thermal limits [1]. One of the main concerns in many power converters design procedure is to controlling the heat as the producer’s moves toward all-surface-mount implementations. In the early design phase of the power converters it is very important to understand the thermal aspects of the components in order to improve the devices thermal performances [2]. The boundary constraints for the thermal investigations are considered, which may be adjusted to various real-field applications of power electronic converters
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