Thermal simulation and analysis of intelligent power module (IPM) package

Abstract

The performance of intelligent power module (IPM) will severely degrade with high junction temperature. Thus, it's important to get the thermal characterization of IPM package. In this paper, a method integrating electrical test method (ETM) and finite elements analysis (FEA) is put forward to analyze the thermal performance of a Transfer Molding IPM package. Electrical test method was used for thermal resistance test of the package under single freewheel diode heating in the one sixth module. The test results were then used for the calibration of finite elements model and boundary conditions. After validating the effectiveness of the finite element model and boundary conditions, thermal performance of the IPM package under multi-chip heating is obtained through numerical simulation. The method has certain practical meaning in the fast evaluation of power electronics' thermal performance.