Abstract
While operating an electric drive under different load conditions, power switch devices experience thermal stress which provokes wear-out failures and compromises lifetime. In this paper, a model-based dynamic gate voltage control strategy is proposed to reduce the thermal stress by shaping the profile of conduction losses. Thermal stability criteria are investigated, which limit the gate voltage operating range; thus, current focalization and associated local heat up are avoided. After that, simulations and lifetime estimation are conducted for performance evaluation in two different operation scenarios, which show promising results at high speed operation conditions. Furthermore, a current injection method is applied for low-speed operating conditions to improve the compensation effort. This method is experimentally verified by using a custom proof-of-concept gate driver that supplies an adjustable three-level gate voltage. A three-phase electric drive is prototyped, on which power cycling tests are conducted. The junction temperature is measured and the results confirm the thermal control method.
Highlights
IntroductionIn aerospace and traction applications, the electric drive system can adopt multi-phase machines and power converters that comprise more power switch devices to achieve fault-tolerant operation [1]
In aerospace and traction applications, the electric drive system can adopt multi-phase machines and power converters that comprise more power switch devices to achieve fault-tolerant operation [1].In linear motion control applications, such as the wafer stage of a lithography machine, a multiplicity of power switches is incorporated to meet high efficiency and high precision requirements [2]
The objective of this paper is to develop a dynamic gate voltage control method for thermal stress reduction of silicon-carbide power MOSFETs
Summary
In aerospace and traction applications, the electric drive system can adopt multi-phase machines and power converters that comprise more power switch devices to achieve fault-tolerant operation [1]. Abnormal events due to instabilities are thoroughly studied in [5], which indicates that the nonuniform distribution of some internal parameters, such as gate resistance and breakdown voltage, can provoke current filament and thermal runaway Protection schemes such as derating and fault detection methods are applied to improve the system reliability [6]. Electronics 2020, 9, 2025 are package related wear-out, such as bond-wire liftoff, heal crack or solder fatigue [7] These are caused by the mechanical stress between contact materials with different thermal expansion coefficients and local temperature values.
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