Search results

This paper aims to analyze and investigate the performance of an improved fault detection and identification (FDI) method based on multiple criteria, applied to six-switch three-phase inverter (SSTPI)-fed induction motor (IM) drives under both single and multiple open insulated-gate bipolar transistors(IGBT) faults.

This paper proposes an advanced diagnostic method for both single and multiple open IGBT faults dedicated to SSTPI-fed IM drives considering five distinct faulty operating conditions as follows: a single IGBT open-circuit fault, a single-phase open-circuit fault, a non-crossed double fault in two different legs, a crossed double fault in two different legs and a three-IGBT open-circuit fault. This is achieved because of the introduction of a new diagnosis variable provided using the information of the slope of the current vector in (α-β) frame. The proposed FDI method is based on the synthesis and the analysis, under both healthy and faulty operations, of the behaviors of the introduced diagnosis variable, the three motor phase currents and their normalized average values. Doing so, the developed FDI method allows a best compromise of fast detection and precision localization of IGBT open-circuit fault of the inverter.

Simulation works, carried out considering the implementation of the direct rotor flux oriented control in an IM fed by the conventional SSTPI, have proved the high performance of the advanced FDI method in terms of fast fault detection associated with a high robustness against false alarms, against speed and load torque fast variations and against the oscillations of the DC-bus voltage in the case of both healthy and faulty operations.

This work should be extended considering the validation of the obtained simulation results through experiments.

Different from other FDI methods, which suffer from a low diagnostic effectiveness for low load levels and false alarms during transient operation, this method offers the potentialities to overcome these drawbacks because of the introduction of the new diagnosis variable. This latter, combined with the information provided from the three motor phase currents and their normalized average values allow a more efficient detection and identification of IGBT open-circuit fault.

This paper aims to present an analysis of a hybrid high‐voltage switch based on the parallel connection of IGBT and IGCT. The proposed configuration combines the advantages of both semiconductors, resulting in substantially reduced power losses. Such energy efficient switches could be used in high‐power systems where the requirements of high switching frequency or decreased cooling systems are a major concern.

The operation principle of the switch is described and simulated. The power dissipation is estimated at different operation conditions. Further, the implementation possibilities of the proposed switch configuration in a three‐level NPC inverter are analysed. The operation with the proposed PWM control algorithm is simulated and inverter power loss distribution is estimated.

According to estimations, the proposed hybrid switch configuration allows the reduction of total losses in semiconductors by at least 50 percent. If two of these switches are used in a three‐level NPC inverter as outer switches, the total losses of the inverter are reduced by 27 percent, at the same time the losses in the most stressed semiconductor device are reduced by a factor of 2.25. Therefore, achieving higher power density is possible.

The proposed switch configuration is intended for high‐power (>500 KVA) industrial, marine and railway traction systems, such as FACTS and high power variable frequency AC drives.

The paper presents the novel energy‐efficient high‐voltage switch based on the parallel connection of commercially available IGBTs and IGCTs.

This paper aims to propose the electrothermal dynamic model of the insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT) for SPICE.

The electrothermal model of this device (IGBT), which takes into account both electrical and thermal phenomena, is described. Particularly, the sub-threshold operation of this device is considered and electrical, and thermal inertia of this device is taken into account. Attention was focused on the influence of electrical and thermal inertia on waveforms of terminal voltages of the considered transistor operating in the switching circuit and on waveforms of the internal temperature of this device.

The correctness of the presented model is verified experimentally and a good agreement of the calculated and measured electrical and thermal characteristics of the considered device is obtained.

The presented model can be used for different types of IGBT, but it is dedicated for SPICE software only.

The form of the worked out model is presented and the results of experimental verification of this model are shown.

The paper presents the findings of an R&D project connected to the development of 50 kW auxiliary power supply for the high‐voltage DC‐fed commuter trains. The aim was to introduce a new generation power converter utilizing high‐voltage insulated gate bibolar transistor (IGBT) modules, which can outpace the predecessors in terms of efficiency and power density, i.e. to provide more power for smaller volumetric space.

For development of the proposed converter, mathematical analysis and computer simulations were used. The software intended for simulations is Ansoft Simplorer, which is a mixed‐technology simulator for electrical, electromechanical, power electronic systems and drive applications. For the verification of theoretical results the full‐scale laboratory prototype of the proposed converter was developed and tested.

Thanks to increased switching frequency and current‐doubler rectifier (CDR) implemented in the proposed converter, the power dissipation of the isolation transformer was reduced by 30 percent as compared to earlier designs. Moreover, the 27 and 24 percent reductions in rectifier and inductor losses, respectively, led to approximately 1 percent efficiency rise of the proposed converter in comparison with its predecessors. Also, the proposed three‐level topology outpaces the two‐level one by more than 20 percent in terms of power density.

The proposed converter topology is aimed for the high‐voltage DC trains. With small modifications it also can be used in trams, trolleybuses as well as in some industrial applications.

The paper presents the novel DC/DC converter topology with 3.3 kV IGBT‐based three‐level neutral point clamped inverter, high‐frequency isolation transformer and the CDR.

This paper aims to analyze the dominant stray parameters of the DC bus bar and focus on weakening the influence of the stray parameters instead of reducing the value of the stray parameters in DC bus bar while switching. By finding the mechanisms to reduce the effects of stray parameters on switching transient, the simple and straightforward optimization methods could be given for the engineering designer.

The investigations are focused on the equivalent circuit by segmented impedance evaluation in the low-frequency band and the energy propagation by wave impedance evaluation in the high frequency band. This paper proposes an equivalent impedance calculation model to locate the dominant stray parameters in the DC bus bar and takes the energy propagation characteristics using wave impedance into consideration, which can simplify the optimization design of DC bus bar.

According to the equivalent circuit and electromagnetic field analysis, this paper proves the existence of the dominant stray parameters in DC bus bar that is widely used on high-power converters and certifies that not all the stray parameters in different areas of DC bus bar have the same effects on switching process, which can give a good guidance for the optimization design of DC bus bar.

The positions of DC-link capacitors, resulting in only part of stray parameters in DC bus bar has more impact during switching, are significant to the DC bus bar optimization design. These stray parameters named dominant stray parameters in this paper play a leading role in the switching transient process. The area of DC bus bar, which is close to IGBTs and far from DC-link capacitors, contains the dominant stray parameters in the switching transient process. Therefore, the distance between DC-link capacitors and IGBTs should be shortened as much as possible. Based on the results, the efficiency for the DC bus bar optimization design could be improved by weakening the influence of the stray parameters, such as reducing the dominant stray parameters only. Therefore, it can save the cost and time of DC bus bar optimization design.

The paper aims to focus on the semiconductor temperature prediction in the multichip modules by using a simplified 1D model, easy to implement in the electronic simulation tools.

Accurate prediction of temperature variation of power semiconductor devices in power electronic circuits is important for obtaining optimum designs and estimating reliability levels. Temperature estimation of power electronic devices has generally been performed using transient thermal equivalent circuits. This paper has studied the thermal behaviour of the power modules. The study leads to correcting the junction temperature values estimated from the transient thermal impedance of each component operating alone. The corrections depend on multidimensional thermal phenomena in the structure.

The classic analysis of thermal phenomena in the multichip structures, independently of powers’ dissipated magnitude and boundary conditions, is not correct. An advanced 1D thermal model based on the finite element method is proposed. It takes into account the effect of the heat‐spreading angle of the different devices in the module.

The paper focuses on mathematical model of the thermal behaviour in the power module. The study leads to a correction of the junction temperature values estimated from the transient thermal impedance of each component given by manufacturers. The proposed model gives a good trade‐off between accuracy, efficiency and simulation cost.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an accurate model and method to simulate the transient performances of an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) in an arbitrary free-carrier injection condition.

A numerical model and method for solving the physics-based model, an ambipolar diffusion equation-based model, of an IGBT is proposed.

The results of the proposed model are very close to the tested ones.

A mathematical model for an IGBT considering all free-carrier injection conditions is introduced, and a numerical solution methodology is proposed.

Power modules including the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) are widely used in the applications of motor drivers. The thermal behavior of these modules makes it important to choose the optimum design of cooling system. The purpose of this paper is to propose an RC thermal model of the dynamic electro‐thermal behavior of IGBT pulse width modulation inverter modules.

The electrothermal model has been implemented and simulated with a MATLAB simulator and takes into account the thermal influence between the different module chips based on the technique of superposition.

This study has led to a correction of the junction temperature values estimated from the transient thermal impedance of each component operating alone.

In this paper, an experimental technique of a thermal influence evaluation is presented.

This paper aims to establish the wideband model of a sub-module in a modular multilevel converter (MMC) and analyze the switch transients of the sub-module.

The paper builds an MMC sub-module test circuit and conducts dynamic tests both with and without the bypass thyristor. Then, it builds the wideband model of the MMC sub-module and extracts the model parameters. Finally, based on the wideband model, it simulates the switch transients and analyzes the oscillation mechanism.

The dynamic testing shows the bypass thyristor will add oscillations during switch transients, especially during the turn-on process. The thyristor acts like a small capacitor and reduces the total capacitor in the turn-on circuit loop, thus causing under-damped oscillations.

This paper found that the bypass thyristor will influence the MMC sub-module switch transients under certain circumstances. This paper proposes a partial inductance extraction procedure for the MMC sub-module and builds a wideband model of the sub-module. The wideband model is used to analyze and explain the switch transients, and can be further used for insulated gate bipolar transistor switch oscillation inhibition and sub-module design optimization.

In this paper, thermal analysis for a 1,200 A, 3.3 kV insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) module was investigated and analysed using the three‐dimensional transmission line matrix (3D‐TLM) method. This paper also reviews the present status of the use of various thermal heat spreaders such as AlSiC MMC, Cu‐Mo and graphite‐Cu MMC and compares these with copper based heat spreaders and the use of aluminium nitride (AlN), diamond and BeO as substrates and their effect to dissipate the heat flux in heat sources localised in IGBT module design. The TLM method was found to be a versatile tool which is ideally suited to the modelling of many power electronic devices and which proved very useful in the study of transient thermal effects in a variety of device structures.