Failure Analysis of Power Electronic Devices and Their Applications under Extreme Conditions

Chinese Journal of Electrical Engineering ›› 2016, Vol. 2 ›› Issue (1): 91-100.

Failure Analysis of Power Electronic Devices and Their Applications under Extreme Conditions

Yifei Luo, Fei Xiao^*, Bo Wang, and Binli Liu

National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Vessel Integrated Power System, Naval University of Engineering, Wuhan, 430033, China

Online:2016-01-20 Published:2019-10-31
Contact: * , E-mail: xfeyninger@qq.com.
About author:Yifei Luo received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, in 2002 and 2005, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from University of New Hampshire, NH, U.S., in 2010. From 2010 to 2011, he was a Senior Engineer in LSI Corporation in U.S. In 2011, he was a Lecturer in Naval University of Engineering, where he was an Associate Professor in 2014. His research interests include power semiconductor device modelling, power electronic device reliability and power converter reliability.
Fei Xiao received the B.S. and M.S degrees in electrical engineering from Naval University of Engineering, Wuhan, China, in 1999 and 2001, respectively. From 2004 to 2012, he worked toward the Ph.D. d e g re e in e l e ct ri c a l e ng i n ee ri n g in Zhejiang University. In 2003, he was a Lecturer in Naval University of Engineering, where he was an Associate Professor in 2009 and a Full Professor in 2012. He is currently the committee member of Department of Energy and Transportation in China Ministry of Science and Technology. His research interests include renewable energy generation, modeling and control of power electronic system, and high-voltage large-power electronic equipment.
Bo Wang received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Air Force Radar Academy, Wuhan, China, in 2002 and 2008, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree from Naval University of Engineering, Wuhan, China, in 2012. In 2012, he was a Lecturer in Naval University of Engineering. His research interests include power semiconductor device modelling and power electronic device reliability.
Binli Liu received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Naval Submarine Academy, Qingdao, China, in 2008 and 2010, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree from Naval University of Engineering, Wuhan, China, in 2014. In 2015, he was a Lecturer in Naval University of Engineering. His research interests include power semiconductor device modeling and power electronic device reliability.
Supported by:
Supported by the key program of National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 51490681, National Key Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) under Grant 2015CB251004 and National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 51507185.

Abstract

Abstract: Power electronic devices are the core components of modern power converters, Power electronic devices are the core components of modern power converters, not only for normal applications, but also for extreme conditions. Current design of power electronic devices require large redundancies for reliability. This results in huge volume and weight for a large-capacity power converter, especially for some extreme applications. Therefore, to optimize the power density, the reliability of power devices needs to be investigated first in order to obtain the accurate operational margin of a power device. Although much research on device failure analysis has been reported, there still lacks efficient failure evaluation methods. This paper first summarizes the current failure research. Then, a three-step failure analysis method of power electronic devices is proposed as: failure information collection, failure identification and mechanism, and failure evaluation. The physics-based modeling method is emphasized since it has a strong relationship with the device fundamentals. After that, power electronic device applications under extreme conditions are introduced and a design method of device under extreme conditions is proposed based on the thermal equilibrium idea. Finally, the challenges and prospects to improve the power device reliability under extreme conditions are concluded.

Key words: Power electronic device, failure mechanism, failure evaluation, physics-based modeling, extreme conditions, thermal equilibrium

Yifei Luo, Fei Xiao, Bo Wang, and Binli Liu. Failure Analysis of Power Electronic Devices and Their Applications under Extreme Conditions[J]. Chinese Journal of Electrical Engineering, 2016, 2(1): 91-100.

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