Challenges and New Trends in Power Electronic Devices Reliability

The rapid increase in new power electronic devices and converters for electric transportation and smart grid technologies requires a deepanalysis of their component performances, considering all of the different environmental scenarios, overload conditions, and high stressoperations. Therefore, evaluation of the reliability and availability of these devices becomes fundamental both from technical and economicalpoints of view. The rapid evolution of technologies and the high reliability level offered by these components have shown that estimating reliability through the traditional approaches is difficult, as historical failure data and/or past observed scenarios demonstrate. With the aim topropose new approaches for the evaluation of reliability, in this book, eleven innovative contributions are collected, all focusedon the reliability assessment of power electronic devices and related components

On-line Junction Temperature Estimation of SiC Power MOSFETs through On-state Voltage Mapping

This paper deals with real-time estimation of the junction temperature of SiC power MOSFETs. The junction temperature of one device of a 4-switch module is real-time estimated by measuring its current and on-state voltage VON at each switching period and entering the temperature look-up table of the device. The temperature model is preliminarily obtained in a dedicated commissioning session, where the VON is measured at different temperature and current conditions. The results show the feasibility of on-line temperature monitoring and even active limitation of the junction temperature of the tested SiC power MOSFET modules, accurately and with an instantaneous dynamic response. Different modules with die from different manufacturers were tested in a H-bridge demonstrator power converter, emulating the operating conditions of real converters such as voltage source DC/AC or DC/DC conversion structures. The commissioning procedure is meant to be performed directly on the final application for each converter. The proposed temperature estimation technique is validated against a thermal camera and compared to direct measurement of the die temperature with a thermistor, showing high accuracy and high feasibility

Saturn integrated circuit reliability test program Final report, 28 Jun. 1966 - 1 Jul. 1967

Literature survey and test program to study reliability of linear integrated circuit

Measurement techniques and instruments suitable for life-prediction testing of photovoltaic arrays

Array failure modes, relevant materials property changes, and primary degradation mechanisms are discussed as a prerequisite to identifying suitable measurement techniques and instruments. Candidate techniques and instruments are identified on the basis of extensive reviews of published and unpublished information. These methods are organized in six measurement categories - chemical, electrical, optical, thermal, mechanical, and other physicals. Using specified evaluation criteria, the most promising techniques and instruments for use in life prediction tests of arrays were selected

Piikarbidi-MOSFET:n kiihdytetty ikäännyttäminen ja prognostiikka

The reliability investigations in power semiconductor components have traditionally concentrated on statistical analysis of the failure data in order to set regular maintenance intervals to prevent failures in the field. A more recent discipline, prognostics, in turn attempts to evaluate the current state-of-health of the device online and to predict the remaining useful life by interpreting signals of degradation. The utilization of prognostics is valuable to businesses as it enables addressing the maintenance only to the products close to failure. In this thesis we studied prognostics from the physics-based perspective in two types of silicon carbide power MOSFETs, in 11 samples in total. The components were aged in a power cycling test system to produce data of the selected failure precursor, drain-source on-state resistance. For the prognostic analysis we developed a kernel\hyp{}smoothing\hyp{}based particle filter and applied it to joint state\hyp{}parameter estimation of a selected sample. The analysis results indicated satisfactory performance regarding the estimation of the states and the parameters but revealed significant deficiencies in the prediction performance of the remaining useful life. Although the work mainly focuses on studying the power MOSFET as single component it is important to observe it also as a part of a larger entity. Therefore, at the end of the work we propose design principles for a new test system where the power MOSFET operates in a DC-DC converter. The derived precepts are based on the insight of reliability data analysis and prognostics gained during the study.Tehopuolijohdekomponenttien luotettavuustutkimukset ovat perinteisesti keskittyneet vikadatan tilastolliseen analyysiin säännöllisten huoltovälien asettamiseksi, joilla ehkäistään kentällä tapahtuvia vikaantumisia. Prognostiikka on uudempi tiedonala, joka puolestaan pyrkii määrittämään laitteen käytönaikaisen terveydentilan ja ennustamaan jäljellä olevan elinajan tulkitsemalla signaaleja huononemista. Prognostiikan hyödyntäminen on arvokasta liiketoiminnalle, sillä se mahdollistaa huollon kohdistamisen ainostaan niille laitteille, jotka ovat lähellä vikaantumista. Tässä diplomityössä tutkimme prognostiikkaa fysiikkaan pohjautuvasta näkökulmasta kahdessa erityyppisessä piikarbiditeho-MOSFET:ssa, kokonaisuudessaan 11 näytteessä. Komponentit ikäännytettiin tehosyklaustestissä nielulähdepäälläoloresistanssidatan keräämiseksi, joka valittiin vikaantumisindikaattoriksi. Prognostista analyysia varten kehitimme ydinsilotukseen perustuvan partikkelisuodattimen, jota sovelsimme yhdistetyyn tilaparametriestimointiin valitussa näytteessä. Analyysin tulokset osoittivat tyydyttävää suorituskykyä tilan ja parametrien estimointissa mutta paljastivat merkittäviä puutteita jäljellä olevan eliniän ennustamisessa. Vaikka työ pääosin keskittyy teho-MOSFET:n tutkimiseen yksittäisenä komponenttina, on tärkeä huomioda se myös osana suurempaa kokonaisuutta. Tämän vuoksi työn lopussa esitetään suunnitteluperiaatteita uutta testausjärjestelmää varten, jossa teho-MOSFET toimii DC-DC -muuntimessa. Johdetut ohjenuorat pohjaavat työn aikana kertyneelle ymmärrykselle luotettavuusdatan analysoinnista ja prognostiikasta

Measuring Level of Degradation in Power Semiconductor Devices using Emerging Techniques

Title from PDF of title page viewed May 24, 2021Dissertation advisor: Faisal KhanVitaIncludes bibliographical references (page 124-154)Thesis (Ph.D.)--School of Computing and Engineering and Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Missouri--Kansas City, 2021High thermal and electrical stress, over a period of time tends to deteriorate the health of power electronic switches. Being a key element in any high-power converter systems, power switches such as insulated-gate bipolar junction transistors (IGBTs) and metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) are constantly monitored to predict when and how they might fail. A huge fraction of research efforts involves the study of power electronic device reliability and development of novel techniques with higher accuracy in health estimation of such devices. Until today, no other existing techniques can determine the number of lifted bond wires and their locations in a live IGBT module, although this information is extremely helpful to understand the overall state of health (SOH) of an IGBT power module. Through this research work, two emerging methods for online condition monitoring of power IGBTs and MOSFETs have been proposed. First method is based on reflectometry, more specifically, spread spectrum time domain reflectometry (SSTDR) and second method is based on ultrasound based non-destructive evaluation (NDE). Unlike traditional methods, the proposed methods do not require measuring any electrical parameters (such as voltage or current), therefore, minimizes the measurement error. In addition, both of these methods are independent of the operating points of the converter which makes the application of these methods more feasible for any field application. As part of the research, the RL-equivalent circuit to represent the bond wires of an IGBT module has been developed for the device under test. In addition, an analytical model of ultrasound interaction with the bond wires has been derived in order to efficiently detect the bond wire lift offs within the IGBT power module. Both of these methods are equally applicable to the wide band gap (WBG) power devices and power converters. The successful implementation of these methods creates a provision for condition monitoring (CM) hardware embedded gate driver module which will significantly reduce the overall health monitoring cost.Introduction -- Failure mechanisms of modern power electronic devices -- Existing degradation detection & lifetime prediction techniques -- Accelerated aging methods -- SSTDR based degradation detection -- Ultrasound based degradation -- Degradation detection of wide band gap power devices -- Conclusions and future researc

DESIGN AND RELIABILITY ASSESSMENT OF HIGH POWER LED AND LED-BASED SOLID STATE LIGHTING

Lumen depreciation and color quality change of high power LED-based solid state light (SSL) are caused by the combination of various degradation mechanisms. The analytical/experimental models on the system as well as component-level are proposed to analyze the complex reliability issues of the LED-based solid SSL. On the system-level front, a systematic approach to define optimum design domains of LED-based SSL for a given light output requirement is developed first by taking cost, energy consumption and reliability into consideration. Three required data sets (lumen/LED, luminaire efficacy, and L70 lifetime) to define design domains are expressed as contour maps in terms of two most critical operating parameters: the forward current and the junction temperature (If and Tj). Then, the available domain of design solutions is defined as a common area that satisfies all the requirements of a luminaire. Secondly, a physic of failure (PoF) based hierarchical model is proposed to estimate the lifetime of the LED-based SSL. The model is implemented successfully for an LED-based SSL cooled by a synthetic jet, where the lifetime of a prototypical luminaire is predicted from LED lifetime data using the degradation analyses of the synthetic jet and the power electronics. On the component-level front, a mathematical model and an experimental procedure are developed to analyze the degradation mechanisms of high power LEDs. In the approach, the change in the spectral power distribution (SPD) caused by the LED degradation is decomposed into the contributions of individual degradation mechanisms so that the effect of each degradation mechanism on the final LED degradation is quantified. It is accomplished by precise deconvolution of the SPD into the leaked blue light and the phosphor converted light. The model is implemented using the SPDs of a warm white LED with conformally-coated phosphor, obtained before and after 9,000 hours of operation. The analysis quantifies the effect of each degradation mechanism on the final values of lumen, CCT and CRI

Electricity from photovoltaic solar cells: Flat-Plate Solar Array Project final report. Volume VI: Engineering sciences and reliability

The Flat-Plate Solar Array (FSA) Project, funded by the U.S. Government and managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was formed in 1975 to develop the module/array technology needed to attain widespread terrestrial use of photovoltaics by 1985. To accomplish this, the FSA Project established and managed an Industry, University, and Federal Government Team to perform the needed research and development. This volume of the series of final reports documenting the FSA Project deals with the Project's activities directed at developing the engineering technology base required to achieve modules that meet the functional, safety and reliability requirements of large-scale terrestrial photovoltaic systems applications. These activities included: (1) development of functional, safety, and reliability requirements for such applications; (2) development of the engineering analytical approaches, test techniques, and design solutions required to meet the requirements; (3) synthesis and procurement of candidate designs for test and evaluation; and (4) performance of extensive testing, evaluation, and failure analysis to define design shortfalls and, thus, areas requiring additional research and development. During the life of the FSA Project, these activities were known by and included a variety of evolving organizational titles: Design and Test, Large-Scale Procurements, Engineering, Engineering Sciences, Operations, Module Performance and Failure Analysis, and at the end of the Project, Reliability and Engineering Sciences. This volume provides both a summary of the approach and technical outcome of these activities and provides a complete Bibliography (Appendix A) of the published documentation covering the detailed accomplishments and technologies developed

Prognostics of Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors

Insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) are the devices of choice for medium and high power, low frequency applications. IGBTs have been reported to fail under excessive electrical and thermal stresses in variable speed drives and are considered as reliability problems in wind turbines, inverters in hybrid electric vehicles and railway traction motors. There is a need to develop methods to detect anomalous behavior and predict the remaining useful life (RUL) of IGBTs to prevent system downtime and costly failures. In this study, a framework for prognostics of IGBTs was developed to provide early warnings of failure and predict the remaining useful life. The prognostic framework was implemented on non punch through (NPT) IGBTs. Power cycling of IGBTs was performed and the gate-emitter voltage, collector-emitter voltage, collector-emitter current and case temperature was monitored in-situ during aging. The on-state collector-emitter current (ICE(ON)) and collector-emitter voltage (VCE(ON)) were identified as precursors to IGBT failure. Electrical characterization and X-ray analysis was performed before and after aging to map degradation in the devices to observed trends in the precursor parameters. A Mahalanobis distance based approach was used for anomaly detection. The initial ICE(ON) and VCE(ON) parameters were used to compute the healthy MD distance. This healthy MD distance was transformed and the mean and standard deviation of the transformed MD data was obtained. The μ+3σ upper bound obtained from the transformed healthy MD was then used as a threshold for anomaly detection. This approach was able to detect anomalous behavior in IGBTs before failure. Upon anomaly detection, a particle filter approach was used for predicting the remaining useful life of the IGBTs. A system model was developed using the degradation trend of the VCE(ON) parameter. This model was obtained by a least squares regression of the IGBT degradation curve. The tracking and prediction performance of the model with the particle filter was demonstrated