Reliable Power Electronics for Wind Turbines

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick McCluskey ◽  
Peter Hansen ◽  
Douglas DeVoto
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Power Electronics ◽  
Heat Removal ◽  
Electronic System ◽  
Power Electronic ◽  
Pulse Width Modulated ◽  
Power Extraction ◽  
Die Attach ◽  
Power Modules ◽  
Power Switches

Power electronics are used to minimize losses in converting the energy produced by the generator in a wind turbine, and to drive motors that control the pitch and yaw of the wind turbine to ensure maximum power extraction. The power electronic system is based on a series of three-phase pulse width modulated (PWM) power modules consisting of IGBT power switches and associated diodes that are soldered to a ceramic substrate and interconnected with wirebonds. The design of the packaging and cooling of the power electronics is crucial to enhancing the energy efficiency and the reliability of the electronics, which generate heat loads in the hundreds of watts/cm2, and are often placed in harsh and inaccessible offshore environments. Without adequate heat removal, the increase in device temperature will reduce the efficiency of power electronic devices leading to thermal runaway and eventual failure of the entire power electronic system. Furthermore, the increased temperatures can lead to failure of the packaging elements as well. This paper will provide an overview of the fundamental packaging level mechanisms that can cause failures in the power electronic system. These include wirebond and lead fatigue, die attach fatigue, substrate cracking, and lead bonding fatigue.

Reliable Power Electronics for Wind Turbines

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas DeVoto ◽  
Patrick McCluskey
Keyword(s):  
Power Electronics ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Heat Removal ◽  
Electronic System ◽  
Power Electronic ◽  
Thermal Loads ◽  
Pulse Width Modulated ◽  
Electrical Grid ◽  
Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor ◽  
Die Attach

Power electronics are used in wind turbines to convert variable voltages and frequencies produced by the generator to fixed voltages and frequencies compliant with an electrical grid with minimal losses. The power electronic system is based on a series of three-phase pulse width modulated (PWM) power modules consisting of insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) power switches and associated diodes that are soldered to a ceramic substrate and interconnected with wirebonds. Power electronics can generate thermal loads in the hundreds of watts/cm2, therefore the design of the packaging and cooling of the electronics is crucial for enhancing their energy efficiency and reliability. Without adequate heat removal, the increase in device temperature will reduce the efficiency of power electronic devices, leading to thermal runaway and eventual failure of the entire power electronic system. Furthermore, the increased temperatures can lead to failure of the packaging elements. Turbines utilizing these power electronics are often placed in harsh and inaccessible offshore environments; power electronic failures causing unscheduled maintenance lead to costly repairs. This paper will provide an overview of the fundamental package level mechanisms that can cause failures in the power electronic system. These include wirebond and lead fatigue, die attach fatigue, substrate cracking, and lead micro-voids. Attention will then be given to the reliability of a plastic-insert liquid cold plate used to manage the thermal loads from the power electronics.

Development of Embedded High Power Electronics Modules for Automotive Applications

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 (DPC) ◽  
pp. 001717-001743
Author(s):  
Lars Boettcher ◽  
S. Karaszkiewicz ◽  
D. Manessis ◽  
A. Ostmann
Keyword(s):  
Power Electronics ◽  
High Power ◽  
Printed Circuit Board ◽  
Copper Substrate ◽  
Circuit Board ◽  
Installation Space ◽  
Temperature Sinter ◽  
Die Attach ◽  
Power Modules ◽  
Power Switches

The automotive industry has a strong demand for highly reliable and cost-efficient electronics. Especially the upcoming generations of hybrid cars and fully electrical vehicles need compact and efficient 400 V power modules. Within the engine compartment installation space is of major concern. Therefore small size and high integration level of the modules are needed. Conventionally IGBTs and diodes are soldered to DCB (Direct Copper Bond) ceramics substrates and their top contacts are connected by heavy Al wire bonds. These ceramic modules are vacuum soldered to water-cooled base plates. Embedding of power switches, and controller into compact modules using PCB (Printed Circuit Board) technologies offers the potential to further improve the thermal management by double-sided cooling and to reduce the thickness of the module. In the recently started “HI-LEVEL” (Integration of Power Electronics in in High Current PCBs for Electric Vehicle Application) project, partners from automotive, automotive supplier, material supplier, PCB manufacturer and research teamed up to develop the technology, components and materials to realize high power modules. The following topics of the development will be addressed in detail in this paper:Assemble of power dies (IGBT and diode) using new sinter die attach materials:The deployment of new no pressure, low temperature sinter paste for the assembly of the power dies is a mayor development goal. Here the development of a reliable process to realize a defect free bonding of large IGBT dies (up to 10x14mm2) is essentially. These pastes are applied by stencil printing or dispensing and the sintering will take place after die placement at temperatures of around 200 °C.Thick copper substrate technology:To handle the high switching current, suitable copper tracks in the PCB are required. The realization of such thick copper lines (up to 1mm thickness) requires advanced processing, compared to conventional multilayer PCB production. In this paper the essential development steps towards a 10 kW inverter module with embedded components will be described. The process steps and reliability investigations of the different interconnect levels will be described in detail.

Embedded Die Packages and Modules for Power Electronics Applications

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 (DPC) ◽  
pp. 001918-001947 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Boettcher ◽  
S. Karaszkiewicz ◽  
D. Manessis ◽  
A. Ostmann
Keyword(s):  
Power Electronics ◽  
Power Efficiency ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
Heat Removal ◽  
Testing Temperature ◽  
Temperature Cycling ◽  
Switching Frequency ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Power Modules ◽  
Embedded Power

Packages and modules with embedded semiconductor dies are of interest for various application fields and power classes. First packages in the lower power range are available in volume production since almost six years. Recent developments focus on medium and higher power applications raging over 500W into the kW range. Different approaches are available to realize such packages and modules. This paper will give an overview and detailed description of the latest approaches for such embedded die structures. In common of all of these approaches, is the use of laminate based die embedding, which uses standard PCB manufacturing technologies. Main differences are the used base substrate, which can still be a ceramic (DBC), Cu leadframe or high current substrate. Examples for the different methods will be given. As the main part, this paper will describe concepts, which enable significant smaller form-factor of power electronics modules, thereby allowing for lower price, high reliability, capability of direct mounting on e.g. a motor so as to form one unit with the motor housing, wide switching frequency range (for large application field) and high power efficiency. The innovative character of this packaging concept is the idea to embed the power drive components (IGBTs, MOSFETs, diode) as thinned chips into epoxy-resin layer built-up and to realize large-area interconnections on both sides by direct copper plating the dies to form a conductor structure with lowest possible electrical impedance and to achieve an optimum heat removal. In this way a thin core is formed on a large panel format which is called Embedded Power Core. The paper will specifically highlight the first results on manufacturing an embedded power discrete package as an example of an embedded power core containing a thin rectifier diode. For module realization, the power cores are interconnected to insulated metal substrates (IMS) by the use of Ag sintering interconnection technologies for the final manufacturing of Power modules. The paper will elaborate on the sintering process for Power Core/IMS interconnections, the microscopically features of the sintered interfaces, and the lateral filling of the sintering gap with epoxy prepregs. Firstly, 500W power modules were manufactured using this approach. Reliability testing results, solder reflow testing, temperature cycling test and active power cycling, will be discussed in detail.

Mechanical Characterization of Transient Liquid Phase Sintered (TLPS) Cu-Sn

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erick Gutierrez ◽  
Subramani Manoharan ◽  
Maxim Serebreni ◽  
Patrick McCluskey
Keyword(s):  
Liquid Phase ◽  
Mechanical Load ◽  
Transient Liquid Phase ◽  
Electronic Systems ◽  
Power Electronic ◽  
Nano Indentation ◽  
Lap Shear ◽  
Die Attach ◽  
Power Modules

The increasing thermal demands in power electronic systems require the application of high temperature die attach materials. Transient Liquid Phase Sintered (TLPS) paste-based solder alloys have been demonstrated to effectively manage the thermal and mechanical load requirements of power modules. The microstructural features of these alloys provide interconnects with the necessary strength required to sustain high loads at high temperatures. To properly understand the influence of microstructure on mechanical behavior of these alloys, single lap shear experiments were performed on a TLPS system consisting of Copper and Tin particles (Cu-Sn). Nano-indentation measurements were performed on intermetallic phases of the TLPS, and the results obtained from lap shear testing and nano-indentation measurements are presented.

A Comprehensive Study on the Automation Potentials and Complexities of Advanced and Alternative Die-Attach Technologies for Power Electronic Applications

2015 ◽  
Vol 794 ◽  
pp. 320-327
Author(s):  
Aarief Syed-Khaja ◽  
Christopher Kaestle ◽  
Martin Mueller ◽  
Jörg Franke
Keyword(s):  
Adhesive Bonding ◽  
Mechanical Design ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Lead Times ◽  
Power Electronic ◽  
Die Attach ◽  
Power Modules ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Module Development ◽  
Electronic Substrates

The field of power electronics packaging presents intricate and interdisciplinary challenges. System costs, reliability and performance are strongly determined by various aspects such as mechanical design, materials, thermal management and interconnect technologies. The overall costs of the product depend mainly on the complete process chain in the module development. Automation as well plays an important role and facilitates higher production rates, efficient use of materials, better product quality, and reduced factory lead times. This paper focuses on emerging interconnection technologies of bonding semiconductor components to power electronic substrates like diffusion soldering, conductive adhesive bonding and reactive multi-layer bonding. An overview on the automation potentials and complexities in individual technologies for the manufacturing of reliable and cost-effective power modules is given and discussed. Thus, a basis is created for choosing optimal die-attach technology depending on economic and technologic demand by comparing the state-of-the-art and advanced technologies.

Thermomechatronics of Power Electronics

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Watts ◽  
K. Fedje ◽  
E. R. Brown ◽  
M. C. Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Power Electronics ◽  
Fatigue Cracks ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Junction Temperature ◽  
System Level ◽  
Power Electronic ◽  
Electronic Circuits ◽  
Power Devices ◽  
Die Attach ◽  
Power Electronic Circuits

The coupled effects of mechanical stress and thermal expansion on the electrical function of power electronic circuits are explored within a new analytical framework called thermomechatronics. The problem of interest is the progressive performance degradation of the power electronics owing to the growth of thermomechanically induced fatigue cracks within the die-attach interlayer between power devices and substrates. Building on previous efforts, the present analysis focuses on experimentally confirming the system-level degradation of a simple power electronics circuit subject to variations in junction temperature of the electronics that would result from variations in interlayer damage.

Reliable Integration of Microchannel Coolers for Power Electronics

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Squiller ◽  
Sumeer Khanna ◽  
Serguei Dessiatoun ◽  
Raphael Mandel ◽  
Michael Ohadi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Electronics ◽  
Thermal Management ◽  
Failure Mechanisms ◽  
Electronic System ◽  
Compound Semiconductor ◽  
Power Electronic ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Erosion Corrosion ◽  
Management Approaches ◽  
Volumetric Heat Generation

Power electronic modules are exhibiting ever increasing power density as a result of compound semiconductor devices being placed in packages of decreasing size. This has led, in turn, to higher volumetric heat generation, which is driving the development of advanced thermal management approaches, including integration of single and two-phase microchannel coolers into the power electronics package. Reliable integration and operation of these coolers is essential for maintaining the performance and reliability of the power electronic system as a whole. This paper will present models for the critical failure mechanisms in microchannel coolers, including erosion/corrosion and cooler fracture.

Method for Multirate Analysis of Power Electronic System by Multidomain Partitioning

2011 ◽  
Vol 131 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-117
Author(s):  
Toshiji Kato ◽  
Kaoru Inoue ◽  
Yoshihiro Fujiwara
Keyword(s):  
Electronic System ◽  
Power Electronic
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