Measurement and testing of IGBTs under high heat flux

Keywords

Cooling, Heat -- Transmission, Insulated gate bipolar transistors

Abstract

High current devices such as IGBTs (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors) generate a great deal of heat during the application of high current levels. This issue is exacerbated when IGBTs are used as high-speed switching devices in power systems where switching takes place at high voltage and high current levels. Cooling of these devices is an integral part of electrical designs that use them. Heat generated by these devices must often use water-cooling in order to keep cool and thus, keep them operating. Excess heat within these devices is one of the most common causes of their failure. Measuring the heat flux inside of an IGBT is a fairly simple thing to do. Measuring its internal temperature is not. The internal temperature of IGBTs is not an easily quantifiable value during normal operation. Thermocouples can be placed externally on an IGBT, but these will not give the temperature inside of the device. It is known that the internal temperature of these devices causes variations in the voltage drop across the emitter and collector leads ,when constant current is applied. An application to which this understanding can be applied is the measurement of the internal device temperature of IGBTs during abnormal operation, that is, to exceed these devices' current range, while keeping them within their temperature operating ranges. In such a case, where inputs and outputs change dynamically, a means for measuring the internal device temperature dynamically is essential. In this investigation, the methodology was to apply high current levels to the DUT (Device Under Test), an IGBT and, using the advanced cooling technology known as "spray cooling," remove the excess heat with the intent of showing the feasibility of the new cooling technology. This would show that the DUT current range could be exceeded, so long as its temperature range was not. In order to measure the internal device temperature, a known value of current would be applied momentarily between periods of high current application. The period of measurement would be very short in relation to the period of high heat flux.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2004

Degree

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Engineering

Format

PDF

Pages

154 p.

Language

English

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

Identifier

DP0029489

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Engineering; Engineering -- Dissertations, Academic

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