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In this article, an online condition monitoring (CM) method is proposed for the bond wire degradation of insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules in a single-phase or three-phase three-level neutral-point-clamped (3LNPC) dc–ac, ac–dc converter. The proposed method has the ability to detect the whole IGBTs in a 3LNPC converter, based on finding the idle on-state IGBTs under the specific load current direction and switching sequence of a leg. The detection time is short (0.2 ms) and the influence of online CM on load current can be completely neglected as long as the insertion areas for CM test are chosen reasonably. Meanwhile, an advanced bond wire CM module is designed to conduct the CM test. This module can generate and inject the current pulse trains into IGBT modules, with the high current for CM test and low current for temperature-sensitive electrical parameter measurement, and sample the collector–emitter on-state voltage (VCE ON) stably and precisely. Finally, the experimental work was carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method and the practicality of the developed CM module. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules and dc-link capacitors are important parts in the majority of power electronic converters which contribute to cost, size, and failure rate on a considerable scale. This paper presents an online condition monitoring method for both IGBT modules and dc-link capacitors of power converters based on short-circuit current of an IGBT module, which is a good condition indicator according to the theory analysis. The failure prediction of dc-Link capacitor is realized by equivalent series resistance, which can be calculated by short-circuit current and a step voltage, and the bond wires fatigue can also be identified by the short-circuit current. The proposed method is capable for detecting small changes in the failure indicators of IGBT modules and electrolytic capacitors, and its effectiveness is validated by a confirmatory experiment. The novelty of the proposed method is that the degradations of IGBT modules and capacitors can be identified simultaneously, and has the merits of low cost and circuit simplicity [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Finding and replacing the defective insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) module timely by monitoring the ageing state of IGBT can improve the reliability of a power converter and reduce the loss caused by IGBT failure. A method for detecting the condition of bond wires in IGBT module by identifying the short-circuit current of IGBT module is presented in this paper. It is based on the fact that parasitic parameters of IGBT module are affected by the local damage induced by ageing over time, and these changes can be easily detected by monitoring the difference of short-circuit current. The study results indicate that short-circuit current of IGBT module decreases with module ageing over time, and the difference of short-circuit current caused by junction temperature is much smaller than that caused by bond wires fatigue on a specific gate driving voltage. Therefore, the IGBT module in the power converter can be diagnosed by detecting the difference of short-circuit current without considering the effects of junction temperature. Finally, a confirmatory experiment is carried out, and the correctness of the method proposed in this paper is verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Condition monitoring is a cost-effective means to reduce the unscheduled maintenance cost of insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules. The junction to case thermal resistance $R_{\mathrm {thjc}}$ is considered as a critical health indicator of IGBT module solder layer. However, thermal interface materials’ (TIMs) deterioration will not only reduce the heat dissipation performance but also affects the accuracy of $R_{\mathrm {thjc}}$ monitoring of IGBT modules. This article investigates the effect of thermal grease deterioration on $R_{\mathrm {thjc}}$ monitoring of IGBT module. First, it is found that the thermal grease deterioration will lead to the decrease of monitored $R_{\mathrm {thjc}}$ of IGBT module under the same health status of IGBT solder layer, despite that the thermal resistance of TIM increasing as deterioration of the TIM takes place. That is, the same monitored increment ratio of $R_{\mathrm {thjc}}$ caused by the solder fatigue may correspond to different health status of the IGBT module, which cannot accurately reflect its actual health status. Then, a compensation strategy for thermal resistance monitoring based on the TIM aging rate is proposed, which uses the established mapping relationship to decouple the negative coupling part of TIM degradation. The compensated thermal resistance can better reflect the actual health status of the IGBT module and approximately eliminate the negative impact. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed compensation strategy is verified by finite element model (FEM) analysis and experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring the defective multichip insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) module is a cost-effective approach to improve the quality of customer service. A method using time duration of the gate charge is proposed to monitor bond wires fatigue of the multichip IGBT modules when the modules are in the off-state. It is based on the fact that failure of the chip branch due to bond wires fatigue changes the gate input capacitance of the multichip IGBT module. The health state of bond wires can be converted into the change of time duration of gate charge under the constant gate current. A driver containing the constant current source is proposed. The study results indicate that the time duration of the gate charge decreases significantly when the failure of the chip branch occurs, and the effect of junction temperature can be ignored within the special range of gate voltage. Condition monitoring can be implemented during the off-state of the multichip module and without considering the effects of junction temperature. The confirmatory experiment is carried out to verify the correctness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potential defects inside an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) module can be seen as precursors of being about to wear out, and are important for health monitoring of the IGBT module which is used to enhance reliability. A method for detecting defects in the IGBT module by identifying dynamic changes of the gate current is presented in this paper. It is based on the fact that parasitic elements inside the IGBT module are affected by local damage induced by aging over time, and subsequently, these influences are easily distinguished by dynamic changes of the gate current. The proposed prognostic approach is based on relevance vector machine framework, which can give accurate predictions and allow operators to observe unhealthy IGBT modules inside a power converter, and then take appropriate measures timely to avoid breakdown. The parasitic elements involved in the gate circuit are extracted, and their contributions to dynamic changes of the gate current are also discussed. Finally, a confirmatory experiment is carried out, and the correctness of the proposed method is verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose to monitor the thermal parameters of insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) module using the case temperature. This method works during the shutoff period of IGBT module where the case temperature is in the cooling phase By establishing the relationship between the Cauer-type thermal RC parameters and the time constants of case temperature cooling curves, thermal parameters of the IGBT module can be identified. The proposed method is able to eliminate the influence of thermal interface material (TIM) degradation on the monitored results, which is quite challenging for the current case temperature monitoring methods. Moreover, it enables the detection of thermal resistance and thermal capacitance of the TIM and that of the IGBT module at the same time. Experimental tests are performed to validate the accuracy and feasibility of the proposed method. Moreover, impacts of the junction temperature, case temperature sensing position, and thermal coupling on the monitored results are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The junction temperature fluctuation of an insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is the most important factor of its aging failure, and smoothing the fluctuation is an effective way to improve the life of an IGBT. The existing methods for smoothing the fluctuation by active junction temperature control are not yet ready wide application, and exploring the different approaches to active junction temperature control is a hot topic. This paper presents a method of active junction temperature control that shifts the turn-off trajectory of an IGBT to adjust the IGBT turn-off loss for smoothing the junction temperature. The relationship between parameters of the adjusting circuit and turn-off loss is analyzed. On the basis of this analysis, a method of estimating the smoothing ability for the proposed active junction temperature control is deduced. Using an IGBT installed in a 1.2-MW direct-drive wind power converter as an example, the evaluation result shows that the proposed method can completely smooth the junction temperature fluctuation caused by a 40% rated load fluctuation. Finally, a low-power experiment is carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]