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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]

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]

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]

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]