Degradation Detection of Power Switches in a Live Three Phase Inverter using SSTDR Signal Embedded PWM Sequence

A SSTDR Methodology, Implementations, and Challenges

“…Reflectometry is a nondestructive technique to remotely detect, locate, and characterize useful information in physical systems. It has been used extensively in electrical systems to locate electrical “opens” or “shorts” [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ], locate cable insulation break down [ 7 ], detect electrical system degradation [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ], locate ground and arc faults [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ], locate damaged components in photovoltaic (PV) systems [ 12 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ], remotely measure complex impedance [ 17 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ], locate intermittent faults that only occur during normal operation [ 3 , 4 , 8 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ], and locate faults in three phase systems [ 27 ]. In material science, reflectometry has been used to characterize nanostructures, optical fiber networks, waveguides, and dielectrics [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ].…”

“…It has been used in airplane cabling where it has been able to detect intermittent faults lasting a few milliseconds [ 47 ]. Application has also been seen in power systems [ 27 , 57 , 58 ], PV systems [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 15 , 16 , 18 , 59 , 60 ], undersea cabling [ 61 ], and railroad systems [ 49 , 62 , 63 ]. It has been proposed that SSTDR could be used in battery health monitoring [ 64 ] and cable degradation monitoring [ 65 ].…”

“…SSTDR has been used to determine the quality of devices used in power systems, where change in impedance may indicate a change in health. SSTDR has been used to monitor the status of power converters [ 95 , 96 ], power-switching devices [ 27 , 58 , 97 , 98 ], IGBT power modules [ 9 , 98 ], IGBT bond-wires buried cables [ 99 ], and MOSFETs [ 10 , 100 , 101 , 102 ]. For example, ref.…”

“…SSTDR techniques have been shown to successfully characterize the aging of power-switching devices by monitoring changes in the device’s impedance. For example, SSTDR signals were embedded within the gate driver signals and used to characterize power-switch impedances [ 27 ].…”

An Overview on Electric-Stress Degradation Empirical Models for Electrochemical Devices in Smart Grids

“…Electronics' reliability relies on their design, build, and components' quality [88][89][90][91]. Degradation effects caused by electrical stressors in capacitors [86] and power switches [92,93] have been demonstrated. Some researchers aimed to study degradation of power electronic converters by environmental conditions [94], humidity and condensation [95], thermal loading [96], and others [97].…”