Design and analysis of a 55-kW air-cooled automotive traction drive inverter

Chinthavali, Madhu; Tawfik, Jonathan A.; Arimilli, Rao V.

doi:10.1109/ecce.2011.6064080

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Despite the adoption of WBG semiconductors, it remains challenging to design an air-cooled automotive inverter that keeps the overall volume comparable to a liquid cooled one. To determine the feasibility of using forced air to cool an axial flow cylindricalshaped and rectangular-shaped SiC traction drive inverter, Chinthavali et al [43,49] performed a parametric study with various air flow rates, ambient air temperatures, voltages, and device switching frequencies via transient and steady-state simulations. When the inverter was subject to one or multiple current cycles at an ambient temperature of 120 • C, the maximum junction temperature did not exceed 164 and 146 • C at an inlet flow rate of 270 cfm for the cylindrical-shaped and rectangular-shaped inverter, respectively.…”

Section: Forced Air Coolingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal Management Technologies Used for High Heat Flux Automobiles and Aircraft: A Review

Zhang

Wang

et al. 2022

Energies

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In recent years, global automotive industries are going through a significant revolution from traditional internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) to electric vehicles (EVs) for CO2 emission reduction. Very similarly, the aviation industry is developing towards more electric aircraft (MEA) in response to the reduction in global CO2 emission. To promote this technology revolution and performance advancement, plenty of electronic devices with high heat flux are implemented on board automobiles and aircraft. To cope with the thermal challenges of electronics, in addition to developing wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors with satisfactory electric and thermal performance, providing proper thermal management solutions may be a much more cost-effective way at present. This paper provides an overview of the thermal management technologies for electronics used in automobiles and aircraft. Meanwhile, the active methods include forced air cooling, indirect contact cold plate cooling, direct contact baseplate cooling, jet impingement, spray cooling, and so on. The passive methods include the use of various heat pipes and PCMs. The features, thermal performance, and development tendency of these active and passive thermal management technologies are reviewed in detail. Moreover, the environmental influences introduced by vibrations, shock, acceleration, and so on, on the thermal performance and reliability of the TMS are specially emphasized and discussed in detail, which are usually neglected in normal operating conditions. Eventually, the possible future directions are discussed, aiming to serve as a reference guide for engineers and promote the advancement of the next-generation electronics TMS in automobile and aircraft applications.

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Section: Forced Air Coolingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal Management Technologies Used for High Heat Flux Automobiles and Aircraft: A Review

Zhang

Wang

et al. 2022

Energies

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“…The cooling systems for automotive inverters have adopted numerous different architectures and solutions (Figure 4). Research on gas-cooled inverters, for example, can be found in Chintamani's paper [66]. Nevertheless, two fundamentally different approaches can be considered in inverter cooling: air and liquid cooling.…”

Section: Classification Of Existing Cooling Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Thorough Review of Cooling Concepts and Thermal Management Techniques for Automotive WBG Inverters: Topology, Technology and Integration Level

et al. 2021

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The development of electric vehicles (EVs) is an important step towards clean and green cities. An electric powertrain provides power to the vehicle and consists of a charger, a battery, an inverter, and a motor as the main components. Supplied by a battery pack, the automotive inverter manages the power of the motor. EVs require a highly efficient inverter, which satisfies low cost, size, and weight requirements. One approach to meeting these requirements is to use the new wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductors, which are being widely investigated in the industry as an alternative to silicon switches. WBG devices have superior intrinsic properties, such as high thermal flux, of up to 120 W/cm2 (on average); junction temperature of 175–200 °C; blocking voltage limit of about 6.5 kV; switching frequency about 20-fold higher than that of Si; and up to 73% lower switching losses with a lower conduction voltage drop. This study presents a review of WBG-based inverter cooling systems to investigate trends in cooling techniques and changes associated with the use of WBG devices. The aim is to consider suitable cooling techniques for WBG inverters at different power levels.

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“…Hence, some high ambient temperature converter concepts with SiC have been presented in the literature [16]- [20] and research centers of car manufacturers work on the production of SiC devices [21], [22].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A 120 °C Ambient Temperature Forced Air-Cooled Normally-off SiC JFET Automotive Inverter System

Wrzecionko

Bortis

Kolar

2014

IEEE Trans. Power Electron.

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The degree of integration of power electronic converters in current hybrid electric vehicles can be increased by mitigation of special requirements of these converters, especially those regarding ambient air and cooling fluid temperature levels. Today, converters have their own cooling circuit or are placed far away from hot spots caused by the internal combustion engine and its peripheral components. In this paper, it is shown, how the use of SiC power semiconductors and active control electronics cooling employing a Peltier cooler can help to build an air-cooled inverter system for 120 • C ambient temperature. First, a detailed analysis shows, how the optimum junction of this high-temperature system can be calculated. Then, the operating temperature ranges of power semiconductors, thermal interface materials, capacitors, and control electronics are investigated, leading to a comprehensive analysis of mechanical concepts for the inverter system in order to show new ways to solve electrical and thermal tradeoffs. In particular, the operation of the signal electronics and the gate driver for power semiconductors with a junction temperature of 250 • C within the specified operating temperature range is ensured by appropriate placement and cooling methods, while taking the electrical requirements for limits on the wiring inductances and symmetry requirements into account. The analysis includes an accurate thermal model of the converter and an optimized active cooling of the signal electronics using a Peltier cooler. Finally, a hardware prototype with discrete power semiconductor devices and thus with a junction temperature limit of 175 • C driving high-speed electrical machines is shown to validate the theoretical considerations in a custom-designed high-temperature test environment.

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Design and analysis of a 55-kW air-cooled automotive traction drive inverter

Cited by 6 publications

References 7 publications

Thermal Management Technologies Used for High Heat Flux Automobiles and Aircraft: A Review

Thermal Management Technologies Used for High Heat Flux Automobiles and Aircraft: A Review

A Thorough Review of Cooling Concepts and Thermal Management Techniques for Automotive WBG Inverters: Topology, Technology and Integration Level

A 120 °C Ambient Temperature Forced Air-Cooled Normally-off SiC JFET Automotive Inverter System

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