Electrothermal PSpice Modeling and Simulation of Power Modules

Abstract

Integrated Power Electronics Modules (IPEMs) represent an innovative typology of power electronics assemblies able to guarantee several advantages such as increasing of power density, better management of the thermal flows and a significant reduction of the package sizes. Their characteristics make them suitable for applications like motor drives or power conditioning. IPEMs usage in emerging fields like hybrid automotive traction and electric generation from renewable energy sources is continuously increasing. In this paper, we describe the implementation of a devised flow to generate the layer-based electro-thermal PSpice model of an IPEM and the simulation flow of the model. The proposed modeling methodology allows reducing an electro-thermal multi-domain problem to an electrical single one. The general PSpice-like nature of the proposed model makes it suitable for a wide range of simulation frameworks where the integration of heterogeneous multi-physics models could be a difficult task. The outlining of both electrical and thermal PSpice layers is discussed, and the implementation into the final model, by the assistance of custom electronic design automation (EDA) flow, is presented. Besides, we describe the validation procedure of the proposed approach and the results are compared with the ones obtained by a commercial finiteelement-based package used as a benchmark. Two simulation approaches related to specific conversion systems, and related issues, are presented and discussed.

LTspice Electro-Thermal Model of Joule Heating in High Density Polyethylene Optical Fiber Microducts

“…It can be observed that, with increasing temperature, the thermal conductivity and density of the PE decreases while the specific heat capacity increases until 125 • C (i.e., the melting point of PE), and above this temperature, it becomes nearly constant. This shows that the thermal resistance and thermal capacitance of PE increases with an increase in the temperature from room temperature to 125 • C and then becomes nearly constant afterwards, according to Equations (6) and (7), respectively. Figure 11b shows the peak temperatures of the third comparison.…”

“…By splitting the layer geometry into three tubes, the thermal resistance for the inner layers Li200-Li2000 and the outer layers Lo200-Lo800 was calculated using Equation (6), and the thermal capacitance was calculated using Equations (7) and (9). The thermal resistance of the remaining outer three layers, Lo1000-Lo2000, was calculated using Equations (5) and (4), and the thermal capacitance was calculated using Equations (8) and (7). The material properties used for the HDPE layer calculations were ρ = 950 kg/m 3 , λ = 0.51 W/ • C·m, and c ρ = 2000 J/kg· • C, and for the LDPE layer, they were were ρ = 900 kg/m 3 , λ = 0.36 W/ • C·m, and c ρ = 2300 J/kg· • C. parameters for each of these three tubes in the first layer can be computed by considering the onedimensional heat flow in the radial direction [23].…”

“…Thermal resistance and convection resistance were modelled as electrical resistance (R), and thermal capacitance was modelled as electrical capacitance (C). Electrical resistance and capacitance ladder (RC-ladder) type thermal models are very flexible and are used to model 1D [5], 2D [6], and 3D thermal problems [7]. Electrical analogs to thermal parameters can either be connected in a series or parallel to model a thermal system [8].…”

Comparative Analysis of Si- and GaN-Based Single-Phase Transformer-Less PV Grid-Tied Inverter

“…Modelling and thermal performance analysis of heatsinks using simulation platforms have been reported in several literatures [28][29][30][31][32]. Many simulation software are available commercially such as: COMSOL Multiphysics, FLUENT, ANSYS, Pro-MECHANICA, etc.…”

“…Many simulation software are available commercially such as: COMSOL Multiphysics, FLUENT, ANSYS, Pro-MECHANICA, etc. that use numerical methods, Finite Element and Finite Volume Methods (FEM and FEV) along with Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools to model the thermal performance of heatsinks [28][29][30][31][32].…”