Abstract
In the present work, a 1D and 2D RC lumped equivalent thermal models of a SiC power module were developed. The project consisted of a study of the state of the art regarding the thermal design of power modules followed by a case study of an IGBT power module. This research aimed to familiarize with the methodology and finite element software employed in the study.Then, from a selected CAS120M12BM2 half-bridge power module, the initial geometry was obtained with a scaled measurement from photographs and some justified assumptions with regard of layer thickness and material selection. Variable material properties and boundary conditions were applied to design a 3D FEM model of the hardware with the aid of ANSYS Icepak.
After a steady state and transient simulation, the results were analyzed and the RC thermal equivalent parameters for each layer were extracted with a curve fitting process. These parameters were then implemented in two lumped equivalent thermal network studies. One study being a 1D Foster model with a one layer, a three layer and a six layer configuration to analyze their difference and, another study of an 2D Foster model, with the consideration of diode to MOSFET cross-heating effects.
Finally, experimental data obtained with a real setup was used to validate the models. Moreover, a comparison between real data, and the two equivalent models was carried out to study the performance of each model and areas for improvement. Here the developed 2D RC lumped equivalent thermal model resulted in a low steady-state error of 0.72%, while the transient curves differed from the experimental ones.
| Date of Award | 31 Aug 2023 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Supervisor | Mohamed Amine Frikha (Advisor), Sajib Chakraborty (Co-promotor) & Omar Hegazy (Promotor) |