Design and Validation of A 250-kW All-Silicon Carbide High-Density Three-Level T-Type Inverter

This article presents a comprehensive design and validation of a compact all-silicon carbide (SiC) 250-kW T-type traction inverter with a power density of 25 kW/l and 98.5% peak efficiency. All the operation modes and switching transitions in a T-type phase leg are analyzed to model the semiconducto...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE journal of emerging and selected topics in power electronics 2020-03, Vol.8 (1), p.578-588
Main Authors: Wang, Zhongjing, Wu, Yuheng, Mahmud, Mohammad Hazzaz, Zhao, Zhe, Zhao, Yue, Mantooth, H. Alan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Busbars
Inverters
Legged locomotion
Modules
MOSFET
MOSFETs
Optimization
power density
Power loss
Prototyping
Silicon carbide
silicon carbide (SiC)
Switches
Switching
Switching loss
Systems design
T-type inverter
Topology
Traction
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Summary:This article presents a comprehensive design and validation of a compact all-silicon carbide (SiC) 250-kW T-type traction inverter with a power density of 25 kW/l and 98.5% peak efficiency. All the operation modes and switching transitions in a T-type phase leg are analyzed to model the semiconductor power losses over a fundamental cycle. Special attention has been paid to investigate the behavior and losses due to the reverse conduction of the SiC MOSFETs. Then a loss model is built based upon this analysis to calculate the device loss distribution and system efficiency, which is further used to determine the optimal switching frequency. In addition, detailed inverter system design and prototyping procedure, including the selection of SiC modules and dc-link capacitors, and the optimization of a fourlayer laminated busbar, are presented. In this article, the T-type phase leg is formed by a normal half-bridge module and a common-source module. The switching performance and losses in this configuration are different from two-level topology that only uses one SiC module. Therefore, the switching performance and the associated switching energy in each switch position are characterized using a custom clamped inductive load (CIL) test setup designed for a T-type phase leg. The performance of the full power traction inverter prototype has been verified experimentally using pulse testing and continuous power testing.
ISSN:2168-6777
2168-6785
DOI:10.1109/JESTPE.2019.2951625