An Experimental Setup to Evaluate the Efficiency and Cooling Capability of IGBT and SiC Power Modules

摘要

The quest to increase the efficiency and power density of power electronics converters in electric vehicles and elsewhere, puts stress on the thermal management of these systems. Advanced liquid cooling methods as, for instance pin fins, were introduced by several manufacturers to increase the cooling capabilities and power density of IGBT inverter modules. From a designer perspective, several degrees of freedom exist to dimension and tune the cooling system that is built around the inverter module. This paper introduces an automated test set-up, applied for benchmarking liquid cooling methods of power modules and subject to custom programmable current and voltage profiles. The test set-up consists of an electrical and thermal circuit that allows for adjustable DC power supply, different electrical IGBT load profiles, flow-rate, fluid-flow temperature, different heat sink types and different cooling fluids.