Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs) are popular power electronic switching devices with several advantages. However, they have been known to fail in the field when subjected to significant variations in power dissipation – known as power cycling. In the work presented here, a novel alternating-current (AC) power cycling test method for IGBTs together with their free-wheeling diodes is proposed and verified. A review of previous work revealed that the parameter that most affects IGBT lifetime under power cycling conditions is the variation in its junction-case temperature difference. Through simulation, the behaviour of a conventional single phase inverter (H-bridge) using simple pulse width modulation (PWM) control was quantified, and the effect of switching frequency and load power factor was studied. Results of the simulations and literature review were used to develop design criteria for a new AC test circuit. The new AC test circuit (a modified version of the conventional H-bridge) was then designed and its performance compared to the criteria and to the simulation results of the conventional circuit. The circuit was then built and its performance was validated. The circuit complied with the performance criteria, in particular the desired variation in 7jc, to an adequate degree of accuracy. The proposed test circuit is novel for several reasons. The stresses on devices used in a conventional H-bridge using a high power factor inductive load are reproduced using a low power factor inductive load, considerably reducing the energy cost of running such a test. IGBT switching losses are not actively reduced, as is normal practice, but instead are actively increased to generate the required losses. Free-wheeling diodes are also tested, but do not have significant switching losses, as the nature of the test circuit dictates that these be transferred to the IGBTs. The main drawback of the proposed test circuit is that a larger number of devices are needed; however, this tradeoff is necessary to obtain the energy cost savings provided by this circuit.

Since the end of the Current Wars in the 19th Century, alternating current (AC) has dominated the production, transmission, and use of electrical energy. The chief reason for this dominance was (and continues to be) that AC offers a way minimize transmission losses yet transmit large power from generation to load. With the Digital Revolution and the entrance of most of the post-industrialized world into the Information Age, energy usage levels have increased due to the proliferation of electrical and electronic devices in nearly all sectors of life. A stable electrical grid has become synonymous with a stable nation-state and a healthy populace. Large-scale blackouts around the world in the 20th and the early 21st Centuries highlighted the heavy reliance on power systems and because of that, governments and utilities have strived to improve reliability. Simultaneously occurring with the rise in energy usage is the mandate to cut the pollution by generation facilities and to mitigate the impact grid expansion has on environment as a whole. The traditional methods of transmission expansion are beginning to show their limits as utilities move generation facilities farther from load centers, which reduces geographic diversity, and the integration of nondispatchable, renewable energy sources upsets the current operating regime. A challenge faces engineers - how to expand generation, expand transmission capacity, and integrate renewable energy sources while maintaining maximum system efficiency and reliability. A technology that may prove beneficial to the operation of power system is high voltage direct current transmission. The technology brings its own set of advantages and disadvantages, which are in many ways the complement of AC. It is important to update transmission planning processes to account for the new possibilities that HVDC offers. This thesis submits a discussion of high voltage direct current transmission technology itself and an examination of how HVDC can be considered in the planning process. / Master of Science

L'analyse et la conception des systèmes en électronique de puissance nécessitent la prise en compte de phénomènes complexes propres à chaque composant du système mais aussi en accord avec son environnement. La description précise du comportement d'un système passe par la simulation utilisant des modèles suffisamment précis de tous ces composants. Dans notre étude, les modèles basés sur la physique des semiconducteurs permettent de décrire le comportement de la charge stockée dans la base large et peu dopée des composants bipolaires. Cette description fine est indispensable à la bonne précision de nos modèles car l'évolution des porteurs dans la base est indissociable du comportement en statique et en dynamique du composant. Ainsi, les modèles physiques analytiques de diode PiN mais surtout d'IGBT NPT ou PT, ayant une technologie de grille 'planar' ou à tranchées sont présentés puis validés. La modélisation de systèmes complexes en électronique de puissance est abordée au travers de deux études. La première concerne l'association des modèles de semiconducteurs avec des modèles de la connectique dans un module de puissance du commerce (3300V /1200A). Une analyse sur les déséquilibres en courant entre les différentes puces en parallèle est donnée. La seconde présente une architecture innovante issue de l'intégration fonctionnelle. Cette architecture faibles pertes permet d'améliorer le compromis chute de tension à l'état passant/ énergie de commutation à l'ouverture inhérent aux composants IGBT. Sa réalisation technologique est présentée au travers de mesure.

Prognostics and health management (PHM) is a major tool enabling systems to evaluate their reliability in real-time operation. Despite ground-breaking advances in most engineering and scientific disciplines during the past decades, reliability engineering has not seen significant breakthroughs or noticeable advances. Therefore, self-awareness of the embedded system is also often required in the sense that the system should be able to assess its own health state and failure records, and those of its main components, and take action appropriately. This thesis presents a radically new prognostics approach to reliable system design that will revolutionise complex power electronic systems with robust prognostics capability enhanced Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT) in applications where reliability is significantly challenging and critical. The IGBT is considered as one of the components that is mainly damaged in converters and experiences a number of failure mechanisms, such as bond wire lift off, die attached solder crack, loose gate control voltage, etc. The resulting effects mentioned are complex. For instance, solder crack growth results in increasing the IGBT’s thermal junction which becomes a source of heat turns to wire bond lift off. As a result, the indication of this failure can be seen often in increasing on-state resistance relating to the voltage drop between on-state collector-emitter. On the other hand, hot carrier injection is increased due to electrical stress. Additionally, IGBTs are components that mainly work under high stress, temperature and power consumptions due to the higher range of load that these devices need to switch. This accelerates the degradation mechanism in the power switches in discrete fashion till reaches failure state which fail after several hundred cycles. To this end, exploiting failure mechanism knowledge of IGBTs and identifying failure parameter indication are background information of developing failure model and prognostics algorithm to calculate remaining useful life (RUL) along with ±10% confidence bounds. A number of various prognostics models have been developed for forecasting time to failure of IGBTs and the performance of the presented estimation models has been evaluated based on two different evaluation metrics. The results show significant improvement in health monitoring capability for power switches. Furthermore, the reliability of the power switch was calculated and conducted to fully describe health state of the converter and reconfigure the control parameter using adaptive algorithm under degradation and load mission limitation. As a result, the life expectancy of devices has been increased. These all allow condition-monitoring facilities to minimise stress levels and predict future failure which greatly reduces the likelihood of power switch failures in the first place.

Satisfaire les besoins en énergie de manière responsable est possible grâce aux énergies renouvelables, notamment éoliennes et solaires. Cependant ces centres de captation d’énergie sont éloignés dans zones de consommation. Le transport de l’énergie via des réseaux HVDC (haute tension courant continu) permet un rendement et une flexibilité avantageuse face au transport HVAC (haute tension courant alternatif). Ceci est rendu possible grâce aux convertisseurs utilisant l’électronique de puissance. Les récents développements sur les semi-conducteurs à large bande interdite, plus particulièrement le carbure de silicium (SiC) offrent la possibilité de concevoir ces convertisseurs plus simples, utilisant des briques technologiques de plus fort calibre (≤ 10 kV). Cependant le packaging, essentiel à leur bon fonctionnement, ne suit pas ces évolutions. Dans cette thèse, nous explorons les technologies actuelles ainsi que les limites physique et normatives liées au packaging haute tension. Des solutions innovantes sont proposées pour concevoir un module de puissance haute tension, impactant que faiblement les paramètres connexes (résistance thermique, isolation électrique et paramètres environnementaux). Les éléments identifiés comme problématiques sont traités individuellement. La problématique des décharges partielles sur les substrats céramiques métallisés est développée et une solution se basant sur les paramètres géométriques a été testée. Le boitier standard type XHP-3 a été étudié et une solution permettant de le faire fonctionner à 10 kV à fort degré de pollution a été développée. / The supply of carbon-free energy is possible with renewable energy. However, windfarms and solar power plants are geographically away from the distribution points. Transporting the energy using the HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) technology allow for a better yield along the distance and result in a cost effective approach compared to HVAC (High Voltage Alternative Current) lines. Thus, there is a need of high voltage power converters using power electronics. Recent development on wide bandgap semiconductors, especially silicon carbide (SiC) allow a higher blocking voltage (around 10 kV) that would simplify the design of such power electronic converters. On the other hand, the development on packaging technologies needs to follow this trend. In this thesis, an exploration of technological and normative limitation has been done for a high voltage power module design. The main hot spot are clearly identified and innovative solutions are studied to provide a proper response with a low impact on parasitic parameters. Partial Discharges (PD) on ceramic substrates is analyzed and a solution of a high Partial Discharge Inception Voltage (PDIV) is given based on geometrical parameters. The XHP-3 like power modules are studied and a solution allowing a use under 10 kV at a high pollution degree (PD3) is given.

The use of insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)-based power converters is increasing exponentially. This is due to high performance of these devices in terms of efficiency and switching speed. However, due to the switching action, high frequency electromagnetic interference (EMI) noises are generated. Design of a power converter with reduced EMI noise level is one of the primary objectives of this research. The first part of the work focuses on designing common-mode (CM) filters, which can be integrated with differential-mode (DM) filters for three-phase pulse-width modulation (PWM) rectifier-based motor drives. This work explores the filter design based on the CM equivalent circuit of the drive system. Guidelines are provided for selection of the filter components. Different variants of the filter topology are evaluated to establish the effectiveness of the proposed topology. Analytical results based on Bode plot of the transfer functions are presented, which suggest effective EMI reduction. Experimental results based on EMI measurement on the grid side and CM current measurement on the motor side are presented. These results validate the effectiveness of the filter. In the second part of the work, it is shown that inclusion of CM filters into DM filters results in resonance oscillations in the CM circuit. An active damping strategy is proposed to damp the oscillations in both line-to-line and line-to-ground ac voltages and currents. An approach based on pole placement by state feedback is used to actively damp both the DM and CM filter oscillations. Analytical expressions for state-feedback controller gains are derived for both continuous-and discrete-time models of the filter. Trade-off in selection of the active damping gain on the lower-order grid current harmonics is analysed using a weighted admittance function method. In the third part of the work, single-phase grid-connected power converters are considered. An integrated CM filter with DM LCL filter is proposed. The work explores the suitability of PWM methods for single-phase and parallel single-phase grid-connected power converters. It is found that bipolar PWM and unipolar PWM with 180◦interleaving angle are suitable for single-phase and parallel single-phase power converters, respectively. The proposed configuration along with the PWM methods reduces the CM voltage, CM current, and EMI noise level effectively. It is also shown that the suggested circuit is insensitive to nonidealities of the power converter such as dead-time mismatch, mismatch in converter-side inductors, unequal turn on and turn off of the switches, and propagation delays. In the fourth part of the work, the inter-phase inductor in parallel interleaved power converters is integrated with LCL filter boost inductor. Different variant designs are presented and compared with the proposed structure. It is shown that the proposed structure makes use of standard core geometries and consumes lesser core material as well as copper wire. Hence, it reduces the overall size and cost of the power converter. In the present work, a 10kVA three-phase back-to-back connected with input LCL filter and output dv/dt filter, a 5kVA single-phase grid-connected power converter with LCL filter, and a 7.5kVA parallel single-phase grid-connected power converter with LCL filter are fabricated in the laboratory to evaluate and validate the proposed methods. The experimental results validate the proposed methods that result in significant EMI performance improvement of grid-connected power converters.

Pour le développement des convertisseurs d’électronique de puissance, la simulation en temps réel joue un rôle essentiel dans la validation des performances des convertisseurs et de leur contrôle avant leur réalisation. Cela permet de simuler et reproduire avec précision les formes d’ondes des courants et tensions des convertisseurs de puissance modélisés avec un pas de temps de simulation correspondant exactement au temps physique. Les circuits d’électronique de puissance sont caractérisés par le comportement non linéaire des interrupteurs. Par conséquent, les représentations des dispositifs de commutation sont cruciales dans la simulation en temps réel. Le modèle au niveau système est largement utilisé dans les simulateurs temps réel du commerce et les plates-formes expérimentales, qui modélisent les comportements des interrupteurspar deux états stationnaires distincts - passant et bloqué - et négligent tous les phénomènes transitoires. Ces dernières années, la simulation temps réel au niveau du composant est devenue populaire car elle permet de simuler les formes d'onde de commutation transitoires et de fournir des informations utiles concernant les contraintes sur les interrupteurs , les pertes, les effets parasites et les comportements électrothermiques. Néanmoins, la simulation temps réel au niveau du composant est contrainte par le pas de temps transitoire réalisable en raison des quantités de calcul accrues introduites par la non-linéarité du modèle de commutation.Afin d'intégrer le modèle au niveau du composant dans la simulation en temps réel, cette thèse porte sur l'exploration approfondie des techniques de modélisation et de simulation en temps réel au niveau composantdes convertisseurs d’électronique de puissance. Les techniques de simulation en temps réel les plus récentes sont d’abord examinées de manière exhaustive, tant au niveau du système que du composant. En outre, deux approches de modélisation au niveau du composant sont proposées, à savoir le modèle haute résolution quasi-transitoire (HRQT) et le modèle transitoire linéaire par morceaux (PLT). Dans le modèle HRQT, le modèle de réseau est implémenté par une simulation au niveau système tout en générant les formes d'onde de commutation transitoires avec une résolution de 5 ns, ce qui permet de simuler le convertisseur de puissance avec des transitoires rapides jusqu'à des dizaines de nanosecondes. Compte tenu des effets des transitoires sur l’ensemble du réseau, les modèles non linéaires des IGBT et diodes sont linéarisés par morceaux dans le modèle PLT. À l'aide de techniques efficaces de découplage de circuits, le modèle du convertisseur de puissance au niveau composant peut être simulé de manière stable avec un pas de temps de simulation global de 50 ns. Les deux modèles proposés sont testés et validés via différents cas sur une plate-forme temps réel de National Instruments basée sur un FPGA, comprenant un convertisseur boost boosté entrelacé (FIBC) pour le modèle HRQT, un convertisseur DC-DC-AC pour le modèle PLT et un convertisseur modulaire à plusieurs niveaux (MMC) pour les deux. Des résultats précis sont produits par rapport aux outils de simulation hors ligne. L'efficacité et les valeurs d'application sont également vérifiées par les résultats d’essais en temps réel. / In the development cycles of the power electronics converters, the real-time simulation plays an essential role in validating the converters’ and the controllers’ performances before their implementations on real systems. It can simulate and reproduce the current and voltage waveforms of the modeled power electronics converters accurately with a simulation time-step exactly corresponding to the physical time. The power electronics circuits are characterized by nonlinear switching behaviors. Therefore, the representations of switching devices are crucial in real-time simulation. The system-level model is widely used in both commercial real-time simulators and the experimentally built real-time platforms, which models the switching behaviors by two separate steady states – turn-on and turn-off, and neglects all the switching transients. In recent years, the device-level real-time simulation has become popular since it can simulate the transient switching waveforms and provide useful information with regard to the device stresses, the power losses, the parasitic effects, and electro-thermal behaviors. Nevertheless, the device-level real-time simulation is constrained by the achievable transient time-step due to the increased computational amounts introduced by the nonlinearity of the switch model.In order to integrate the device-level model in the real-time simulation, in this thesis, the device-level real-time modeling and simulation techniques of the power electronics converters are deeply explored. The state-of-art real-time simulation techniques are firstly reviewed comprehensively with regard to both system-level and device-level. Moreover, two device-level modeling approaches are proposed, including high- resolution quasi-transient model (HRQT) and the piecewise linear transient (PLT) model. In HRQT model, the network model can be implemented by system-level simulation while generating the transient switching waveforms with a 5 ns resolution, which is good at simulating the power converter with fast switching transients down to tens of nanoseconds. Considering the effects of the transient behaviors on the entire network, the PLT model is proposed by piecewise linearizing the nonlinear IGBT and diode equivalent models. With the help of effective circuit decoupling techniques, the device-level power converter model can be simulated stably with a 50 ns global simulation time-step. The proposed two models are tested and validated via different case studies on National Instruments (NI) FPGA-based real-time platform, including floating interleaved boost converter (FIBC) for HRQT model, DC-DC-AC converter for PLT model, and modular multi-level converter (MMC) for the both. Accurate results are produced compared to offline simulation tools. The effectiveness and the application values are further verified by the results of the real-time experiments.

Les MOSFET en SiC sont appelées à remplacer les IGBT en Silicium pour des applications de demandant une plus forte vitesse de commutation. Cependant, les MOSFET en SiC ont encore quelques problèmes de fiabilité, tels que la robustesse de la diode interne ou bien la robustesse de l'oxyde de grille. Cette dernière est liée à l’oxyde de grille des composants du type MOSFET. Des instabilités de la tension de seuil sont aussi signalées. Cette thèse aborde ces deux sujets sur des MOSFET commerciaux 1200 V. L'étude de la diode interne met en évidence que les caractéristiques I-V (de la diode intrinsèque) demeurent stables après l'application d'un stress. Cependant, une dérive surprenante de la tension de seuil apparaît. Des tests complémentaires, en stressant le canal à la place de la diode, avec les mêmes contraintes n'ont pas montré de dérive significative de la tension de seuil. Donc, l'application d'un stress en courant quand le composant est en mode d'accumulation semble favoriser l'apparition des instabilités de la tension de seuil. La robustesse de l'oxyde de grille concerne les instabilités de la tension de seuil, mais aussi l'estimation de la durée de vie à des conditions d'opération nominales. Les résultats obtenus montrent que la durée de vie de l'oxyde de grille n'est plus un problème. Pourtant, le suivi du courant de grille pendant les tests ainsi que les caractérisations de la capacité de grille mettent en évidence des translations de la courbe C(V) à cause des phénomènes d’injection des porteurs et de piégeage, mais aussi la possible présence d’ions mobiles. Aussi, une bonne analyse des dégradations et dérives liées à l’oxyde de grille doit être réalisée. / SiC power MOSFETs are called to replace Si IGBT for some medium and high power applications (hundreds of kVA). However, even if crystallographic defects have been drastically reduced, SiC MOSFETs are always concerned by some robustness issues such as the internal diode robustness or the robustness of the gate oxide. The last one especially affects MOSFETs devices and is linked to the apparition of instabilities in the threshold voltage. This thesis focuses on these two issues. The study of the internal diode robustness highlighted that the I-V curve (of the intrinsic diode) remains stable after the application of a current stress in static mode, but also with the DUT placed in a converter with inductive switchings. These are the most stressful conditions. However, a surprising drift in the threshold voltage has been observed when some devices operates under these conditions; in static mode or in a converter. Complementary tests stressing the channel instead of the internal diode in the same temperature and dissipated power, have not resulted in a drift of the threshold voltage. Thus, the application of a current stress when the device is in accumulation regime could favour the apparition of instabilities in the threshold voltage. The study of the gate oxide focus in the instabilities of the threshold voltage, but also on the expected lifetime of the oxide at nominal conditions. Results obtained shown that the expected lifetime (TDDB) of the oxide is no longer a problem. Indeed, tests realized in static mode, but also in a converter under inductive switching conditions resulted in expected lifetimes well above 100 years. However, the monitoring of the gate current during the test and gate capacitance characterizations C(V) highlighted a shift in the capacitance due to carrier injection and trapping phenomena and probably to the presence of mobile-ions. Still regarding the instabilities of the threshold voltage, classic tests resulted in no significant variations of the threshold voltage at 150 _C. However, at 200 _C the drift observed for some manufacturers is higher than +30%. This is unacceptable for high-temperature applications and evidence that the quality of the gate oxide and the SiC=SiO2 interface must continue to be improved, together with the manufacturing methods to minimize the presence of mobile ions in the substrate.

Tato disertační práce se zabývá využitím programovatelných hradlových polí (FPGA) v diagnostice měničů, využívajících spínaných IGBT tranzistorů. Je zaměřena na budiče těchto výkonových tranzistorů a jejich struktury. Přechodné jevy veličin, jako jsou IG, VGE, VCE během procesu přepínání (zapnutí, vypnutí), mohou poukazovat na degradaci IGBT. Pro měření a monitorování těchto veličin byla navržena nová architektura budiče IGBT. Rychlé měření a monitorování během přepínacího děje vyžaduje vysokou vzorkovací frekvenci. Proto jsou navrhovány paralelní vysokorychlostní AD převodníky (> 50 MSPS). Práce je zaměřena převážně na návrh zařízení s FPGA včetně hardware a software. Byla navržena nová deska plošných spojů s FPGA, která plní požadované funkce, jako je řízení IGBT pomocí vícenásobných paralelních koncových stupňů, monitorování a diagnostiku, a propojení s řídicí jednotkou měniče.