Reliability, Condition Monitoring and Health Management Technologies for WBG Power Modules

该项目提出了一种需要主动可靠性管理的电力转换器的运营管理和使用模式转变。这包括预测故障和管理电源转换器的剩余使用寿命。电力电子转换器是现代文明不可缺少的。他们负责一系列应用的电力转换，从几瓦的便携式手持电子设备到几十亿瓦的整个电力网络。在过去的几十年里，工业脱碳的需要加强了对更高效、更可靠的电力电子设备、组件和转换器的研究。这是因为电力电子转换器需要将可再生能源（太阳能、风能、潮汐能等）整合到电力系统中。此外，被认为对减少温室气体排放至关重要的电力运输非常依赖电力电子设备。混合动力和全电动汽车需要动力转换器来控制牵引机，同样，电动火车也需要动力转换器。船舶推进也采用了电动模式，由变流器驱动的电动机取代了燃气驱动的涡轮机。然而，随着功率转换器的功率密度越来越高，人们已经认识到一些可靠性问题。功率转换器由功率模块组成，而功率模块又由电隔离但热传导封装中的开关功率半导体器件组成。在过去的十年中，功率半导体器件及其机械互连的可靠性受到了工业界和学术界的广泛关注。在过去的几十年里，硅器件一直是电力电子领域的主要技术，然而，碳化硅和氮化镓器件已经成为可行的替代品。这些新器件被称为宽带隙器件，因为它们的能带隙比硅的能带隙大。这仅仅意味着它们可以承受更多的能量，从而提高功率转换的效率。这些WBG半导体的可靠性正日益成为一个非常重要的话题，因为这些新器件正在获得越来越多的市场渗透。在故障成本高的应用中，例如汽车牵引、航空航天和并网变流器，新技术的采用速度很慢。通过开发能够提高这些新设备的可靠性并在线监测其健康状况的技术，采用新的WBG功率模块可以大大降低风险。该项目旨在通过为基于WBG的电力电子模块提供状态监测和健康管理平台来实现这一目标。

This project proposes a paradigm shift in the operational management and use of power converters that entails active reliability management. This involves predicting failure and managing the remaining useable life of the power converter. Power electronic converters are indispensable to modern civilisation. They are responsible for electrical power conversion for a range of applications that span the few watts for portable hand-held electronics to several gigawatts for entire electrical power networks. Over the past few decades, the need for industrial decarbonisation has intensified the research into more efficient and reliable power electronic devices, components and converters. This is because power electronic converters are required for integrating renewable energy sources (solar, wind, tidal etc.) into the electrical system. Furthermore, electric transportation, which is seen as critical for reducing green-house emissions, relies very heavily on power electronics. Hybrid and full electric vehicles require power converters to control the traction machine, likewise, electric trains require power converters. Marine propulsion has also adopted the electric paradigm with the gas driven turbine replaced by a converter driven electrical motor. However, as power converters are driven at increasingly higher power densities, several reliability concerns have been recognised. The power converters are comprised of power modules, which in turn are comprised of switching power semiconductor devices in an electrically isolating but thermally conducting package. The reliability of the power semiconductor device and its mechanical interconnects has been intensely investigated by industrial and academic researchers over the last decade. Silicon devices have been the principal technology in power electronics for the last few decades however, silicon carbide and gallium nitride devices have emerged as viable alternatives. These new devices are referred to as wide bandgap devices because they have energy bandgaps larger than that of silicon. The simply means that they can withstand more energy thereby increasing the efficiency of power conversion. The reliability of these WBG semiconductors is increasingly becoming a very important topic since these new devices are gaining increasing market penetration. In applications with high failure costs, for example, automotive traction, aerospace and grid connected converters, the uptake of new technology is slow. By developing technologies that can improve the reliability of these new devices and monitor their health on-line, the uptake of new WBG power modules is very significantly de-risked. This project aims to do just this, by providing a condition monitoring and health management platform for WBG based power electronic modules.