A new driving and protective circuit of IGBT for motor drive application

A driving method is proposed such that the drive circuit for the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) inverter can be highly integrated. This method employs a level shift circuit consisting of two power MOSFETs. The circuit configuration operation and test results of this method are described. A protective method for the IGBT against a short circuit accident is proposed. The characteristics of an IGBT at a short circuit accident are shown, and the protective method based on those characteristics is described. The configuration, operation, and test results of the gate drive circuit in which this protective function is incorporated are shown. The design concept of the snubber circuit employing this protective method against a short circuit accident is proposed, and the effectiveness of this design concept is proved by test results and simulation.<
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