Efficiency and Loss Models for Key Electronic Components of Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles' Electrical Propulsion Systems

Isolated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) are widely used in power electronic applications including electric, hybrid electric, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (EVs, HEVs, and PHEVs). The trend towards more electric vehicles (MEVs) has demanded the need for power electronic devices capable of handling power in the range of 10-100 kW. However, the converter losses in this power range are of critical importance. Therefore, thermal management of the power electronic devices/converters is crucial for the reliability and longevity of the advanced vehicles. To aid the design of heat exchangers for the IGBT modules used in propulsion motor drives, a loss model for the IGBTs is necessary. The loss model of the IGBTs will help in the process of developing new heat exchangers and advanced thermal interface materials by reducing cost and time. This paper deals with the detailed loss modeling of IGBTs for advanced electrical propulsion systems. An experimental based loss model is proposed. The proposed loss calculation method utilizes the experimental data to reconstruct the loss surface of the power electronic devices by means of curve fitting and linear extrapolating. This enables the calculation of thermal losses in different voltage, current, and temperature conditions of operation. To verify the calculation method, an experimental test set-up was designed and built. The experimental set-up is an IGBT based bi-directional DC/DC converter. In addition, simulation results are presented to verify the proposed calculation method.