Integrated electrical and thermal modeling and analysis of IPEMs

The need for integrated analysis and design tools is becoming more evident, especially when integrated power electronics module (IPEM) is concerned. The whole procedure of developing IPEM needs the support from integrated tools. In this paper, a set of IPEM models has been developed. This includes a 3D solid model by I-DEAS, parasitic model by Maxwell, thermal model by FLOTHERM and electrical model by Saber. The exchange of geometry information among these models has been achieved. Furthermore, based on these models, this paper explores the tradeoff between minimizing parasitics and improving thermal performance.