A new approach to solve EMI related problems when designing reliable high power converters using precomputed electromagnetic models

The coupling between low power control circuits and high power switching components which generate high parti/partt greatly decreases the power converters reliability and increases substantially the product time-to-market when introducing a new design. The quantification of these couplings is traditionally estimated using the finite elements method which requires a high technical expertise for complex three-dimensional circuit geometries. To solve this problem, the authors propose a new approach based on the use of a precomputed electromagnetic models library which includes all the metallic conducting structures present in modern power converters. The transistor case as well as the printed circuit board copper traces are included in this library. This library allows to identify quickly and visually the high coupling areas with higher flux density in the converter tridimensional layout. Also, it helps to develop remedial strategy to avoid it. In this paper, the electromagnetic behavior of a bidirectional matrix converter cell using the proposed approach is analyzed. The magnetic field of the matrix cell is analyzed and numerically computed. Experimental results are shown to demonstrate the viability of the proposed new approach. I.