Making evolving design to perfection of high frequency inverter for induction heating applications: design of experiment approach

In the area of high frequency power electronics equipment design, transforming a design from one application to another could be a tedious job. Making a new design to meet the specification could also be time consuming and a complex activity. However, transforming a design has always a proven base for starting. Moreover, it helps reducing the manufacturing learning time significantly. In certain situations, the equipment/inverter is part of large automated environment. Automated process requires all its components/parts to be free from defects. Defects lead to rejection and, statistically, the risk for good quality is high. Quality engineering (QE) concepts such as design of experiments (DOE), Taguchi methods etc. help solving problems associating process quality. However, similar methods, with a collective approach, can help consolidating the design parameters in achieving robustness and the requisite quality of the end object. This article presents the usefulness of QE concepts such as design of experiments in transforming a design of a 2 KW, 70 KHz induction heating inverter to a 2 KW, 200 KHz inverter to be used for manufacturing a product for medical applications. This paper discusses how certain design issues (such as zero voltage switching of full-bridge inverters for ON-OFF applications) get strengthened through the help of DOE for an inverter used to heat catheters tube's ends. Above all, this paper will discuss the detailed journey of transforming a product design from one area of application to a product suitable for another application without virtually changing anything.