Thermal analysis for series LC integrated passive resonant module based on finite-element modeling

In recent years, the passive integrated power electronic module (IPEM), which has been implemented as resonant tank in resonant DC-DC converters, has gained research interest because of its merits for possibly reducing the total volume of the resonant converter system. In this paper, thermal analysis for a series resonant LC passive IPEM is performed. Especially, a 3-dimensional thermal model based on finite-element modeling (FEM) using I-DEAS is presented and the thermal distribution of the integrated passive module is simulated. In order to verify the thermal analysis results, an experimental prototype LC passive REM was constructed and temperature distribution measured using an IR (Infrared) camera and thermocouples and compared to simulation results. A good correlation between the 3-D thermal model and thermal test results was achieved. Moreover, 1-dimensional thermal analysis was also performed and presented to compare results of the hot spot temperatures in the interior of the passive IPEM using the 1-D and the 3-D models.